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The hidden symbolism in logic games
The hidden symbolism in logic games
| The hidden symbolism in logic games |
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| Написано от Ioni Lazarov | |||
| Понеделник, 12 Май 2008 16:22 | |||
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Web of questions General classification of games Most games can be classified as follows: games of chance and games of strategy. Games of chance include backgammon, mahjong, card games (“what cards are dealt”) and the wide range of gambling games. Games with thinking and strategy, where chance plays insignificant part, are Gomoku (five-in-row), variants of Chess, Reversi, Sport Bridge, Go... Neither game originated by chance or at an inappropriate place; each game reflects different gaits of man towards happiness : some consider that this is possible through luck or chance while others – through improvement and knowledge, where the proverb applies: “Tell me what game you play, so I could tell you what kind of man you are”. The present research is devoted to games where “chance plays insignificant role” - that is logic and strategy games. First, these games are logical because the cause-effect link is present – causality; or in other words – karmic bond . In Chess and Go one move follows the other in a quite logical scheme. Every move is connected with the rest and is determined by them, and in turn it determines the future ones. Second, these games are strategic because they rely on strategy and tactics – priorities and means for their accomplishment. Priorities and the different strategies which answer the question WHY or what goal we are seeking . And the different means, for reaching our goals and answer the question HOW, are tactical, which are considered to serve the strategic plans. In Buddhism the causal link is in the base of the sansaric realm or our conditioning - “we can't escape our own shadow”. In the East as a whole there's subtler understanding of the causal link; for example the Indian system Sankhya claims that cause and effect arise simultaneously. Similar is the Chinese view bin shen or the principle of “common birth of things” by the type form shadow. According to I Ching (“The Book of changes”) everything new arises as an embryo in the old. The Moon (Yin) reflects the light coming from the Sun (Yang) – The moonlight is an effect of the sunlight. All this throws new moonlight on logic games, revealing them as models of the world; they reflect the sacred celestial images. But do they reflect them well? When we keep in mind that they are played on checked tables - “Nature's mesh is loose but it does not miss a thing.” (Dao De Jing). About the celestial images is being spoken of in the ancient societies of India, China and Greece . In Chinese Xiangqi Chess the “Xiang” hieroglyph means “image”; or once again it is about following the celestial images. They are intuitive games as well because we are not supplied with the complete information to take the “right decision” when we make our next move. Many factors interfere with the choice for a move, this happens on the table as well as outside of it – the player cannot consider them all. Often the “right decision” is chosen almost at the end of the game at that after a thorough analysis. Intuition is based on our experience and thanks to it we grow as players and persons . Intuition and logic do not counteract but complement each other . That's why when speaking of “logic games” we should consider also strategic, intuitive, associative and so on. And indeed in logic games all the categorical structures of culture are actual: space and time, necessity and freedom, possibility and reality . When we place a piece on the table peculiar sound is produced. In fact this sound resounds simultaneously in the “three times” - past, future, present and it vibrates along with the “ten thousand things”. The move is determined by the past moves, whose echo is floating in space. In turn with its sound it determines future moves. And all this happens with the placement of the piece – here-and-now. Everyone knows the sound of clapping with both hands but can anyone imagine the sound of clapping with one hand? Principles of logic games. Theory of games There are two major game principles and accordingly two major types of logic games. In the first type there is initial arrangement, the pieces are present on the table and the game consist of their movement and maneuvering where the goal could be set to capture the main opponent's piece (that's the mate in Chess). Such kind of games are the variants of Chess, Checkers, the ancient Roman game Latrunculi and others. From theory of games' perspective these are “games with complete information.” With the second type of games, the game begins with a empty table and the pieces, usually similar – black and white pieces (stones), are placed on it and are not moved anymore. In the game process the creation and construction of forms is apparent, which resembles very closely drawing and cosmogenesis. Such kind of games are Go, Gomoku (five points), Reversi and others. Some of the computer games known as “the turn-based strategies” also use the two principles. In 1944 John von Neumann writes in co-authoring the book “Theory of games and economic behavior” where the theory of games term was coined. The theory is an attempt of Von Neumann to describe the structure of games and how people play them. He starts with studying Chess and Poker and later continues with modeling the complex processes of economics. After World War II Von Neumann's ideas are being realized and it is worked on the progress