Gobang(五子棋英文介绍)

Zhu

1

(Claire) Yuan Zhu

Professor Lynch

History&Culture of Games

October 2 2015

The Game of Wu Zi Qi

Wu

Zi

Qi(

五子棋

),

also

known

as

Gobang

or

Gomoku,

is

a

logic

strategy

board

game

commonly played with black and white pieces and 19x19 board (15x15 in some countries) with

intersections from the game Go. The origin of the game has been debated but researchers have

found evidence indicating China as its country of origin.

The record of game Go can be tracked back to the era of

Emperor Yao

, approximately 4000

years

ago. However, the game of Gobang is

believed to

be more ancient. Some evidence has

indicated

that

the

game

of

Wu

Zi

Qi

was

invented

and

spread

among

the

common

Chinese

people even earlier than 2350 BC.

Similar to the modern game

Connect Four

, Wu Zi Qi is a game of alignment. Players with

black or white pieces place stones on free intersections on the board, The goal of the game is to

line

five

pieces

vertically,

horizontally,

or

diagonally.

“Wu

Zi”

means

“five

points”

or

“five

pieces”, referring to the goal is to get five stones in a row. “Qi” is “chess”. Wu Zi Qi has always

been more suitable for young kids and the elderly than for adults. Although the rules of the game

were considered overly simple and completely free, Wu Zi Qi became one of the most favored

games in China.

However,

Wu

Zi

Qi

is

not

restricted

to

be

played

only

on

Go

set.

Considered

a

vastly

expanded

version

of

Tik- Tac-Toe

,

it

can

also

be

played

on

a

piece

of

graphing

paper

with

symbols

such

as

“X”

and

“O”.

Board

games

with

similar

rules

can

also

be

found

in

ancient

Greece and pre- Columbian civilities of America.