I want to learn the game. I feel as if i will only improve in person. However there are no go clubs near me here in the US. I have Discord, that is an option to use in order to have auditory confirmation when learning. If anyone out there in the US is willing to work with me and speak directly to eachother this is what im searching for. my rank is around 23kyu atleast on the site. I will use discretion when choosing a teacher. I would like a 4kyu or lower to teach me(not a must). Vocal conversation is a must… Please note i am catching on at a slow pace( hoping conversation will help slightly ). So I ask for your patience.
Hi there,
I took a look at one of your games to get a proper feel of where you are in your game.
So, let me say a few things, which are absolutely true, but something your likely not going to like.
You don’t need a teacher. Where you are now, you understand the basic principles and rules in the game. you have already, in my opinion, done the hardest thing possible while learning Go. Everything from this point is a million and one smaller lessons that add up to an overall result.
But there are absolutely things that you can do to improve your games, and there are resources available on the internet, for free, that can absolutely help you.
The reason I can make these claims is that its something I and many other go players, have done without the need of a teacher. I managed to get by on a lot less.
So… what you need?
Well first things first, is, experience. Playing more games will allow you to learn from stronger opponents. Playing stronger people should absolutely be what you want to do right now. It will give you the chance to play against people who know more. learn from what they did that really stumped you.
This ties into the first point neatly… but you need to start looking over your games. Perhaps not in a detailed “I’m going to do an in-depth analysis of this and every game I play” …its more…“I think I know where I went wrong, let’s take a look for a couple of mins to see where it all went wrong and right.” Looking over your games is a matter of looking at where you are going wrong, and trying to find a better way. its that simple.
the next thing you are going to want to do… is do go problems. Tsumegohoro, Goproblems.com, tsumegopro and even the puzzle section on OGS itself. Get on there, and do some go problems. it will absolutely be a drag in the beginning, but it actually becomes quite the fun past time. This will not only give you experience, of the game, but it will teach you how to “Read”. That is, “If I play here, then he will play there, so I can play there, and so on.” it will teach you how to live, how to kill, how to make seki, and how to make KO. It is invaluable as a tool to really get to grips with the game. Pro players still do tsumego, and if its not too good for them, it’s not too good for me either.
Look up pro games. Many people will say that this is pointless for a player who is so new to the game. They say it is because you have no feal for the game yet. and it’s true, but the same can be said for a lowly 9kyu player like myself. But, the more of them you take a proper look at, a better feeling for the game you will develop. you will see sequences and different moves that will absolutely inspire your game.
And lastly… look up go teaching videos. There is Dwyrin, there is Nick Sibiky, there is Xhu98 and so many others. I’ve personally watched a lot of Nick sibiky, and a little of dwryin… and I’m sad I missed Xhu’s stream today.
Nick is a proper teacher. he teaches go, and records the lessons and puts them online.
Dwryn is a go player who streams on twitch and uploads the resulting videos to youtube. And Xhu, is a streamer who plays Go, and is genuinely a wonderful person. he also does game reviews and plays games with people online live.
So… you don’t need a teacher. What you need is to find a way of learning go that suits you, and then dive into it. I don’t think teaching is going to be all that beneficial to you at this point. You already have the basics down. The best thing for you is to just throw yourself into the game.
Deffinalty ask stronger players to go over your games and do reviews, hell ask me if you want. But much of what you have to do now, are things that you kinda have to do yourself for the most part. The best thing a teacher can do for you is to guide you right now.
If you were super strong, stronger than me, then you would get a lot out of having a teacher, who can guide you and really improve your games. But where you are at now, you are learning multiple new things at once in every game. The pace that a higher ranked player learns is far slower, which is when a teacher may be needed or more beneficial.
That’s my thoughts. But feel free to continue doing whatever you want or feel is best for you my dude. At the end of the day, you have to do what is best for yourself.
3 Likes
The book i read tells me to consider the words of someone else even if I dont approve. I am thinking i will take your advice. Find a site with go problems and try that out for a while. I just play like a fool. I suspected having conversation throughout and after a game would help me. I suppose even an equal leveled opponent can do that. To end it though I will read over your advice again see if I missed anything and do go problems. Btw Starting out with the mediocre comment cushioned whatever blow was in your responce and I was not at all not liking your advice.
1 Like
gonna tell you right now the number one way to improve at DDK is probably just to look over your games and find all the places you blunder at. Tsumego may also help, but stay with the basics… you can do complicated tesujis if you like them, but the primary thing you need at DDK is just to recognize what is a big point, and finding simple ways to handle attacks.
You can request a review from me in chat when I’m online, and if I’m not there will probably be someone else who’d be interested. But it goes a lot easier if you attempt to review first so the reviewer can know better what to focus on.
You can get a teacher if you want, but it’s not gonna be easy to find a free dedicated go teacher, and I don’t recommend paying for one at this level, as you can probably improve without one. But getting reviews and teaching games (games against stronger players) can be very helpful.
But the number one thing is to play games and fix the more basic stuff going on.
4 Likes
One of the biggest hurdles in learning Go, is realizing that learning Go is a never ending process of slow and hard won progress.
t It’s Core, What Is Go?
