History of go

It is not known exactly where the game of go appeared and how it originally looked. Chinese legends attribute to her an age of more than four thousand years. According to these legends, the game of go, in China called Weiqi (圍棋), was invented at the dawn of Chinese history. The inventor is called the legendary Emperor Yao (about 2100 BC), or his first minister Chun, or Emperor Gao皋 (about 1750 BC) of the semi-mythical Xia dynasty . In all versions of the legend, it is said that the game was invented for the emotionless son of the emperor (in the case of Yao it is called Danzhu丹朱) in order to develop his mind and ability to concentrate. These legends are mentioned in the annals of the Han Dynasty ( 206 BC - 220 years).

However, many scholars are inclined to believe that historians of the Han period deliberately included information about the Weiqi antiquity in the annals to give the game more weight, because, according to Chinese tradition, everything related to the most ancient dynasties is more valuable and perfect.

There are various assumptions about the original form of the game and its purpose. There is a version that at first it was a gambling game in which dice were used (see en: Liubo ). According to other assumptions, the board for go was a model of the sky . Many scholars associate go with the fortunate practices of the ancient Chinese, finding in it symbols that connect go with astrology and predictions . There are versions that the board for go was at one time used as a calendar . For the most part, they come from one source - the book of Chiang Nui "Classical go", published between 1049 and 1054 years . e., in which the author likens parts of the board to different parts of the calendar: points - days , angles - seasons , extreme points - weeks (five-day).

The place of occurrence of go is also precisely unknown. There is a version that go is not China's homeland, but India , from where the game came to China and Korea ; however, she does not have reliable documentary evidence.

The first plausible references to go in written sources date back to 91 BC. e. and 434 BC e. , these documents describe events, respectively, 681 BC. e. and 547 BC e. The first planks and stones for go discovered at burial sites date from the Han era . The oldest of the boards known to archaeologists used for the game dates back to the 3rd century .

The first fully credible record of the game dates back to 196 - it is a game between Prince Sun Tse and his general, Lui Fan . The game was played, judging by the record, according to the same rules that are used now (except for the Komi ), in tactical terms the game did not differ from those that are currently being played. The go guide, published in the 12th century , contains many diagrams of real games played during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). In the same work, problems are presented that are in no way fundamentally different from those that can now be found in go textbooks for amateurs.

Based on documents and archeology data, most researchers believe that the game appeared in the Zhou era, that is, in the interval between the XI and V centuries BC. e. In the Han era, it was already quite common, and at the beginning of the first millennium AD, go rules were established and almost exactly corresponded to modern ones.

Since its inception, Go has been among the “four virtues” of China — the skills necessary for every worthy person — along with playing the lute , calligraphy, and painting . Noble people , commanders, sages played in go, but the game lived among the common people. They played in go and at court, the strongest players were known personally to the emperor . For noble people, craftsmen made very expensive, unique equipment - stones from precious stones , bowls from expensive wood .

The game developed quite actively until about the 18th century : a theory was developed, books were published. Some ancient publications, such as Guanzi Pu, compiled by master Guo Bailin (c. 1586 - 1662 ) and containing more than 1,400 tasks, have retained their relevance to this day. However, unlike Japan , where the game of go as a sport was a particularly revered occupation and enjoyed state support, in China, it remained, in fact, a salon pastime and the destiny of individual intellectuals. Although the oldest of the go collections of books and textbooks so far used are of Chinese origin, in general, the level of Chinese go has lagged quite noticeably behind the Japanese in the last two centuries. Political events also played a role, first of all, the Opium Wars , which led to the subjugation of China to Western countries, the decline of national culture and large-scale depopulation. By the beginning of the 20th century, the Chinese strongest players played on the handicap with Japanese masters and went to study in Japan. Those of them who wanted to raise their level to truly masterful or showed special abilities for go, as a rule, simply left to live in Japan. So, one of the most famous Japanese masters of the 20th century - Guo Seigen (the original version of the reading of the name is Wu Qingyuan) - a Chinese man who from childhood showed talent in go and moved to Japan. There are other examples.

Some revival in the development of Chinese go came after the communists came to power in 1949 . The top leaders of communist China considered the development of go as one of the ways to increase the country's prestige, some high-ranking Chinese officials were lovers of go themselves, therefore, unlike gambling, go began to receive state support. A national team of China appeared, competitions began to be held regularly, a number of fairly strong masters stood out. Nevertheless, it was not possible to bridge the gap in skill between China and Japan. The difference between the strongest players in China and the Japanese masters of the 9th dan was about two handicap stones. The ambitious task set for young players in the early 1960s - to achieve victory over the best Japanese masters in 10 years - was never completed. But the Chinese decay came to a final decline during the Cultural Revolution . The game was ranked as a relic of the past, the competition ceased to be held at all, the players had to look for another activity. The best masters of the Beijing team were sent by workers to the factory. Only in the 1970s , with a change in political course, did the situation begin to change. State support for the game appeared again, the go team was recreated, domestic and international competitions resumed. By this time, a new generation of Chinese players had grown up, which could compete with the Japanese. The first of these was Ne Weiping , who in 1976 managed to defeat four Japanese masters of the 9th dan on an equal footing.

