Cafeteria 'GO' Players Gather Vast and Inscrutable Wisdom

Mao Tse-Tung, in 1938, likened his guerilla war tactics to an oriental game called Go:

"There are two forms of encirclement by the enemy forces and...by our own--rather like a game of 'weichi'...the establishment of strongholds by the enemy and of guerilla base areas by us resembles moves to dominates spaces on the board."

"What sort of game is "weichi" (otherwise called "Go") that Mao should take it so seriously? Why do Japanese generals today payroll Go masters to coach them on the game's finer points?

Go is simple game, played with bead-like white and black "stones" on a chess-like board, the object being for each player to try to encircle and capture his opponent's stones.

But Go is also very complex, requiring agression and patience, attack and watch-fulness, all in equal doses. A collection of Go proverbs exists that rivals a text of religious sayings: "There is death in the hane;" "Play at the head of two stones;" and 'The monkey's jump is worth eight points," for example.

What's more, Go is to Japan what baseball is to America: a national pastime. Japanese newspapers sponsor millions in prize money for Go each year. Children train from infancy to become Go masters. The top Go player in the world--who holds the same rank that Bruce Lee held in "kung fu"--rakes in a six-figure salary. In Japan, Go is where the money is.

Beyond its commercial success, Go disciples claim it develops a far greater mental dexterity than its Western counterpart, chess. Go's applications range not onky to military tactics but to psychology, mind-training and aesthetics, as well. Some Go historians even contend that Go embraces more than a Japanese ideal of mental exercise--that it epitomizes the Japanese spirit itself.

Mao understood this when he made his remark about Go, for the time Japan was militarily at China's throat.

And now. Go--which originated in China 4000 years ago and has blossomed in Japan for the past 1000-has finally moved west. Every Tuesday night, the Massachusetts Go Society meets in the Science Center cafeteria to celebrate over strategies and delve into each others' psyches.

Inveterate Go players swear the game draws out the true personalities of its participants. "You have to strive for a delicate balance in Go--like in your mind," Fred Hapgood '63, a Tuesday night regular, says. "But the balance is like a house of cards, it can tumble without warning--just like that."

Hapgood says such a frustrating loss haunts him for weeks. "There's so much subtle tension--sometimes it's hard to hack the pressure," he says.

But Hapgood says the beginner need not beware, explaining that to love Go you just have to love games. To learn the basics, read "Go For Beginners" (Ishi Press). Or take a study break at the Science Center or the Algiers Cafe (another Go hot-spot in twon) and play with the budding masters who will--if you're game--play with your mind.