This article is also the source of a reference by Hummel and Brewster, but they add a photograph of a game in progress inside a tent in Lhasa which indicates that the fixed starting stones are indeed larger than the rest. It is also apparent that the board is probably larger than we are used to, and most of the stones are quite small so that adjacent stones do not appear to be connected. Since White has 27 pieces to Black's 26, we can usefully infer that White played first. Cheng describes a go custom in one of the old kingdoms of Tibet known as the ' tongue fight '. As each player plays a stone, he must make responses in a predetermined format designed to show how quick witted he is.
Speed is of the essence.
I imagine these lose something in translation - perhaps the lines have to rhyme or start with the same letter in Tibetan. Cheng says that the game was really only popular among the aristocracy . All the Tibetan kings have enjoyed playing, and there are many stories to this effect in folk tales. He mentions one about a king who was wise and strong, and exceedingly good at go. But he was also extremely proficient with his tongue.