Japanese Language as it Applies to the Interface Between Go and Irensei Rules

General Go Discussion
1

Does 千日手 (sennnitite) exist in Go, and if so, what rule or concept is it? I’m familiar with it only from Shogi. Is it simply an informal way to call “ko”? or is it specifically any long-cycle ko? or a specific long-cycle ko?

Note that the context is a rules document for Irensei as the sole content of sub-article 7-3, part of a list of loss conditions

両対局者が連続して着手を放棄したとき

What does this mean? Google Translate gives the impression that it’s about abandonment of a position, perhaps something to do with long-cycle ko, but poking at it a bit with DeepL and jisho led me to a possibly better hypothesis: it means “if both players resign simultaneously, the game is a draw”

Note that the context is in a rules document for Irensei in an article covering draw conditions

2

The rules describe it as:

千日手：同じ局面が繰り返される手。

So, a move that repeats a board position. I’d interpret it as meaning any previous position, i.e. as a superko rule.

両対局者が連続して着手を放棄したとき

This means: both players in succession pass at the start of their turn. This refers to what is written at the end of clause 4:

着手は対局者の権利であって義務ではない。したがってその着手の権利を放棄することができる。
ただし、権利を放棄しても、着手としての意義は残る。

Translated:

Starting a turn [= making a move] is a privilege, not an obligation. Therefore, a player may renounce this right. However, even if it is renounced, the turn remains significant.

I’m not sure how to interpret the last sentence, but my guess is that it means that a pass is still a move, and the game continues (or in case of consecutive passes, ends in a draw as per 8-2).

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3

I interpreted it the same way. Basically, don’t try to rules lawyer something on the basis that a pass isn’t a move, because it is

I thought of that interpretation, but the rest of the rules seemed to heavily reference sites citing the Japanese Rules of Go, and those famously don’t have superko, so I was wary of letting the unclear explain the clear

Ah, that makes a lot more sense. I shouldn’t have been so lazy relying on DeepL to do all the hard stuff

4

For what it’s worth, my Japanese in-laws also don’t understand the last sentence.

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