Go Faq / Links

[burp]

Howdy,

Similar to what is seen in the Okinawan arts forum, this post will serve as a Go Faq and internet links message.

A preliminary list of items for this post should include:

1. Go instruction
2. Go resources
3. Internet Go

Please add links to sites that you've all found invaluable to your Go playing and that would benefit others on E-budo. Include a short spill on the information or link.


Preliminary links:
http://gobase.org/index.html (Go, an addictive game)
THE site for Go research and general Go information.



Enjoy!

mikehansen

[Go, an addictive game - site address edited / updated 12/11/01]

[mikes]

Here is a good intro/history page:
http://www.well.com/user/mmcadams/gointro.html

This the Go Teaching Ladder, where you can have games reviewed by more advanced players:
http://gtl.jeudego.org/

Another good intro:
http://www.telgo.com/

The No Name Go Server, for playing online:
http://nngs.cosmic.org

Yahoo also has go at:
http://games.yahoo.com

There is the news group rec.games.go:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&safe=off&group=rec.games.go

Also http://www.goproblems.com
for go problems

[Nick]

I prefer http://kgs.kiseido.com for playing online...

Nick

[Aicerno]

:) Telgo.com is FUN! Very addictive too. Can't wait to go back tomorrow for another round.:D

[burp]

Howdy,

Allow me to add an excellent link to a newspaper column on Go that I've enjoyed for a few years.

Newspaper: Yomiuri Shinbun (online english edition) http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm

Click on "The Magic of Go" feature.

A direct link to "The Magic of Go" feature: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/igo_e/index.htm

Back issues can be found at the bottom of the current issue.


:idea: For those new to the game, I'd recommend going to the first issue and work toward the most current (currently issue #160) reading topics that sound most interesting to you.

Enjoy!

mikehansen

[burp]

Howdy,

A list of links from another thread on computerized go programs is as follows:


Originally posted by Chi
Igowin is a progressive player-versus-computer 9x9 grid Go game, which starts you off at about 25th Kyuu and progresses upwards. Apparently, it has a 6th Kyuu rating from Japanese Nihon-Ki-in, based on test games and matches against 9th Dan.

http://www.smart-games.com/igowin.html

Alternatively, there is a GNU version of Go.

http://www.public32.com/games/go/

(You will almost certainly want a nice UI for this one, as it is a DOS prompt based version. try TanGo - http://www.amourtan.com/tango015.exe)

...

Regards,

Chris.

AND


Originally posted by burp
Howdy,

The latest version of Many Faces of Go can be purchased at: http://ishigames.com/

The latest version of Many Faces of Go can also be purchased at: http://www.yutopian.com/

HandTalk can be purchased at: http://www.yutopian.com/

Many Faces of Go version 10 is a nice program for learning Go. It has a zillion features like: having access to thousands of joseki, many pro game records, TgWin client software for playing on IGS type internet go servers. On the NNGS go server (http://nngs.cosmic.org/), you may still be able to play against Many Faces of Go. A great way to try it out.

Handtalk was once (still is?) the strongest of all the computer go games.

...

Enjoy!

mikehansen

The orginal thread can be found at: http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?postid=85543#post85543

Enjoy!

mikehansen

[burp]

Howdy!

Another IGS type Go server that is worth visiting is WING (Worldwide Internet Gokaisho): http://www.wing.gr.jp/

This server is located in Japan, so most of the folks that visit the server are Japanese. So, should you want to brush up on your Japanese, this is a good place to go. However, don't be intimidated, should you not speak Japanese ... the people who play here enjoy chatting in English and are very welcoming. Shoot for Friday nights and weekends, Japanese time.

BTW, this is the only place I've been able to play Paired Go. Really fun!

If you don't have a Go client (WinIGC, TGWin, etc), you can follow the links to play through your browser (IE 5.0 or above) on WING. NErgo is a nice option when going this route.

To summarize Go Servers listed so far (02/25/02):

http://panda-igs.joyjoy.net/English/ (IGS)
http://nngs.cosmic.org (NNGS)
http://www.wing.gr.jp/ (WING)

http://kgs.kiseido.com (KGS)
http://games.yahoo.com (Yahoo)

Enjoy!

mikehansen

[Ron Rompen]

Does anyone know of a shareware version of Go? Both my wife and I are interested in trying it out, but don't want to buy a game that we will not enjoy.

Not concerned with fancy grafix, I prefer games that play well.

[burp]

Hi Ron!


Originally posted by Ron Rompen
Does anyone know of a shareware version of Go?

Here is a link: http://www.smart-games.com/index.html

This link is for The Many Faces of Go (MFGo). There is a shareware (freeware actually) version of 9x9 go. Tutorial included. One must pay to get the full version. This would give you a taste of MFGo. A shareware version of a joseki library for the Palm is also available.

