In the fifth Young Samurai novel "The Ring of Water", Jack has left samuraischool after the Battle Of Osaka Castle and has started on his journey westwards. Jack visits Nara wherehe is captured and challenged to a game of Go bya Japanese lord.

The game forms an important part of the story in which Jack's lifeand those of his friends are at stake if he loses. Despite only just learning the game, Jack tries to use his samurai trainingto overcome the stronger opponent. But will he succeed?

If you want to play Go like Jack, and maybe get to fight a great battle on the board,then I recommend visiting the website of the British Go Association - www.britgo.org - and start at their About Go section.

Go Comic

Also on their site, you can read their fantastic cartoon introduction to Go: "stoNes" Cartoon Introduction. (Printed copies are also available from The British Go Association.)

If you read up to page 6 then you are ready to play "Capture Go", whichyou can do on their junior minisite.Once you have mastered capturing and read the whole leaflet you can play against someone else or a computer program.One they recommend is Igowin.