Any 4-chers play Go?
For those who have never heard of Go:
http://senseis.xmp.net/?WhatIsGo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_%28board_game%29
Go is an old-ass game from Chinaland based on placing little black and white stones on a big ass grid. The objective is to gain territory and kill off stones when you can. It's basically a perfect blend of strategy, creativity, intuition and tactics. Because it's such a complex game (it's often said that no two Go games have ever been alike, because there are more possible Go games than atoms in the universe. And that number reaches infinity when you count "infinite life" situations.), you only have to be an average player to beat the best computer player, unlike Chess where every human player can be beaten through brute force and reading out every play branch.
If you've never heard of it or given it a try, you should do so. I've been playing it on and off for about a year and just recently got back into it HARDCORE!! a few weeks ago.
I really like the game, but have nobody to play with/learn from, since computers play crappy, and I don't have any books to learn from
Join your school Go club before you play online. Unfortunately it's hard to find people to play with, but if you covertly spread Hikaru no Go around...
fortunately, I'm no longer in highschool - besides, we didn't have funding for go clubs. I just wish there was ONE decent book about it I could pick up in my area.
Amazon FTW.
Um, wait a second, you expect to become a good Go player by reading a book?
Well, I need to know the basic merits of certain moves over others, why i should play her instead of there, and all that jazz. I'm not gonna learn that from a computer - and i don't have anyone to play with, unless you have a better idea.
Go = Yes I'm not very good, but I love the game. It's been a while since I played last.
>>4 I suggest any of the go books by Janice Kim. They give you a basic overlook of the game and really helped me out. Though if you do get one go with the beginner book first otherwise it might go over your head.
Yeah, actual Go books do seem to be rather:
GO = SERIOUS BUSINESS
also: Is it bad that Aya and Gnugo always kick my ass?
>>7
What about online servers? Go to KGS and play with some people your rank. Some things you can't learn from any book if you don't actually try them.
(And when it comes to learning resources, there is always Sensei's Library, and goproblems.com)
The best thing in Go is that it becomes much more interesting after a few months or so, when you start to understand the basics.
>>10
No. But it's bad you're actually playing them. Go playing programs will make you stupid.
(Sorry for necrophilia, now that I actually look at the dates...)
I wish I had people to play Go with, but they all want to play chess instead. I tried playing online a few times, but I just didn't enjoy it compared to playing with real people.
>>11
Necrophilia is pretty much required with the low posting rate of this board.
one thing I was kind of dissapointed about was Clubhouse games. They had 2 kinds of shogi - connect 5 on a go board, but no GO! i so wanted to play online. I just get way too confused with those Go servers, I have tried to get things to connect so I can play somoene, but it ends up being way too confusing. how did you guys get it to work?
KGS anyone?
The Janice Kim books are good. Try finding an experienced player and asking them for a handicap game. This is a good way to improve, in my experience. Playing people at your own level can be kind of hit or miss.
yeah, especially when we devellop strategies that would beat each other's crappy playing, which would end up only hurting us in a real game
Necrophelia - sorry - i just had a question about game balance...
o is white
x is black
. is empty
okay, so here's scenario 1:
.........
.........
oo...oooo
xooooxoxx
xoxoxxxxx
xxxx.xx.x
x.x..xox.
..xo.ooox
.........
Black 23 + 4 captured + 5 dead captured
White 21 + 0 captured + 0 dead captured
6.5 komi
BLack wins with 4.5
most people can agree that those white stones at the bottom are dead, so there's no need to capture them, right? But, it's also practive that people can play out situations like that if they want to be sure - or even just don't like having those extra stones there.
which brings us to scenario 2:
.........
.........
oo...oooo
xooooxoxx
xoxoxxxxx
xxxx.xx.x
x.x..x.x.
..x.x...x
...x.xxx.
this is what happens when i capture those whites manual style...
Black = 17 + 9 captured + 0 dead
White 21 + 0 + 0
Komi 6.5
White wins with 1.5 points...
so, my question, is what's to stop someone (white in this case) from saying he doesn't believe the stones are dead and wants me to capture them, thereby changing the results of the game?
damnnation, it got rid of my monospacing! just copy into a notepad and you'll see what I mean...
>>17
the game is flawed.
I'd like to play the game more. So far I've only been able to play online on KGS, and not that much, either.
I tried playing on Yahoo, which was a really stupid idea.
On KGS you can find good teaching games, and practise games that don't affect your score, which I like.
I don't know anybody offline who's even heard of Go through more than Hikaru no Go, and even then they don't know what it is.
i don't really remember where I heard of it. I think I found shogi first, and through various internets stumbled upon it. I just don't have the time to play a game online, so it's kinda sucky...
I've played on KGS since 2002 or so. Something like 1 dan these days.