Go is harder for me because .......................... I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PLAY IT! 
Go VS Chess
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Neither can be played well by calculation alone -- both require understanding to find good moves, both are too complex to master. It's relative to the individual and what makes more sense to their brain, or "clicks" with them, as to which one is harder.
In the same sense checkers is just as hard.
As for rules, chess has more rules so it may be harder to learn at first? Other distinctions, chess is more tactical while go is somewhat like a giant long endgame, so involves a lot of long rang planning and strategy... because the positions are much more static.
In the same sense shogi, or Japanese chess, is a big long tactical battle.
And there are many other "chess" games in other countries as well, it will vary person to person which game is harder or more enjoyable. I enjoy go, but shogi not so much.
uhohspaghettio wrote:
orangehonda wrote:
Neither can be played well by calculation alone -- both require understanding to find good moves, both are too complex to master. It's relative to the individual and what makes more sense to their brain, or "clicks" with them, as to which one is harder.
In the same sense checkers is just as hard.
As for rules, chess has more rules so it may be harder to learn at first? Other distinctions, chess is more tactical while go is somewhat like a giant long endgame, so involves a lot of long rang planning and strategy... because the positions are much more static.
In the same sense shogi, or Japanese chess, is a big long tactical battle.
And there are many other "chess" games in other countries as well, it will vary person to person which game is harder or more enjoyable. I enjoy go, but shogi not so much.
You should try Xiangqi, I think it's better than Shogi. I still prefer western chess though (and not just because I grew up with it).... I like the way you can tuck your king away when you castle.
I have some cousins that basically grew up in China, and they had me play a few games of Xiangqi with them. It's certainly different than what I'm used to... and I keep having to ask during the game which piece is which because I can't read the characters 
In a general sense, the answer to that is Go. The main reason for that is because the size of the board and the fact that it is empty to begin with gives the game a much more complex opening to the game. But if you were to make things equal in board size then chess is the obvious more difficult game to master. The game of Go have simple rules and hence you can start playing the game efficiently sooner than if you learned the rules of chess because you would have to think on when to correctly apply these rules. But, since Go has a huge board then it takes more years to master, it's a simply answer to a question that fans of both games argue about.
Many Go players like this argument simply because they know that Go is a much more difficult game to master and they like to use the argument that there are computer programs that can beat Grandmasters in the game of chess, but this is the wrong way to look at it. The simple reason why there are many chess programs that are powerful is because chess has been publicized much more than Go, plus it is vastly more popular. It could be that Go masters much rather keep playing and learning the game than to write a good book about it. Most Go books consist of how to start playing the game, but that's it.
I am a player that is not rated high in chess but I learned how to play Go rather quickly and had a few wins after a dozen games, you just need to realize how the game is played and why the pieces were set where they were set. Some are for not letting you escape, others are for attacking, and the rest for both. But for the most part, people generally (not strong Go players) like to play attack then not letting you escape. Once you know the concept of escaping (first dozen games) then you learn to attack and you can win games. As a chess player mostly, giving moderate Go players a strong fight let's me know that Go is a lot of practice, more difficult to master, but it is not that far off from chess. Note: If you play your first Go games you will find that the score for each opponent changes dramatically from one player having 9 more than you then it shifts for the other player having 3 more in just a few turns.
There are a few concepts that many Go players don't realize. The main one is that the chess game, for such a much smaller board size, is far more complicated than Go simply because in Go you set a stone and that's pretty much it. As for Chess, half of the pieces can move in multiple directions and in different manners. Also, most Go players don't realize that there is really two games in Go, the beginning and the middle game, where chess also has the endgame. If Go was an 8x8 board as well then there would be no contest on which one is more difficult to master. Another concept is how you can get promotions up to 8 times for any of the stronger-than-pawn pieces. And of course the rules that can be very powerful if applied correctly such as castling and the en passant, which are both optional.
Now, because the general public would much rather study or master a game that is much more fun, chess is a lot more popular. Reasons for this are the comebacks for a tie when you have been losing the entire game to a much stronger player, the checkmate that the opponent never predicted/saw, the sacrafice, and of course the fork (amongst others).
I would like a post titled "Go vs Chess, which is more fun?" and notice how many Go players can put up a fight with the title.
Actually there is an objective empirical measure for how hard games are. The Elo difference between a beginner and a top player is a very good indication.
HGMuller wrote:
Actually there is an objective empirical measure for how hard games are. The Elo difference between a beginner and a top player is a very good indication.
This is an interesting idea that I hadn't thought of.
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I know the rules of go, but don't have anyone to play. I don't want to play online. I like the idea of more strategy and less tactics though... to put it in chess terms and compare the game to chess.
