The Traveling Board

Lessons of a Game Recorder
January 20, 2003
by Chris Garlock

My moves are like a river, deep, powerful and flowing inexorably to the sea of victory. Except they're not mine. The next best thing to being a 6-dan is to record a top-level game at an event like last weekend's Fujitsu. On Saturday, it meant giving up playing in the amateur Fujitsu but the opportunity to immerse myself in good play was just too good to pass up. 

Three exhausting games later, here's what I think I learned: never be sure about anything. The difference between a top-level amateur and the rest of us is that the entire board is constantly in play. Virtually no position is settled and sente is king as they search for opportunities to play away. As I tried to follow the games I recorded, I found it nearly impossible to count and assess the balance of territory and power, as both shifted dramatically, often from one move to the next. Even areas that seemed to be sure territory could not be counted on because huge kos would erupt and then it was open season on any and everything. 

These guys may put their pants on one leg at a time just like you and me but as far as I'm concerned they're living, breathing go gods. That they walk among us is a gift we don't appreciate nearly enough. On the most fundamental level, John, Jimmy, Thomas, Lianzhou, Hui Ren, Yuan, June Ki and Eric are all tremendous human beings, as humble as they are strong and generous to a fault. Saturday night, after nearly twelve grueling hours of take-no-prisoners battle on the board, I watched almost the entire gang of Fujitsu competitors continuing to analyze games in a swirl of languages, and Sunday afternoon as soon as Jimmy Cha resigned he and John Lee launched into an hour-long blow-by-blow analysis of the game, playing out variations so rapidly that the stones seems to literally fly on and off the board. Every player this weekend behaved the way I'd like to but so often struggle with: truly magnanimous in victory, gracious in defeat and always committed to finding the best move. If a touch of that grace and commitment rubs off on me it'll repay me a hundred times over for my time last weekend. 

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