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Go crazy for ancient Go
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| Yvonne Margetts (left), host of the Epsom Go club and top England player, Natasha Regan. |
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There is a poignant scene at the start of the Oscar-winning biopic A Beautiful Mind when the troubled mathematician John Nash is seen sitting in a Princeton courtyard.
Hunched over a playing board apparently dotted with black and white pebbles, his brow furrowed, Nash is plotting his next move in the ancient Asian game of Go.
It was his frustration at losing this convoluted contest that led the real Mr Nash to pursue his game theory, research for which he eventually earned a Nobel Prize.
On November 18 a mother in Epsom took steps to continuing his legacy. Natasha Regan is unlikely to win awards for higher mathematics but she has plenty of experience of being stymied by Go grids.
After spending six years amassing qualifying points, the 35-year-old was selected to represent England in the 17th annual World Amateur Pair Go Championships in Tokyo.
There, as is custom, teams from 21 nations played on boards divided into a grid of 19 vertical and 19 horizontal lines. Black and white stones were placed on the intersections. The object: to gain and defend territory by encircling it with stones.
If that sounds simple it's because Go is deceptively easy to learn. The challenge lies in becoming a strong player. High-powered computers may routinely humble chess grandmasters but they are still groping for skills beyond those of the casual Go player.
In the words of one American novelist, this may be because "Go is to chess, as philosophy is to double-entry accounting".
Credit, then, to Natasha who only began grappling with its complexities in 1999. Alongside her partner, Matthew Coke, she performed credibly at the championships, beating Hungary and South Africa before losing to the superpowers of Korea and Japan.
Her success is a tonic for a nation. With the England rugby team having lost eight out of their past nine matches, and England's cricketers the architects of their own humiliation, our need for heroes has never been greater.
The only shame is that Natasha's triumphs came too late for recognition in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony.
"It was nice to attend the championships but I'm not sure we can quite be considered sports personalities just yet," Natasha says, seemingly unaware that Jenson Button is now a byword for sports personality.
She adds: "None of the games were completely one-sided. The Hungarians nearly caught us in a trap at the end; we had interesting fights with the Japanese, and we even had good chances against the Koreans, the eventual tournament winners."
Her biggest surprise was touring Tokyo's neon-lit streets and seeing members of Nihon Ki-in, the Japanese Go Federation, arranged on rice-straw mats, playing until dusk. In Britain the game is more ghettoised, boasting only about 600 players.
Readers can always swell the ranks by attending Epsom Go Club, which meets at 7 Ripley Way each Wednesday. Beginners should call 01372 723 268.
10:26am Friday 15th December 2006
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