Ways to get started

topic posted Wed, April 21, 2004 - 12:15 PM by  Ivaanovich
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Hey everyone!

I'm pretty new to the game of GO, but the scarce 3 months I have been playing it have turned me into a real strategy junkie!!!!

Could anyone recommend me a few good books/resources to get started with more advanced stuff? I mean, I already know the basics of life and death, eyes, basic capture techniques, etc. What I'm looking for is openings (fuseki?), advanced capture techniques and, in general, any other stuff you GO gurus out there consider important for newbyes like me.

Cheers and many thanks in advance,


Ivaanovich
posted by:
Ivaanovich
San Francisco
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  • TT
    TT
    offline 3

    Re: Ways to get started

    Wed, April 28, 2004 - 8:23 AM
    Don't know if you read Kim's Series on "Learning to play go" she has 3 vols. They are for beginners. If you have play some go, another series that is excellent is Elementary Go Series and the 1st vol is "In the Beginning" by Ikuro Ishigure. His stuff is kind of old but great for beginners.

    Looks like you live in San Fran. You guys have a really strong go club there and I know certain nights is for beginners. If you are serious about getting strong, that's the place to be. Hope this helps.

    TT
  • Re: Ways to get started

    Sun, May 2, 2004 - 8:15 PM
    Hi Ivaanovich,

    Have you been to the go servers on the Internet yet? If you've got game,
    I'd definitely recommend them. You'll know in a few weeks or less of
    playing online if you've got game enough to enjoy the servers.

    Me I'm about 26 kyu, so I need more game. ;)

    For books, I've heard the Graded Go Problems for Beginners series is
    excellent.

    Also check out Samarkand, Kiseido, and Yutopian for books (roughly
    in that order). If you visit senseis.xmp.net, you can find links to these
    vendors, the servers, and more. gobase.org is my current favorite site,
    along with Sensei's and the Go Teaching Ladder site. I've only done
    business with Samarkand, and from both that experience and chatting
    others on the go servers, I recommend them -- I had a very good
    experience with them (bought one slotted goban and two 13x13 boards,
    bowls, stones etc.)

    Regards,

    manazavahagala
  • Re: Ways to get started

    Sun, May 9, 2004 - 2:03 PM
    Hi folks. My first post here, please excuse any errors or unintentional etiquette breaches.

    I'll second that recommendation on Janice Kim's books, though it sounds like maybe you want to look at her 4th and 5th volumes?

    What do you consider the 'basics' of life and death?

    You asked about capturing techniques--have you looked at Kato's "Attack and Kill"? Ishida & Davies' "Attack and Defense"?

    I'm enjoying the book "Life and Death" from that Elementary Go Series--I prefer status problems, i.e., "figure out whether this shape is dead, alive, or unsettled" rather than problems where they tell you from the outset that the shape is dead, can be given dual life, etc.

    See also gobase.org/, goproblems.com/. Kiseido's KGS go server is a fantastic resource, although the people can be a little chilly toward visitors.

    Definitely check out that Sensei's Library site, it's great.
  • Re: Ways to get started

    Fri, May 14, 2004 - 10:32 AM
    Thanks to everyone for your excellent suggestions!

    I've been checking out the San Francisco GO Club [sfgoclub.com], and they have open evenings for beginners and kyu-grade players, all for free!!! They have great tutoring stuff over there. I think I'll definitely patron their school. Thanks TT for the hint!

    As for the books, I have been checking some of them out at my local bookstore. Most of them are already part of my birthday's wishlist (next week ;).

    Finally, yes, I have had a bunch of games over the net. So far, I've tried the No-Name Go Server [nngs.cosmic.org] and Panda's Go Server [igs.joyjoy.net]. I rather enjoyed playing at Panda, but the crowd at NNGS seem a wee stuck-up and cold towards beginners. Do you guys know any other friendly game servers out there?

    Also, I would like to get hold of a (fairly) good Go engine for the Palm platform. I thought it would be cool if I could have a quick game or study some of the Go problems while commuting to work. More than strong game AI, what I need is an app that allows me to replay games in sgf format, preferably with full variations and comments. Suggestions anybody?

    Cheers,


    Ivaanovich
    • Re: Ways to get started

      Fri, May 21, 2004 - 2:56 PM
      kgs is the obvious choice for native English-language
      speakers (and others -- several spoken-languages are
      represented there). NNGS has a critical shortage of
      people using it (often less than a dozen present at
      any one time). IGS and KGS are generally well-populated,
      though certainly not at every ability-level. A double-
      digit kyu player (self included) will find any of
      them challenging (a game you may win or lose, rather
      than one you pretty much know you will win; or lose!)

      I don't think the Palm device is well-suited for Go
      because of the form-factor; it is difficult enough with
      a sizeable display. I have one or two game recording
      (SGF-generating) Palm applications, but I've yet to
      use them even once under the pressure of playing a
      real game (I wouldn't even want to record as an observer
      using only a Palm device and any software that might
      run on one). Perhaps a much younger person's eyes
      might find the form-factor useful -- I find it to be
      less than useful here.

      I've heard there are several non-English Go servers
      (notably in Japanese languages, or Korean languages)
      that are great for native speakers. IGS and KGS
      seem the only really useful choices for real-time
      play on the Internet.
  • Re: Ways to get started

    Mon, May 17, 2004 - 8:25 PM
    for servers, i like dragongoserver.net. it's "turn based", basically meaning the clock is set usually for a few months and you log in and make moves in your games when you feel like it. im "talen" on there if you ever wanna play.

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