@Gia, check this out: https://senseis.xmp.net/?PlayingTheFirstMoveInTheUpperRightCorner
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not quite, the idea was to play in the corner next to and opposite the w player’s dominant hand (which is generally assumed to be his right) as a sign of respect (since w was usually the stronger player pre-komi), and since komoku was dominant, you would play in the upper right with the open side facing the upper left corner, since that is the w player’s bottom right (easy position), also yeah the “bowing” thing is why it’s not lower left.
It’s since morphed into “just do it cuz it’s polite”, on the internet lower having the open side facing lower right might make more sense considering both players view from the same position, but y’know, tradition
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Cool, I see 
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Since black is shown at the top of the board on ogs then lower left is polite? And nearer to white as white sees it online too…
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Like I’ve mentioned in this thread, maybe, it probably makes sense for right-handers to place in the upper right with open side facing lower right and left-handers place in lower left facing lower right (assuming w is right handed, if left handed then b will put either in lower right facing lower left or upper left facing lower left) if we want to make a proper translation based on the old principle
But we’ve gotten very used to it just showing up in the upper right facing upper left, so I’m not sure the w will see it as very polite if you switch it up like this.
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Since this thread got necro’d, and we do love our polls - do you follow this idea of first move etiquette when playing online? Personally, having looked through my games, it seems I do - but I do not do it intentionally.
- I follow first move etiquette when playing online, intentionally.
- I follow first move etiquette when playing online, unintentionally.
- I do not follow first move etiquette when playing online, intentionally.
- Until this thread I was unaware of first move etiquette.
0 voters
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If you own even just ONE book on Go which gives diagrams of complete games, you will see that EVERY game by professional players starts in the upper-right corner (from Black’s perspective). Also, as a personal anecdote, living in Japan, I have played Go here, OTB, for over 40 years and in every single game Black has played the first move in the upper right. Anything else would be like forcing chess players to play the board side-on, or even from the opponent’s side of the board!
then white side Go players on server have very different experience compared to when they play as white on real board
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nice necro
Since I play most of my games online, whenever I play as White on a real board, the first moves feel weird.
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No he isn’t. He is right-handed, but plays Go stones with his left hand 
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I have some reasons to not follow online the real life etiquette.
Go etiquette was introduced by japanese players in a time without internet. Japanese go is no more a leader in this online world. Today, we don’t have really to follow it online although many players will still follow the use. I’m even not sure it is promoted online by japanese go players.
Both players play the game from the same side online. You don’t have a better view of the bottom as of the upper side online. (Which i find even more important in handicap games etiquette btw) The logic (whatever it is) behind the upper right corner etiquette in face to face may then not be adequate to online afterall.
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You may only play a game. For other it is culture and art.
If I relay a life game sitting on the side, I rotate the game so that I record it from blacks point if view.
This helps to give the viewers a familiar view as all kifus have this orientation as was mentioned
earlier in this thread. The view in online Go is like looking at a kifu. So it is also for the white player
a familiar view if the first move is in the upper right corner.
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One can appreciate art and culture in this game without adhering to old Japanese convention.
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That does not bother me one jot when playing as White. The on-screen board in that case imitates the board as shown in Go books or newspaper columns. People who have not played real-life Go will not be bothered by Black playing elsewhere than the upper right corner, nor will people who do not possess or have not read Go books or magazine articles. I do not fall into either of those categories, so it is simply out of the question. I am not about to fight 47 years of Go playing experience and habit at my age. I just cancel the game and both sides forget about it. This is not a big deal.
You honestly mean you’d cancel the game if I’d play this as Black:
or this:
?
Or am I misunderstanding?
I certainly wouldn’t forget that.
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You are not misunderstanding. Games are canceled all the time for various reasons. It’s a couple of mouse clicks, so why would you be so mentally fragile as to “not forget” it? It costs you a couple of second at most. My reasons for refusing to play such an unorthodox fuseki are laid out in the previous posts.
Top pros, such as Cho Chikun and Yoda Norimoto IIRC, have very rarely opened in an impolite corner as a psychological statement of intent. Their opponent couldn’t cancel!
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I find cancelling a game in itself more rude than having an opponent play in the wrong corner (imagine what cancelling a game would look like over a real board: you’re sitting in front of someone, both open the bowls, your opponent plays one move, and you get up and just leave). But, cancelling a game explicitly because an opponent played in a wrong corner, seems to me like the rudest of the three things just mentioned. Especially if you then mention in chat that you’re considering your opponent to be rude.
I can see how playing in the wrong segment of the game can be made done intentionally as a statement to surprise an opponent expecting you to play differently, and I can see how someone may perceive that as rude.
But I can’t see why it is rude when someone doesn’t know any better and has never heard of this (completely arbitrary) custom. In the vast majority of the online games, I’m sure that the opponent simply doesn’t know better.
You could use such moments to inform an opponent of this convention, without telling them directly that it’s rude, of course. You’d give the opponent an opportunity to learn something new.
“That’s a surprising first move! Did you know that it’s generally customary to play the first move in the lower half triangle of the upper right quadrant? It’s a convention that many players follow, and some consider it a way to show respect to your opponent. I thought you might not be aware of it, so I hope you don’t mind me sharing this.” – proceeds to play the game like usual
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On the other hand, since you mentioned
It is entirely Japanese to be offended by people not knowing about silly conventions, not say a word about it, but let them know indirectly that they were incredibly rude.
My wife got told by her boss that a client had filed a complaint about her, because she had hung up the phone after finishing the conversation, thanking the other person for their time, saying goodbye, and then not waiting for the client to hang up first. She had been making phone calls with clients for about a year already at that point, and nobody ever mentioned that you’re supposed to wait…
I had an experience once, where an old guy wanting to practice his english told me that I shouldn’t drink while walking, because it’s bad for my digestion, which was very confusing to me, until I found out later that he probably wanted to tell me that it’s rude to eat or drink things while on the move.
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