Brain fitness in old Age

That's what Tolstoy wrote about old age. He meant in a woman's life too, of course. So old age does not have to be boring and empty, full of solitude, heart attacks and strokes, mental deficiency and Alzheimer.

The key to a fascinating old age is brain fitness through the board game of Go.

Go is an ancient board game developed in China 3000 years ago. It is estimated that more than 30 million people play Go throughout the globe. You will read about the benefits of playing Go for the elderly. So go ahead and learn about this marvelous game and keep your mind as bright as it was at fifteen.

Mental exercise may increase the connections between brain cells or promote new networks between cells.

Dr Joe Verghese, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York

Go is believed to be the oldest board game in the world. The rules are quite simple and they can be learned very quickly. However, the number of possible games exceeds the number of particles in the universe, and there is a countless number of skillful moves and intricate patterns.

Go is a two-player game. The first player places a black stone on one of the 361 intersections of a 19x19 board, the other player places a white stone, black continues, etc. To put it very simply, the idea is to occupy as much territory as possible on the Go board. However, stones and groups of stones can die or be killed which means that to win a player must develop the correct strategy.

The vast majority of of Go players do it for fun, and through fun they achieve brain fitness. A number of them earn a living by teaching the game either full-time of part-time, while in Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea a very small number (approximately 1050 altogether) are professionals.

In Japan Go is called igo, in China weiqi and in Korea baduk.

Cognitive decline is less in those who engage more frequently in cognitively stimulating activities.

Ifay F. Chang, Ph. D.

1. The board game Go is a creative game. While playing you create shapes on the board in order to build territory, as territory is what is enclosed inside the shapes. This means that your brain will work a lot while you play.

2. Go requires that you use both the right and left sides of your brain to play well. With the left side you will calculate your next move, memorize moves, and think logically about your next move/s and the opponent's next move/s. With the right side you will oversee an overall perspective of the board and game.

As most people mainly use the left side of the brain, and very rarely the right side, the board game Go will stimulate your brain's right side thereby improving the quality of your judgment and reducing stress.

3. Go prevents senility and strokes. It can also be used to rehabilitate people who have had strokes.

4. About 30 million people play Go throughout the world. When you play the board game Go online (on servers such as KGS or Pandanet) you will make friends everyday. You will never feel isolated.

5. You can also join a Go club and play against other members and participate in tournaments. Even if you don't win, it is always fun.

In 1938, Shusai, last Go Master, undefeated but old and his health undermined by illness, engages himself in his last battle. His opponent, Otaké, plays an aggressive, efficient and brilliant game. The game whose issue is unavoidable (one of them will lose) will last six months.
There is a great divide between the two heroes of the story. Shusai represents the ancient spirit, simple and luminous, and even in his autocratic behavior evokes the forces of nature. Otaké is the incarnation of modernity. He is solemn, inflexible and triumphant.

We can see, through the masterpiece of Nobel-Prize winner Kawabata, the struggle of the great Go Master against three opponents: time, death and his opponent. In fact, we witness an unending battle between tradition and modernity. However, what we notice is just the theme of destiny so present in the Japanese spirit. The Go Master, despite his fighting aptitude, despite his vast experience, has to face his fate, and nothing can prevent this.

The Master of Go is a superb piece of literature which displays the game between tradition and modernity with great wisdom.

1. Einstein was introduced to the game of Go by Dr. Edward Lasker, the author of Modern Chess Strategy with an appendix on Go. There is no evidence that Einstein was interested in playing Go.

2. Barack Obama offered Hu Jin Tao a Go board and glass bowls when he visited China in 2010.

3. Mao Zedong was fond of the board game Go and reportedly applied the game's strategy to his own military campaigns.

4. Nobel prize-winner John Forbes Nash used to play Go while he was at university.

5. Henry Kissinger in 2004: "... diplomatic styles of the United States and China can be compared with chess and the Chinese game Go. In chess there are only two results: an equal and mat. The goal of the game is, so to speak, a total win or loss. The battle resulted mainly in the center of the board. While the game is amazing in intermodal, the game is on the whole board in which aims to increase their own choices and to reduce the opponent. The goal of Go is not so much victory as the deployment and command of strategic initiative." (Image of Sun Zhu above. Most of the principles mentioned in his "Art of War" are applicable in the game of Go.)

Go as communication: The Educational and Therapeutic Value of the Game of Go is a book by Yasutoshi Yasuda, unfortunately not available on Amazon. Yasuda writes about how the game of Go benefitted children, the elderly and the handicapped to whom he taught the game.

Remarkable.

Please note that this book will not teach you how to play.

Hikaru No Go is a 23-volume manga series based on the game of Go which was later adapted into a 75-episode anime series. A feature film was also made. All very popular. For any age.

You have read about the board game Go, watched a number of episodes of Hikaru No Go, played a number of games online or on a board and made some new friends. So what else could you do?

If you are really good at Go you could participate in tournaments and leagues (e.g, join Advanced Study Room on KGS), local first and then maybe national and regional. You've become one of the best in your country? Go for the World Amateur Go Championship or the World Mind Sports Games.

But the fun doesn't stop here. There's so much more to do.

Of course, not every man and woman will want to climb the Everest at 71 as Katsusuke Yanagisawa did, but there are many other things for everybody. You always wanted to learn Japanese or Mandarin but never had the time. This is the right time to go ahead. Then buy recipe books and prepare some shushis or Peking duck.

Now you must be dreaming of traveling to Asia. Why hesitate? Call your travel agent, hop on a plane and experience different cultures. Visit the Nihon-Ki-In (Japanese Go Association) in Tokyo or the Chinese Weiqi Association in Beijing and play a few games with the local players.

This lens has received blessings from the following Squid Angels:

BuildABetterMouseTrip on 01/25/2011
Moonlitta on 01/26/2011
Kab on 02/16/2011
VickiSims on 03/25/2011
Tipi on 06/01/2011
sukkran on 08/12/2011

Thank you very much, BuildABetterMouseTrip, Moonlitta, kab, and VickiSims, Tipi and sukkran.

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