I’ve been playing Go, a grid-based strategy game that dates back thousands of years, for more than three decades, and it’s a game I enjoy a great deal. Unlike chess, which is often an all-or-nothing game of attack and defense, Go is about slowly-evolving strategies to surround the largest territory on the board. Each player, black and white, alternates placing stones on a board with a 19-by-19 grid. Building up territory, where the opposing player cannot get a foothold, each player attempts to enlarge his or her territory, and thwart advances and invasions by the opponent.
It’s easy to learn the rules of Go; it’s hard to become really good at the game. This is a game that computers can’t yet defeat: the best programs can only defeat professional players with a handicap (Go has a handicap system where the weaker player gets to place from two to nine stones on the board at the start of the game).
If you want to play Go, or want to improve your game, there are a number of excellent iOS apps that can help you learn how to play and try to master the game. Here are the best ones.
Read the rest of the article on Macworld.