Having developed in China between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago, Go (called Wei Qi in China) contends with backgammon for the right to be called the oldest game still played in its original form. Today it is played by millions in Asia and thousands elsewhere.

The game has had ups and downs in China, where Confucius looked on it as a waste of time, the late Chairman Mao Zedong required his generals to study it.

In ancient China, Go was perceived as the popular game of the aristocracy, while Xiangqi (Chinese chess) was the game of the masses. Go was considered one of the four cultivated arts of the Chinese scholar gentleman, along with calligraphy, painting and playing the musical instrument guqin.

The design of a Go set is prescribed with a compelling simplicity dating back through centuries. The white stones, 180 in number, and the black, 181, must be round. The thickness may vary among sets, with thicker being better. Inexpensive sets include glass or plastic stones; in the best sets, the white are clamshell and the black are slate. But there the possibilities for variation end. A stone is meant to be held between the tips of the index and middle fingers, and the basic geometry cannot be changed.

There is more flexibility in the design of the board, although any good set will have a board made of wood, and the appearance of the playing surface does not invite alteration. Just as a chess board must have 64 squares arranged in an 8 x 8 matrix, a full-size Go board must have a grid of 19 horizontal and 19 vertical lines. (Simplified versions of the game can be played on a 9 x 9 or on a 13 x 13 board; it is strongly recommended that beginners learn on a 9 x 9 board.)

A Go set is not complete without bowls to hold the stones. Like the board, the bowls are typically made of wood (although plastic ones are available). The shape is a somewhat flattened sphere, with the lid shaped like a saucer. During a game, the upturned lid is used to hold stones that are captured from the opponent.

At first glance, the board may appear to be square, but it is not. The standard size is roughly 16 1/2 in. by 18 in. It is always slightly longer than it is wide, just enough to prevent perfect symmetry. Thus when a game is finished and the black and white stones almost cover the board, the round stones butt together, reflecting the nature of the game: two players use their respective stones to compete for territory on the surface of the board, staking out areas that they want to own, while the opponent tries to push and squeeze those areas in order to gain more territory for himself.