The Chinese Go game is designed in a way that playing it is like walking through a human life. The game has rules and guidelines that one must follow to be a winner. The player must concentrate, be calculative, think critically and follow the laid down regulations to beat the opponent. The formerly stated aspects are similar to the rules of human existence. Playing Go has taught me a lot about how this game relates to factors of real life.
The first lesson I have learned while playing the Go game is that the game is all about rules; the game has territories that I have to capture, and to win, I must have more than my opponent. Moreover, the game has liberties that I have to protect from my opponent. In addition, there are Atari moves that, if I make, my opponent will capture me. The game also has illegal points that a player should not reach; however, it results in disqualification. This game has various rules that guide its existence: human life is guided by different regulations. For instance, every government has laws that govern its people, cultures, and religions and have guidelines to guide its followers. Failure to follow the rules has consequences. Many people are in prison today because they have violated laws.
Secondly, playing Go has taught me that life is all about strategy. One must have a well-thought-out plan to survive and conquer various life challenges. To win in Go, I must strategize to gain a competitive advantage over my opponent. I have to make calculated moves; otherwise, my opponent will win over me. For instance, if I realize that I am ending at Atari zones, I have to retrace my thoughts and make another move that will make me win and not be captured. Life, especially in business or professional careers, is all about strategies. Businesses with better strategies gain a competitive advantage over their competitors, making them more relevant in the market.
Thirdly, Go has taught me to fight smartly: for instance, while playing, I cannot reveal all the moves I intend to make to my opponent. The former might enable them to overtake me by thinking ahead on their moves. What I learned to do was to show my opponent that I want to make a move toward a particular direction while, in a real sense, I make a move toward another direction. This is a tactic we require in real life, especially when we are faced with a real fight or war. For instance, soldiers and army men always employ this approach to ensure that their opponents are not catching them off guard and that they are not able to calculate their next move. Tactics are fundamental in many real-life situations; therefore, Go can help people develop tactical skills.
When I began to play Go, I could not play on the giant board of 19 by 19, so to learn, I started playing on the small board of 9 by 9 boxes. After learning the basics, I moved to play with the media board of 13 by 13 boxes. Now I can play on the main board of 19 by 19. Beginning to learn from the basics is a real-life lesson, especially in careers, after school, or training; one does not begin at the top. One has to begin a career by learning the basic requirements of their job, and through learning, persistence, and experience, one moves up the ladder in their career. Willingness to learn and being consistent is the primary lesson the Go game has taught me, and in real life, one has to begin their life somewhere and then learn and improve along the way up to whatever one desires to achieve. This is a life lesson that everybody needs to understand no matter where you are; you can continuously improve with time and consistency in learning.
Furthermore, the game of Go has taught me that not all the time in life, I must win: there are times when I lose. The game has shown me that, like in real life, we make moves that lead to losses, and other times we invest in things that lead to benefits. This game shows that losing is not an issue but learning from our mistakes is essential so that we improve on the next adventure. There are many times in life when people lose, especially in business, or lose employment, and they feel discouraged. Through the Go game, I have learned not to give up no matter how many times I lose. I have learned to explore other opportunities if my plan A needs to be revised. When playing Go, if one move captures me, I learn to be more careful in my next step. Life is a learning journey where we learn primarily through first making mistakes.
The game of Go is all about critical thinking and has taught me to analyze situations before I act critically. For instance, in the third game I played, I decided to play it critically. I began by capturing the corners of the board and forcing my opponent to work in the middle of the board. However, when my opponent saw that I would be playing in the corner, she started attacking my stones. When I saw that some of the territories in the corners were dead, I decided to build up my other territories, which split the board almost in half. The only way I would have a chance of winning this game was if I was going to capture some of the territories on her side of the board. Therefore, I focused on capturing more of her territories while protecting and preventing her from getting to my territories. The Go game is a game of the mind, and a player must concentrate, think carefully, and calculate moves. Critical thinking is, therefore, important such as in handling various circumstances.
Another important lesson I learned from the Go game is to be confident. Nervousness can result in losing the game even when one is a competent player. Whether or not I am not sure on the move, the opponent cannot know that I am not sure of myself because they can take advantage to win the game. Staying confident is, therefore, crucial, just as in life; confidence has helped people acquire and conquer a lot. Experience and expertise require confidence for one to tackle challenging situations.
Lastly, the Go game is all about decision making, similar to real life. Every decision one makes in the game influences the result of the game. While playing, I have learned to carefully make decisions about my moves while scrutinizing how my opponent is playing. In life, choices have consequences, and every decision one makes in life influences how their lives turn out. Losing or winning in the Go game is all about many choices made throughout the game.