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Ask HN: Any Go players here? (Not the language)

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Re: Ask HN: Any Go players here? (Not the language)

#11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The way to learn how to play Go is to start playing games. Join a local club, make friends and start playing Go. At first, you will lose terribly almost all the time. Stay humble, ask for help with reviewing games by more experienced players. It would be even better if there are professional Go players in the club. It takes some time before the basic theory of Go "clicks" in your head.

There's a saying that you should "lose your first 50 games quickly," in the sense that it will give you a lot of exposure, and a chance to make a lot of mistakes and learn from them. I like Richard Bozulich's books - The Second Book of Go is great, once you have the basics.

Here's another link to some books on Go : http://361points.com/guide_to_go_books/

Re: Ask HN: Any Go players here? (Not the language)

#12

I had a manager years ago who was a great go player. I always wanted to learn but frankly it becomes a bit overwhelming. Any suggestions on getting started?

Try to practice against real people rather than AI, especially when getting started. It's more fun and veterans can explain things to you. In-person would be ideal, but online communities work too.

Re: Ask HN: Any Go players here? (Not the language)

#13
I deeply urge everyone interested in go to try to play it in person. Nothing beats a live face-to-face game against someone and then being able to review it on a board afterwards. You'll also find that the people who go to go clubs are very friendly and generally love to teach beginners.

There are a surprising number of local go club around the country: http://www.usgo.org/where-play-go

Especially, if you're in the SF Bay Area (my area): http://bayareago.org/#local-clubs

Re: Ask HN: Any Go players here? (Not the language)

#14
I learned go (igo) a number of years ago while living in Japan, and when I returned to the US had trouble finding people to play with.

Ever since online-go.com started I have been getting back into it. I love being able to play asynchronously.

My username on that site is "rob.doherty.127" I'm happy to play anyone beginner to advanced (I am an intermediate level player).

Re: Ask HN: Any Go players here? (Not the language)

#17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The way to learn how to play Go is to start playing games. Join a local club, make friends and start playing Go. At first, you will lose terribly almost all the time. Stay humble, ask for help with reviewing games by more experienced players. It would be even better if there are professional Go players in the club. It takes some time before the basic theory of Go "clicks" in your head.

There's a saying that you should "lose your first 50 games quickly," in the sense that it will give you a lot of exposure, and a chance to make a lot of mistakes and learn from them. I like Richard Bozulich's books - The Second Book of Go is great, once you have the basics.

When I was first learning, I mostly played against the computer. You can lose a lot faster that way, since the computer plays quickly, and it will brutally punish really newbie mistakes, so you can learn to avoid doing really stupid things before venturing against another human.
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