In the past two decades, China has made a major breakthrough in the level of the game. If in the 1970s only a few of the strongest Chinese players stood out on the international stage, now in China, state support and a huge public base go to select and train the strongest professionals. Since the 1980s , Chinese players have regularly won international competitions. By 1996, some international competitions were canceled in Japan, in which the Chinese began to win stably. There are currently over 300 professional players in China. The highest achievement of the Chinese players was winning the Inga Cup , which was won in 2004 by Chinese professional Chiang Hao.

Appearance

The date of the appearance of go in Japan is not documented. Chinese chronicles say that the game has been popular with Japanese nobility since the beginning of the 7th century . Most likely, the game was brought to Japan from Korea by scientists , officials and artists who emigrated from political chaos. The Japanese gave the game a new name "i-go", but did not make any changes to the game mechanism and rules. Moreover, in Japan, some elements of the Chinese rules were “preserved” and survived to our time, which the Chinese themselves subsequently abandoned. For example, the method of calculating the result of a game by territory and captive stones, borrowed by Japan, was later replaced in China by the calculation of territory and its stones on the board.

In Japan itself, there is a legend according to which he brought Kibi-no Makibi from China, who remained in history as the “Great Minister of Kibi”. On instructions from Emperor Shomu’s daughter, who later became Empress Koken , he lived 18 years in China. Upon his return, Kibi allegedly brought with him the most impressive creations of Chinese culture , including one of them. According to modern scholars, the game of go was known in Japan even before Kibi, and his merit is that he raised the status of this game, presenting it as an occupation worthy of the emperor and his associates. Nevertheless, for a long time, go in Japan, as in China, was nothing more than easy entertainment , along with other courtiers' fun, such as playing music.

About a century ago, it was officially banned for all but the highest aristocracy , as it was considered harmful, corrupting the minds of an occupation, like drinking wine or playing dice . Buddhist monks, despite the ban, played go, using the game as a form of spiritual practice. It was only in 701 that the go game was recognized as non-hazardous by an official imperial decree . Guo won the sympathy of all classes, down to the peasants . There were estate class restrictions: if aristocrats were allowed to play on boards made of precious wood with stones carved from precious stones, commoners had to limit themselves to cheap boards of rough work and ordinary pebbles .

For a long time, it remained at first forbidden, and later unapproved by the samurai . Even at the beginning of the sixteenth century, Hojo Nagaudzi (Soun), in the Twenty-One Rule, which defines the basic principles of a warrior's life, in particular, wrote: “You should look for bad friends to avoid among those who play go , chess and shakuhachi . You will not lose anything if you do not know about these entertainments. Engaging in them means losing your time to no avail. ” ^[2] Despite such recommendations, samurai willingly spent time behind go and shogi. In the 14th century, Shiba Yoshimasa, in his teachings for samurai, "Tikubasho" wrote that a samurai should, in addition to martial art, possess skills that are considered decent in his circle: master calligraphy, be able to play musical instruments, be versed in poetry . All this is necessary in order to join the collective pastime and not be worse than others. Then Shiba writes: “It’s a shame to not know how to play such games for a fun pastime, like go, shogi or a snow alum .” ^[3] This shows that these games were extremely common and the samurai who did not own them was perceived by society as somewhat inferior. It was the passion of go among the Japanese military leaders that caused the subsequent rise of the Japanese go.

XVI - early XIX century

The heyday of go in Japan occurred in the 17th-19th centuries, in many respects due to the fact that the most famous military leaders and rulers of the 16th century - Oda Nobunaga , Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu - were seriously carried away by go, believing the game not only pastime, but also beautiful training that helps to properly manage troops. They held go teachers, both for themselves and for their warriors. When Hideyoshi became regent of Japan in 1584 , his passion gave impetus to the development of go in the country. In 1588, a large tournament was held, the winner of which, Nikkai (the mentor of Oda Nobunaga) was declared the strongest player in Japan.