Some chess loves adore tactics though, and like a different poster said I wonder how many would enjoy playing go. As for me I've already cast my game lot with chess. If I wanted to get into a different skill as a hobby I'd want to pick music or math.
This thread has damaged me.
Well, the fact that it's more difficult for computers to play go at high levels is probably an indicator that go is in some sense harder. However, I agree with others that go is easier for beginners to learn, especially since there aren't as many specialized rules to memorize. I doubt that there's any absolute answer to this question, though, because the two games require somewhat different kinds of intelligence, which different people are likely to possess to differing degrees. In other words, some people are probably built to find go easier, whereas others are build more for chess.
i gotta say go is the harder game to master... idk
GO IS INTERESTIG BUT IT IS ENTIRSLY DIFERENT AND SHOULD NOT BE COMPARED TO CHESS
Jun 3, 2012
0
#12
Well, I have never fully understood Go! strategy, so I think chess is much easier. As far as percentiles go, I would be much higher up in the chess world.
The fact that computers doesn´t play at top level in go not necessarily means that is harder. Computers can´t do any human task, i.e. they can´t mantain a consistent dialogue like all persons do. Chess and go use different parts of the brain.
Jose_Humberto wrote:
In a general sense, the answer to that is Go. The main reason for that is because the size of the board and the fact that it is empty to begin with gives the game a much more complex opening to the game. But if you were to make things equal in board size then chess is the obvious more difficult game to master. The game of Go have simple rules and hence you can start playing the game efficiently sooner than if you learned the rules of chess because you would have to think on when to correctly apply these rules. But, since Go has a huge board then it takes more years to master, it's a simply answer to a question that fans of both games argue about.
Many Go players like this argument simply because they know that Go is a much more difficult game to master and they like to use the argument that there are computer programs that can beat Grandmasters in the game of chess, but this is the wrong way to look at it. The simple reason why there are many chess programs that are powerful is because chess has been publicized much more than Go, plus it is vastly more popular. It could be that Go masters much rather keep playing and learning the game than to write a good book about it. Most Go books consist of how to start playing the game, but that's it.
I am a player that is not rated high in chess but I learned how to play Go rather quickly and had a few wins after a dozen games, you just need to realize how the game is played and why the pieces were set where they were set. Some are for not letting you escape, others are for attacking, and the rest for both. But for the most part, people generally (not strong Go players) like to play attack then not letting you escape. Once you know the concept of escaping (first dozen games) then you learn to attack and you can win games. As a chess player mostly, giving moderate Go players a strong fight let's me know that Go is a lot of practice, more difficult to master, but it is not that far off from chess. Note: If you play your first Go games you will find that the score for each opponent changes dramatically from one player having 9 more than you then it shifts for the other player having 3 more in just a few turns.
There are a few concepts that many Go players don't realize. The main one is that the chess game, for such a much smaller board size, is far more complicated than Go simply because in Go you set a stone and that's pretty much it. As for Chess, half of the pieces can move in multiple directions and in different manners. Also, most Go players don't realize that there is really two games in Go, the beginning and the middle game, where chess also has the endgame. If Go was an 8x8 board as well then there would be no contest on which one is more difficult to master. Another concept is how you can get promotions up to 8 times for any of the stronger-than-pawn pieces. And of course the rules that can be very powerful if applied correctly such as castling and the en passant, which are both optional.
Now, because the general public would much rather study or master a game that is much more fun, chess is a lot more popular. Reasons for this are the comebacks for a tie when you have been losing the entire game to a much stronger player, the checkmate that the opponent never predicted/saw, the sacrafice, and of course the fork (amongst others).
I would like a post titled "Go vs Chess, which is more fun?" and notice how many Go players can put up a fight with the title.
The idea of complexity (denoting difficulty to master) coming from combinatorial analysis is, apart the simplest of games which give rise to patterns that can be represented mentaly in their completeness, an illusion. Games like Chess, Shogi and Go present patterns which human mind can't combine perfectly in order to attain a desired result. Almost always, humans will attain their goals with less than optimal combinations, which means that a better plan is always available.
Based on your argument, Shogi would be, by far, the most complex game to master. In my opinion that idea is distorted. All those games have a point farther, in terms of mastering, than the one attained by the best of players after a lifetime of dedication.
Combinatorial analysis can indicate greatest variety, and, in fact, when playing Shogi, one has the clear impression that the game is more varied than chess. Yet, the subproblems must be kept within reach from human mind calculation capacities or they would be solved based on intuition.
A game based on the exact prediction of weather changes would have far more variables than any of the discussed games here, but, taking into account the limitations of human mind (and even computers) to deal with all variables involved, it would be based on guess and far less indicative of player's calculation capacities.
