Two of my loves

There are several loves in my life. Some will not be shown for privacy reasons, some cannot be shown properly, like music. But two can be shown in combination: watches and go, not always in that order of interest. A few days ago I showed a game of go in progress along with my Portuguese Perpetual Calendar. Here I show a simple looking but difficult problem (black's move) on my go board, with the two bowls with black and white stones, along with my two Vintage Collection Portuguese handwounds lying in the lids of the bowls where normally the captured stones are put. You might think the Portuguese family is my favourite one...

Kind regards,
Paul

looks like countless moments of fun... enjoy!

regards,
thang

Great shots, Paul.

The watches look just great on the bowl covers along with the go /wei qi board...

Very classic.

"Go" for it Paul. Wonderful watches and picture.

Very nice shot Paul, in concept and execution.

Great pictures Paul! I like both Go and the Portuguese line too! I will have a closer look at the problem you put on the board. I am not sure that I will find the correct answer though... What level is it?

Kind regards,

Clemens

Hi Clemens,

The level of the problem is comparable with the quality of the watches. I wanted it to be compact, small in space, and elegant, natural looking. This one easily could be taken from a real game. I took it from a classic Japanese problem collection, about 300 years old, called Hatsuyoron. Most are about unsolvable, at least by me, but after some attempts it is a feast to look at the solution and learn how intricate they are, how high level those old masters were. These problems made me think of the Patek Philippe museum in Geneva, where you see all those intricate time pieces and other special machines from centuries ago, where time was used in a different way. Give the problem a try, I can mail you the solution in chess notation if you like.

Kind regards,
Paul

Lovely photographs. The watches, I understand. The game is a mystery but a perfect setting to show off your VC Portuguesiers.

Go (Japanese) or Wei Qi (Chinese) is in a nutshell a war simulation in which you win when you control most of the territory. You play by putting your "units" which are stone pebbles in the crossing of the lines on the board. When you surround the adversary "unit" you cut its supply lines and therefore take the unit as a prisoner. The game is very easy to learn but very difficult to master. It's a beautiful game in which those who really know how to play say that the way you act mirrors the way you see life...

Anyway, Paul will definitely be able to elucidate you much better than me...

Wow Two of a Kind...

I am with Rave, watches yes, the game, haven't got a clue. A pre-electric (analogue) version of battleships springs to mind!