It's often called the world's most fascinating game. For Chizu Kobayashi, the ancient game of go most certainly is, not least of all for its intellectual challenges.
A player since the age of 41/2 and a professional since her late teens, the 48-year-old has traveled the globe teaching, promoting and playing go.
Go, with its simple rules and infinitely complex variations, is said to be the purest strategy contest ever devised. And, according to Kobayashi, it's also a form of communication.