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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Nov 20, 2022 11:01:35 GMT
Make the game of Go spread as far and wide as chess with a PoD before 1900.
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Nov 20, 2022 22:39:13 GMT
Make the game of Go spread as far and wide as chess with a PoD before 1900.
Well its difficult because chess is fairly well established in the west by that time I believe. Possibly either Japan or a China which becomes more open and reformist rather than reactionary becomes a lot more fashionable than even OTL Japan and assorted elements of its culture become popular. Go is a fascinating game but very complex to play despite the simplicity of its rules and possibly some significant figures express an interest in it. Especially say a member of the royal family in Britain or Germany or someone with the profile of a Teddy Roosevelt in the US and things take off from there?
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Nov 21, 2022 10:17:01 GMT
What if some horse nomads who are in contact with China happen to like it?
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Nov 21, 2022 16:25:45 GMT
What if some horse nomads who are in contact with China happen to like it?
If you mean the Mongols then that would probably only really happen with Kublai Khan or afterwards. The early Mongols held fairly true to their nomadic roots and had a fair amount of contempt for 'civilized' people and their activities. Plus I can't really see a nomad lunging around a go board and stones.
From Kublai's time it could become popular and possibly seen/sold as a war game for training people in strategy but its still unlikely to spread to the west although old Marco could possibly bring it back with him.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Nov 21, 2022 16:28:47 GMT
Make the game of Go spread as far and wide as chess with a PoD before 1900. |
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Post by Otto Kretschmer on Nov 21, 2022 16:41:43 GMT
Make the game of Go spread as far and wide as chess with a PoD before 1900. It's difficult but not imposdible. I think the game might be in Persia by the time of the Han Dynasty. Then it may spread to other parts of the Middle East and then to Europe. I thought maybe some defeated dynasty might go abroad and take the game there? |
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raunchel
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Post by raunchel on Nov 21, 2022 19:16:46 GMT
Before 1900 it's pretty doable. You could just have chess not being invented and by definition go is more popular if it does get invented.
But even without that the spread of both games depended a lot on chance. But the problem with getting Go to the west is that it's very far away. I however think that the Mongols could have adopted it more widely which could in turn have gotten them to bring it further west to what would later become Russia. And then it just has a little further to go.
An alternative could happen far earlier through steppe nomads. The issue is that they generally don't lig around lots of useless things but it could have happened. You could then have Go arrive to all sorts of places through new rulers in Persia or even through the Magyar invasion and the like. Then you can have it spread wider throughout the middle ages.
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