Does Anyone Play GO?

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RJC
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Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by RJC »

Hi friends,

Recently learned about the board game called GO and I want to learn more. Anyone on this forum play? How did you get started?

I also watched this excellent documentary called AlphaGo (2017) where Google's DeepMind AI played the world's best player at the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXuK6gekU1Y

I get the general basics; however, I have no clear strategy.

Thanks!
eigenperson
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by eigenperson »

Go is a very difficult game. I played a little in high school, then stopped. I decided it was too hard for me.

The best way to get started is to find people who play, and play with them. Go players are always excited to meet other go players, because there aren't a ton. They will be eager to teach you and keep you around. There is a robust handicap system in Go, so you can have decently competitive games against better players. Even so, you will lose a lot at first.
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by Sandtrap »

RJC wrote: Sat Jan 13, 2024 7:24 am Hi friends,

Recently learned about the board game called GO and I want to learn more. Anyone on this forum play? How did you get started?

I also watched this excellent documentary called AlphaGo (2017) where Google's DeepMind AI played the world's best player at the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXuK6gekU1Y

I get the general basics; however, I have no clear strategy.

Thanks!
Is there an "Asian" (culturall diverse PC) area near you with a courtyard where people play "Go", just go and listen and watch. Don't interrrupt. It's not social, just watch. In person and physical experience is not like online or digital. Go is in person. Hear the pieces going down.

j
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Mr. Rumples
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by Mr. Rumples »

Tried it in university. Gave it up when I could not find anyone to play with. I'm surprised really that more people don't play.

Would agree with in person, there is something to hearing and feeling; much like Mahjong online is sort of boring and isolating...hearing the clicking of the tiles and people calling out "one bam, five dot" and all the while talking makes in person interesting.
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michaelingp
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by michaelingp »

There was a very active Go club that met at my church. They've either disbanded or moved due to Covid or the church renovation, but my point is there are many clubs that meet regularly. Check out the list of clubs at usgo.org.
hmw
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by hmw »

I played it a lot when I was a teenage. I was a weak amateur dan-level player. Haven't played for a long time.

There are lots of learning videos on Youtube. Depending on where you live, may not be easy to find other Go players to practice in person. But I am sure there are lots of online Go games you can watch or play.
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bertilak
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by bertilak »

Check with the American Go Association for clubs near you: https://www.usgo.org/

Click on "Find a Club."

Click on "Learn to play Go."

Also, look for books. Many of the best Go books seem to be out of print or otherwise hard to come by. Janice Kim's books are excellent and available from Amazon :https://www.amazon.com/s?k=go+books+kim. Ishi Press published many classic Go books. A few are available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ishi+press. There are may more you might be able to track down. I suspect they are all available somewhere.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by ResearchMed »

bertilak wrote: Sat Jan 13, 2024 1:48 pm Check with the American Go Association for clubs near you: https://www.usgo.org/

Click on "Find a Club."

Click on "Learn to play Go."

Also, look for books. Many of the best Go books seem to be out of print or otherwise hard to come by. Janice Kim's books are excellent and available from Amazon :https://www.amazon.com/s?k=go+books+kim. Ishi Press published many classic Go books. A few are available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ishi+press. There are may more you might be able to track down. I suspect they are all available somewhere.

I forget exactly what I entered, but I was looking to see if where the grands are about to move will have any Go clubs. (It's not such a major metro area.)

And whatever it was that I entered, I got *one* listing for something like "American Go Association" (not exact).
And lots of listings like:
<town> GoGo Club! :oops:

Not quite what I had in mind for the young grandsons...

Fortunately, different search terms were much more successful.

BTW, how young is "not too young" to start learning Go?
They picked up chess much faster than I expected (which was a wonderful surprise).

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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by bertilak »

ResearchMed wrote: Sat Jan 13, 2024 2:14 pm BTW, how young is "not too young" to start learning Go?
They picked up chess much faster than I expected (which was a wonderful surprise).
The younger, the better. There are lots of Go "Wonderkids." It depends on the individual and how much interest there is. I would expect even 8 or 9 is possible. You would have to generate the interest.

The rules are simple and few enough. With Chess there are lots of rules, some arbitrary. With Go it is hard to imagine any significant rule change. They almost seem like laws of nature.
Last edited by bertilak on Sat Jan 13, 2024 3:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by rob »

I tried a few years ago but didn't have anyone to play with (I'm not much of an online game person).

If you start with a smaller grid the game is faster and that might help for a kid. I don't think there is a too young - I don't remember learning poker and alike as was very young and I learnt Chess in primary school. IMO: What is important is some friends around the same level to play with.
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RJC
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by RJC »

Thank you everyone for your comments. I will look into these options to see if there are clubs around me.