and strategies of the Cold War. From this moment on mathematical theory of games becomes basic tool of the generals experimenting their military strategies by looking on battles as complex Chess games . In the beginning and the end of the movie “Beautiful mind” the mathematician and specialist in theory of games, John Nash, plays Go games in the Princeton University yard. In the first game he loses and he is angry and leaves the battlefield, in the second game he loses too but he faces defeat with a smile – he got wiser. Nash is now ready to win Nobel prize in economics. From theory of games' perspective these are games with “zero sum”, in other words one wins, the other loses . But in fact in both games we face rivalry and cooperation and various moduses of opposing . We the good and they the bad, I and the other: enemy, opponent, friend, respected master. And precisely the cultivation of cooperation helps us in our real life to construct “positive sum games” - situations and relationships where everyone wins and there are no losers. And this is just one of the threads which leads from these games to cooperation, harmony and spirituality. It is sad when the players of these inmost games do not realize their real purpose, that is when the only accent on rivalry and ignore cooperation . In the Chinese Xiangqi Chess the pieces are painted in green and red. In the Korean Changgi Chess they are painted in blue and red. Blue and green as a whole are one color. These color symbolize water and fire (Yin and Yang). They also symbolize the opposition of the two trigrams from I Ching - “The Chinese book of changes” and they are mirror oppositions – Kan-water and Li-fire. In the realities of the Chinese inner alchemy the water is in a cauldron over the fire. Water naturally goes down, fire naturally goes up – the collision between them is inevitable. The fire heats the water in the cauldron; at some point the water evaporates up and is not dangerous for the fire, at another the boiling water overflows and puts out the fire. Everything is a matter of ratio and dosage but also nothing is predetermined. There are many oppositions in I Ching and that is one of the central questions there. Hexagram №38 is called K'uei - „Opposition“. A logic games are subject to a special attention from the specialist in artificial intelligence, and that is perfectly normal – as models for dicision making. Chess, being center of attention for a long time, currently gives way to Go. The prognosis is that anytime soon computer will not be able to beat professional human go-player. But when this happens, humanity should prepare for a watershed, because then computers and robots will be able to imitate almost all human things . Actually not a few people have already passed this watershed. This happens when we play computer games with the meaning of the movie “The Matrix”. The players imagine that they take original decisions but they actually follow the invisible directions of the Programmer (“The Architect” in the movie). Or they stay in the illusion of creators, taking own decisions and this is not a bad thing, if only they know how to leave this illusionary world. The most significant member of the first type of games is Chess and its varieties: Shogi – Japanese Chess, Chinese Chess – Xiangqi, Korean Chess –Changgi. Everything said here so far about “Chess” in a great extent applies to all varieties of Chess. Here with “Chess” we will mean the European variety. The most significant member of the second type of games is Go. That's why we accent on Chess and Go. Family games The modest game of Merels (Nine Men Morris) combines the principles of both types, because in the beginning the pieces are placed on the empty table, taking strategic positions, and then they are moved according to the game goals. How and when the game was invented is unknown . It is good that children learn to play Merels early, it is really a family game and is an introduction to all the rest logic games. But before Merels became “kids game” it was a ritual game, representing the “three worlds” and having a lot in common with the Tibetan mandalas and correspondingly the picture of the world . It is being studied at the same age when the “magical fairy tales” are being listened to, where it is told about the “three brothers” - usually the first two fail but finally the youngest one succeeds, standing on the shoulders of the elder ones . In the magical fairy tales it is also spoken about the “three kingdoms” where “impossible” tasks are given- which look like koans - “Walk – in unknown direction. Bring an unknown thing. The road is long, how you are supposed to make it – unknown.” The games are potentially accessible for anyone – they can be leaned in the family, by experienced instructor or books-tutorials . All these games could be family games. It is a way of communication in the family , overcoming the “rapture between the generations” - establishing communication between the “roots, branches and leaves.” By practicing logic games the negative consequences of too much television watching are avoided, which is example of passive time spending. Non-critical staring at TV is “preparation stage” for the role of user in the consumer society. While Lasker says: “I would like to educate students, who are capable of individual thinking and put the subject to criticism.” Psychological qualities of logic games. Passive and active concentration of attention exist. That's why logic games are so beneficial, especially for kids, because they provoke not specially searched, but very useful active concentration. We all are feeling creatures, but we also need to be thinking. Only when