At the beginning of the XVII century , when Tokugawa Ieyasu came to power, four houses , or go families , were founded - Hongimbo, Inoue, Yasui and Hayashi. In fact, these were go schools that were actively involved in the development of game theory, as well as the identification and training of capable players. The houses enjoyed the patronage and financial support of the shogun. It’s enough to note that Nikkay, the founder of the Honimbo school (he became Honimbo I Sansa) was allocated 13 hectares of land for the school - a huge area for low-land Japan, and a salary of 200 coca (30 tons) of rice annually.

In 1603 , the court post of Godokoro appeared - the highest official in Japanese go, at the same time - the teacher of the shogun . They could be only the best player. The Meijin title that appeared at that time was the official Godokoro title. He was responsible for all official ceremonies in any way connected with the go, awarded titles, distributed state scholarships among the go-families, in addition, he was in charge of all the organizational aspects of the go game at court. For the entire period from the XVII to the first half of the XX century , only ten players were awarded the Meijin title. Government support led to a strong increase in Japanese go over the next 250 years. The level of Japanese players was much higher than the players of China and Korea, where they continued to play go, but the game did not enjoy such powerful support. A qualified player had an income that allowed him to play calmly, raise students without worrying about living expenses.

The Japanese also contributed to the development of go equipment. If the art of the masters of China was mainly manifested in the manufacture of stones and bowls, the Japanese learned how to make magnificent gobans from expensive kaya wood (kaya, lat. Torrea nucifera, nut-bearing torrea). Koban gobans have a yellow-golden color, in harmony with black and white stones. The sound of setting a stone on such a gobane turns out to be very characteristic, clear, clean, "musical", and is an important part of the aesthetics of playing go. Lines on gobans before dyeing were drawn with a katana . Taking a certain part of the tree trunk and making a cut in a certain way, the craftsmen achieved an aesthetic, but not striking, pattern of wood fibers on the surface of the gobana. Kaya is highly polished and has good durability; products from it are very durable. Poorer than China, Japan also created its own standard for stones with natural materials - black stones were grinded from basalt , white - from hamaguri mollusk shells. The bowls were made of wood or basalt. The stones themselves also changed - if in China they were cone-shaped, then in Japan they took a modern - lenticular - shape (however, in China stones are still in use, with one side convex and the other flat).

Meiji Restoration - Our Time

After 1868, bad times came for Japan in Japan . Meiji restoration was accompanied by a massive, not always critical borrowing of the scientific , technical , military and cultural achievements of Western countries . Go was, along with many other Japanese traditions, declared "a relic of a bygone feudal era ." Government funding for the homes has ceased, organizations have collapsed, players have fallen into poverty.

Но популярность го в народе не падала, среди игроков нашлись и такие, кто не смирился с упадком и начал собирать вокруг себя единомышленников. В 1879 году 18-й Хонъимбо Мурасэ Сюхо создал клуб Хоэнся — видимо, первую из профессиональных го-организаций этой эпохи. С 1880 -х годов ведущие газеты Токио начали спонсировать турниры. Одной из первых это сделала газета « Ёмиури Симбун », по сей день остающаяся одним из крупнейших спонсоров го в Японии. Турниры стали источником дохода для профессионалов и позволили сохранить уровень игры. В газетах появились колонки го (к 1910 они были уже более чем в десятке газет), постепенно увеличивались гонорары игроков. В 1924 году на базе нескольких организаций го-профессионалов была основана японская федерация го — Нихон Киин . Её появление можно считать моментом начала кардинальных преобразований в японском го. Были приняты общие правила проведения турниров, введено в практику коми , установлены правила присвоения данов. Появился контроль времени при игре. Это же время ознаменовалось появлением нового поколения молодых, талантливых игроков, в числе которых первыми обычно называют Го Сэйгэна и Китани Минору . Они ввели в употребление «новые фусэки » — начала партии, в которых первые ходы делаются не в комоку , как было принято в японском го на протяжении нескольких веков, а в другие угловые пункты: хоси , сан-сан , мокухадзуси . Новые фусэки существенно обогатили игру.

Во время Второй мировой войны го в Японии пережило спад — множество игроков было призвано в армию, многие погибли, газеты перестали печатать колонки го, экономя бумагу. Тем не менее, наиболее важные турниры и матчи за титулы проводились, нередко в условиях, которые можно без преувеличения назвать боевыми. Так, время второй партии матча за титул Хонъимбо между Ивамото Каору и Хасимото Утаро , проходившей в пригороде Хиросимы , на город была сброшена ядерная бомба . Эта партия вошла в историю го как « Партия атомной бомбы ».

