Go over Chess

Go has very simple basic rules, but the game is much more complex than Chess in a computational sense because of the almost infinite number of possible moves and positions. Unlike Chess, Go cannot be approached by brute force, and the world's best Go computers are said to reach a skill level no better than average human players.

A central dispute in the film (between Max Cohen and his former teacher) revolves around interpreting the Go game: Does the Go game represent order or chaos, is it determinable or not, and which of these views is relevant for the interpretation of our world? If they had used Chess instead of Go, the analogy would have been somewhat flawed.

Depends on how you define "superior".

"Go" is unplayable (at high level, their are basic computer opponents) for a computer for one simple reason: complexity. In a chess game, there is only a limited amount of available moves making things computable. In Go, the possibilities are much, much larger.

Go also has a large following in math circles. However, since it's such a distinctly Asian game, it isn't nearly as well known as chess in the West.

I'm a former tournament chess player who switched to Go four years ago, and I think Go is "superior" in some ways. Here are the things I like about it:

1) Computers are terrible at Go, so when you play online there is a much smaller chance of playing against a cheater

2) Go isn't as violent a game. Sure, you can kill large groups to win, but you don't normally have to.

3) You don't have to spend nearly as much time on memorizing openings (joseki). In chess, once you pass a certain level, openings become critical to gain even a small advantage. In Go, joseki knowledge isn't necessary until the dan levels, and thorough knowledge probably isn't required until becoming a professional (although it helps in amateur play).

4) Handicapping is much easier in Go. Chess isn't fun unless you play someone near your level and I never liked taking pieces off the board as a handicap since it throws off the balance of the pieces and all opening knowledge goes out the window. In Go, you can have a fun game against practically anyone regardless of your level.


The only way that I see chess as being superior to Go is the way beginners grasp the game. In chess, it's much easier to see why you win or lose as a beginner and therefore playing is more enjoyable. In Go, you feel like you have no idea what you're doing, regardless of whether you win or lose. It's daunting to play such a deep game before you become familiar with life and death patterns, tesujis, the concept of territory versus thickness, etc. Unfortunately, it can take a while to understand these concepts. Ultimately, the subtleties of Go make it superior to chess IMO. Rather than just bludgeoning your opponent with a material advantage, there are various ways to win in Go.

Go is the most complex game in existence.
Chess has about 20 times as many possible board positions than there are atoms in the world. It's a number that cannot even be comprehended. However, it is still a finite number, and the majority of these positions would never occur in a serious game, because they are simply incorrect positions that would never be reached by players who know how to play the game correctly.

Go, on the other hand, is different. There are no "incorrect positions". And the number of positions possible is infinite because of the nature of the rules of the game. Certain moves that you play will remove some of your opponent's stones from the board. When this happens, your stones take territory from your opponent. But all it takes is your opponent to play a move that removes one of your stones and that territory is regained and can be populated again. The board is always changing dramatically and they say that no two games of Go would ever be alike if everyone in the world played it nonstop for eternity.

Another aspect of the game is that there are no numerical values that can be put on the stones in GO. We know in chess that a knight and a bishop are each worth about 3 pawns, A queen is worth about 9 pawns, etc. Using this, it's easier to use basic math to develop a strategy. It's a much more active thinking game.
Go isn't like that. It's more about pattern recognition than calculation. A lot of people believe it's better to play GO with just intuition. Your subconcious mind is often better at recognizing the patterns in the game. Therefore, it's sometimes thought of as a spiritual game.

Go is the most complex game in existence.
Chess has about 20 times as many possible board positions than there are atoms in the world. It's a number that cannot even be comprehended. However, it is still a finite number, and the majority of these positions would never occur in a serious game, because they are simply incorrect positions that would never be reached by players who know how to play the game correctly.

Go, on the other hand, is different. There are no "incorrect positions". And the number of positions possible is infinite because of the nature of the rules of the game. Certain moves that you play will remove some of your opponent's stones from the board. When this happens, your stones take territory from your opponent. But all it takes is your opponent to play a move that removes one of your stones and that territory is regained and can be populated again. The board is always changing dramatically and they say that no two games of Go would ever be alike if everyone in the world played it nonstop for eternity.

Another aspect of the game is that there are no numerical values that can be put on the stones in GO. We know in chess that a knight and a bishop are each worth about 3 pawns, A queen is worth about 9 pawns, etc. Using this, it's easier to use basic math to develop a strategy. It's a much more active thinking game.
Go isn't like that. It's more about pattern recognition than calculation. A lot of people believe it's better to play GO with just intuition. Your subconcious mind is often better at recognizing the patterns in the game. The ability to see and recognize patterns is a powerful way to measure intellect.

I think they used it because the movie has a lot to do with computers and numbers, but a series of black and white Go stones in a row could be interpreted as a binary number.