Anyone here play Go?

[Cane_The9lives]

Oh wow, talk about finding liberties out of nowewhere.

I'm kinda glad i dont play online anymore, for some reason i overlook moves when im not literally placing them on the board.
The feel of the stones in my fingers gives me concentration(i dont know why, but it does)

Even though you made that mistake, you look to be a strong player.
And even though i had a few lessons from a pro, i dont think im as strong.

[MuKen]

Thanks

I definitely know what you mean about the feel of real stones, it feels like it focuses the mind.

Plus if I'm at a loss, I can slam the stone down with an authoritative 'click' and at least pretend I'm confident.

[Cane_The9lives]

I love the sound the stones make, man i worked on my stone placing technique probably way too much.

[MuKen]

It's really cool to find out there are lots of Go players on NM. What do people think of making a study group out of this thread? In addition to posting game records here, we could write out some self-commentary describing what we're thinking at pivotal moves.

That way newer players can see what kinds of reasoning are being used, and more experienced players can point out any corrections or better plays we could have made. If people think this is a good idea, I can go back and comment the games I put up...

[Cane_The9lives]

I'm up for that, if we can get enough people.

Even if its five or less, i would definitely participate...because pretty much all i do now is play studying games with myself.

[Luffy]

Shogi is really not that similar to chess. I've been playing chess for a while, and I've tried Shogi and can tell just from looking at it that strategies are completely different.

[Ericgamer1]

Originally Posted by Tony

I can play chess.

Chess is my favorite board game.
Have you tried the 4 player chess game?

[Dark Janza]

I've played a bunch of chess and shougi. They are very similar.

Anyway, I have been wanting to play go for a while now. Anyone wanna help or teach me?

[MuKen]

Some commentary for the first game

DGS - Game #388973,134

Move 5 By approaching his 3-4 point with a high approach instead of a lower play at r15, I was hoping to build some center influence here. However at move 8 he plays along the topside instead of taking the 2-2 point in the corner as would follow the normal joseki. Because of this I took a larger portion of corner territory in this play, which encouraged me to place my right side stone further down than usual. He then took advantage of this space to push me in and nullify my influence at q13.

Move 16 He then makes the same approach on my 3-4 point, again deviating from joseki in a manner which ensures he maintains control of the 4th line. He appears to be very intent on controlling the center rather than building along the edges. As a result of this, we both begin playing primarily 4th line moves for the remainder of the opening in preparation for a fight over the center.

Move 23. Because of his play at 22 weakening both of our stones and initiating a potential fight, I decided to start forming a base around my separated stone by making a low approach on his corner. Rather than responding to this threat on his stone, he then forms a large moyo on the topside.

To force a response, with moves 27 and 29 I begin to put pressure on his isolated stone. My intention was to force him to run away to the center and build some territory on either side while he runs. However, he wisely chooses to push further into my frameworks for as long as possible before retreating, thus cutting down my profits.

Move 49. At this point he made a shoulder hit on my lower left territory, which threatens to cut out a lot of points if I don't respond. However, this is the first reasonable chance I have had to tenuki in awhile and I had been growing concerned over the large potential territory he would make in the center if left unchecked. So I decided instead to make a one point jump at o12.

Move 57. This was a mistake on my part; with our stones already in this much contact I should have first strengthened my position with a play at either p7 or q7. Because of this, he was able to drive into my territory with moves 60-64. Now at this point, I was rather surprised to see him play 66 at p3. I had expected to him to play a monkey jump at T4 which would have put my stones under severe pressure and forced me to escape along the bottom while allowing him to make great profit. My guess is that he wanted to first seal off my escape and then play the jump which could then be possibly fatal for me. However, this allows me to prevent it altogether by playing at s6 (after playing a small reducing move at q19 which I know he has to respond to).

Move 89. This was a very interesting exchange. I could have taken a couple more points by playing at p2, however I instead played at q2 thinking that I could keep sente by forcing him to play 94 at n2 to prevent the cut. However, he realized he could simultaneously defend the cut and threaten my position on the left by playing it at k2, which allowed him to take sente. Similarly I am able to play 99 at d2 instead of g2 which is slightly more efficient because it deals with aji at d3 and avoids an empty triangle.

Move 113. This is a big reduction of points in the endgame, and is also sente, although it is a bit tricky to see why. Basically he is forced to play 118 at o15. If he does not, then when I take o15, this will kill his four stones below it. Try playing it out to see why.

Resign. I'm still at this point not sure about this resignation on his part. He had a very large territory on the top, and I think the scores considering komi were pretty close.

--

If anybody wants me to further explain any of these exchanges let me know. More importantly, if anybody sees any better moves please do point them out

[Rafcio]

I found this site which describes how to play go. Is it any good?
How To Play Go

It mentions different rule sets. What's the significance of this? Especially in the light of the online games?

[MuKen]

I initially learned from this site:

The Interactive Way To Go

Don't worry too much about the different rule sets, for 90% of games they all result in the same winner.

After you know the basics, this is an excellent reference site:

Sensei's Library: Front Page

I still read articles on this site regularly and will probably continue to do so for as long as I play Go.

[Cane_The9lives]

Tel's Go Notes


This is a good site for beginners.
This was one of the first sites a found when starting out in go.

[SHADENINJA]

MuKen that was a weird game
you play very close to the center. I never do that. I feel like we could play a whole game and never fight.

I think I played mpchebe once. I'm not positive. i'd liek to play again. Seriously guys I'm on all the time as ShadeNinja so just ask for a game

And I'll totally play a teaching game too. PM me here or on KGS and we're good to go.

Although You would probably like a teaching game from a SDK instead. (I'm close though)

[Cane_The9lives]

I usually go to online go games were it simply has to load onto your computer(but i havent done that in a while) i honestly dont like playing online as much as i used to starting out, but if i do sign up on that thing, ill use the handle"Sai" just to fuck with everybody.

[MuKen]

Originally Posted by ShadeNinja

MuKen that was a weird game
you play very close to the center. I never do that. I feel like we could play a whole game and never fight.

It's a recent development; of late I have been playing all my games with an eye towards taking the center. I usually play a lot of sanrensei openings and tend to take early tengen plays. If my opponent takes the tengen first, I start sacrificing edge territories to build center walls and try to kill his tengen. You can see an example of this in the second game I posted. I'll comment that one as well shortly.

EDIT: Just occured to me to ask; which game are you referring to?

[Ninjagirl]

MuKen@ It was a great idea turning this thread into a study group for go.
I'm really interested in learning how to play go.

[usmcvovinam]

i usd to b big into go after watching hikaru no go. but i nevr rlly played very well. and was a total noob, altho i still find it interesting, ive kinda lost interest in playing