Any of you guys play go or shogi? Japan has some pretty big competition

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A nice server that uses Japanese rules is IGS/Pandanet.

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How do you crack this?

When I was a kid Hikaru no Go inspired me to get into Go, which I tried like 3-4 times since, but I never had the patience or smarts to get any decent at it.

>>14935475
Did you read it in Shonen Jump like I did?

>>14935475
Chess is what inspired me to try go.
Interestingly enough, I'm so much weaker at games that aren't chess, that I find checkers to be more difficult than chess.

I reached 1 dan then quit.

>>14937170
No, I watched the anime. Reading is for nerds.

i play GO with my friends
it's hard to learn, but more strategic than chess

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I fucking hate go. Something about the whole "trapping" system makes me very uncomfortable to think about strategies. It's an irrational feeling, I just don't think it makes intuitive sense. Like card games.

Shogi seems cool, though. I'll look up the rules.

>>14942863
Alright, played two matches with a handicapped CPU, lost one. Got the gist. It's pretty much like chess, but with a lot more restrictions because you keep paralyzing your opponent pieces and vice-versa. The zombie pieces are interesting, the lack of backwards movement is very constricting.

God have mercy on you if an opponent has two rooks.

the reason i like GO is
it's simplest game in the world!
but at the same time, it's most complicated game

there is only two rule
if you surround opponent's rock, you can kill it
if you surround the territory, that becomes your house

simple rules, but endless strategy

>>14946727
I never really get this "woah, there are so many possibilities" feeling board gamers seem to enjoy.

I mean, sure, there are several numerical combinations and ways to win, but, in the end, they all look like beads becoming black/white. There isn't any great thrill in it.
Suppose you have 10 dices with 20 sides. Is it really that entertaining that you can toss it in several combinations to achieve any number between 10 and 200? Would you throw dices the whole day just to see all the combinations happening?

Same thing in shogi/chess matches, when the narrator announces something was a "powerful" move, or an "aggressive" move.
It was just a piece of wood being put on a square, why the boner?

Maybe it's a synesthetic experience for some Rain Mans because of the chaining, but most people just seem to be trying too hard to force some intellectual value in their rather simple form of entertainment.

And no, there aren't "endless strategies", people always end up finding good strategies that restrict the possibilities to a given set (specially in shogi with all that castling). More than a game of possibilities, it's a game of possibilities going away little by little. It's just tic-tac-toe with more squares.

>>14947568
I don't really know why you bothered making that post: it's just some letters in some combinations.

>>14947574
Except words convey much more meaning, not limited by binary matrixes of black/white.

What I'm questioning here are players who seem to feel the complex spirit of shogi dancing like a waterfall of lotuses in their kokoro whenever their opponent makes a static rook formation by the millionth time.

>>14947619
Words are exactly binary combinations of white and black. If you don't understand the game enough to see how certain moves are central to the strategic outcome of a match, then, well, you don't understand the game enough to see it.

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>>14935171
not vidya

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Just remember

If you're losing that badly, while it is unsportsmanlike, there's technically no rule against performing the nuclear tesuji

I'd love to but I don't want to play on a computer and I don't know people who can play either of them.
I also hate people so I probably wouldn't play even if I did know any.

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>>14947631
No, seriously, watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNOh1xFRwzA

I've been playing shogi for 2 days (not really that many matches) and I can already follow pretty much everything happening on the board in that "historical", "epic" video.

Today I've beaten this baka computer at 2 out of 2 matches on Average difficulty:
http://japanesechess.org/shogi2014/

I'll go to "Above Average" after beating it thrice, and I can't say this is a reliable measurement of actual human difficulty, but it's already enough to give me a grasp about possibilities and strategic decisions. Memorizing a handset of strategic patterns is just a matter of grinding and metagaming, doesn't add to the complexity of the game.

I've been playing Minesweeper too, and I've managed to beat expert in 126 seconds after a week of training and using some extra techniques I've read on a Wiki. Does that make Minesweeper an ancient art of mental balance and mastering of the clicking with the third eye?
No, it just makes it a fun game to waste time on.

The thought of someone recording me playing it and saying "look how at 38 seconds anon makes a POWERFUL choice and clears that whole area with three precise clicks, that surely sets the game as a clear road to victory" gives me the giggles.

>>14947619
There is beauty in surprising moves; the ability of the human mind to find the best play in a very complex situation. I've never been too keen on analyzing high-level play, though. I get that from playing OTB with friends in many different games.

It's true that many times the best play is "obvious", and that's not exciting.

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>>14953976
Well, I had fun chasing down this king all the way through my own side of the board.

Two towers, two bishops and this slippery ou-sama got away to be killed by a mere pawn!

>>14963411
That's actually pretty cute.

I'm not that interested in Go, but can someone explain how people can actually replay an entire game from memory?

There was a club in my college and when I visited it seemed like even "average" players could do this

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>>14964868
After beating this CPU in the highest level available, now I've switched to another site which seems to have a much smarter (and faster) AI. Besides, this little 3D opponent is very intimidating, I get the feeling he's reading my mind!.

I'm breaking a sweat to win anything when it gets to level 7, guess it'd be time to read some guides, but I don't know if I'm ready to take this step towards leaving the game and getting into the science.

If anyone wants to try, by the way: http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/shogi/shogi_e.html

>>14966911
Most moves are a reaction to the previous move.

>>14953855
I think you don't understand competition. Go isn't interesting because there are millions of possibilities, it's interesting because a person makes choices with the intention of outwitting another player.

The language used by commentators can be silly, but so is the language used by sports or video game commentators.

>>14968140
Damn, I keep losing. I'm watching some lessons from this guy to better my game https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL587865CAE59EB84A

But yeah, I keep forgetting the knight exists and losing my ranged pieces.

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>>14976533
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BgHBQ8AN6o
Holy crap. My head hurts.

>>14976822
Yeah, nips did some weird things with shogi before settling down on the current version.
You can find interesting fairy pieces in western chess too, though.