heart and mind are combines we could expect something significant. Logic games as a whole familiarize us with conscious and active attitude to life. Games take up the whole range between “escape from reality” and meditation. It is not an accident that there are so many classes and ranks – they hint at the different worlds, where the players reside. Luckily everything depends on the specific person and his choice – what game he has chosen and the way he plays it. And here is the watershed between user and creator. Of course it is impossible man to be creator in everything, otherwise civilizations would become meaningless. But following the intuition a sphere of life could be find, which could really add to the development of society. Scientists determine that logic games are a good way for intellect development . Games develop different creative capabilities and skills. Generally, for the psychological qualities of the games could be said: Go - global selection of strategy, imagination and intuition; Chess - decision making in conflict situations; Checkers – clear planning, analysis; Merels – tactical estimation; Gomoku – quick wit and wail; Sport Bridge – intuitive feeling of the partner. Metaphors for Chess. The goal in Checkers is to take all of the opponent's pieces. In Chess in addition to taking opponent's pieces (game of elimination) a new goal is present – capturing of the main opponent Chess man – the king; this leads to new priorities and strategies in this exciting game – for example pieces could be sacrificed in order to achieve the goal – mate. For Checkers and all varieties of Chess is typical transformation of pawns into queens – process similar to the “magical transformations” and also that “every soldier carries the marshal's baton in his pack” (Suvorov, russian general). In Chess we have two armies involved in a battle between each other . So a good metaphor for Chess is the glorious battle described in “Mahabharata” and it's part “Bhagavad-Gita”. A battle where the armies of the Solar dynasty of the Pandavas and the Moon dynasty of the Kauravas – the black and white collide! Many relatives of both sides are facing each other and death stands in between. The leader of the Pandavas, Arjuna, is uncertain that this bloodbath is necessary: “Oh, Krishna! I don't want to kill nor be killed by them, even if it was about the power over the three worlds, and not for some earthly kingdom.” But Krishna encourages him to enter the battle anyway: “Neither he who considers himself killer nor he who thinks he could be killed knows the truth. [This Self] has never been born or died. It will never cease to exist. Unborn, eternal and permanent. It – the primary, doesn't die with the death of the body. The same way a man throws away his worn out clothes and puts new ones, the incarnated Self leaves the worn out bodies and takes new ones. The Self cannot be slain, burned, wet or dried. It is eternal, all-penetrating , permanent, immutable and primary.” This way, the wise men, created “Bhagavad-Gita”, meant that one have to direct his energy inwards, in other words towards self-knowledge and self-perfection. The ideal is “mastered aggressiveness” and the battlefield is a symbol of the inevitable battles led in the person between the good and bad forces, between the ego and his higher nature. As methods of self-knowledge and self-control in “Bhagavad-Gita” Samkhya and Yoga are given. Samkhya means to know the “map of the area”, in other words in answers the question “why”, which leads to orientation and strategy. Yoga shows the specific ways for reaching union and harmony with one's Self and answers the question “how”, corresponding with the tactical means, which let us keep up with the strategy . Important moment before the battle is dislocation and building up the armies on the battlefield: earth, air, water, cosmic space. Logistics is responsible for this preparation for the battle – vast unseen work in the back. Metaphorically this is the preparation of the chess-player . This is work for the retrieval and processing of the information, developing different game plans and their verification with a computer. Because as the Chinese thinker Sun Tzu (5th century BC) says in “Art of War” - “the battle is over before it has begun”. All that happens in a logic game – is has already happened in the preparation and the wage of a real war. Before a real war is fought, it is carefully planed and played in the headquarters on computers, in other words first a “virtual war” is conducted and often it does not really happen because the loser in the virtual war often is willing to retreat; as Sun Tzu says – “The greatest victory is to win a war without leading any battles” . Usually the “weaker”side cannot use the same resources in the war preparation and that's why it ends up with “asymmetrical war” and attempts to “change the rules of the game”. It has to be noted that there is nothing holy in leading real war but logic games are their analogues and paths towards “mastering aggressiveness”. And as the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead (1861 – 1947), witness of both World Wars, insists – “the world has move from negotiations with force to negotiations in cooperation”. Metaphors for Go. I assume that the rules of the game are known, as there are many websites devoted to them in all languages . There are many of the metaphors, explaining Go, but three are particularly interesting: Drawing, Cosmogenesis, Do-Yin. The three are dialectically connected and they complement each other. After explaining the “three worlds” in Merels, this is not a surprise. The game of Go, when looked at as art, looks like drawing – in both practices it is started with blank sheet or empty table, gradually the lines and colors are applied and correspondingly the pieces. In both there is a composition and a plan which at first are in the creator's imagination. And also it is started with the larger lines, corresponding to the conception of influence in Go and it ends with the most fine details, corresponding to the conception of territory in Go. Both arts require wide vision and meaningful actions. A painter expresses like this: “When the conception of the painting is almost ready I begin to feel uneasy. I am in an uplift, full of energy and receptive, but it is a chaotic condition. The crystallization happens unexpectedly; the image appears before my eyes and when I see it there I can draw and the painting comes out. All doubts disappear and only the purely technical part is left – the transfer of the already formed image to the canvas.” And this is very similar process to Go, where we have visualization of the possible moves and variants and their visible playing out on the table. On the technical side – with the first we have “resistance of the material” and with the second “resistance of the opponent” . How many colors are needed for drawing? The mathematical theorem for the “Four colors” proved in 1976 by Hacken and Apel shows that each card could be colored by no more that four colors. At the end of a Go game we also observe four formations: territory – moyo, live groups with two eyes, dead groups with one eye, neutral territories – dame. Four are the physical interactions, which scientist starting with Einstein, try to explain with the dreamed “Unified theory” . The four suits in Sport Bridge, symbolizing the seasons. The four seasons replace each other – life sprouts, flourishes, fruits and spreads the seeds and when the dark part of the year comes everything goes back to the beginning. Go also represents the cosmogenesis – the formation of the galaxies and worlds, their evolution and end; or Go as a “Model of the Universe”. But here we will pass this explanation because we will certainly stumble on speculative metaphysics. The third metaphor for Go is Do-Yin (Tao-Yin). This is the most ancient massage, based on Chinese medicine, worthy analogue of the ancient game. The lines in Go correspond to the meridians . The crossing points on the Go table, 361 in number, where the stones are places, correspond to the acupuncture points, where the needles are places (some of the oldest needles were made of stone). 361 points correspond to the days in the year – 361 are the important acupuncture points in the body (each defined for a day of the year). The body – the microcosmos correspond to the macrocosmos or “Whatever in Heaven, so on Earth”. The next important moment to be understood is the direction of flow of Go and Do-Yin. Both flow from the periphery towards the center ; we have centripetal spiral. Energy and ambitions are directed inwards and this is the beginning of initiation and spiritual growth. The shift in direction is noted also in “Dao De Jing” . The other name of Do-Yin is “back to the roots” which in the outer aspect is respect for the traditions and the ancestors and in the “inner alchemy” (Nei-Dan) is the finding or the personal center – tangen and hara (centering and finding own roots). If the roots are unknown it is meaningless to know what laws govern the growth of the leaves – respectively the cause-effects links . In fact Go and Do-Yin are the “accomplished Babylon tower”! Because in comparison to the Babylon tower, here the centripetal spiral is brought to the end. As it is known the construction of the Babylon tower has been abandoned because of the discord between languages and the chaos it caused. Another name for Go is shudan – silent communication, independent of the languages! Completeness of Chess and Go A Chess game starts with a battle for the middle and then the weight moves to the flanks and the periphery. Suitable comparison is the centrifugal spiral. It could be said that in this manner Go and Chess complement each other – one is centripetal spiral, the other centrifugal and actually this is the contraction and expansion. Contraction-Yin and expansion-Yang are complementary principles and are the basis in every cosmology. Contraction and expansion do not act separately but always together; the same was as yin and yang are complementary forces-principles. Rivalry and cooperation are observable at different levels, visible in the interaction of logic games too. Chess, being the most popular game in the West, is an indicator for the outer yang-expansion representing the scientific progress and the accent is on results and speed. Go, the most popular game in the East, is indicator of the inner yin-expansion – meditation and self-knowledge, or the accent is on the process and not on the results. In historical plan the West conquers the East (the came and gone wave of colonialism). Then the minds of the western conquerers are captivated by the deep spiritual teachings of the East. Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Vedanta, Yoga became popular in the West, where they find good grounds. In individual plan every person should manage to integrate the East and the West within the Self, and this is nothing else but the integration of the left and right brain hemisphere or the realization of the full potential of logic and intuition . In principle science is turned outwards, to mastering the world around and the so-called “outer modernism”; real experiments predominate. Usually the methods of science are extensive, unsparing natural resources. Meditation is turned inwards, to mastering the microcosmos and it is the inner ecology of spirit or we could say “inner modernism”; thought experiments predominate. Usually the methods of meditation are intensive, sparing natural resources . But there is no doubt that the modern world needs both tendencies, they complement each other. Chess and Go differ a lot but they also complement each other in the following characteristics. Chess – centrifugal spiral, Go – centripetal. Chess begins with prearranged pieces, ends with empty table. Go begins with empty table and ends with full with pieces table. Chess – game with “complete information” and is “predictable” for a computer, Go – game with “incomplete information” and is “unpredictable” for a computer. Chess accents more on result and speed, logic and tactics, while Go – on process and meditativeness, strategy and intuition. As a whole Chess is more yang and Go – yin. Origins of Chess and Go Legends about the invention of Chess and Go, in various modifications, whisper that these games are created by wise men – and although played by imperfect humans (from the “iron age”) they carry the hidden message and knowledge in an imperfect world ! Non-verbal transmission of knowledge, as the ancient games , complement the verbal legends which bear their limitations, because as Huang Zu (around 370 – 300 BC) says: “if this was something that could be spoken about then anyone would tell his brother about it!” As a whole the completeness principle is typical for the yin and yang philosophy – two forces which complement each other and cooperate. One of the synonyms of Go is shudan, which could be understood as non-verbal message . Cultures and civilizations had not always developed in ascending line or at least this statement is now taking place . In antiquity this cyclic character was know and that's why specific knowledge was encoded into games because it was known that in the passage of the cyclic time this knowledge would appear once again. Long time has passed, even the ancients do not remember the meaning put into the creation of Go . The game, probably created through the Golden Age, remained very respected, for which speak the wise men's statements. Confucius defines Go as mental occupation, protecting man from indolence; Man-Dzu gives an example with Go, which should be applied for everything else: In order to succeed, you need imagination and attention – same as with Go. Logic games have their own charm, because they are product of man's genius and the ideas put into them should not be neglected. As Leibniz (1646 – 1716), mathematician and philosopher, says: “nowhere else, nations exhibit such creativity and imagination as with invention of games”. Games are such an essential characteristic of human society that Johan Huizinga introduces the term homo ludens - “the playing man”. In his book after the same name he convincingly shows that games and the process of playing lay in the beginning of culture and civilizations. Here we have to say few words about I Ching - “The Chinese classic book of changes” . Created long ago, it contains 64 hexagrams, consisting of straight-yang and broken-yin lines. I Ching has two parts: inner and outer, which explain how things before becoming visible are invisible (inner). All the hexagrams describe 64 all-encompassing situations. Hexagrams arise from eight trigrams, which symbolize the eight directions of the world. The hexagrams traverse from one to another, as the moving motive is the “weak line”, which represents the “weak spot” and is easily changeable . It is characterized with different types of oppositions between the hexagrams – between opposition and cooperation; hexagrams are always viewed in pairs, which are opposing in one respect or another. I Ching, a mantic, prophetic and philosophic book has exerted lasting influence on the Chinese civilization. The philosophy of I Ching, with the search for the invariant among the infinite changes is very close to the logic games but this relation is internal, not external. That's why the opinion that I Ching is the ancestor of Chess, having 64 squares, is incorrect. Actually the Xiangqi Chess is played on a table with dimensions 9x10, or 90 squares. As it it is known that Go is invented in China about four thousand years ago, it is not so obvious that Chess is invented in Kushan Empire by the time of Chakravartin Kanishka, on the basis of Chaturanga . Kushan is a strategic ally with China and Rome, taking the best from the East and the West. In Kushan determining is the Mahayana variety of Buddhism. Main concern of Mahayana is developing of the “skillful means and methods” - upaya, necessary to make enlightenment and nirvana accessible for any type of mind. Chess is one of these skillful means; later Buddhism includes Go into its arsenal and spreads Chess and Go throughout Asia. While Go is spread through Asia and the world, it just changes its names but keeps the rules relatively untouched : Weiqi in China, Baduk in Korea, Igo in Japan, Goe in Taiwan, Kowei in Vietnam, Diorvyolch in Mongolia, Minmang in Tibet, Go in Europe and America. Chess spreads following the models of mahayana – it adapts well into the host country; significant changes appear, reflecting the originality of the nation's creativity, names change. Chess in China is called Xiangqi, in Korea – Changi, Japan – Shogi, Thailand – Makruk, Vietnam – Kotuong, Mongolia – Shatar, Tibet – Chandraki. Example of the creative development in the various chess games are the conceptions of castling – the defending of the King. In Chess castling is achieved in one move (speed), in Shogi it is accomplished gradually, move by move (following the meditative character of the game), in