After writing some of my own Two Cents on Go, I've found that Go is simply impossible to explain or refer to in two sentences, and very hard to explain within a maximum of 300 words. But I will try to answer the question of “What is a Go Club?”

The Go Club at Auburn High School began last year and its members play Go - the world's oldest and most-played game.

Go, also known as igo, baduk and weichi, is a game of capturing territory where two players place black and white stones on the intersecting points of a grid-like board.

Most Americans barely know anything about Go, but more than 100 million players worldwide play it with great enthusiasm.

My Go Club is the smallest club at school. Unlike the other clubs, we have to scrape together money to import Go sets and then spend time teaching each new member how to play, while helping the other members improve their game.

In order to keep our club free for all members, we can join organizations like the American Go Association, which would normally give us money and high quality Go sets.

The game was created more than 4,000 years ago in China, and from there its importance grew to the point that Confucius named it one of the Four Great Accomplishments of ancient China.

Today, many players consider it more of a form of art and even a martial art as it teaches self-discipline and provides a mental workout.

Despite being such a tiny and unknown club, we have our own Web site at http://auburnhighgoclub.bravehost.com where more information on Go and the club can be obtained. We hope to grow into a bigger and better club and spread the noble teachings of Go.

Valerie Smith

Auburn