2021 Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Breadth courses

Cultivating the Power of Execution by Go Game

Academic unit or major: Breadth courses
Instructor(s): Kenji Amaya / Sachiko Hara / Hirofumi Ohashi
Class Format: Lecture/Exercise
Media-enhanced courses: -
Day of week/Period (Classrooms): 5-6 Wed (H114)
Class: -
Course Code: LAW.X202
Number of credits: 110
Course offered: 2021
Offered quarter: 3-4Q
Syllabus updated: Jul 10, 2025
Language: Japanese

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

[Course description]
Professional Go player begins with the explanation of the rules of Go to students who don’t know Go.
Aim at not only the experience level but also the game on 19×19 board.
Explain the history and art of Go.
[aims]
Learn ability of independent ideas, logical thinking and power for executing ideas.

Course description and aims

Through Go the students will be able to:
1) Develop an understanding of the traditional Japanese culture.
2) Master the global communication.
3) Learn ability of independent ideas, logical thinking, broad viewpoint and finally power for challenging the unsolved problems.

Student learning outcomes

実務経験と講義内容との関連 (又は実践的教育内容)

lecture by Ms. Hara and Mr. Ohashi, professional Igo players, from Nihon Ki-in.

Keywords

Go, Global Communication, Ability of Independent Ideas, Logical Thinking, Broad Viewpoint, Making Decision, Power for Executing Ideas, Brain Science

Competencies

Specialist skills
Intercultural skills
Communication skills
Critical thinking skills
Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

1) At the beginning of each class, solutions to exercise problems assigned during the previous class are reviewed.
2) Students practice games.
3) Towards the end of class, students are given exercise problems related to what is taught on that day to solve.

Course schedule/Objectives

	Course schedule	Objectives
Class 1	Guidance	－ Introduce the history of Go. 　－ Show the model game on 9×9　board and explain basic rules. 　－ Give an outline of the course. 　－ The applicants are requested to write a composition and class members will be decided later.
Class 2	Basic Rules ① 　－Stone capturing, Places where you can't play	Stone capturing game 　Start from kirichigai:cross cut. 　Win when capturing two stones.
Class 3	Basic Rules ② 　－End of the game, Koh：repetitive capture position, Komi：compensation point	Practice the game 　Start from the 15th move (first 14 moves are given)
Class 4	Elementary Techniqueｓ ① 　－Life and death of stones 　－Two eyes, Kakeme：false eye, Seki：mutual life	Practice the game
Class 5	Elementary Techniqueｓ ② 　－Technique to connect and cut 　－Takefu：bamboo joint, Kosumi：connection’s diagonal	Practice the game
Class 6	Elementary Techniqueｓ ③ 　－Technique of stone capturing 　－Shicho：ladder, Geta：net	Practice the game (Nigiri：process of deciding who plays black, Touryou：resign)
Class 7	Elementary Techniqueｓ ④ 　－Efficient shape and bad shape 　－Empty triangle, Hazama. Seki：mutual life	Practice the game
Class 8	Mathematical Study of Go, Life and Death Problems 　－Explanation of difficult life and death problems 　－Experiment using the software for judging life and death	Practice the game (shorten) Challenge to life and death problems
Class 9	Practice on 13 ×13 Board ① 　－Comments on the game record of professional match on 13 ×13 board	Practice the game
Class 10	Practice on 13 ×13 Board ② 　－Territory preparation for counting	Practice the game
Class 11	International Spread of Go and Pair Go 　－Olympic (mind sports games) and Pair Go	Practice the game of Pair Go
Class 12	Practice on 19 ×19 Board 　－Move in the opening stage 　－Corner → side → center, the 3rd and 4th lines mainly	Practice the game (60 minutes, Uchikake)
Class 13	Go and AI / Nine Stone Handicap Game with Lecturers 　－Recent Go AI technology implovement will be explained.	Practice the game play games with lecturers (majority go)
Class 14	Short Test / Answer and Explanation	Short Test

Study advice (preparation and review)

Textbook(s)

None required

Reference books, course materials, etc.

None required

Evaluation methods and criteria

Students’ course scores are based on attendance and short tests.

Related courses

None

Prerequisites

We make class capacity (40 students) since the class goes with practice. On the first day (guidance) the applicants are requested to submit the questionnaire (experience of Go, reason for taking the class and so on) and then class members are decided.

Other

Go is currently enjoyed by more than 45 million people in 150 countries in the world.
Go is an attractive and effective means to enable us to communicate with people from all over the world without languages, and is also called “hand communication”.
Let’s master the power of global communication through this course.