Xianqi the King has no right to leave the “forbidden city” (same as the Emperor). In European Chess the queen is the fastest and most powerful piece, following the models of the “hasty West” and “more rights for the women”. In Xianqi the “river”, which on at profane level separates North and South China, at sacral level level is the “Celestial river” or the Milky way. Collaboration between civilizations, religions and games The Huntington's thesis about the “clash of civilizations” is very debated and finally inaccurate. But, as with all prophecies, it also has the quality to “come true”, especially if it is “armed” by the people deciding the fate of humanity – the way you look at the mirror, the same way it will look back at you. It is clear that if humanity invests in educations it will have culture, if it sows misconceptions and weapons it will reap conflicts and war. Here are some of the ancient Chinese treatises on Go: “The gate to all wonders”, “Collection of harmless and recreational games”, “Mystical and amazing Go manual”, “Ode to Go”. 35 poems about Go has been written through Tan epoch alone. Let me notice that through that epoch (618 – 907), China has been the leading country in the world in science, culture, with harmonious relationships between the “three religions” - Buddhism, Daosism, Confucianism; as well as harmonious relationships between games. Here we see the truth in the proverb: “When a country is in progress, its Go is in progress too.” . But if we turn the equation around – it still holds true. As soon as a ruler is surrounded by clever and good people, such as the people from kiseido – the way of the wise, the country will progress. There are very close relationships between Buddhism and the logic games Chess and Go. Important moment in both logic games and Buddhism is the overcoming of the contradictions, the search for the invariant. In Lankavatra Sutra is written: “And yet, Mahamati, what non-dualism means? It means that light and shadow, long and short, black and white are relative terms, Mahamati, but not independent of each other; same as nirvana and samsara, all things – non-dual. Nirvana is where we have samsara; and samsara is where we have nirvana; the circumstances for their existence don't have mutually exclusive character. That's why it is said that all things are non-dual as nirvana and samsara are non-dual.” If Go has to repeat in some sense the steps of Chess in Europe then an useful analogy in this manner is the Buddhism experience of the “peaceful conquest” of Asia. For example, in its first stage of penetration in China from Kushan, it uses as a strategic ally Daosism. The Buddhists even created the legend that Lao Zu is Buddha's master. Also Buddhists use the vocabulary of of Daosism to explain their ideas. Daosism itself also enriches itself by being introduced to the Buddhists ideas and doctrines, some of which become part of it – for example, “immortality” is understood as “enlightenment”. Buddhists and Daosists agree that they have achieved creative union between the two religions . Could we expect similar strategic union between Chess and Go?! th century in Sun China (960 – 1279) there is Go grade-system which precedes the similar systems in all martial arts. There are nine grades which relate to the stages of development and enlightenment of the Go-player. The model of the nine meditative levels in Buddhism was followed. The common source is the “Shaolin” monastery where the theory of martial arts and Go has been developed – one of the bases of the historical Players of glass bead . Here are the grades-mental levels from ninth to first defined by Jang Ni in “Go manual in 13 chapters” form 11th century: “being in the spirit of enlightenment”, “settled in enlightenment”, “clarity of sight”, “understanding changes”, “entering wisdom” (entering kiseido), “ability” (soft way), “strength” (crude way), “completely clumsy”, “completely ignorant” . This illustrates upaya – Go is instrument for reaching altered states of consciousness and nirvana . It is apparent that logic games and mental sports contribute to creation of thought experiments and the art of supposition . Galileo (1564 – 1642) introduces the famous thought experiments which gives great push to physics. But it turns out that thought experiments are known from thousands of years to these who practice meditation, visualization and playing logic games. According to Yuri Lotman the genius capability of art is “the thought experiment, which allows us the examine the intangibility of one or other structures of being.” Thought experiments also has relation to the meditative visualization techniques. With these techniques the cosmic spaces move closer and it is not an accident the in Buddhism we talk about psycho cosmos . International Mind Sports Association Recently the International Mind Sports Association was established. It includes the games Chess, Go, Checkers and Sport Bridge. We see that logic games hold out hands to attain together a status of “Olympic sports” - a very timely initiative. Together they will thrive. It's been a long time since in the Worlds Olympics in Mind Sports takes place in London, respectively in pentathlon and decathlon. The perspective is to carry out an Olympiad over the Internet. Olympic sports have certain values. Logic games have always held up to similar values and easily coverts these requirements. Here in particular the usage of opiates is not stimulated. The future is to logic games because they humanity's perspectives are tied with two trends – mastering of the inner and outer modernism. Since we talk about inner modernism all the time, namely logic games, let's see