Go, commonly known in China as weiqi is a board game for two players. To win, one player must use black or white playing pieces, named stones, to surround(包围) more areas.
The game was invented in China more than 2,500 years ago. It's one of the four Chinese traditional fine arts, along with playing guqin, writing and painting, so it owns a wide fan base in China. Now it is also popular in other parts of the world.
In Germany. the Berlin Go Association(协会) has worked together with the China Cultural
Center to host The China Cup, which sees about 50 to 100 players each year. As the cooperation(合作) between China and Germany deepens(加深), many Go training courses are offered. And sometimes professional players from China are invited to give talks to German Go lovers.
Andreas Urban, the chairman(主席) of Berlin Go Association, discovered a book on Go accidentally. "I tried to understand the rules, but I couldn't. " said Urban. Schreiber, the vice chairman, was introduced to the game 16 years ago by a classmate. "The first time I played Go I even couldn't understand the rules," he said. But both of them found the game more and more interesting after practice. "I advise children to learn Go. They can learn that there is always someone stronger and it's OK to lose. They can also learn how to improve from their mistakes and say tomorrow will be better than today," said Schreiber.
To the experienced players, Go can be very addictive(使人入迷的), as it is not just for fun, but also has a deeper cultural ground. When two players meet on the Go board, they follow the same rules, but may carry completely different methods. One of the best ways to improve is to play against someone who's stronger, as well as from different cultural backgrounds. This kind of cross cultural communication helps the development of Go.