A 4,000-year-old game considered one of the essential arts of ancient Chinese scholars. A game described as six chess matches played simultaneously. A game that pushes human understanding to its limits, and survives in a small but mighty community in the Quad Cities: Go.
Since 2007, the Quad Cities Go Club (QCGC) has met every Saturday morning at Rozz-Tox in Rock Island. On Feb. 21, members trickled in after 10:00 a.m., bamboo boards in tow. Sipping hot tea in the back of the cafe, they set up their boards and began talking about the age-old appeal of Go.
With only two players, the goal is to accumulate the most territory on the board – but Go’s simplicity is deceptive. The CEO of Google DeepMind, Demis Hassabis, studies the complexity of the game to teach AI models.
According to Hassabis, the number of possible configurations of the board is more than the number of atoms in the universe.
In 2016, Hassabis’ AI model AlphaGo beat a human grandmaster for the first time. QCGC livestreamed the match, following along on their own boards in disbelief.
“We didn’t see it coming,” said Steve Kopp, who started playing Go after watching the infamous match. “Many people asked if Go was worth playing after AI beat it. Do we need to spend our lives mastering a game that computers can play better than us?”
For these players, the answer remains a yes. Joseph Wasiqi, the highest-ranked player in the group, frequently drives an hour to QCGC over closer options. Whether discussing philosophy with Dr. Deke Gould, a professor of Philosophy at Augustana, or teaching new players, Wasiqi said the QCGC’s community is unmatched.
Players must analyze their games together, more in collaboration than in competition. Go is a conversation, and nearly impossible to learn by yourself.
“I’ve been playing Go for a long time,” Wasiqi said. “One of the things I like most is teaching it. It’s always nice to get a chance to play other strong players, but sharing knowledge is really important to me.”
Wasiqi proved his words, sitting down for an hour with new attendee and Augustana First-Year, Connor Mauss, to play and discuss Go strategy.
Dr. Deke Gould has been a member of QCGC since 2011 and said that the communal aspect of Go is essential in a world where screens vie for our undivided attention.
“People are incentivized to seek stimulation through instant gratification … the internet and short-form videos,” Gould said. “But … there’s also a hunger for these enduring arts that require discipline and effort. It’s a matter of overcoming the discomfort of boredom.”
Many players point towards Go as a game that, through connection with others, reveals yourself. Joe Spennicchia, who has been attending QCGC for about a year, said he has seen real change in his life that he attributes to Go.
“Before I played Go, I was a super flaky, angry line cook at Village Inn. Go has mellowed me out and introduced me to a lot of people with positive worldviews that really improved my life!” Spennicchia said.
Despite a society of instant gratification, these Saturday morning meetings gather people who play for the art and for each other. They anchor their lives in a game that reveals their personalities and communication styles and makes them wrestle with questions about technology and human intuition. They win, they lose and they analyze again and again.
The Quad Cities Go Club meets every Saturday morning at Rozz-Tox and welcomes everyone from beginners to grandmasters. More information can be found on their Instagram @quadcitiesgoclub.