It's such a fascinating game once you start understanding the basic concepts.
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by ScubaHogg »

There’s also some good apps. Probably a lot more convenient.
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by bertilak »

RJC wrote: Sun Jan 14, 2024 7:48 am It's such a fascinating game once you start understanding the basic concepts.
The contrast between the basic simplicity of the game and the complex situations that can arise continues to impress me.
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by bertilak »

ScubaHogg wrote: Sun Jan 14, 2024 7:50 am There’s also some good apps. Probably a lot more convenient.
Apps and online gaming are convenient, but the game of Go has a tactile element that comes out with the use of physical game materials -- wood, stone, shell. The sound of placing pieces on the board.
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TBillT
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by TBillT »

That's funny we were just talking about that game. Never personally played, but decades ago in CompSci101 we had to write a FORTRAN program to play it. May be more popular in other countries.
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by w5000 »

I played for a number of years, somewhat seriously but a long time ago.

When I was playing regularly, computer players weren't very good (beginner level). Now I understand there are some decent computer players (besides AlphaGo), so that's one approach to get started.

If you can't find a club, then you can play people online. I never did this myself but know people who did. I think you can find a game at pretty much any time of day or night. I don't know the details but I'm sure you can find out by searching the web. You'll need to enter your rank / rating so that you get matched up with a reasonable opponent. I forget what they say a new player starts off at, but I think once they get the hang of how the game works but still aren't a good player yet they're around 15-16 kyu.

Ideally, you would start by playing 9x9 games (probably with a 4 stone handicap initially) with someone who already knows how to play. Once you learn tactics, you can move up to larger games: 13x13 and then to the full 19x19 board. (Generally not useful to play games with someone else who's just learning to play -- they used to say watching two new players play Go was like watching two blindfolded boxers.)

There are plenty of books out there too! I don't have specific recommendations, but to start you're looking for just a general book on the game.

You can probably reach a level of 7-9 kyu by just playing games, but beyond that (perhaps like chess) if you want to advance, you're going to have to study/read -- there are lots of more specialized books out there that focus on one aspect of the game. When I was playing seriously, I accumulated around 10 of these books. I still have them, thinking that I'm going to get back into playing Go one of these days. It's a great game!
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by Hebell »

I am a great fan of Hive and Yinsh, both abstract spatial games, as is Go. One day, I'll graduate.
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RJC
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by RJC »

Thank you for the additional comments. Only on this forum can I find like-minded folks from all parts of life.
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by NAVigator »

I don't play yet but thought about learning. I was strolling through a charity resale place and spotted a full sized wood GO board, which I bought for $15. When I was checking out, I asked about the stones and was told they were sold as something to place in a flower vase. I subsequently bought stones and a book. I thought it would be best to create the book image on a real board to get the look and feel (and sound) of a real game as I learned. Well, that first step, taken alone with no guide or opponent, turned into disillusion. I concluded that learning this way might be like becoming an athlete by watching TV. Are there any interactive computer games for absolute beginners rather than IBM's AI master level?
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by JupiterJones »

Have a board, stones, etc., but never play. It's tough to find people to play with, and unless you just do a 9x9 or 13x13 game, it's quite a time commitment.

Maybe I'll get back into it one of these days...
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by finite_difference »

Pro tip: Don’t challenge anyone who in their spare time watches Go on TV.
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by Emorla »

For sure, I play games online to chill after work. It’s super relaxing to just dive into a game and forget about the stress of the day.

Since you're getting into GO, you should totally try out some strategic games like Formula Rush. Here are lots of free online games out there that can boost your strategy skills and keep you entertained!
Last edited by Emorla on Mon Nov 04, 2024 12:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
skeptical
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by skeptical »

RJC wrote: Sat Jan 13, 2024 7:24 am Hi friends,

Recently learned about the board game called GO and I want to learn more. Anyone on this forum play? How did you get started?

I also watched this excellent documentary called AlphaGo (2017) where Google's DeepMind AI played the world's best player at the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXuK6gekU1Y

I get the general basics; however, I have no clear strategy.

Thanks!
Started long ago playing a friend who introduced it to me, went to a local club after that. Have not played in person in a long time, very few people are interested. I used to play a lot of chess, stopped playing once I found go, I now find chess uninteresting.

Then the internet happened. Highly recommend getting some books and doing online practice puzzles. Key things to focus on is eye shape, strategic balance (openings), later on tesuji and ko. Watch (replay) the games of masters (you will have no idea what is going on, but it is fun).

resources:
https://senseis.xmp.net/
https://senseis.xmp.net/?IshiPress (IshiPress has a lot of great books)
https://senseis.xmp.net/?ElementaryGoSeries (the classic beginner series)

play online:
https://online-go.com/
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by Mr. Rumples »

I did decades ago, but it was almost impossible to find anyone else to play with. https://www.usgo.org/content.aspx?page_ ... _id=454497

As noted in a post above, there is a tactile element to it - the sound, the feel, like mahjong it involves multiple senses.
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Re: Does Anyone Play GO?

Post by bertilak »

I suppose I do, at least in the past tense. It's been several years.

I have tons of books and still occasionally start through one.

The subtlety of the game play is surprising! Ya gotta learn all the close-in fighting maneuvers (tactics) and then get a feel for whole-board strategy.

In the past, go-playing computer programs could not compete but I believe they now rule.
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
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