218. The art of Weiqi (Go/Baduk) war (碁#28) - When two worlds collide

So recently while playing against my American opponent, we both have come to enjoy the pace of our game, with each of us making one move per day. This gives us both twenty-four hours to ponder over our moves before we must place a stone on the board. And despite the thousands of mental calculations possible, both of us settle down to a handful of possible moves. And it's really a case of hypothetical theory meets practical reality. With the facts on the ground dictating the way things will move forward. Since this is the first time we have played against each other, both of us have gone in blind to the game. And if you've been following the game on Instagram or Facebook, then you've been witnessing what happens when two civilisations, who have been unaware of each other, suddenly make contact. They must find a way to co-exist before the inevitable power struggle ensues. For us, we have managed to hold off for about thirty days or sixty moves. Which is impressive in itself, given that most wars on the Go board start around the seventh stone played. Why we are attacking each other now, is that both of us have come to realise that for this game, each stone is putting on the squeeze for both of us. And our ability to avoid conflict reduces with each passing day. In short: When a given territory is finite, the pressures of life will eventually lead to conflict. And that conflict will happen, regardless if it's wanted or not. It is for these reasons (and others) that the gongfu masters of yore, chose a lot of the time to live in the wild. Peace was found amongst nature. When too many masters congregated in one place for too long, the fights would start. Essentially we are talking about turf wars. And it doesn't matter what the style is. It all boils down to who controls the resources available. And if it's of limited supply, it is valuable and worth fighting over. At some point every master, in their way, will make their move and try to claim a piece of the action. It can be as stupid as claiming how ancient a style is or who the legendary ancestor is, even though there is no proof to the claims. And that is what you are seeing on the Go board. We are both arguing over mining rights, as they say, while building up our private armies for the inevitable civil war that is to come. If you find yourself in a similar situation in business or life in general, but don't know why, the thing you must know is that your opponent wants what you have, because it is the same thing you want from them. And there's only so much of it to go around ⚔️圍棋戰聖 Follow on Insta: @baguazhang_