Chapter 1 — Is it worth investing time in learning to play Go?
In chess, the game starts with a full board, and as pieces are captured, the board empties (destruction and reduction). In Go, the board starts completely empty, and players take turns placing stones to build structures and territories (construction and multiplication).
In chess, there is one ultimate goal: checkmate the opponent's king (a hierarchical goal). In Go, the objective is to control more territory (area) on the board than your opponent. Instead of an absolute victory over a single piece, Go operates on a "market share" logic, won by securing more space.
In chess, pieces have different movement abilities and values (the Queen is very valuable, a pawn is the least valuable). In Go, every stone placed on the board (whether black or white) has exactly the same initial value. The value of a stone only increases or decreases based on its position on the board and its relationship with the surrounding stones.
Chess is played on an 8x8 board (64 squares). Go is traditionally played on a massive 19x19 board (361 intersections). While chess often resembles a single, intense frontline battle, Go is more like a large-scale continental war with multiple battles happening simultaneously on different fronts.