Something that is really important to realize about Go is that, no matter which board size you play on, it is an exercise in pattern recognition. Go is not about winning or beating opponents. The game, in my view, is a solitary pursuit. For we only ever truly face ourselves. Each game is essentially a unique puzzle, being generated based on our decisions and our opponent’s choice of moves. Your opponent represents chaos, the unknown, or randomization; not a foe or force to be overcome.
Rather, Go is an exercise in memorization of shapes and how to employ and counter them effectively. Especially considering how the methodology of countering the same shape changes based on the surrounding board configuration. The myriad of possibilities in any given game with familiar shapes and patterns is breathtakingly complex. To this end, you should realize that the only true way to get better is to build your brain’s database of shapes, patterns, and how to properly employ and counter them.
This can only be achieved through raw experience. Maintaining mental focus while studying specific topics of interest, searching for weaknesses in your understanding through self analysis and third party analysis of your games, and deliberate practice will accelerate your speed of progress. It is also likely to teach you lessons or reveal aspects of Go game play that you would otherwise never stumble upon yourself.
I have written several topics for beginners who are new to Go. There are also some study games I have run with people who are just starting out, where we discuss the logic and thinking behind each move. I only play on the 9x9, but if you are interested, you can find all of this information here: Helpful Information For Newcomers To Go.
You will also find a link to the Tsumego puzzles I recommend you start with and a couple of free Go books, if reading strikes your interest. Also of interest is Sensei’s LIbrary, which is a treasure trove of Go related information. Above all else, do not get discouraged. I’ve written about that too, also linked in the same article above 
2 Likes
Sometimes, the best advice is advice we don’t like to hear, or read, or take. I know that much from personal experience.
And I would much rather be completely honest with you, and perhaps you not liking me very much, than I would if I told you what you wanted to hear which would have been a lie.
It wasn’t so long ago that I was where you are now in terms of go strength. It is hard to learn the game. And far harder to do so without actually knowing about any go resources.
The first server I played go on was flyordie.com, which to be quite honest, is bloody terrible. And I spent a lot of time on there, because I didn’t know about any other places to play go. I stumbled on OGS… And realised how bad of a player I was. Ended up dropping go for a couple of years. Didn’t play a single game.
But… I came back. And I reapplied myself to learning the game.
I began to stumble on different resources slowly, and I got steadily better. Am I where I want to be? No… No I’m not. But then I’m pretty sure that the same can be said for most amateur players. But it’s also how I know that improvement can and has to be done yourself for the most part where you are now.
Getting help, asking people to look over games, or point you in the direction of information you need to improve your game… That is fine. But that isn’t what a teacher would do…
A teacher would play a game against you, tell you where you are going wrong and show you some stuff. That’s all well and good. But it’s not what you need. At a higher level, teachers become more relevent because the game become more complex in the way a player thinks. And by that point they both know so much about the game that they could destroy most people on the board.
Anyways. I hope this all works out for you. And please. If you have any other questions, if you want some game reviews done, or anything else. I’m More than happy to give you some of my time. Also I enjoy doing game reviews.
2 Likes
Thank you all for your wisdom and experience. I am working on taking your advice. However I do still feel fond of the idea of playing with someone while conversing. If anyone would like to join my discord channel and chat while we play a game or two thatd be great. Id like to talk to someone about my moves and possibly develop that way. Again thanks for everything guys its greatly appreciated.
3 Likes
yeah, finding people to talk to while playing can possibly make it more enjoyable. Ofc even someone at or around your level will help with that 
4 Likes
No worries my dude. And i would take you up on the offer of discord, but i have social anxiety all up in my head, so im not to great at voice calls. But if you ever need someone to do game reveiws, or whatever, then im eager to help you out.
It would be prudent to edit our original post with times and days that you are available. For anybody on the fence of reaching out to you, it might help them make up their mind before they have a chance to talk themselves out of it
2 Likes
//gives spoon a voip teaching game lolz
1 Like
well I am more typically on here around 9:30 pm till whenever I decide to get off. However if anyone is interested I could send them an invite to my discord channel and when available the games could be worked out there. I can typically make myself readily available however this isnt a guaranteed case. I did find one person from random games who was willing and they are close enough to my skill level i think i could learn a bit from them.
What time zone are you in? OGS is an international community 
1 Like
right! EST
Here the timezone aware version:
9:30 PM
Edit: Corrected time zone
If you are curious to what EST time is it is New York Time. atleast thats what i always thought… However I notice that on your aware version there is an hour difference. anyways I am on New York Standard Time
I would be happy to contribute some reviews as well. I’m CST and I’m asleep by 4PM. I don’t get back up until 12AM. Otherwise I would hop on Discord and give you a teaching game or two 
.
i hope you mean 12pm… atleast i hope you dont sleep 18 hours 0.o… anyways in an earlier reply I said I can make myself readily available throughout the day. You can add my on the ogs server, or you can join my discord channel and Im sure we could work out a time for a game or two regardless of your time zone. Especially those in the US because of the relevance of time.
Sorry, I mean to say that I sleep 4PM to 12AM CST. I sent you a friend request on OGS and a PM on the forum for the Discord info. Anytime before 9AM is best for me. After that I will likely have background noise. Lots of little kids around here 
. Let’s figure this out ^_-
New York is currently on EDT, which could explain where you’re getting a 1 hour error from, although I’m not entirely sure what you’re comparing it to. The switch back to EST happens on November 3 this year.
1 Like