The seed's of go

[dfan]

I started playing chess at 3 and I used to think that was pretty good!

Coincidentally, so did I... And I beat my Dad at it first when I was 4. Then I gave it up entirely after my 5th B-day---dashing my father's hopes that I'd become the world's next Bobby Fischer. It just wasn't fun anymore, because my Dad had bought books and wanted me to memorize Opening Book sequences and study the game 'with him'. As you might imagine, that's a recipe for burn-out.

Heh, I burnt out at 7.

I came back as an adult and now I enjoy it again, though.

[CheeseNPickle]

So many people's doubts would be gone.

I vote for fake too. Sorry POGO, but even your post on the age thread seems a little fictional - no offence intended. I was being a bit naive I guess.

[POGO]

Well i will say this.

To those who beleave this is another case of nishry. please refrain from posting here.

To those who enjoy this post by all means i will still be logging his progress here.

So many people's doubts would be gone.

I vote for fake too. Sorry POGO, but even your post on the age thread seems a little fictional - no offence intended. I was being a bit naive I guess.

I take ibuprofin(i beleave thats how you spell it) for the pnumonia.
And here is a link to me and my wife after our wedding

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/ ... elz/13.jpg

[Tyson2011]

i do not see any reason for pogo to lie, what does he have to gain by drawing attention to a child if the child did not have potential at go? what if pogo was indeed playing, and the child got good enough where people began to notice, and pogo gets caught in a net of lies, what would he accomplish? furthermore, i dont even want to think he would do something as sick as exploiting a child in order to gain nothing more than a couple oohs and ahhs from people on a forum.

[wessanenoctupus]

in my defense, i am was just saying that i want to believe, i was not calling anyones bluff or anything like that other guy said....

Anyway, if minipogo wants a game, ill play sometime i am about kgs 3 or 2 kyu

[Andreas]

Im still doubting the thread based on experience with my own son, but children are all different and I only have one, so I cant really know. (I should better concentrate on his soccer skills...)

Having a wife who looks like 12 in the eyes of Europeans/Americans didnt seem at all strange to me, my former Japanese teacher is very small and she told us she could always buy childrens ticket in the bus when she started studying at a German university.

If this story about the child turned out to be fake, I wouldnt consider it as a lie or "sick exploitation" to get attention, but as a good joke. The child is too young to be aware of our attention over the internet anyway, so no way it could be harmed from this.

[Tortue]

i do not see any reason for pogo to lie, what does he have to gain by drawing attention to a child if the child did not have potential at go? what if pogo was indeed playing, and the child got good enough where people began to notice, and pogo gets caught in a net of lies, what would he accomplish? furthermore, i dont even want to think he would do something as sick as exploiting a child in order to gain nothing more than a couple oohs and ahhs from people on a forum.

I am not implying that Pogo is lying, and if his 2 yo son is able to play that good, it is amazing !
But to answer your message, internet is full of people who just want to get attention and it is often regardless of the consequences. Btw Pogo, don't you have a video mode on your digital camera or phone ?
If it is a fake, we will forget about it in 2 weeks time. If it is true, Pogo, your son is amazing. But don't pressure him too much !

[POGO]

i do not see any reason for pogo to lie, what does he have to gain by drawing attention to a child if the child did not have potential at go? what if pogo was indeed playing, and the child got good enough where people began to notice, and pogo gets caught in a net of lies, what would he accomplish? furthermore, i dont even want to think he would do something as sick as exploiting a child in order to gain nothing more than a couple oohs and ahhs from people on a forum.

I am not implying that Pogo is lying, and if his 2 yo son is able to play that good, it is amazing !
But to answer your message, internet is full of people who just want to get attention and it is often regardless of the consequences. Btw Pogo, don't you have a video mode on your digital camera or phone ?
If it is a fake, we will forget about it in 2 weeks time. If it is true, Pogo, your son is amazing. But don't pressure him too much !

