Chess VS Go

The philosophy behind chess is to win decisively. For the winner, victory is absolute, as is defeat for the loser. In chess, both players have the same clear and overriding objective―capturing the opposing king―and accomplish this objective by decimating whatever opposing forces are standing in the way. In go, total victory usually happens between two mismatched players. That kind of victory, as Sun Tzu puts it, is not the pinnacle of excellence. In a go game between two well-matched players, the margin between win and lose is usually very small, often decided by only a few points. The philosophy behind go therefore is to compete for relative gain rather than seeking complete annihilation of the opponent’s forces. It is dangerous to play go with the chess mindset. One can become overly aggressive so that he will stretch his force thin and expose his vulnerable parts in the battlefields. In chess, the focus is on the king. All the moves are geared toward checking the king. In designs to capture the king, chess players always try to eliminate the powerful pieces such as the queen, knight, castle, and bishop. Chess players typically focus on these powerful military units as the ‘center of gravity’ and ‘decisive point’ (in Clausewitz and Jomini’s terms). Naturally, chess players are single-minded. In go, it is a war with multiple campaigns and battlefields. There is no one single focus on the board. A go player must always keep the whole situation in mind. Attacking the opponent’s strategy therefore is much more appropriate in go. As a prolonged and complex game, go players focus on building or creating rather than chess players’ emphases on removal and destruction.