While out sightseeing on Sunday afternoon, I turned a corner and saw this interesting group of men.

I decided that I had to check out what was going on. What games were they playing. In many parts of the world you will find people playing chess in parks. They even have tables with inlaid chess boards in some parks in the US.

Here they are playing two games.

The first is Baduk or Go.

The games must be really exciting if you are willing to sit in the cold and play. The temperatures were probably in the mid 40’s at this time of day. You can see the insulation that they men are sitting on as they concentrate on their next play.

Here we also have an intent spectator. Perhaps he is sizing up his next opponent. I am sure that I would not be able to hold this pose for long, but many men were sitting like this while watching others play.

Of course Go is a game with a long history. It is a game that I would like to learn to play someday. It has a lot of strategy.

Now for the game that inspired the title.

This game is Janggi which is also know by outsiders as Korean Chess. Actually, it is probably more true to the original Chess games that were played thousands of years ago in China.

I had a hard time getting a good shot of the Janggi players as most of these boards were surrounded by spectators. I found out that this is a common gambling game, so most likely small amounts of money were based on the results of some of these games that were going on.

Here we have a better view of the board and the playing pieces. It does not look much like Chess, but many of the moves are the same. This is also a game that I would like to learn more about. Perhaps I will buy a set of Janggi before I head back home this weekend.

Old men playing Janggi and Baduk in the park is definitely a Seoul tradition. Even in the vastly popular video Gangnam Style you can see two men playing Janggi.

Janggi is definitely part of the soul of Korea. It has been played for generations and will be played for many generations more.

What board games have you seen played in a park?

Steven