RGF vs the World Summary

It’s obviously cynical and cowardly (and lots of unprintable nsfw adjectives) to punish children but, really, when the “West” governments announced diplomatic sanctions, what did we expect? That they’d email 10-15 Russian tycoons before lunch and tell them to tweet #cancelputin or else?

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That’s denying the changes of the world. Like telling that Germany is a nazi country, denying all the work and conflicts which was made between generation for many decades.

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I don’t know if it is a good thing that the EGF is so split on the question wether to ban Russian players. This is just creates a wedge in the community now.

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Well what’s the difference between my British empire reference and him trying to derail it into guilt tripping with “oh X can’t do Y? you know who also can’t do Y? Z!”? I just responded with gibberish to gibberish.

Before this started the plan was to allow 20 Russians to play online. Because it was impossible to get visas to Czechia at that time due to corona. According to a post from Dinershtein 27 Feb.

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I can sympathize to be honest, in another discussion here I’m trying to forget, after being attacked relentlessly and feeling not heard, the moment I made an exasperated off the mark comment, that’s all everyone focused on to use against me.

It’s hardly the crux of @esoka’s posts, but that’s getting all the attention…

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So can Russia still take part in the PGETC so long as they use an EGF flag?

In reality that isn’t really true though, is it. They’re just talking about banning the Russian kids. Given how many Ukrainian kids can’t make it anymore, I certainly have some sympathy with this banning in all but name.

I see, thanks for the correction.

The good thing about the British Empire compared to the Russian Empire is it was not a contiguous landmass so was very obvious where it began, and indeed ended.

I think all participants in this discussion can point to a period in history where their country could be called an empire, and undoubtedly the acquisition and maintenance of that empire was associated with countless atrocities.

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I think we have 3 :stuck_out_tongue:

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Yeah and, precisely, that’s not the best thing to do :slight_smile:

But @Gia is right that wasn’t core to your comment. Let’s set it aside, it doesn’t invalidate the rest of your points.

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That’s behind the curtain the core of the situation. It’s hard to judge from outside what russian are doing, living, if they agree or not, if there is no solution. But one thing is that nothing is easy anywhere as most of the rights and political organization didn’t fall from the sky and will last forever, but through fighting and searching for a better life. Cultural differences don’t explain everything too. May i remind that Russia went through revolution, political experimentations fetching some very shiny ideals and at the same time some of the worst people history? I just write all this for hopes and meditation in front of the “we can do nothing”. Telling that western countries have the easy side is wrong as nothing is acquired forever, extreme right party staying waiting at the corner to jump in as one of the very first example.

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Ngl the West has had the easy side for a while :joy:

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Indeed. Even in my country, which I dare to say is relatively free of corruption, and one of the most democratic and most secure in regards of freedom of speech, freedom of press, jurisdiction and many issues of individual freedom, we have politicians that are against all those things on the extremes of the political spectrum. And even here such politicians can count on about 20% of the popular vote.

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Well you know we have Zemour and M Le Pen in the very near election in France…

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I was looking for something completely different, but Google said

Go the rock game! Can’t read but sounds interesting, is that about rock’n roll?

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It’s an article from 2003.


День
The ancient game of go has found its admirers in Ukraine

01 April 2003

In Korea they call it Baduk, in China Wei Ch’i, but here in Ukraine the Japanese name of this game is known better. Go, the rock game, is considered the oldest intellectual board game. It is 4000 years old, meaning that it antedates even chess. It first appeared in Korea and China and later was adopted by neighboring Japan. Europeans discovered it in the early nineteenth century, when they took over this sophisticated but very captivating amusement together with the whole splendid culture of the Land of the Rising Sun.

The rules of the game are, on the one hand, quite complicated, and, on the other, quite understandable for those who used to play points as a child. The game’s goal is to take over the opponent’s territory by encircling his pieces (rocks). In the end, the player who does this better wins the game. Unlike in chess, the black pieces start the game, but the white receive a bonus of half a point. Thus there can be no draws, since the score is kept in whole numbers. The methods of calculating player ratings by the Tokyo-based World Federation are quite interesting. A player receives the first dan (rank) after playing a hundred games at amateur tournaments. One can move up to the sixth dan in the amateurs’ league. When one reaches the seventh dan he automatically becomes professional. Now he can perfect himself up to the ninth dan. However, there are few such masters in the world. Even Japan and Korea can boast no more than twenty. In Europe, one can count them on one hand. There also is no professional go association in Europe. This is not surprising, since the major tournaments take place in Asia, homeland of the ancient game. Many Europeans go to this region specially to undergo, so to speak, field training and, if they are lucky enough, to take part in one of the professional world championships. There are quite a few of them. Each of the three trend-setting go countries holds one. The winner receives the title of Kisay, literally meaning “sacred player.” The European Go Federation is based in Amsterdam. It also holds an annual championship financed by the Ying Foundation. The Taiwan billionaire who died a few years ago was a great admirer of the game and for many years worked to popularize it outside Southeast Asia and make it a worldwide pastime.

The Ukrainian Go Federation numbers around 300 members. There are also many admirers of the Asian game who are not members of the federation but always take part in Ukrainian tournaments. In addition to the Ukrainian Open itself, there are quite a few others. The embassies of Japan, China, and Korea hold championships for Ambassador’s Cups. Ukraine has no professional players, like most European countries. However, Dmytro Bohatsky, fresh university graduate, has come very close to this with his sixth dan. There are also fourth and fifth dan masters in Ukraine, many of who also work as coaches like, for instance, Yury Pliushch and Vasyl Skachko (fourth dan). For many years owing to their (and other people’s) efforts Ukraine is represented at the world amateur’s championships. A strong go school exists in Rivne thanks to enthusiast Yury Shevchuk. The younger generation of players is Ukrainians’ special pride. At the recently finished Junior European Championship in Cannes, two our players, 11-year-old Ihor Zaitsev and Artem Kachanivsky, 10, took first and second place respectively, overtaking the Russians, who were believed to be the strongest on our continent.

By Yury ZELINSKY, The Day

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