More Lessons of a Game Recorder

by Keith Arnold

January 27, 2003

I just spent over ten hours in the past two days recording the games of North America's top players in the 2003 Fujitsu tournament. I do not think I have ever been so engrossed in games I was not playing. The power, strength, and concentration of these men were no surprise, although beyond my ability to fully appreciate. More comprehensible, and in some ways more admirable, was their easy grace in handling the outcome of each game, despite the effort and pressure of the games. I can never hope to play as well as them, but I can strive to bring my own best effort to my game, and to share their humility and acceptance in victory and defeat.

I pleased and surprised to find that I do share something completely and deeply with these men: the absolute joy of this game. With the greatest prize in American go on the line, these guys were having fun, the same pleasure I feel when I sit across from a worthy opponent and create a good game (a pale imitation of what I just watched perhaps) but no less joyful. In go, there are wonderful surprises around each corner and they are reflected in the face of your opponent. Or in the pit of your stomach.

We can only create this shared experience face to face, across the board. I play on the internet all the time but it is not the same. Go players, turn your computers off and go to the club and to your local tournaments. Organizers - start your own clubs and hold tournaments. This is important and rewarding work. 

One day at a racetrack, Abe Yoshiteru 9P is said to have remarked, "It is so sad for horses that they can not play go. Really." So let's spread the word, and play the games. We must try to keep sente for if we wait, we may never get a chance to make the best play. I am sure that Hans Pietsh was looking forward to a long endgame, but some sequences are impossible to read, no matter how strong you are.

See Chris Garlock's Lessons of a Game Recorder

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