More than a game…

by Tuirgin on May.10, 2009, under Go

I picked up a book on Go on Friday, Go! More Than a Game. I’d looked at another series of Go books, Learn to Play Go, and while the first volume looked like a good introduction to the rules and concepts of Go, it looked rather theoretical. Go! More Than a Game teaches the beginner to play Go largely through demonstration games, from start to finish. This is very much like learning from the annotated chess games that I like so much. Also interesting is a list of, well, not rules, but tips for playing go while learning. I won’t list all of them, but there are a few that are specifically interest in comparison or contrast to chess:

Try to play quickly and don’t try to memorize patterns. Instead, ask yourself what you are trying to say before you put a stone down (or, as many professionals do, before you even pick up a stone from the bowl).
If several stones have been played, think about what their relationship is to each other. What is your opponent trying to do? What do the patterns and shapes suggest?
Again (and again), don’t agonize over every move. It’s more fun to play fast. You will play more games and you will improve more quickly. the time to really slow down is after the game. Spend some time replaying the game with your opponent (or even better, try to get the analysis of someone better). As in studying a language, this is perhaps the most important lesson in getting better. Otherwise, like the old adage about not knowing history, you will be making the same mistakes over and over.
Try to make moves that help you in more ways than one—for example, offensively and defensively.

Playing and learning Go is quite a different experience from chess. It’s very easy to get started. It’s easy to play your first games. I taught my 7 year old today and we played 3 or 4 games on a 9×9 board. She managed several nice captures and felt good playing. As much as I enjoy chess (sucking or not) I’m really enjoying Go—both for the game, itself, and because I can actually play it with my family.

N.B.: I am not trying to suggest that one game is better in contrast to the other. They are just different in their beauty.

:go books

5 Comments for this entry

tommyg
May 10th, 2009 on 10:47 pm
Have you ever played Mancala? It is a really cool strategy and counting game from Africa (actually a family of games). It is really hip. I am horrible at it but it is very addictive! I am afraid to try Go for that very same reason!

Reply
- Tuirgin
  May 10th, 2009 on 11:06 pm
  Yes! It’s one of our family favorites, along with Mastermind. I haven’t played it in a while. With as frequently as my wife and my 7 yr old play it, I wonder if my 7 yr old could kick my butt.
  
  We’ve tried some of the newer board games that get a lot of rave reviews, but it’s hard to get the family to play them due to the complexity. The traditional games with a simple premise fair the best.
  
  If you ever feel like playing Go you can find me on http://www.online-go.com or if you feel like a live game we can meet up on http://www.gokgs.com.
  
  Reply
- Tuirgin
  May 10th, 2009 on 11:08 pm
  p.s. I’m about ready for that rematch on Chess.com.
  
  Reply
Farbror the Guru
May 11th, 2009 on 12:06 am
I have been told that the handicap system works really well in Go. That is another advantage.

Go is really interesting but I have read too many set of rules that fails (in contradicting ways) to tell you how the point system works.

Reply
- Tuirgin
  May 11th, 2009 on 12:16 am
  well, there’s at least 5 different rule sets that I’ve heard of. Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Canadian, and… can’t recall. Most Americans use the Japanese systems, but they all usually amount to about the same.
  
  The one downside is that there is some room for disagreement when scoring if there are questionably dead/alive units from ending too soon.
  
  Reply