What is the game being played in the film Hero?

Question

In the film Hero there is a scene at a 'chess house' where two characters are playing game where white and black stones are being placed on a eight by eight board. I'm trying to find out what game this is.

It seems that most people think it is Go(WeiQi, Baduk), but I really don't buy it. First off, Go stones are played on the intersections of the grid, not in the squares. Go boards are generally 19x19, there are also smaller boards like 13x13 and 9x9, so the fact that in the film there is an even amount of spaces tells me that it isn't Go.

I considered that it might be Othello(reversi), but the board position would be illegal by the rules of othello.

I also considered that it might be an asian varient of chess, but none of these are played by placing stones. They generally have pieces which you move around the board like regular chess.

Anyways, does anyone have any idea what game this is?

Right now I'm thinking that someone didn't do their homework, which resulted in a non-existent game being played in film. It's probably meant to be Go, but just scewed and inaccurate.

Answer 1

I haven't seen the movie but, based on your description, it might be Go-moku, also known as Go-bang. It's played on a Go board and the object is to get five stones of your own in a row, orthogonally or diagonally. More likely the game may be Hasami Shogi. The pieces are played on the spaces, not the intersections of a Go board. Players start with all eighteen of their stones on the board. Should a player flank an opponent's stones after movement, the opponent's stones are captured.

Answer 2

I haven't watched the film, but from your description suspect it might be Chinese Chess (象棋; Pinyin: xiàngqí) - although wikipedia states this to be Go (Weiqi).
Have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_chess. Does this look like what they play in the movie?

Answer 3

On the Nintendo Entertainment System there is a Game called SPOT. It's and 7up Mascot video game. You anwser lies there.