Learning Go

I'm tring to learn Go myself, and have gotten a lot of help from the following site:

http://www.sentex.net/~mmcadams/teachgo/index.html

It describes a method for teaching go to learners in stages. In the first stage, the object is to simply be the first to capture anything. The first player who makes a capture wins, game over.

In the second stage, the object is to capture 3 stones, at once or in succession. It is noted that in this form of the game, 'ko' is likely to occur, leading to a good opportunity for the instructor to cover this topic. A good point is made that 'ko' should not be discussed until the students come upon the problem for themselves.

In the third stage, at which point many games are likely to be ending in a draw, counting is introduces as a way to determine a winner.

All in all it's designed to get people playing right of the bat.

Check it out!

[Nick]

I've liked http://www.kiseido.com
I learned the rules, such as life and death, etc, from people there- it offers a replay and teaching feature, where, after you've been thrashed, they can (and will usually) go back through and tell you where you fell into their traps and how you could have played better.

Seeing as how I'm the only one outside of my Aikido Dojo in my area that knows what Go is, I'll have to stick to the online variation.

Ja,

-Nick

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Thanks for the links. Kent's link looks like a good method to start playing. The rules in Go are so simple that I like this idea of "discovering" them through playing.

How has it worked for you, Kent?


I also like Nick's link to Kiseido. I've always been a little partial towards Kiseido. The reason is that Kiseido has had a big influence on Go in America. For a long time Kiseido (or it's predecessor, Ishi press) was responsible for many of the quality books and supplies available in the English speaking world (at least in the U.S.). A significant number of the books in my Go library (30+) were published or distributed by Kiseido and Ishi press. It would be no exaggeration to say that much of my Go is a result of Kiseido and Ishi press. Fortunately, there are other great sources that have recently sprung up, including --

Yutopian Enterprises
Samarkand
Ibuki Trading Post
Ishi press (still around, but under different ownership??)
(Sorry, if I missed any.)

Plus, the internet has really opened up the world of Go for many of us. Before I got internet access, the only people I was able to play Go against were people to whom I taught the game. Now, I can play people from all over the world at anytime.

When talking of the internet, I must mention Jansteen's site http://www.cwi.nl/people/jansteen/go/go.html . In one way or another almost everything on the web relating to Go is linked to Jansteen's site. It is a valuable resource!


Thanks for the posts ... I look forward to hear more from your experiences in learning Go. It has been long enough now since I learned Go that I take for granted that I know what a ladder or sanrensei or ... is. Makes it hard for me to judge what methods are easiest for learning Go and what resources are most useful.

Anyway ...

Enjoy!

mikehansen

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BTW, please note any other links that anyone has found useful in learning Go!

Thank you.

Enjoy!

mikehansen

It's definately helped me by shrinking the scope of the game enough for me to jump in and 'play' rather than jump in and 'try to learn'. I'm working with 'TurboGo' and a small 9x9 board right now rather than a human opponent, but I hope to purchase an inexpensive set soon so I can start teaching and learning with others.

My approach right now is to play fairly quickly, and tally the score during lulls to see how things are looking. I'm relying totally on the computer to do scoring, which is lame, but allows me to focus on getting a feel for the game. I find myself running into the same problems/questions which, upon further reading, turn out to be well documented issues and situations. I find this kind of learning a lot less intimidating than doing all the reading first and then approaching a board. I get slaughtered a few times and lose my fighting spirit! Playing quick, small games still gets me slaughtered, even on the lowest settings, but I'm starting to at least see the pot-holes before (or just after) jumping in to them, and seeing a variety of pot-holes rather than just one.

I'll try a larger board soon. I'm somewhat awed as to where exactly one should even begin to form a 'strategy' on a larger board, but I have also read that everyone feels this at first and trust that in time the answers will avail themselves!

-kent



[Edited by Ctrl-Alt-Del on 10-02-2000 at 11:04 AM]

[Nick]

Go, like budo, may look simple to the beginner, because of how well two players might compliment each other. Once playing, like in the budo, they must go slowly, realizing and learning more with every game.

-Nick Porter

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Howdy!

Kent ... now that you're getting comfortable with the 9x9, next head to a 13x13 ... a full size 19x19 would definately have that feel of being too big and wondering where to play. I still enjoy a 13x13 game every once in a while when I don't have much time. I certainly prefer it to a 9x9 (all fighting). The 13x13 nicely introduces one to the full scope of Go with more strategy than a 9x9. Ideas like influence, thickness, etc. can be explored on the 13x13. Then when you make the jump to the 19x19 you'll recognize the 19x19 as feeling complete and full so to speak. 19x19 is Go!

When you're ready to start playing online, let us all know we'll be happy to help get started.


Nick ... nice comments ... sounds like something that could be quoted! ;) This is the cool thing about Go, you're always learning and exploring ... after awhile the result of the game becomes not as important as the play itself. That's when one becomes ABSORBED in the game. How does the saying go? Something to the affect that ... "A Go player will miss their own parent's funeral". Since Go players can become so absorbed in a game that the events around them seem to disappear. :)

Enjoy!

mikehansen