You spoiled my fun reading this post.

One can get very, very pissed after losing a game of go:

It seems that Yurugi Motoharu, governor of the fief of Tamba, a region near Osaka, was not only accomplished in swordsmanship and literature but also was extremely fond of go. Hearing that a certain blind monk in his domain was a skillful player, Motoharu invited him to have a game. The monk played well but tactlessly, even jeering at some of Motoharu’s moves. The result was that the young lord lost his temper, drew his sword, and decapitated the monk with one blow—thus, as the text says, punning on technical go terms, finding the vital spot with a move that proved more decisive than all the kos and ladders that the other had been able to think up, with the result that even though his stones had eyes, the eyeless monk lost the game.

After this, the monk’s ghost began to make a nuisance of itself by poking its head over the garden wall and whining How about another game? Just one more game? Finally one of Motoharu’s retainers arranged for a solemn burial service for the monk. With his spirit thus placated, the ghost appeared no more.

this site has several nice woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) depicting sore losers at go and other related scenes (“go-Board Tadanobu” is a personal favourite).

My four-year old’s current favorites are Uno and Junior Stratego. There’s some strategy, but there’s also some luck.

No. I am not returning to chess. Never again. Horrible masochism.

Opening 1. g3 as White. I hated those bastards.

Only very loosely (though I speak as someone with very little experience within a typical corporate hierarchy). Progress is only personal if it’s toward personally chosen goals, not the ones imposed from without by the hierarchy. You can organize your work itself so that it provides you progressive challenges that are fun to meet; or you can view your performance on the job as part of striving toward a larger self-set goal—furthering a good cause, providing for the family you love, keeping your belly full while you explore the possibilities of your deeply unprofitable art.

Too many jobs provide neither of these opportunities, of course. To me that’s a violation of one’s right to the pursuit of happiness.

“we should encourage kids to take up activities that are less about interpersonal competition and more about personal challenge”

Right on. Losing only “builds character” (#14) or makes one “stronger” (#19) if there’s personal progress involved.

The real question of course is this: how does this tie in with competition within a typical corporate hierarchy?

There is an art to designing games where it is fun to lose. The loser has to lose quickly, at least once they have no chance of losing, and not feel as if the deck has been stacked against him or her. Its very important if you lose to think that your own decisions played a part in it. This is also probably important with larger issues of social justice.

A recent issue of the New Yorker had an excellent article on board games, for example informing their readers of the deep religious origins of “Snakes and Ladders” (no, I’m not making this up). Its well worth looking up, if you have any interest in games.

The kindergarten teacher says that all the kids arrive in the morning, and try to surreptitiously stack the deck for candyland, and then try to maneuver people into playng it. Adults are under strict orders to always shuffle the cards first.

Some social skills seem to come easier than others. John, since Zoe seems way out in front on this, encourage her to rewrite the rules to make it more fun. The urge to win/cheat, coopted, can be a good motivator.

If that game is Puerto Rico, as you link to, is the strategy to deliberately mess up the ships (by loading a single coffee/whatever the brown good is per turn into the largest ships whenever possible), and use factory (and similar buildings) to get down lots of buildings and finish the game really fast by filling all 12 squares?

If so thats the tactics I found that caused us to stop playing the game almost entirely…