What is Go? Quote:Go is a board game involving two players that originated in ancient China more than 2,500 years ago. It was considered one of the four essential arts of a cultured Chinese scholar in antiquity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)  But why learn, you might ask. Well, there are several reasons: * Have fun, improve your strategic abilities as well as your focal skills * It won't cost you any money, alot of learning material is online for free. * You can play it with simple computers/tablets, no fancy graphics card required. * Play with thousands of differently skilled Go players from all around the world for free. * Legal Positions: | Go: 10^171 | Chess: 10^47 | * Possible Games: | Go: 10^360 | Chess: 10^123 |  To give you a quickstart: Rules: Interactive Go rules introduction in 35 languages: http://playgo.to/iwtg/Beginner puzzles: https://online-go.com/puzzle/2625Free Go lessons for 20 kyu – 10 kyu players: https://www.youtube.com/user/nicksibicky/Live pro games: https://www.youtube.com/...UCTji1kQNoWIH85dB_Vxka9gInexpensive, but still relevant starter book (buy it used): Kim, Janice; Jeong, Soo-hyun (1994), Learn to Play Go, Good Move Press, ISBN 0-9644796-1-3 Useful pattern search: http://ps.waltheri.net/Server: Free HTML5 game server (my favorite, due to the many options and benefits, highly recommended): https://online-go.comFree game client for Win/OSX/Linux: http://pandanet-igs.com/communities/gopanda2Free game client for iOS/Android: http://www.gentgo.be/tetsuki/Another free Go server account (oldest Go server on the Inet): http://pandanet-igs.com/igs_users/registerGo wiki (look up terms and everything related to go): http://senseis.xmp.net/?StartingPointsWell, that should do it for now, plenty of starting points for learning Go without investing any $$$. Have fun! 
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I have learned a lot playing go - after learning the fundamental concepts I recommend "life and death" by James Davies to improve. I never got to the point of studying fuseki but I bet Davies' other books are as effective and concise.
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I've been learning the Go game on and off and I am eager to begin reading this basic book about the fundamental understandings and principles of how Go connects / relates to life / death. What inspired me in the first place was this scene from Pi.. also attached the book I have currently on the subject matter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNOQUPmgbnYCognitive Heart attached the following image(s):  DW8392SM.jpg (64kb) downloaded 260 time(s).'What's going to happen?' 'Something wonderful.'
Skip the manual, now, where's the master switch?
We are interstellar stardust, the re-dox co-factors of existence. Serve the sacred laws of the universe before your time comes to an end. Oh yes, you shall be rewarded.
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ouro wrote:I have learned a lot playing go - after learning the fundamental concepts I recommend "life and death" by James Davies to improve. Yes, tsumegos are definitely recommended after you learned the fundamentals. Here's the book, seems to be a famous one: http://senseis.xmp.net/?LifeAndDeathTheBookWhat's your rank ouro? I know Go for some years now, but I started reading books and playing online for a month now, so I'm only 17 kyu.
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Quote:I've been learning the Go game on and off and am eager to begin reading a basic book about the fundamental understandings and principles of how Go connects / relates to life / death. What inspired me in the first place was this scene from Pi.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNOQUPmgbnY Yay, more Go playing Nexians!
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 Thanks for sharing the knowledge! 'What's going to happen?' 'Something wonderful.'
Skip the manual, now, where's the master switch?
We are interstellar stardust, the re-dox co-factors of existence. Serve the sacred laws of the universe before your time comes to an end. Oh yes, you shall be rewarded.
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What's your rank, CH, if I might ask? Great scene by the way. I remember watching Pi, but this scene is new to me, I only remember where he drilled a hole in his head 
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How is rank determined? And yes, great clip and film. That scene where he drills himself is quite intriguing and profound. I recommend Pi to anyone with an interest in Go. 'What's going to happen?' 'Something wonderful.'
Skip the manual, now, where's the master switch?
We are interstellar stardust, the re-dox co-factors of existence. Serve the sacred laws of the universe before your time comes to an end. Oh yes, you shall be rewarded.
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Cognitive Heart wrote:How is rank determined? Quote:You will start somewhere between 30 and 20 kyu. As your ability progresses, your rank will go up in steps to 1 kyu (Japanese term - in Korea gup, in China Ji?). After that comes 1 dan, the first amateur 'expert' level (Korean dan, Chinese duan); and eventually 7 dan, which is the highest generally-recognised rank for amateurs. http://senseis.xmp.net/?Rank But you only get ranks, when you play in a club or online. Mine is 17 kyu on Pandanet. Beat some 16 or higher kyus and your rank goes up.
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Highly interesting.. thanks for the information! 'What's going to happen?' 'Something wonderful.'
Skip the manual, now, where's the master switch?
We are interstellar stardust, the re-dox co-factors of existence. Serve the sacred laws of the universe before your time comes to an end. Oh yes, you shall be rewarded.
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It's an incredible game, only a few rules but orders of magnitude more complex than chess! I play now and then but always get frustrated because it's so bloody difficult  BTW, a nice little program to practice is IgoWin.
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Cognitive Heart wrote:Interesting algorithms.. thanks for the information! It's actually a dumb algorithm, it demoted me back to the beginner level, I'm not 17k anymore.  Lol.  Quote:I play now and then but always get frustrated because it's so bloody difficult Yes, I know that feeling. Best strategy is to play lighthearted and not to focus much on winning but on playing solid.
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Got to love Go!  I only keep an iPh*ne because there are such awesome Go apps on it. Really can't be compared to what is offered on Android. - Go Books (many full books converted to interactive format), can't get enough of that. (hackable in-app purchases) - Smart Go Kifu (thousands of game records, good AI, good practice, problems, tutorials, etc.) very expensive app (if you pay for it ), but really worth it. If you don't want an Iphone, never ever try these apps! Then, there's Go Problems, nice app, endless number of problems but some are a bit buggy (though maybe it's coming from my iPhone) and Pandanet to play online.
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Well, I don't play Go on a mobile device, but that's what Sensei's saying: http://senseis.xmp.net/?Androidhttp://senseis.xmp.net/?IPhoneGot a rank, DiMoiTou? I'm back to 17k, as a greedy 8k Japanese guy got beaten 2:1 by me yesterday in a 9 stone handicap game. And I was on 325 µg 25I-NBOH, which was really weird, but probably helpful, because my moves were completely unpredictable and random. A little bit like drunken boxing, only with psychedelics and Go.  Can recommend that! Good game:
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I have my own board. someone taught me how to play while I was on 5g of cubensis. Go is the basis for other board games like Risk and Stratego "Nothing is true, everything is permitted." ~ hassan i sabbah
"Experiments are the only means of attaining knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." -Max Planck
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benzyme wrote:I have my own board. someone taught me how to play while I was on 5g of cubensis. Haha, this sounds intense. Did the Go board talk to you?  I normally play sober - okay, sometimes a light Benzo dose improves my gameplay, because it takes away the nervousness - but drugs in general don't add to the gameplay. Btw, Go is definitely a game for chemists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Korschelt Do they play a different style? Haven't noticed this yet. The reason I prefer OGS, is that it has many more options than other servers (9x9, 13x13, flexible byoyomi). E.g. I haven't played 19x19 for a while, because the 9x9 games were so interesting (you can't win them with your traditional opening theory, so you have to figure out new ways).
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I've been following this  I'm pretty bad at go but like to do the problems of life and death.
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