I agree with the part of your argument stating that Chess is more fun than Go. The same reasons make Shogi more fun than Chess: coming back is much more frequent; checkmate problems are much more frequent; sacrifices also; the game is much more varied etc. Yet, there is something you didn't consider, much more powerful than the fun factor, which is herd behavior: people go where others are going. That's one of the reasons Shogi isn't as popular as Chess in the west.
I play chess and go. And I play other board games too such as xiangqi, shogi, janggi, checkers(draughts), reversi(othello) and etc. I think go is more complicated than other board games i've played its because it was played in a 19x19 board. Compare it to chess and some some other board games that is being played to a 8x8 (sometimes 9x9 and 10x10). But try playing go in a 8x8 (or to the basic 9x9 board for beginners) I think it will not being as complicated as to the other games (or try playing chess in a 19x19, lol).
They have different rules (so different) chess is played to destroy while go is played to construct. Got it? In Go, we start in a empty board. Black play first (except in handicaps) players plays alternately (just like in chess) .
I read the rules of Go, it sounds interesting but it lacks something important: the emotions. In chess you emphasize with your pieces, that are your army, your soldiers and you command them. There is no such "personalization" of the pieces in Go where you have hundreds of stones that are all the same. Then the explosion of a forced combination. The slow strategical battle that culminates in the "knock out blow". The ending that is so clear cut, so much satisfaction for the winner and so much "humiliation" for the loser. Even the fact that you eventually win with a pawn, that then Queens, and you checkmate mercilessly dominating with Q+K vs K leaves no doubt on who won and who lost.
I got put off by Go when I read that the game ends when a player says "pass" and the other one says "pass". Then to decide who win and lose you have to...count. And sometimes it's not even clear who won or who lost, that's a joke.
Go can keep his tree complexity. It doesn't have even the shadows of the satisfaction that a chess game can give you.
plutonia wrote:
I read the rules of Go, it sounds interesting but it lacks something important: the emotions. In chess you emphasize with your pieces, that are your army, your soldiers and you command them. There is no such "personalization" of the pieces in Go where you have hundreds of stones that are all the same. Then the explosion of a forced combination. The slow strategical battle that culminates in the "knock out blow". The ending that is so clear cut, so much satisfaction for the winner and so much "humiliation" for the loser. Even the fact that you eventually win with a pawn, that then Queens, and you checkmate mercilessly dominating with Q+K vs K leaves no doubt on who won and who lost.
I got put off by Go when I read that the game ends when a player says "pass" and the other one says "pass". Then to decide who win and lose you have to...count. And sometimes it's not even clear who won or who lost, that's a joke.
Go can keep his tree complexity. It doesn't have even the shadows of the satisfaction that a chess game can give you.
This problem stems from the different objectives of the two games. Chess is about killing/capturing the opponent's king. There can be little ambiguity about that, because it's an instant knock-out. Go is all about grabbing the most land, which is also a way to win a war, but it is less decisive.
This difference greatly affects the tactics of the two games. In chess, all attacks ultimately have to lead to an unstoppable threat to an opponent's king. In go, you just have to grab as much land as possible. Therefore, in go, the primary objective of an attack is not killing off (part of) the opponent's army, but rather restricting it to as a small a corner of the board as possible.
The quick, decisive checkmate might be quite appealing to chess players, but the intense satisfaction of slowly outplaying your opponent is much more prevalent in go. In chess, your opponent must become overburdened with threats before he collapses. In go, the opponent might respond well to every one of them, but still lose because responding is (usually) passive play.
orangehonda wrote:
Neither can be played well by calculation alone -- both require understanding to find good moves, both are too complex to master. It's relative to the individual and what makes more sense to their brain, or "clicks" with them, as to which one is harder.
In the same sense checkers is just as hard.
As for rules, chess has more rules so it may be harder to learn at first? Other distinctions, chess is more tactical while go is somewhat like a giant long endgame, so involves a lot of long rang planning and strategy... because the positions are much more static.
In the same sense shogi, or Japanese chess, is a big long tactical battle.
And there are many other "chess" games in other countries as well, it will vary person to person which game is harder or more enjoyable. I enjoy go, but shogi not so much.
I am a Strategist & Planner and not a Tactician & Dynamic player.
That means that Go for me is easier than Chess & Shogi ( However I have never played go; I found out Chess first and Chess is just too complex and versatile with all its Content & Variants to get bored from, even though I know that with GO I will plausibly be better. )
With Arima I could be a Correspondance GrandMaster, but I don't like the Fact that you ' cannot ' make the Perfect move.
It seems very chaotic so from first eyesight.
Also, who knows how long I will Live anymore..?
(...)
I find Go to be much harder, but very exciting.
I see that some people don't see it as a tactical game, but that's not entirely right. Like chess, it is both strategic and tactical. And you can (as my Go Club friends & I do) play almost purely tactical games by just playing on a smaller board.
Which one do you think is harder?