I agree with this point:
However, I do not support the argument made here:
I think there is value to teaching beginners about both area and territory scoring, and how they essentially give strategically equivalent objectives, for the sake of dispelling these illusions and misconceptions. Area scoring and territory scoring are really just two ways of looking at nearly the same thing, so maybe giving both perspectives would help a beginner better understand the objective of the game.
- Area score = territory + your living stones.
- Territory score = territory + stones captured from your opponent.
Understanding that these two systems give nearly equivalent results might help beginners with better understanding the strategy of the game. I could also argue that focusing on only the territory scoring perspective might create the detrimental misconception that capturing is a bonus to be prioritized (over the efficient control of territory).
Also, when teaching that unnecessary plays inside one’s own territory is bad, I think too much emphasis is placed on the loss of a single point. Except at the end of game, the loss from essentially passing (by wasting a move) is much larger than one point.
Further, I think a difficulty in teaching Japanese rules to beginners is that one is forced to simplify away much of the complexities in determining life and death (necessary under Japanese rules), which may lead to an incomplete understanding that causes further confusion later when dealing with more complex situations. Resolving a life and death dispute under Japanese rules is quite complicated (to do properly), while under area scoring rulesets, disputes are straightforward to settle by playing on.