On This Is My Thing, we are continuing our mission to talk with people about the things they do just for themselves – not because it’s their job and not because it’s a responsibility, just because they love to do it. The stuff you do because it’s your thing.
Our last episode of the show featured a sport that's still pretty new (Underwater Torpedo League), and this week we're going the other way, with a board game that's been played for millennia.
Go dates back some 3500 years or so, but Bart Jacob has only been playing for the past 46. He was introduced to the game in 1979, while in grad school. He got his first board as a Christmas gift and didn't realize at the time that the game would become a lifelong passion.
On this page, you can listen to the on-air version of this story, but if you check out the This Is My Thing podcast feed, you’ll find a longer version of this piece (as well as some older pieces you might have missed or might just want to listen to again).
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A poster directs visitors to the back room where the Austin Go Club meets weekly at Dragon’s Lair on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Michael Minasi/KUT News
Michael Minasi / KUT News
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Bart Jacob, of the Austin Go Club, plays Go during the club’s weekly night at Dragon’s Lair on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Michael Minasi/KUT News
Michael Minasi / KUT News
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A Go board is pictured in the end game during the Austin Go Club’s weekly night at Dragon’s Lair on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Michael Minasi/KUT News
Michael Minasi / KUT News
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Bart Jacob, of the Austin Go Club, plays Go during the club’s weekly night at Dragon’s Lair on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Michael Minasi/KUT News
Michael Minasi / KUT News
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Bart Jacob, of the Austin Go Club, poses for a portrait outside of Dragon’s Lair during the club’s weekly night on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Michael Minasi/KUT News
Michael Minasi / KUT News
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A Go board is pictured in the end game during the Austin Go Club’s weekly night at Dragon’s Lair on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Michael Minasi/KUT News
Michael Minasi / KUT News
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Bart Jacob, of the Austin Go Club, plays Go during the club’s weekly night at Dragon’s Lair on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Michael Minasi/KUT News
Michael Minasi / KUT News
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Bart Jacob, of the Austin Go Club, poses for a portrait inside of Dragon’s Lair during the club’s weekly night on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Michael Minasi/KUT News
Michael Minasi / KUT News
Also, there's big news for other Austin-based fans of the game — the 2025 US Go Congress will happen just up the road at Southwestern University in a matter of weeks.
