Go 6 June

Some things in life are earth shatteringly important and change the world forever, whereas others simply don’t. On the simply don’t side of the equation, take Go for an example. Go is a strategic, two-player board game originating in ancient China, somewhere between 2000 BC and 200 BC. It was developed to teach Generals the value of strategy. It consists of a set of black and white stones that are placed on a grid in attempt to capture areas of the board. A simple concept, but a staggeringly complex game. The greatest ever player, Hon’inbō Shūsaku, the “Invincible Shusaku”, was born on June 6, 1829 and in 1846, he played the famous “ear-reddening move” against Gennan Inseki, the strongest player of that time. In essence, everyone thought that Gennan was winning, except for a doctor who noticed that Gennan’s ears became red after Shusaku played an expected move in an unforeseen place. On the changing the world side of the equation, Adolf Hitler had his ears reddened today in 1944, when the invasion of Normandy was launched. Hitler, of course thought that it was to be the Invasion of Pas de Calaise. Operation Neptune was the largest amphibious assault ever launched and involved five army divisions, over 7,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft in the initial assault. In total 75,215 British and Canadian troops and 57,500 US troops were landed by sea on D-Day. Another 23,400 were landed by air. So there you have it, Red Ears in a Bunker. Winston was frightfully chuffed; Neptune is going "in a thoroughly satisfactory manner" he announced in the House that night.