To many people the weiqi board and its counters are a familiar sight, though they know very little about this thinking game which is very popular all across south east asia and particularly its country of origin, China.

Called "yi" in ancient China, Weiqi is a strategic board game with two contestant one using black counters and the other using white counters (or stones). The earliest records of people playing this game date back 3,000 years, and many experts believe it to be the blueprint for all turn taking board games like chess and checkers. Weiqi is a game which is loved by people throughout Asia and all around the globe, it is a taxing game which allows players to get in touch with their philosophical side and to also development cognitive skills such as strategizing.

The object of the game is to use one's stones to surround a larger total area of the board than the opponent. Once placed on the board, stones may not be moved, but stones are removed from the board if captured; this is done by surrounding an opposing stone or group of stones by occupying all orthogonally-adjacent points. Players continue in this fashion until neither player wishes to make another move; the game has no set ending conditions. When a game concludes, the controlled points (territory) are counted along with captured stones to determine who has more points. A player may also be declared the winner of the game if his/her opponent .

The rules of weiqi are very simple though the numbers of possibilities for placing stones is seemingly limitless on the 19X19 board, This gives rise to countless strategies and this complexity is the draw of the game. The time taken to play one round of weiqi can be as short as 15 minutes or as long as a few days. In most cases, though, it takes one or two hours to finish a game.

According to early records China’s emperor Yao developed the game of Weiqi with a member of his counsel known as Shun. Thus our best guess is that the game originates from the Spring and Autumn Period. At this time players of Weiqi developed their own special phrases and lingo, for example "ju qi bu ding" ,meaning "hold a counter hovering above the board but being uncertain as to which move you should make. The far reaching effect of the game were evident in the fact that the phrases to describe things in other fields, for example to describe hesitance in the political realm. Such examples are clear proof that the game of weiqi has been popular and embedded within Chinese culture for a very long time.

Throughout the dynasties there have always been well known weiqi players ancient Chinese rulers were also weiqi lovers. Most well known for their love of the game were Cao Cao, Emperor Taizu of the Song dynasty and Zhu Yuanzhang. Chinese history is littered with weqi related anecdotes and stories. During the Yuan Dynasty, Xuanxuan Qijing (The Classic of the Mystery of the Mysterious) was published and within its pages were all kinds of wisdom and information about weiqi.

Weiqi is a game that tests aptitude for mathematical problem solving, creativity and implementing plans. It is a highly competitive game . It's ideal for fostering puzzle solving skills, building character and increasing your ability to devise and adapt strategies. It is no great surprise that this is one of China’s national board games and that it has gained the interest of many thinkers , academics and games fans from around the globe.

Gomoku (Five in a Row, another usage of the weiqi set)

Five in a Row is an abstract strategy board game and is also called Gomoku, Gobang. It is traditionally played with go pieces (black and white stones) on a go board (19x19 intersections). One of the fundamental differences between the games is that once placed on the board, the stones cannot not be removed from the board, gomoku may also be played on paper instead of on a board, much like a more complicated version of the western games “naughts and crosses” or Connect 4 . Black plays first, and players alternate in placing a stone of their color on an empty intersection. The winner is the first player to get a complete row of five stones horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

The origins of the game Five in a Row seem to be Chinese; though the name "Gomoku" itself is from Japan, where it is known as gomokunarabe. Go means five, moku is the Japanese word for counters or pieces and narabe is a word often used in conjunction with board games and literally means to line things up.