I’ve tried to learn how to play this game for yeeeeeears and I still don’t understand the very basics.
I can’t even keep score. I can’t even remove dead stones. I don’t understand what is “dead.” I don’t understand if I’m supposed to be trying to capture stones or conquer territory or what territory even really is. I don’t understand how or why the game is over.
I can’t even understand enough to see it as even BEING A GAME. It just looks like random, meaningless black and white TV static in slow motion. We take turns placing stones, eventually a bunch of my stones disappear for reasons I don’t quite understand, and then it starts telling me to remove dead stones because I already lost, then it tells me the score and I don’t understand the score or why the game is even over.
I just don’t “GET IT” well enough to even really play at all. I just place stones until it says I lost again. Eventually I get sick of feeling worthless and stupid and quit for months… then I come crawling back because I really do want to learn.
Part of my problem is that I have never even met anyone IRL who knows how to play and I’ve never even seen a go board in real life.
The tutorials don’t help me much. They’re either so easy and obivious that I don’t learn anything or they’re so hard and confusing that I don’t learn anything. There is no in between where it’s challenging, but feasible for a n00b like myself.
I’ve read the rules over and over. I know what atari and ko are. I’ve watched youtube channels. I’ve checked out library books. I’ve made my own set out of paper and bottlecaps. I’ve played 9x9, 13x13, and 19x19. I’ve played “easy” bots (that just waste me every single time.) I’ve played real people online. I’ve tried really, really, really hard to get better, to absolutely no avail.
The one thing I haven’t been able to try is ACTUALLY PLAYING WITH SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO PLAY AND IS WILLING TO TALK TO ME ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON AND WHY, INSTEAD OF JUST EFFORTLESSLY MURDERING ME AGAIN.
I really need someone to play with and talk to about the game at the same time, y’know, the way people learned the game for a thousand years before computers… the way most of yall probably learned. Apps and websites like this just aren’t going to help me enough that I can actually play a game. For some reason, none of them seem to have bots for n00bs to learn on. The lowest ranked bots might as well be an army of super mutant Bruce Lees with nuclear bazookas for arms. I stand no chance of even learning from my losses, much winning.
Anyway, thanks for listening to me gripe about my complete lack of skill. If anyone would like to teach this hopeless moron how to play, that would be very, very greatly appreciated. If not, I’m never playing again because there is no point in just making myself feel terrible all the time when there is a zero chance that I will make any progress.