Silence fell as the crowd gathered. Breaths were held. The player raised his hand and with infinite determination made his move. The audience released a collective sigh and nodded with appreciation.
The crowd's attention was held by the ancient game of Go. In the game, black and white stones dance intricately across the playing board, commanding intense concentration from each player.
This past weekend, the 43rd annual New Jersey Open Go Tournament was held at the Third World Center. During the two days of play, 76 players competed in the tournament.
Most players were men older than 40. A few younger players were also in attendance, including seven college students from the Rochester Institute of Technology. The Princeton Go Club has four University student members, said Rick Mott '73, the alumni trustee of the club for residents of the greater Princeton area.
Go was invented in 2300 B.C. in China as the game "Yi." It later came to be known as "Weiqi" in Chinese, "Go" in Japanese and "Baduk" in Korean. The game is played by placing black or white stones on the junctions of a 19 by 19 grid. Go is a game of war in which the point is to surround the opposing players' pieces, conquering or "eating" as much territory as possible.
Go is game of strategy, learned through many hours of practice. Stronger players help others gain skill and expertise in the game.
On Saturday, two players studied the Go board in front of them. One was a stooped, white-haired Asian man in his 70s. The other was a 7-year-old Chinese boy, Lionel Chang.
At each move, the elder man murmured and nodded in encouragement. Occasionally, he barked a warning as the boy tried to place his stone, and the boy quickly changed his mind and found a stronger position.
Sometimes, a professional plays as many as nine people at the same time. After the game, he comments on the ability and decisions of each player to help them improve.
"The Go community is very, very friendly and very welcoming," said Eileen Barberi, wife of one of the tournament players.
The players check charts posted before each round to see who they will play against.
The background laughter dwindles as players settle down at their playing stations. Silence becomes the order of the day.
Each player has an hour to play. Sometimes they take only a few seconds to move. Other times several minutes pass as each player contemplates his next move.
After each game, players' strategy is rated on a scale of dan. Professionals play at nine dan. This time the victor was Huang Ke, a player with a rating of eight dan. Second was Lui I-Han, third Zhou Yansong and fourth Carson Tu.
As to whether or not Go is a sport, a bystander answered, "Well, a sport technically is something that fatigues a part of the body."
Mott laughed and agreed.
"Above the neck," he said, "all above the neck."
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