Beginner

Hello everyone! I’m new in the world of go and i would like to know if somebody can teach me how to play it! I only know basics rules, and played 3 games. I’m french but i can also speak english ;).

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Welcome, @Sylarr!

Have you already worked through The Interactive Way To Go?

http://playgo.to/iwtg/

This should be an obligatory course for all beginners, IMO. I also did it when I was a newbie (actually when I returned to Go after decades).

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yep i did it ^^

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Oh, great :slight_smile:

I’m overstressed currently, so I won’t offer a teaching game, but I’m sure you’ll find others who are happy to do so.

Enjoy your games here :slight_smile:

Cordially, Tom

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Ahah no problem :wink: thank you very much ^^.

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I have sent you a teaching game offer (correspondence 9x9). I hope this suits. If not just decline, no problem.

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I’m happy to help too - message me if need be.

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Im still a beginner but if you want to play, hit me up, im always happy to play a game.

you might also want to check this little book out:

http://agfgo.org/downloads/LoveBaduk.pdf

its really good to get an idea of the basics of the game :slight_smile:

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I am always happy to give a teaching game, just send me a message

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Another newbie here saying HI!

I went through the First Video on the YouTube Beginner Series and started playing 9X9 on this site for a couple of hours. I have some rudimnetray understanding of Territory, Capture and Liberties. But have a lot of difficulty putting it in practice, particularly CAPTURE.

What is the best place to start?

I am not ambitious, just wish to beat my 9-year-old grandniece once in a while.

Thanks.

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First of all: have you gone through http://playgo.to/iwtg/ like @trohde suggested? It goes through some of the basics of capture and the kinds of things that can happen in practice.

Second of all: Many times the basics of capture are gained through practice (some of which could be provided by the above link)

Third of all: sometimes (and actually very often) capturing something is not the biggest thing on the board.

Just some thoughts from someone who’s been playing a while and started with the Interactive Way to Go.

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And as always, once you think you got the very basic rules down I too am happy to play :slight_smile:

feel free to send me a correspondence challenge, or if you prefer live, you can add me as a friend and message when you see me online. 9x9 is indeed a lot about experience, but hopefully we can find something to talk about too. :slight_smile:

9 year-olds are crafty, but I am sure in time we can manage :smiley:

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They learn faster! :wink:
I always win against my 9yr daughter, but I know this will change soon! :slight_smile:

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Many thanks for the prompt response. Will visit link suggested by mekriff and, when I feel more confident, take up AdamR’s offer.

I thought about my lack of success all night and realised that in GO capture is not the be all and end all. Further, I should perhaps set a higher Handicap. I selected 5.

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5 stones on a 9x9 board is a lot.
With such a handicap your only aim should be to make living groups.
Don’t try to save all of your stones: just think about connecting some of them and make a living group.
If you manage to do it twice in a game, you’ll win.

I hope your grandniece won’t get too upset! :wink:

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Still trying to navigate this site.

I played 9X9 a couple of hours last evening and found 17Kyu (at least I understand kyu and dan) against my name. So decided to try 13x13 today and in three games dropped to 22K. Now even the Computer (AI something Mantis) refused to play with me because of the wide gap in our ranking even when I disabled “Ranked” on the settings for the game. :cry:

What is a “living group” by the way?

Whether I beat grandniece or not, can’t say I don’t work hard. :muscle: I am retired so have all the time in the world.

Got to go to a concert now. Hope Beethoven’s Pastoral would restore my fried brains.

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Maybe this is the issue! :smiley:

Look at lesson 11 “The stones which would never be captured” on the “Interactive Way To Go” site (previously mentioned: Play Go Online Game - Cosumi).

There are groups that just CAN’T be captured. They are called “living groups”.
And there are groups that easily can be made “living”, adding a stone or two.

Also there are groups that can be KILLED adding a stone in the right place. Therefore they can’t be saved and will be captured eventually.

This is crucial for a beginner (and for everybody who plays go :smiley: ).

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This is one of the very few Bad Things about OGS. (I love OGS)

You get given 13k when you start. Because of “Reasons”. But a beginner is really 25k or more. So you have to lose a few games to get your rank down to the accurate value…

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Thanks. Should do some reading first rather than plunging into PLAY. :sweat_smile:

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Very helpful, thanks. :tulip:

Incidentally, I read some of your earlier posts explaining why you picked up GO - to play with your son. They are encouraging even though I am some 20 years older than you were when you first started.

Time for me to do some studying.

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