The Rice Go Club is a relatively new club here at Rice. We're still getting started so bear with us. The main purpose of the club is to play and promote the game of Go, which is also known as Igo (Japan), Wei Qi (China), or Baduk (Korea). Meetings are very informal. We're all still learning so feel free to come by even if you've never played before, someone will be happy to teach you.
This website will be updated to contain our meeting schedule as well as useful go and go club related information and any announcements.
This page is currently maintained by the 2008-2009 president, Stephen Wang (Will Rice 2011). Major design updates are planned for this website. The member list will be updated again once we've had several more regular meetings.
Go is a strategic board game for two players. It is known as Weiqi in Chinese, Igo or Go in Japanese, and Baduk. Go originated in ancient China, centuries before its earliest known references in 5th century BC writing. It is most popular in East Asia, but has recently gained popularity in much of the rest of the world. Go is noted for being rich in strategic complexity despite its simple rules. In every game new and interesting positions arise making it possible for the game to become an object for life long study. It can be enjoyed by players of vastly different skill levels, from complete beginners to top professional players competing in major international tournaments for prizes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
AGA What is go?
How do rankings work
The difference in skill level between complete beginners and the strongest professional players is tremendous. Amateur rankings begin with a rank of 30 kyu and go up in discrete increments to 1kyu. The next rank above 1kyu is 1dan and depending on the ranking system, the amateur dan rankings may go up to as high as 9dan. In order to compensate for a difference in skill level, the weaker player is given up to nine handicap stones placed at the beginning of the game to increase chances of winning. For every difference in rank, giving 1 handicap stone should make the chances of winning approximately equal for both players.
How many members does the Rice Go Club have?
Currently there are about ten to fifteen members.
Are there dues?
We currently have no need for membership dues. Through the efforts of previous go club presidents we have managed to procure about 12 sets of boards and stones.
How do I join?
Any member of the Rice community can join. We will even allow people outside of the Rice community to come and play if they wish. No knowlege or past experience playing is necessarily. We will teach you everything you need to know. Just come to the meetings.
If you haven't solved your 100th life and death problem, played your 50th game on a full size board, or even learned the rules, this is the section for you. I recomend everyone who comes to the Rice Go Club to learn to play go check out this section.
Beginners Page