In my mind the full MFGo is a great deal. It is quite strong and provides tutorials, joseki library, hints, professional game records, and now it has TGWin (an internet go client - some folks' favorite) thrown in as part of the program for free (TGWin goes for about $35 dollars itself). Using MFGo is really a good way to start Go.

I had an old(!) version of MFGo years ago. Having it allowed me to play go more often (pre-internet access times) and to get friends interested (they could learn go from the tutorials). There always comes a time when its better to play human opponents rather than a computer go game, but until then one can get a lot of use from the computer go game. Besides, with TGWin now thrown in ... the transition to playing against human opponents on the internet couldn't be any simpler.

Enjoy!

mikehansen

P.S. (03/14/02) The Many Faces of Go can be played against on the Internet Go Server (IGS - see links on previous post). Look for "ManyFaces" rated as 18k*. You can challenge it for a match and play against it.

[Ben23]

There is an article on Go in this weeks New Scientist (13 April, 2002 No 2338 pg 38-40) entitled Go For It : Teach your computer to master one of the world's toughest games and you'll make a mint, says Michael Brooks. And you might just kick-start artificial intelligence too.

Might interest some of you.

It also has a related web link http://www.reiss.demon.co.uk/webgo/compgo.htm

[burp]

Howdy!

Another good intro and some Freeware can be found at:

http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/lesson/index-e.htm

Enjoy!

mikehansen

[burp]

Howdy!

A link for some go playing freeware, GnuGo:

http://www.fsf.org/software/gnugo/

Seen GnuGo on the servers, but I can't really give an opinion on the program.

Feedback would be helpful.

Enjoy!

mikehansen

[mikes]

GnuGo is alright,
Turbo Go (a demo is available somewhere) is kind of iffy. Its nice in that it has a joseki tutor and can give you hints/move reasons. At the level I play at (medium, I stink), it seems far too aggressive for its own good. It tries to invade and live where no sane go player would attempt. It also spends the last part of the game fortifying its position against such invasions. So you might have to pass 5 times while it unnecessarily fortifies where something in theory could live, but wouldn't.

[mikes]

Gnu Go:

Available for windows here: http://sjeng.sourceforge.net/ftp/

Main page: http://www.gnu.org/software/gnugo/gnugo.html

It's a command line program, so you'll want to download another program to actually play it. gGo seems nice, although a bit slow on my machine, its still in development. TanGo actually comes with GnuGo, although it makes annoying sounds and is pretty ugly looking.


TanGo Page: (an IGS/NNGS client too) http://www.amourtan.com/

gGo: http://ggo.sourceforge.net/

[SLeclair]

Wow. All these posts, and I've yet to see a mention of http://senseis.xmp.net. Well, let this be my contribution :). A wiki site (kind of a group discussion site) about go. Some quite interesting things there.

Bit about myself: I don't play go much at all anymore. I was about 13-15k on KGS. I keep meaning to go back.

Regards,
Sebastien Leclair

[jeffbruner]

Okay.... I'd like to learn Go and I've checked most of the links posted here for freeware/shareware games but they are all PC format.

Anyone know of a MAC version?

Thanks.

-totalMAChead,

-JB

[A. M. Jauregui]

http://sente.epfl.ch/software/goban/
Seems like a well made Mac compatible version of Go.

Also on a friend’s Mac yahoo games worked well enough.

[jeffbruner]

Thanks A.M.!

BTW, the link was to a version for OSX, which I have yet to adopt, but there were also links on that site to versions that where compatible with older OSs.

Now if I could only figure out what it all means! I don't understand how the game works yet....

[SLeclair]

Jeff, follow the link to the Sensei's library I gave in this thread. From the front page there, choose the Beginner Study Section. Go through it slowly, playing games to familiarise yourself with how it works. Hopefully, you'll make it through 4-5 sections there in a few days or weeks, depending.

Regards,
Sebastien Leclair

[KumaSan]

I second SLeclair's advice to check sensei's. There is a lot of good information there. Another good site to learn the basics is http://playgo.to/interactive/ . Enjoy.

[jeffbruner]

Thanks all.. I'm learning....

[burp]

Howdy,

Thanks for adding the link to Sensei's library. I'm not sure when it started, but I barely found it recently.

It's not my favorite Go site on the net (I'm kind'uva Go snob ;) ), but it does have alot of useful info.

Enjoy!

mikehansen

[Simon Fraser]

You can also play over a longer time scale by visiting Dragon Go Server (http://www.dragongoserver.net)

[Blackwood]

Geez! Now look what you've gone and done! Here I was perusing the boards looking for things to support my upcoming test to Shodan in karate and I find myself starting as a 30th kyu in another discipline!

