Board Game [Go]

[Arakune]

Maybe there's a thread in the deeps of the nth page sooo...

Anyone plays here? If so, where? What's your rank? Any advices to become stronger?

[Brother Oni]

I sort-of play as I picked up an interest while on my last holiday to Japan.

I know stone placement and capturing rules, but I still can't get my head around the scoring or the terminology.

[Holammer]

I learned it after reading Hikaru no Go. I studied the rules by myself, played some computer go and eventually downloaded an online client and played that for a few weeks/months. Eventually I got feed up by getting mauled by other supposedly low ranked players the majority of the games.
It is a fun game, but nothing spectacular.

[King_of_GRiffins]

I've gained interest in the game a few times, mostly after reading over how it's difficult to create a good AI for it. I've tried picking up playing it, but, as above, it's quite hard to get better when you simply keep getting mauled. Maybe it's because most people who play online have already played it plenty? I don't know. I've been pondering getting a board and playing with some people back at college, but I'm not incredibly clear on the scoring beyond just counting how many stones there are.

[Tirian]

Getting mauled is ... well, I don't want to say that it's part of the learning process because that sounds like it's some sort of hazing ritual. But one of the timeless pieces of Go wisdom is "Lose your first hundred games quickly," which means that with patience and without too much overthinking you will eventually get a rudimentary feel for life and death and connections and capturing races and what not. And over the course of those hundred metaphorical games you will find that you go from losing almost immediately to getting crushed in the midgame and eventually you will actually have to tally the score at the end before finding out that you lost. Hopefully, you have enough grace to recognize that as a good thing.

One of the great things about Go is that the handicap system is very useful. Once you understand the basic concepts, it is possible to play Go against someone who is much stronger than you with you just getting some free moves at the beginning. (This is different from chess: if you play against me and handicap yourself by removing your queen and both bishops, one can argue that we're not playing chess at that point.) And being able to fairly challenge someone who is better than you means that you can be critiqued by that player when you make those moves that whittle away at your initial advantage. The other great thing about Go is that the online community is so strong and not densely populated by asshats. I think that the online clients supplemented by a few books are totally the way to go.

[Arakune]

About being mauled, it's natural. After being mauled, you start a ping-pong game with your rank who goes up and down al the time before going up again.

[sun_tzu]

My interest in the game comes and goes with the months, but last time I was into it (a few months ago), I reached 10 kyu on the Kiseido Go Server.

[Arakune]

My interest in the game comes and goes with the months, but last time I was into it (a few months ago), I reached 10 kyu on the Kiseido Go Server.

10k in the igs is hard. I and my friends have an common account for the club we go, making it an average of all the players.

[Tirian]

10k in the igs is hard. I and my friends have an common account for the club we go, making it an average of all the players.

Ew, that really must screw up the ratings of everyone you play against.

[Arakune]

Ew, that really must screw up the ratings of everyone you play against.

Well, that's a common account, so it's no use. I'm currently 9k in kgs with my own account (ryuan, very imaginative, isn't it?)