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a Go player's analogy

In another life, before job, religion, and family were important, I was obsessed with the game of go. If you haven't studied go at least a little bit, I expect you will find my thought gibberish.

I
believe how one plays go is insightful to at least one's intelligence,
if not their character. And Obama would be a much better go player than
Clinton.

Clinton's go personality:
She is a strong tactical fighter. But she tries to win with hamete
(plagiarism claims ...) and plays her stones heavily (i.e.big state,
all in). She destroys weak opponents. She is not the most fun to play
against. Her style of play is more Korean.

Obama's go personality:
He plays a large Moyo
strategy(i.e. 50state). He playes lightly, and is hard to force him
into a tactical fight. He lets the little stuff go, his strategy to is
to handily beat, not crush. His opponents will be able to save face.
His play is Japanese.

Tactics vs Strategy:

While a knowledge of tactics are needed to play, a good strategist can
repeatedly make tactical concessions locally, but make up for it with
strategic vision. A strong president should focus on strategy, not tactics.




Comments (10)

It's been a long time...

A few other thoughts along the same lines:

Clinton does not let go of losing positions. This is the mark of a fighter, yet not a winner. She also prefers to try to beat the other player at his game, not realizing this is a fool's errand.

Obama adapts well. He also sees the further goal, and while not giving up on the near contest, keeps that farther/ultimate goal in mind. He draws his boundaries loosely, filling them as needed to forestall successful incursions.

fighting-spirit is good and respectable, but that is not what i see.

thx for the comment. i was a little expecting that the post was dame here.

Never played go. But you have a beautiful analogy going. And I think anyone can understand it.

Thanks! ♪♪♪

avatar

I like the analogy (makes me want to start playing Go again--I was never that good at it, though), but I have to point out that the Japanese style is not inherently better than a Korean style. A good Korean style player will beat a weak Japanese-style player.

I was thinking more of style. A typical Japanese player in general plays more diplomatically. Things like: In many games, there is only one correct point at which to resign. (march 5th)

A good Korean player does not make heavy moves. I did not mean to insult Korean players. Korea has a huge number of the strongest players in the world.

i do think, that if two players are of equal strength. I would rather choose the Japanese player to be POTUS. I would take the Korean player to be my platoon leader.

Takemiya '08!

avatar

Yes, how wonderful, you find a political campaign to be comparable to some game, and quite surprisingly the candidate you support is a better player.

And when did Hillary Clinton ever destroy any opponent? You read that somewhere and by god it's the gospel truth.

sorry bev, The point wasn't just to be insulting.
Go is just how i understand people best. From watching both candidates, I think I have a reasonable idea as to their go aptitude and style. I can assure you that she would be better than GW, if he could even be taught the rules. I think McCain could be ok if he could concentrate, but suspect he would just try to eat the stones. My boy (he is 1) has the same problem.

And destroying someone in go is not necessarily a bad thing. It is a way to win.


I am also not exactly saying the strongest go player is the best president. I am certainly stronger at go than any of the presidential candidates, and I would be a hopeless president.

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