Might I be so bold as to recommend the American Go Association (www.usgo.org/ ) web site? If you take a quick look around you will find a nice little book in PDF format called The Way to Go by Karl Baker. Good place for a beginner to start. It even includes some Proverbs for beginners that will help.

[burp]

Blackwood,

30 kyu? Ah, no worries improvement comes fast! There a few sticking spots along the way to shodan, but that is a ways off for you. With all the resources widely available now and depending on age, it may be possible to get to shodan in less time that it has taken you with your karate.

Keep playing and welcome to Go!!

Enjoy!

mikehansen

[burp]

Howdy,

Allow me to add SmartGo to the list of computer Go programs. The player program is fairly strong (particularly at 9x9). The SmartGo viewer program is an excellent resource for studying, recording and viewing games. Very powerful study tool. One of the best out there (if not the best). Anders (the programmer) is constantly improving SmartGo and I foresee that SmartGo will soon be the standard resource software for Go.

http://www.smartgo.com/

Enjoy!

mikehansen

[Blackwood]

Well, I started with the The Way to Go from the web site above. Spent some time wandering around Sensei's Library. I have Ego on my Palm, only a 9x9 and can routinely beat the computer a majority of the time with or without as much as a four stone handicap. I've loaded the freeware igowin on my PC and play the 9x9 on it. I have gotten as high as 14 kyu, but average around 17-18 most of the time.

Finally got KGS up and running. I have now played 5 games of Go, Japanese rules. I've been ranked at 17?, though I have yet to win a game. I have gotten some compliments on my starting game, but I have real difficulty seeing atari much of the time.

Players have been very helpful. My first opponent was in Viet Nam! I have gotten some useful tips and suggestions.

[Blackwood]

Steadily losing games, though I did win one two nights ago! Unfortunately it wasn't a ranked game, so I didn't stop my slide. I'm down to 21k now, but everyone I've played on KGS has been very helpful pointing out some of the techniques to work on.

I'm still struggling with the territory vs. pieces concept. It just seems to take over my moves!

[MartArtsNovice]

Is there any Go Tournaments, in the US. I am curious, and I want to learn to play it. I heard it was fun, and more challenging than Chess.

[burp]

Matthew,

There are many tournaments in the U.S. Alot depends on where you are located.

Here is a current list for the next couple of months by the American Go Association (AGA) (a link at the bottom can be accessed for uptodate lists):

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

January 15: Kalamazoo, MI
KZoo's 2nd Go Tournament
Benjamin Schooley 989-287-0123 benjaminschooley@hotmail.com
htto://votar.org/kgc/tourney.html

January 15: Seattle, WA
Mid Winter Tournament
Jon Boley 206-545-1424 jon@seattlegocenter.org

January 15: Columbus, OH
1st Annual Ohayocon Tournament
elvenflare@aol.com

January 15-17: Evanston, IL
6th Annual Winter Workshop
Yang Yilun 7 Dan
Mark Rubenstein 847-869-6020 mark@evanstongoclub.org

January 15-18: Belchertown, MD
Guo Juan Workshop
Bill Saltman 413-323-8658 b1saltman@charter.net

January 16: Somerville, MA
MGA Winter Handicap Touranament
Zack Grossbart 617-497-1232 zack@grossbart.com
http://www.massgo.org

January 22: Richmond, VA
The Slate and Shell Open
William Cobb 804-740-2191 wmscobb@comcast.net

January 29: Denver, CO
Rocky Mountain Winter Tournament
U. Tamm 303-466-2865 utamm@worldnet.att.net

February 26 & 27: Princeton, NJ
New Jersey Open (NOTE CORRECTED DATES!)
Rick Mott 609-466-1602 rickmott@alumni.princeton.edu

February 6: Seattle, WA
Monthly Ratings Tournament
Jon Boley 206-545-1424 jon@seattlegocenter.org

March 17-20: Germantown, MD
10th Annual Maryland Yang Workshop
Gordon Fraser 301-540-2640 gordon@wui.net

This is a digest of events for the next month only; for a complete listing see the Tournament Calendar on the AGA website: http://www.usgo.org/usa/tournaments.asp
For the European Go Calendar see http://www.european-go.org/TOURNAMENTS/TListbyDate.htm


BTW, many go clubs have club tournaments too. Check out the AGA homepage for a list of Go clubs near you: http://www.usgo.org

Enjoy!

Mike Hansen

[MartArtsNovice]

Thanks agian, and I watched the Go Basics video on the usgo website, I really like it now, I shall try and learn to play it. Thanks again.

[Moses]

So after discovering Go here I decided to find some free software to try it out... and found this website. I do hope it helps other newbies get an idea on if they like the game. It helped me-- if nothing else I discovered the game is much more complicated than I first thought.

http://www.joerch.org/go/jogo.html

Thanks