hello,
after spending the last few days watching go matches on youtube, i decided to look further into the game. this website looked really simple to get setup with and there is actually an active community. after having went thru the tutorial, i must say i am still very confused. the tutorial was not written in a way to help you understand anything. i had to look up what the term, ‘eye’, meant so i knew what it was asking me to do. in fact, i wish there was a glossary for all the terms used in this game so i can understand it better. to be honest, the only reason i made it thru the tutorial was because i simply started clicking intersections not knowing why i failed or passed the test. i will keep looking for resources on the game so i can better understand why placement selections are so important.
in the meantime, i will just start playing and try to learn. if you are an absolute beginner, like myself, please feel free to invite me to a game.
Everyone’s friend for terms, info and all the useful stuff is Sensei’s Library.
If you search the forum for beginner stuff, there are also some cool threads. I won’t send you to specific ones, because there’s lots of things to go through, and it’s better to see what catches your eye.
It also helps to watch go matches with commentary, so you get a sense of why people played specific moves. It sounds like a narrative sometimes, and these are the most fun.
I watched this yesterday. The commentary makes it easy to understand how the whole thing unfolded and what the “conversation” between the players was.
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This one I liked because it shows simple moves played with mastery. Although it’s advanced play, it is easy to follow for that reason. (The little voices annoy me a bit, but if it doesn’t bother you even better.)
(People recommend Dwyrin in general, but I prefer to suggest specific videos, if I can)
regarding the tutorial it has been brought up before and there is more discussion here if you were interested and/or wanted to give more pointers Does the learn to play go section need more explanations? For what it’s worth, I am trying/hoping to improve the section, but keep getting interrupted by real life duties. But it should get better soon hopefully - fingers crossed.
If you would not mind a bit of self advertisement - if you are looking for a more detailed introduction to the game together with several other OGS users we have built this tutorial - which is more “explanation” focused to provide a counterpart to the OGS “quick” one.
hello adam!
thanks for your reply! this is all great information and i will be going over everything. very excited to learn more about this especially since we are back on lockdown and i need something to teach myself.
hey adam! just wanted to add a bit more to this post. this link you provided has been a great resource! there were some challenging tests in there which really helped me understand the games core mechanics so much better. it also helped me read the board and examine my possibilities as well. in practice, i will probably forget everything haha but practice is important.
Can I just say, learning this game can be f**king hard! And teaching it can be even harder!
That said, once you get over the initial “hump” it’s not too bad. When you do, you should update this post with what resources helped the most (and which ones didn’t)
been playing 9x9 games just to get started…my first 2 games were…horrible haha. i actually won my 3rd game but honestly, i dont know how i even managed to get captures. reading the game is so difficult and i was guessing on my plays most of the time. also, been watching clossius on twitch as well today…he is so far advanced that i have no idea what he is talking about but i just try to listen and follow along.
Welcome to the deepest rabbit hole you’ll ever go down in your life!
All the advice below should be taken with a grain of salt, as I’m only a 15k myself.
been playing 9x9 games just to get started…my first 2 games were…horrible haha. i actually won my 3rd game but honestly, i dont know how i even managed to get captures.
Yup, this is everyone’s experience when getting started.
Play as much 9x9 as you can. I stayed on 9x9 for a long time until I felt comfortable to go to 13x13, and then even longer until I felt comfortable to go to 19x19. Each increase in board size felt like a different game. So make sure you feel comfortable (practically bored) before moving up.
reading the game is so difficult and i was guessing on my plays most of the time.
For that, I recommend doing Go puzzles (tsumego) every day. Have a look at this series, it explains why some moves are correct, and others not.
also, been watching clossius on twitch as well today…he is so far advanced that i have no idea what he is talking about but i just try to listen and follow along.
I would say it’s way too soon for that, even I find following along a bit tricky sometimes. Depending on the level of the game, there’s an implicit assumption that you grasp more advanced concepts. The vocabulary changes as you move up in rank.
If I watch commentary on an ongoing pro match, it makes my level of Go seem like tic-tac-toe.
You’ll improve much faster by playing a lot and doing tsumego.
Hello!
If you would like a book for beginners, written with a beginner’s mindset, that might help you put all this flood of information in some order, you can try this one (it is free to download) :
P.S.
Don’t get too anxious with ranks and getting better fast. First aim to have fun and the rest will come.
definitely having a lot of fun and am in no hurry at all. just happy to have so many resources to learn from now. definitely dont feel as lost anymore. great community.