По окончании войны Нихон Киин возобновила свою деятельность, и развитие го продолжилось. Определённый разлад в го-движение Японии 1950-х годов внёс раскол федерации го — в 1950 году отделение Нихон Киин в Осаке стало самостоятельной федерацией го — Кансай Киин . Впрочем, после некоторого периода конфронтации деятельность двух федераций фактически разделилась по географическому принципу — Кансай Киин работает, в основном, в западной части страны, Нихон Киин — в восточной.

Постепенно были возрождены высшие титулы игроков, появились также и новые, ранее не существовавшие. Спонсорами розыгрыша титулов выступали различные периодические издания. Регламент присвоения титулов стал существенно более строгим. Если раньше держатель высокого титула мог долгое время оставаться при нём, избегая встреч с сильными противниками и используя своё привилегированное положение, то теперь он оказался обязан защищать титул периодически, в соответствии с установленным порядком розыгрыша. В течение определённого времени (оно может достигать двух лет) проводится отборочный турнир, определяющий одного или двух претендентов. Если претендент один, он играет с держателем титула матч из нескольких партий, победитель которого и получает титул. Если претендентов два, то матч за титул проводится между ними (для таких титулов держатель, если он хочет носить титул дальше, должен принять участие в турнире претендентов и на общих основаниях вновь завоевать его). Для некоторых титулов существуют так называемые лиги — некоторое небольшое, в пределах десятка, количество игроков, борющихся между собой за право матча за титул. Ежегодно проводятся турниры на вхождение в лигу и турнир лиги. Победители первых входят в лигу, заменяя тех её игроков, которые показали наиболее низкие результаты в турнире лиги. Турнир лиги определяет также претендента на титул. Таким образом, чтобы встретиться с держателем титула, игроку нужно сначала победить в одном из отборочных турниров и войти в лигу, а затем победить в турнире лиги.

Активные контакты Японии с западными странами во второй половине XIX века привели не только к упадку го в Японии, но и к выходу этой игры за пределы своих традиционных географических границ. Го попало в Западную Европу и Америку , и начало развиваться там. В 1908 году в Европе вышел первый учебник го. Его автором был немецкий инженер Коршельт, учившийся го в Японии, где он прожил много лет.

Одним из известных европейских поклонников го начала XX века был Эмануил Ласкер , чемпион мира по шахматам . Вместе со своим однофамильцем, Эдвардом Ласкером , международным шахматным мастером, он создал первый в Европе го-клуб. В 1930 -е годы Ласкеры покинули Германию, в конце концов оказавшись в США. Там они не оставили своё увлечение. Эдварда Ласкера считают «отцом американского го». Помимо общественной деятельности по популяризации игры, он написал книгу «Го и го-моку». Одним из факторов популяризации го в Америке стал поток иммигрантов из стран Восточной Азии, особенно увеличившийся в конце 1930-х годов.

Го-организации Европы и Америки никогда не были столь многочисленными, как в Японии, Корее и Китае, тем не менее, они развивались и укрупнялись. В 1950 -х годах развитие го в Европе было довольно бурным — были созданы национальные федерации го в Англии , ФРГ , Австрии и Голландии , а в 1956 году появилась и Европейская федерация го , которая сейчас объединяет федерации более двух десятков стран. С 1957 года ежегодно проводятся чемпионаты Европы, первый из которых прошёл в ФРГ.

К настоящему времени в Западной Европе общее количество игроков в го, по некоторым оценкам ^[4] , превышает 100,000, в США и Канаде — 127,000. В большинстве стран есть свои национальные федерации го, проводятся регулярные соревнования, присваиваются квалификационные ранги. Правда, все высшие мировые титулы го до сих пор прочно удерживают корейские и китайские игроки.

Если раньше развитие го в Европе и Азии шло почти независимо (европейцы, явно отставая от ведущих го-стран, лишь заимствовали их теоретические достижения), то сейчас го-движение проявляет всё большие тенденции к объединению. С 1979 года проводятся личные чемпионаты мира среди любителей, а в 1982 году образована Международная федерация го . Европейские игроки, сначала бывшие явными аутсайдерами на турнирах с участием корейцев, китайцев и японцев, в последнее время всё выше поднимаются в турнирных таблицах.

Резкое возрастание интереса к го в Корее некоторые особенно впечатлительные комментаторы называли «безумием» — при вдвое меньшем, чем в Японии, населении, в Корее значительно больше активных игроков. На вершине мирового рейтинга го уже более десяти лет присутствуют практически исключительно корейские игроки. Начиная с 1988 года корейцы выиграли 41 из 54 разыгранных международных кубков (из оставшихся 13 10 выиграны японцами, 3 — китайцами). Кубок Инга — крупнейший международный профессиональный турнир, проводимый раз в четыре года под эгидой фонда Инга , четыре из пяти раз выигрывали корейские профессионалы.