how the question stands for the outer modernism, in this case interpreted as mastering the vast cosmic space. Inner and outer modernism intertwine. For example let's consider the “ET situation” - our potential allies and rivals in cosmic colonization. In principle we are extraterrestrial as the “hypothetical ETs” are – we are made of the same chemical elements and our inner nature cannot be much different than theirs. So anyone who is curious about ETs still has to study his own nature . No doubt we will differ in many things. But the means of communication and understanding will be “invariant things”. Part of the instruments studying the invariant things are I Ching and logic games. That's why Lasker has been joking there are ETs on Mars they would discover Go for sure. Or the principles of Go are so geniously simple that they can bind found again and again at various intersection points in cosmic space and time. That's why logic games and in particular Go would make excellent “means of communication” . Outer modernism standing at the base of science gives ways for exploration and colonization of cosmic space . As it is known, life and colonization could be carried out on planetary systems . But on planets with different physical characteristics, laws and rules of the logic games remains the same and they can be played anywhere with unaltered. And the virtues they develop are with no alternative – quick wits, logic, imagination and intuition, sense of tactics and strategy. Let's take weight lifting on various planets with different gravity for comparison – how would we practice this sport and many others? Or how would we run on Moon and achieve sprint records? If we throw a disc on a planet with minimal gravity it would rather launch into orbit, rather than fall on the stadium. We can see that all physical sports are dependent on gravity and they would endure significant changes. Actually it is clear that logic games in this situation have no alternative and for the reason that they bring us back to our roots – Planet Earth . Logic games have wonderful future because they have wonderful past and noble origin! They are part of the historical heredity of mankind. A comparison between Chess and Go It is important to know that an amateur or a professional at one type of game begins to study another type he can learn a lot about the strategy and tactics and as a result he would improve his skills in his favorite game. If a chess player learns to play Go he expands his knowledge of Chess. If a Go player practices Chess he expands his comprehension about “local engagements” and “semeai” and their inherent “tree of possibilities.” There are many popular comparisons between Chess and Go . I will notice that Chess is played professionally and as a hobby but only Go has established system with world championship separately for amateurs and professionals! Here we can complement the made so far comparisons. On the average a Chess game consists of about 80 half-moves. On the average a Go game consists of about 240 half-moves. This means that the “mathematical weight” of a Chess-move is more than that of Go-move. In other words if a mistake is made in a Chess game it is very difficult to compensate for it till the end of the game, as a result in modern Chess the “first mistake” is of great importance – it is often the cause for a game loss. This shifts the weight in a modern competitive Chess game on the opening. This imposes revision on the entire preparation of the Chess player – it becomes most important to observe and absorb a lot of information, related to the opening territory. From here on room for creativity is greatly reduced because the accent does not fall on mitelspiel and endspiel. Ex-world champion Robert Fischer proposes Chess with random initial arrangement of the pieces, thus eliminating the opening variants, but this proposal is not widely accepted so far. With Go things stand a little bit differently. Opening territory is also present here but because of the numerous possible variants, it is defined as opening principles and conceptions. Also, for all phases of the Go game, Go-proverbs, conceptions, heuristic rules illustrating on moment or another, have been created. Here are few such heuristic principles, just for flavour: “The essence of Go is in harmony. Go in the 21st century will become the “harmony of the eight directions” - the four cardinal point and the interstices between them. Same way as we need more of the whole than the parts in life. For 300 years now Japanese Go is focused a lot more on the local (joseki) than on the whole. The reason Koreans and Chinese overwhelm Japanese is that they are have much more holistic perspective of the table.” - Go Seigen, 9 grade, 1994. Go Seigen is the best player of the 20th century, living legend. Born in China, gained acknowledgment in Japan. This statement takes back to the eight directions – the “eight trigrams” - fundamental part of I Ching. I Ching is also know as “all-embracing changes”. The holistic perspective on the game leads us to the “Avatam sutra”. This mahayama sutra is an excellent example of the wholeness of the world and the interconnectedness of all things around us. Written in 5th century it is so modern with its holism. “In an implausible situation, the implausible move is plausible!”