American Go E-Journal

GO SPOTTING: Go on the History Channel: Reader Drew Chuppe recently caught a go reference on a History Channel program called “The Art of War.” “They were talking about how the teaching of Sun Tzu could have helped Robert E. Lee win the Civil War,” Chuppe writes. “To my surprise, the narrator remarked that on the final day at Gettysburg, ‘Lee abandoned his go strategy and reverted to chess strategy’ and stated that the charge up Cemetery Ridge was dictated by chess strategy.” Go “teaches us to stay away from the opponent’s thickness and look for weaknesses in his position,” says Chuppe, noting that “Ordering a charge across a broad, open field into cannon fire is the battlefield expression of placing a stone next to your opponent’s strong wall. As an aside, I have read The Art of War but I do not recall any overt reference to go (though) there are a few strategic statements that could apply.” In a related go connection, graphic designer and longtime American go community contributor Mike Samuel – who designed many of the annual U.S. Go Congress logos — designed the History Channel’s iconic logo.