Teacher Request (I'm ~11k)

[smurph]

I think it’s a terrible idea. If you condition your opening a club on something that won’t happen, you might as well just use something you’re confident with and start a band instead.

Edit: I just noticed that you may be talking about a regular Go club, not necessarily at school. I think it would be easiest to start one at school though… just read the rest with my possible misconception in mind.

What students need isn’t a teacher who can crush them, what they need is someone who loves the game and offers the opportunity, location and materials for them to play, who does the paperwork and maybe organizes trips to local tournaments. If you really want a strong player to teach every now and then, look through your local AGA chapter/rating list and get on the phone.

But believe me, the faster they beat you, the better.

Alexander Dinerchtein was taught by his 10k father and look how he turned out. Second, here’s an excerpt from an interview with the Dutch champion Rob van Zeijst:

“When and how did you start playing Go?” I started at the age of 8 when I broke my arm and my father his leg in unrelated accidents. I could not attend school and he could not go to work. So we had plenty of time and we played chess, checkers and some other games. My father beat me in chess most of the time, so after a while that got boring. Then my father remembered another game he and his older brother played a few times when they were young. He explained the rules to me, we started playing and… I won the very first game! Wow! I could beat my father! For an 8-year old boy, nothing could be better and I got hooked on the game. That is why I now play go and not chess…

If you would like to start a club, contact the AGA (they offer free stuff and discounts for other stuff etc) and start asap. Don’t wait for some personal achievement. Make it your personal achievement.