Introduction to Go

Go has been an interest of mine for roughly a decade. As with all of my interests I have experienced times of intense activity and times or completely inactivity. Go is a boardgame that traces its routes back to ancient China. The Chinese call the game Weiqi. From there it spread to Japan and Korea. The Japanese call it Go or Igo, in Korea it is Baduk. The Japanese nobility made it an art form.

I learnt the game in a call centre back in early 2000. A co-worker had brought in a home-made board and stones. Another co-worker taught me the game using the “burnt hand teaches best” school of instruction. In frustration, I taught the game to yet another co-worker thinking that I’d find an opponent to match my skill. By the end of our shift the co-worker I had taught was beating the co-worker who taught me.

I went home and looked up the game. I read a bit of strategy and came back the next day ready for more. I quickly surpassed the co-worker that I had taught and reigned as the King of Go within the call center before they let me go because they were overstaffed and there wasn’t enough call volume.

I won’t go through the ups and downs of my playing career after from then until now. Suffice to say that at the time I left that call center I was a rank beginner. In fits and starts my skill has climbed over the past ten years to whatever is above rank beginner but below intermediate. Well groomed beginner?

 If you are interested in the game please check out the following resources:

Beginner’s Pages at Sensei’s Library
Sensei’s Library is a great, if somewhat schizophrenic, resource for both old and new Go players. Their beginner pages will bring a new player up to a very reasonable level very quickly.
Go Game Guru
Go Game Guru provides a printable Go set, rules, strategy articles and a place to purchase Go Equipment
Online Go Server
The Online Go Server merged recently with Nova.gs and is where I play most of my Go. You can play correspondance games or your can play live. You can even switch between live and correspondence if your opponent happens to be online at the same time as you. Check me out there, my handle is Coyotebd. I’d be happy to play teaching games with anybody.
Advanced Study Room
This is a great place to find a community to help you improve. The league encourages you to play lots of game with a lot of different people. The winner provides the loser with a review of the game and if you ask for advice everyone is happy to give it.
KGS
This is another online go server. Unlike the Online Go Server it is not web-based and is live games only. This is the server that the Advanced Study Room uses and has plenty of nice features, including a weekly lecture and lots of friendly people. I’m Coyote on there but I don’t get on as often. If you are interested you are betting leaving me a comment in a random post and we’ll work something out.

Even a short comment makes my day.

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