User:YamadaAtsushi/sandbox

Pair Go is a new mind sport that was invented in 1990 by Taki Hisao, who is well known as the founder of Gurunavi, Inc., a site that recommends gourmet restaurants and pubs. “PAIR GO” is the registered trademark of the public interest incorporated foundation Japan Pair Go Association.

Outline
Pair Go is a competitive game played by two pairs, with each pair consisting of a male and female, on one Go board. The pairs play alternately: first, the female player of the pair holding black; next, the female player of the pair holding white; next, the male player of the pair holding black; and next, the male player of the pair holding white. At present, there are international tournaments and domestic tournaments for amateurs and professionals. Pair Go contests have been included as official events in international sports gatherings, and it has been recognized as one of the mind sports. It’s possible for players of the same gender to form pairs, but the official rules of the Japan Pair Go Association specify that a pair is formed by a male player and a female player. In general, in view of the aims of popularizing Go and promoting exchange, almost all Pair Go events adopt the male/female format. The inventor of Pair Go, Taki Hisao, had a strong wish to popularize the game more widely among females. According to the official rules, the members of a pair are not permitted to consult each other. In order to win, it’s necessary for the pair to understand each other and to play with consideration in covering for each other’s mistakes. Pair Go has contributed to popularizing Go not just among the ranks of older men but also among the younger generation and among women and children. To further its aim of spreading among a wider range of people, the Japan Pair Go Association awards Best Dresser prizes as a side event at tournaments that it organizes.

Invention
Pair Go is a new mind sport born in Japan that was invented in 1990 by Taki Hisao, who is also known as the founder of Gurunavi, Inc., At the first tournament, held in 1990, Ishida Yoshio 9-dan acted as chief referee and he praised Pair Go as “an interesting game when you try it.” The source of the concept of Pair Go was team Go (rengo), a form of Go that had existed since the distant past. Two go boards are placed side by side, and a number of players take it in turns to play. The players play the move on the neighboring board on the board in front of them, a process that takes place through the medium of the left brain. This has the demerit of lessening the competitive meaning of the game. This gave birth to Mr. Taki’s concept of Pair Go, in which two players are matched against another two players while using just one Go board. By using just one board, the game proceeds through the medium of just the right brain, which can also be called the competitive brain. The game gains in interest because the number of variations become greater though having a number of players take part.

Rules
The official rules of Pair Go, as determined by the Japan Pair Go Association, are given below. The rules are available in five languages: Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, and Spanish. Also, the rules were decided in 1991, the year after the game’s invention, and their drafting was supervised by Yoshikuni Ichiro, Honorary President of the Japan Pair Go Association, who also served as director of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau.
 * A male player and a female player form a pair; the members of the pair sit on the same side of the Go board. Players of the same gender face each other over the board.
 * The male and female players play alternately. The first move is made by the female member of the pair taking black; next, the female member of the pair taking white plays; next, the male member of the pair with black plays; next, the male member of the pair with white plays. This rotation continues throughout the game.
 * The members of a pair must not consult each other or give advice. Conversation is permitted only for deciding to resign or to check whose turn it is to play.
 * In consulting the partner about resigning, the player whose turn it is asks their partner, who must reply only yes or no.
 * When a mistake is made in the order of players, an objection can be made only about the move just played. When a rotation error has been made, a move cannot be replayed. A penalty of three points is levied on the pair that made the mistake.
 * If it is confirmed that partners have made an illegal exchange of information, the pair concerned forfeits the game.
 * When passes are made in succession, the game concludes.
 * When handicap games are played in tournaments for amateurs, the ranks of the two players in a pair are added, then divided by two to calculate the “pair points.” The handicap is decided by the difference from the pair points of the other pair.

Tournaments
The tournament that determines the world’s number one amateur pair each year is the International Amateur Pair Go Championship, which was founded in 1990. A Japanese Pair Go tournament in which top male and female professionals from the Nihon Ki-in and the Kansai Ki-in compete, the Professional Pair Go Championship, was founded in 1994. In 2008, Pair Go became an official sport at the Mind Sports tournament. In 2010, it was included in the Guangzhou Asian Games; in 2011, it was an official sport at the SportAccord World Mind Games, which is recognized by the IOC. The following international professional tournaments have been held: the Pair Go World Cup 2010 in Huangzhou, China; the Pair Go World Cup 2016 Tokyo; the Pair Go World Championship was held each year from 2017 to 2019. In 2019, an international tournament was held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the birth of Pair Go. At present, the game is played in 75 countries and territories (as of September 2020). It is planned to hold the Pair Go World Cup 2020 Tokyo, in which the world’s top professional and amateur players will compete, from June 30 to July 4, 2021, in Tokyo. During this period, on July 1 and 2, it is planned to hold the Pair Go Official Handicap Tournament, in which amateur pairs will compete. Ratings determined by the rating system on the Internet Go salon Pandanet will be used as the unified basis for the rankings of all the players taking part. The handicaps will be decided by the “pair points” calculated on the basis of the rankings determined by this rating system. Ratings in Go differ in different parts of the world, meaning that there are often big differences in strength among players of the same nominal ranks, so the lack of a unified rating system has been a problem. Since the games in the Official Pair Go Handicap Tournament will use ratings determined by a unified system, so it will be possible to eliminate these differences and calculate the correct handicaps. For this reason, it is expected that this tournament will have an epoch-making effect on the popularization of Pair Go.

Olympics
The international popularization of Pair Go has made big strides. In 2008, the World Pair Go Association (WPGA) was founded with the aim of further popularizing and developing Pair Go. As of September 2020, the association had 75 countries and territories affiliated with it. Matsuura Koichiro, the 8th Director General of UNESCO, serves as president. Also, the Committee to Make Pair Go an Olympic Sport was launched on June 30, 2015. In October 2019, the Japan Go Federation, an incorporated foundation, was founded by the Japan Pair Go Association in cooperation with the Nihon Ki-in and the Kansai Ki-in; it is the only body that represents the Japanese Go world internationally. It also is carrying out activity to secure the adoption of Go and Pair Go as Olympic sports in the future.

Artificial intelligence
Attention is also being paid to Pair Go in the field of artificial intelligence. It is thought that the design of Pair Go as a game in which you have to read on the Go board not only the plans of the pair you are playing against but also have to communicate (not as conversation but in the sense of “transmission”) with your partner may mean that Pair Go will be useful for basic research in considering the problems of communication between humans and artificial intelligence. The unique ability of human beings to engage in a contest by operating in harmony with someone without replying on visual or audible forms of communication such as words and signs can be expected to contribute to the new world that will be constructed in the future by cooperation between humans and the science and technology of artificial intelligence.

Related entries

 * Professional Pair Go Championships
 * European Pair Go Championship
 * Japan Pair Go Association
 * Pair Shogi
 * Bughouse chess

External Link

 * Japan Pair Go Association

Category:Go