Snow Takes an Interest to Go - Thu, Sep 26, 2024
The task is ahead. The session has started. My opponent sits ready. The grid is well-defined. The stones are placed in their respective jars. They make the first move as black. A star-point. My choice is clear. I must keep a head cool, and approach this from a foundation built on logical reasoning, pattern recognition, and strategic foresight.
A game so advanced it has more game-tree complexity than any other human-made board game in history. The possible games might exceed 10 to the power of 700. That is orders of magnitude more than there are quarks in the observable universe, the smallest parts of an atom. Even the possible legal positions exceed that of the number of atoms in the known cosmos.
An atari. I must escape. They are using a ladder now. I cannot climb any higher. My stones are doomed. Serves me right for learning Go from a fortune cookie found in a cheap restaurant’s menu.
Another session has started. They gave up so easily, just under 50 moves.
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2 . x o o o x x o *·* *·*·* *·*········ 2
3 X O X X X O O O X O X *·X O***** *****3
4 x o x*o*x*x_o_**O_X******O************4
5****x***o_x****o***x*******************5
6***********o*******x*******************6
7***************************************7
8 ************** ***********************8
9***************************************9
10 **************************************10
11***************************************11
12**************************************.12
13******************.********************13
14********************************.*.****14
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16 ** **.* *.***.************************16
17 ****************** *** ***************17
18****************************** ********18
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S.