Go

"While the baroque rules of chess could only have been created by humans, the rules of go are so elegant, organic and rigorously logical that f intelligent life form exist elsewhere in the unniverse, they almost play go"

Edward Lasker, Chess Master

A famous scene from the Genji Monogatari, involving go

This fascinating strategy game originated in China (围棋, or wéiqí). It was imported in Japon in the VIIIth Century with the other arts of the imperial court, under the name of go (囲碁, or igo), and its theory developed considerably there. Since a few decades in Korea, the game (바둑, or baduk) has been extremely popular, with the best players in the world. Despite a history of more than 20 centuries and simple rules, the subtleties of the game are far from behind mastered. The difficulties to program good playing softwares demonstrate this fact.

The history of the game in the West is comparatively very short (about a century). This, combined to the cannibalization by the culturally equivalent game (Western Chess), explains the low number of players. Nevertheless, the game of go is not as confidential as it was during the pioneer era, and you will probably a club of passionated players close to your living place.

Here are some interesting links if you want to know more about the game:

• The Wikipedia page on the game: history, rules and other information
• The great manga+anime Hikaru No Go has considerably promoted the game, especially among the youngest
• The French Federation of Go. Good information starting point if you live in France (French)
• KGS (Kiseido Go Server). A very good site to play on Internet, with an active and beginner-friendly online community

And some stuff about my go player life: 

• I had great (and hardworking) fun by contributing to the organization of the Paris International Go Tournament from 2004 to 200. You can have a look at the good memories from these tournaments as well as other events
• The Aligre go club. My former club in France is in a bar in Bastilla area, with a very friendly atmosphere. If you are around, don't hesitate to visit
• I spent two months in China during summer 2005. Officially, I was there to attend Go classes, but it soon became a pretext and I preferred to leverage on the opportunity to visit the country...
• During my MBA Chinese classics course, I had a lot of (hardworking) fun in writing an essay about The Ten Golden Rules of Wéiqí Applied to Business Strategy