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Go Spotting: “The Economist” On “The Game To Beat All Games”

"The heavyweight pros on late-night cable television boast nicknames such as Monster, Razor, Butcher, Assassin and Knitting Needle. The most famed matches in history include the Blood Vomiting Game of 1835, the Famous Killing Game of 1926 and the Atomic Bomb Game of 1945. No, this is not some bone-crushing contact sport. It is a simple parlour game where two opponents, comfortably seated and often equipped with nothing more than folding paper fans and cigarettes, take turns placing little stones, some black, some white, on a flat wooden grid…" 

- excerpted from the December 16, 2004 report  on "The most intellectually testing game ever devised?" in The Economist; thanks to Glen Peters for passing it along.
Photo Getty Images, courtesy The Economist