First off thank you to those who are supporting this. no, i am not one of those attention seeker's, and as a father why would i ever exploit my son.

and as for the camera no, but after this i'm thining of starting a video log. i just need to save the 200 bucks. witch in turn might take time (if you have had a child you will know why).

and i dont have a cell phone as the last one i had rogers decided to slap on 100$ for no reason on the bills.

[Marcus]

POGO,

Don't worry yourself over those who doubt. This is the internet, home of the skeptics. I think being able to share an interest like this with your son is wonderful, regardless of what skill level he achieves.

Anecdotal moment: my own son is only a month older than minipogo. While he does not have any interest in Go (since I don't actually own a board, he doesn't see me playing at all), he has an attention span for some things that would easily allow for playing a full 19x19 game of Go. In addition, he has an interest in patterns that would also be helpful. I don't have the time to see if he could learn, but I suspect he could, if I had a board to play on with him. I'm constantly amazed at how quickly he grasps things, and he spends time thinking before acting more often than I would have believed before I became a parent.

Back to minipogo, it would be wonderful to see him grow up and maintain interest in the game. The skeptic in me holds a "wait and see" attitude ... time will reveal everything, and really I'm just going to enjoy watching things progress regardlss of the outcome.

Keep letting us know how minipogo is progressing, POGO!

- Marcus

[Tortue]

Do you make him do tsumego ? Because there was a semeai ( killing race, am I spelling it right ? ) problem in one of the game you are showing (it is not an hard one, but not a trivial one none the less )

[judicata]

The internet is full of skeptics because the internet is full of scammers. I'm not saying this is a "scam" by any means, I'm just explaining why many people tend to be inherently skeptical of things they see on the internet (see, for example, Fw:Fw:Fw: Bill Gates will give you $100 if you forward this email to everyone you know!). I also really hope this is all true (note that my first post in this thread was in POGO's defense), but I'm skeptical.

But it isn't hurting anyone either way, so I'm not going to raise a big fuss over it. Also, you don't owe us anything; even if you have a digital video camera, you are not obligated to record him playing go. I think people are just saying it would be nice to have that confirmation so we could brag about it to our friends on your behalf.

Completely unrelated, I recommend that you get a video camera since you have a kid, even if he never looks at a go baord again. It is nerdy for parents to record everything a kid does, but some moments should be saved.

[Kirby]

Does it really matter if it's fake or real?

[Solomon]

Does it really matter if it's fake or real?

Yes, the Internet is serious business.

[prokofiev]

<snip>

and as for the camera no, but after this i'm thining of starting a video log. i just need to save the 200 bucks. witch in turn might take time (if you have had a child you will know why).

and i dont have a cell phone as the last one i had rogers decided to slap on 100$ for no reason on the bills.

Kids are definitely expensive!

One inexpensive option is a webcam, though it would only work in the house. There exist decent $30 ones. Another option for ones you can take places are the Flip and similar "point and shoot" video cameras, which are cheaper than more substantial ones I think (though the Flip itself seems to be above $100). Here's some other company's point and shoot video camera selling for $50: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6830125010 (I have no idea if it's any good or just a piece of junk, though).

As for whether one should be skeptical: I guess one is never sure, but it seems silly that Pogo would post all this as a ruse. Also, kids can do amazing things, especially if they've been exposed to something extensively. Pogo said his child sat on his lap and watched him play go on the computer a lot. At this age, learning go might be a lot like learning a language, something kids are amazing at. That said, it would be cool to see video of course.

[CheeseNPickle]

Does it really matter if it's fake or real?

not at all. POGO, it's not a case of calling you a liar - honestly that's too serious a term for what I meant. It's an interesting thread and all but this is the Internet - you could be a 99 year old lady from Africa, the reincarnation of inigo-weiqi or Frank de Groot for all I know. The least paranoid explanation (and I will admit to being a little paranoid) is that you're honest - and your son is - basically - amazing, enjoy your time with him and I'm sorry for any upset.

Perhaps I'll stop using this account once I've upset enough people, then come back as a teenage girl..