Leibniz on Go

From André Ay:

1710

Gottfried Wilhelm of Leibniz (born 1646 in Leipzig, died 1716 in Hannover, studied at Leipzig's university law and philosophy) learns about go by reciping Trigault (1987 discovered by Birgit Albers); he writes:

Men are never more genious than in inventing games, and the philosophers should take profit from this for perfectionizing the art of arts, this is the art of thinking.
...
Go is unique, because the players (so it seems) don't blow off each other's stones, but just confine and enclose them, so the winner who takes the opponent's mobility without murder and bloodshed. This happens in other games also, but only contingently, here neccessarily.

After citing and criticising Ricci/Trigault he adds:

The amount of stones and the size of the gameboard make me believe the game to require a lot of intellect and to be very difficult, although I don't know all the rules. Surely worth of mentioning is also the unique way of playing, which is ending the game by making him immovable instead of killing him. So one can guess the inventor has been some brahmanist who abhorred killing and wished an unbloody victory. It is known that the peoples of Far East are more christian in this case than those who call themselves Christians and avoid killing especially in war.

(translator from Latin to German: Ulrich Wehking, Hannover; from German to English: André Aÿ, Leipzig)

End of 18th century