S3.3 - C. Thi Nguyen Interview, TelegraphGo & Pixel Go, Learning Themes & Cheating in Chess vs Go with Gazza | Go / Baduk / Weiqi

This episode is from All Things Go, a podcast about the board game Go, also known as Baduk in Korea and Weiqi in China.

Philosopher C. Thi Nguyen explains his view of games as the art of agency and distinguishes achievement play from striving play, where the value lies in taking on temporary goals and enjoying the struggle. The conversation uses Go to examine handicaps, rank fixation, casual versus serious play, and why an interesting loss may be more rewarding than a dull win. TelegraphGo introduces Pixel Go, Nathan Harwit discusses learning plateaus, and Gazza White compares cheating concerns in chess and Go.

Full transcript, related episodes, and additional resources:

https://allthingsgogame.com/2026/07/28/c-thi-nguyen-interview-telegraphgo-pixel-go-learning-themes-cheating-in-chess-vs-go-with-g/

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https://discord.gg/uf3jgEAA4J

Theme music by UNIVERSFIELD & background music by PodcastAC

C. Thi Nguyen Interview

• C. Thi Nguyen’s website
• The main subject of our conversation, Nguyen’s book Games: Agency as Art
• The excellent interview Thi did on The Ezra Klein Show; highly recommended
• Thi’s game recommendations: El Grande, Tigris & Euphrates, & Root

Gazza - Cheating in Chess vs Go

• Chinese pro Go player Qin Siyue was banned for 8 years - link

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