Go is better than chess because

I recently had a friend say that chess was way better than go, and i want to prove him wrong the next time be go in to “Battle”

I could only think of, its more complicated, and you focus more.

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It’s better for me 'cause I like it better. Don’t you know the only way to win an argument is to make it about yourself?

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Haha solid advice.

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Step 1: both of you agree on what makes a game “good”.
Step 2: you work out together which of the games gets closer to “goodity”.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: you agree that Backgammon is crap.

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Eh, I like backgammon, it’s uni years and nostalgia.

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It is more elegant (combines a minimum of rules with a maximum of emergent depth). It is “wider”: There are more things to choose between each move. It has more of a focus on strategy over tactics than chess has.

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Of course you do, you’re Greek.

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I started to object, but then… It is kind of a national past-time. :woman_shrugging:

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because it lets us feel smugly superior to those chess-playing peasants

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…it took AI 20+ years longer to destroy the game.

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Mark Walker in the Baduk group in facebook took my list of why Go is so good/useful and turned it into a very nice poster. So, instead of writting all that again, I can laze of and just drop the image :stuck_out_tongue:

Now does chess do all that? On some level yes. Go just does most - if not all - of that better than chess due to the board being bigger, which changes the scope of quite a lot of things in this list.

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Let me link my reply to a similar question. It seems appropriate.

In a certain way this footnote summarize what is my opinion. Be aware that I loved chess when I was young and still consider it a nice board game but far (really far) from the elegance and the deepness of Go.

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I’ve seen twice now “elegance” used.
I don’t disagree, but I find it a personal feeling, not an actual assessment.

I don’t think it belongs in the same breath with actual characteristics, as in size, number of moves, simplicity of rules (eh, there’s kind of a thread about that alone, but I’ll allow).

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My 2 cents? When people start these types of “apples vs oranges” philosophical debates - they don’t want to change their mind.

They might want to engage in a spirited debate, but - regardless of the quality or quantity of your rhetorical arguments - you should probably go in with very low expectations of this person seeing it your way.

If your goal is to “prove him wrong” - you may walk away frustrated. See if you can come at this interaction with another goal, and you might have a more satisfying interaction.

Good luck.

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I agree.

However, oranges are obviously better.

Although I have to allow apples might save some recipes in a pinch.

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Probably is a different way to say: “I like it”. What it means “like”… is a bulk of things.
But I don’t think you can weight the “beauty” of a game only with rational or measurable quantities.

@Half_is_less_than_1 probably the best thing you can do is trying to teach him some go basics and if this open a door in his mind, … well, you have augmented by one the number of Go players (and won your personal challenge about the original debate).

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Thanks for the response and insight. :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile:

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Why not just enjoy both games without trying to prove one is better?

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I’d bet my chocolate cake there’s a poll in this forum with the question “which is better?” and the answers are “go, chess”.
Other than that, we’re civilized on the matter.

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The main point is convenience. It’s much less a trouble to lose a pawn in go. Well I mean from the game set somewhere in the grass.

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