|
Nakayama On
The Art Of Resigning
October 21, 2005
"On occasion,
when playing a teaching game with someone for the first time, I've had the
opponent carefully make a two point gote hane plus connection even though he is
losing by 100 points," writes Nakayama Noriyuki in "The Treasure Chest Enigma"
(p. 36). "After the game the player rationalizes it by saying: 'I thought it
would be rude to resign when you've been so kind as to play me'. That implies
that he plays differently with his friends, but if you watch you find him
fighting a half-point ko when 100 points behind. He fills in all the dame, lays
out the captured stones then exclaims 'Well, what a surprise! I'm quite a bit
behind' Then he pretends to resign, I don't recognize this as a genuine
resignation.
"The most painful chore for
a go teacher is playing with this kind of pupil. Another name for go is
'shudan', meaning 'talking with the hands' One may not utter a word, but each
and every stone played relates the feelings of the players. If you translate the
"shudan' of a player who won't resign a 100 point loss into plain English, he's
saying 'You're such an imbecile that I can easily catch up 100 points" It's hard
to imagine greater rudeness in a go player"
(thanks to Keith Arnold 5d for passing this
along)
Back to Columns
|
|