В России го появилось одновременно с другими государствами Европы, завезённое из Японии в конце XIX — начале XX века. Но ни массовым увлечением, ни спортивной дисциплиной го долгое время не являлось. Время от времени выходили журнальные публикации, было некоторое количество любителей, но и только.

Моментом действительного начала развития го в СССР считают 1965 год . В этом году в Ленинграде , в ДК имени Ленсовета появилась секция го под руководством Юрия Филатова и был проведён первый турнир. В последующие 10 лет секция развивалась, двое её членов — Валерий Асташкин и Георгий Нилов , — получили официально 5-й любительский дан в Кансай Киин . В 1975 году они же опубликовали в журнале « Наука и жизнь"(No. 8-12 for 1975, No. 1-8 for 1976) a series of articles about the game and held a competition for solving problems. Publications in such a massive magazine led to the advent of go lovers across the country. Quite large amateur associations appeared in more than fifty cities, and competitions began to be held regularly. In 1977, a multi-stage tournament was held for the title of the strongest player of the go country (abbreviated as "CIGO"), which became the first unofficial championship of the USSR. Valery Astashkin defeated him. In the same year he took 6th place in the European Championship. The CIGO title was held twice more, according to the usual Japanese tournament pattern - the winner of the Candidates Tournament played a match with the title holder. Both times Valery Astashkin held the title.

Until the late 1970s , go-enthusiasts in the USSR sought official recognition of the game, along with chess and checkers , but this goal was never achieved. By 1980, the wave of initial enthusiasm subsided, the go-movement in the USSR began to decline. Only in 1984 was the All-Russian section of go established under the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports of the RSFSR. Official tournaments began to be held, and in 1985 the Cup of Russia and the Championship of Russia were held. In 1989 , finally, the Federation of the USSR appeared; its first president was Valery Astashkin. From that moment, go became a recognized sport. In 1990, the first (and only) USSR championship was held.

At present, in Russia, the Russian Go Federation (Baduk) , which has become the legal successor of the Go Federation of the USSR, is the main official go-organization in charge of developing the game of go as a sport. Regular tournaments are held.

The current rules of go, basically, have developed by the first half of the first millennium AD. Although some changes have been and are being made up to the last years, all of them do not affect the tactics of the game, but only allow better identification of some of the most difficult moments. Only in antiquity did the game noticeably differ from the current one. The Tibetan go retained, as some scholars believe, features of the early forms of the go game, many of which were subsequently excluded from the developing game.

• The oldest known from archaeological finds and pictures in the books of game boards are not 19x19, but 17x17 lines in size.
• The order of placement of the handicap stones , which is different in Japanese and Chinese rules, is attributed by some researchers to a more recent rule, according to which several stones of both colors were put on the board by both players before the game. Subsequently, this rule was canceled, they began to start an equal batch of steel from an empty board, but the order of arrangement of the initial stones was preserved in the rules for the placement of stones for the stones.
• The method of calculating the result of a batch by territory and captured stones, preserved in Japanese rules, was borrowed from China in the 6th - 7th centuries . In China itself, after a while it was replaced by the method of calculating there on the territory and live stones, which is now used there. This method is more convenient in those cases when the players at the end of the game do not agree on the status of any group. To determine the status, you can simply play in this place until the conflict is resolved. In the Japanese rules, this is not always successful, since when playing out, players may need to go to their territory, which can change the ratio of points.
• At the end of the sixteenth century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi established a rule according to which they play black against the strongest player, and if the difference in strength is great - with the handicap . A little later, a rating system was formed there, which was based on the difference in one handicap.
• At the beginning of the 20th century, Nihon Kiin introduced Komi (first 2.5-3, then 4.5 points) and mandatory time control in all official tournaments.
• In 1955, the Komi value was increased to 5.5 points.
• After 1960, several new (sometimes called "rational") sets of go rules appeared, in particular, AGA rules, Inga rules, Inga simplified rules , Tromp-Taylor rules . All of them in the basic provisions are identical to the traditional go rules and are based on the Chinese scoring system. The difference is that the new rules simplify and formalize the procedure for assessing some non-trivial situations in parties, which allows for disputes not to appeal to the arbitrator, but to resolve the issue in accordance with the rules. The new rules are increasingly applied in the world, mainly in Europe and America and in international professional tournaments.
• In 2003, in Japan, a few years earlier - in China and Korea, the Komi increased to 6.5 - 7.5 points.

• Go game in Tibet. The archaic form of Go is an anthropological study in several articles.
• Castle Go. Japan of the Edo era.
• Assumptions about the origin of th