The advent of chess marked a major step forward in the evolution of the board game in society. In shrugging off the dependence on dice and developing a complex form of competition that echoed the reality of war, chess offered new possibilities for struggle in miniature. The player depends on nothing but his own skill and ability. He is put in charge of a complex range of pieces and pitted against an opponent with a matched arsenal. His job is to surround or conquer the enemy king. Remarkably, the game stops short of regicide, but this polite convention does not disguise the nature of the contest. The worldwide distribution of the game, the undiminished enthusiasm with which it is played, and the continued improvement of even its highest exponents are all testimony to its unique qualities.

Go, too, represents an equally significant departure from what preceded it. Outwardly simple, with rules that can be grasped in a short time, the game is possessed of complexities that can take a lifetime to master, if at all. Go is essentially different from chess in its concern with the mastery of territory. Its best players have been bestowed with high social standing. Both chess and go share an intellectual status that distinguishes them from all other games played with pieces on a board.