- Tamino. This principle leads us to the paradoxical Zen koans – way to “cope with thought” and reaching the intuitive levels . Go players have stepped in kiseido – the path of the wise and that's how they were called in ancient Asia. We have the following sequence on the path of mastering knowledge: data, information, knowledge, wisdom. Data and information need to be processed in theories, hypotheses and conceptions to become knowledge. Wisdom is a position harder to decipher, but it definitely has to do with the intuitive levels. An important characteristic of the knowledge-wisdom transition is illustrated in “Dao De Zin”: “The scientist extends his knowledge every day. The wise man parts with something everyday and reduces his desires reaching non-doing. There is nothing impossible for non-doing” Huang Zu: “The wise man uses his mind as a mirror: he fetches nothing and repels nothing. Apprehend but does not keep.” The low mathematical weight of a Go-move doesn't mean that a single move is insignificant. In other words, important is the sequence of moves which sets the strategic plan. It turns out that Go possesses perfect characteristics and that's why it is unattainable even for the most powerful computers. There is really grand battle in Chess – clash between two armies. While there are 5-6 smaller battles in Go which should be switched back and forth using tenuki – change of course. Loss of 2-3 such battles is acceptable but still victory of the military campaign is possible. Chess was center of attention at the time of the Cold War when two super forces were opposing. Now when multi-poled worlds becomes reality, with the emergence of USA-EU-Japan-Russia-China, the perfect game model is Go. One of the principles of Go - “Think globally, act locally” – is something that should be considered by any world or regional force. Besides, Go has no front line, which makes it very close to the awaken to the realities of 21st century – the phenomenon of stealthy terrorism. What Chess and Go players can learn from each other Many Chess players have relations to Go. Undoubtedly the best known example is ex-world champion Emanuel Lasker. He studies Go very hard in the last years of his life . And his uncle Edward Lasker is the “father of American Go”; he has written the manual “Go and Gomoku”. When Aleksandr Alehin becomes world champion he makes a trip through Asia and there he familiarizes himself with Shogi, Xianqi and Go. A modern example at this is world champion Garry Kasparov. Kasparov's trainer shows Go to him and suggests that he should study it, pointing out that it would help significantly in the understanding of territorial conceptions and the concepts center-periphery . Anatoly Karpov also knows how to play that game. David Bronstein, in his last book about experiments with computer Chess - “David against Goliath”, also mentions Go. French grand master Noel Lotie also knows Shogi and Go. Historians and theorists in Chess have also made attempts to get known with Go. Here are some of them: Karl Himly (Hanover 1836 – Wiesbaden 1904); Antonius van der Linde (Haarlem 1833 – Wiesbaden 1897); H.J.R. Murray (London 1868 – Midhurst 1955) . In more recent times Sam Sloan and grand master from Petersburg Leonid Yudasin, who writes in his book “Millenium World of Chess”: “Among the created by mankind intellectual games, I found only one comparable to Chess in completeness, harmony and relationship with our spiritual nature. This is Go. [ ... ] I think it would be useful for the Chess world to touch to the philosophy, symbolism and ethics of Go, to enrich itself.” Definitely, Go players also have something to learn from Chess players. Very valuable is the experience from the long time presence of Chess in Europe. Came from the East, this game is now considered almost western. Before Chess gained such popularity on the West, Europe and America it went through a lot of peripeties and even bans . In spite of that it established itself. It is useful for Go-players and organizers to learn this priceless Chess experience . FIDE, The World Chess Federation has a good motto: “Gens una sumus” - “We are one familiy”. It would be great if IGF, The World Go Federation, work out a motto too. Knowing about theses and other historical parallels is very valuable now, when Chess, Go, Checkers, Bridge are united in International Mind Sports Association with a goal of obtaining “Olympic sports” status. Future of logic games The Olympic and cosmic future of logic games is beyond all doubt. It is certain that we can expect many pleasant surprises. Before logic games lie rivalry and cooperation on the model of religions and civilizations. But they have common enemy in the face of poor spirits and many negative social phenomenons which give them motivation to go on together. It is obvious that when society invests in the virtual world of games it steps back from the horrors of real wars. Modern times are characterized with exponential increase in information. Chess and Go give a good example of how to work with information, and the intuition they develop, is a great tool for navigation in the “informational jungle”. We have to choose continuously where to go next – logic games are good model for choosing moves and directions. Chess and Go are to develop their theory in the direction of uniting the inner logic of the game and the outer frame of the all-embracing life. A good model of unification of inner and outer reality is given by the experience of Daosism and Buddhism. And irreplaceable role in this unified theory will play thought experiments and metaphors. Especially the metaphor of the cosmogenesis, which shines here with it's absence. On their side, logic games can grant the “living life” with the ideas of “popular tactics and strategy”. Or how to apply in our everyday life the principles of tactics and strategy, learned by practicing logic games. And how economic “thought experiments” can save the irreplaceable natural resources.
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