GO

"Chess is to go (碁) as double entry accounting (複式簿記) is to philosophy." Trevanian said in his book "Shibumi". Well said! Trevanian.
Chess and shogi are like siblings. They are pretty much straightforward and have a clear-cut goal of capturing the King of your enemy. They are at best a substitute of war or reflection of materialistic gain and lose, which he compared to "double entry".
On the other hand, Go has no brothers or sisters. It is unique in the world; philosophy and universe in itself. It is the world of harmony, balance, tranquility and "eloquent silence" . It is a game of understanding rather than knowledge. It is a state of "being" that one is highly unlikely to find in any other games.
I grew up, watching my grand father and father playing Go and was fascinated by the mysterious game. I from time to time asked my father what exactly they were playing for, but he said that I would never understand it unless I play it by myself. When I entered university, I learned by myself how to play and got hooked on it. My father never instructed me how to move, instead he just let me play whatever move I thought was right. He just played with me without any praise for my good move nor any remark for bad one. He was way stronger than me but he patiently kept playing with me. You know how boring a game could be if you play with too weak an opponent.
When 3 years had passed there was no handicap between us. We played on even. I began to win the game with him. By the time I graduated from the university I got stronger to a level that I gave him a handicap. One day, with feeling he said "I can't beat you any more." I remember how I felt sad at his words. From that time on he was getting reluctant to play with me. He was getting old for sure. I was young and improving. That might be the moment I first glanced at the reality of life. Sad but we cannot but accept...
.....Before I am aware... I am about his age when I outperformed him in Go game....
Recently we can play it through the Internet. I have just played the game with someone I do not know. I enjoyed the play. I lost.