StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Do anyone here play go? I started some time ago and find it very interesting. Anyone interested in a SD.net tournament or do anyone have some advice for a newbie?

I played while I was in 3rd grade. Don't laugh, my 3rd grade self probably could've schooled you. Luckily for you, I haven't actually played for like 7 years, so I'm totally out of it.

Uh, basic tips I can think of: Start by going for the corners, they're the easiest to defend, then the sides. Don't lose sight of the big picture and plan your moves steps ahead. Don't count on your opponents not noticing an opening you plan to exploit. In the beginning, don't get caught up in micromanaging one place - don't be afraid to jump around the board to establish a foothold.

I still have an old DOS version of GO on my computer, but I haven't touched it in ages and before that I only got through the tutorials a few times.

Played it once against a CPU and got trounced.


Easy to play, very hard to master.

I play occasionally. Not recently due to work/school, but I'd be interested in a game if anyone else is.

I love Go, I actually bought a board... took me forever to find too.

I sometimes play at MSN's Gaming Zone.

Alex Moon wrote:I play occasionally. Not recently due to work/school, but I'd be interested in a game if anyone else is.

I'm interested.

Never tried it, but always wanted to...
Incidentally, it has even more complexity than chess, and that by a far margin...

Aya, a freeware Go program

+http://www.yss-aya.com/aya553e.zip

I learned go a little less than a year ago, and haven't played all that much. I think I even let my Kiseido account go to inactive. If people on here are playing I may have to come out of retirement.

For online play http://kgs.kiseido.com/ , http://www.pandanet.co.jp/English/ and nngs.cosmic.org/(though it appeared down)
Those being the Kiseido, Internet and No Name go servers. They're big and useful for beginners.

I would also suggest Igowin: http://www.smart-games.com/igowin.html
A simple you versus computer go game on a small teaching board. It allows you to learn what to do and not to do when playing go.

I tried playing online versions of it a few times, and each time, I was curb-stomped by the computer. How much practice on average does it take until you start to get good at it?

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi wrote:I tried playing online versions of it a few times, and each time, I was curb-stomped by the computer. How much practice on average does it take until you start to get good at it?

Depends what you mean by "good". Good relative to who?
You'll probably need to play a couple months before you really get the hang of it. From what I understand, the AI for Go isn't all that great, since Go requires a lot more planning ahead and has too many possible scenarios to build pre-defined moves for.

Exonerate wrote:From what I understand, the AI for Go isn't all that great, since Go requires a lot more planning ahead and has too many possible scenarios to build pre-defined moves for.

The AIs are nowhere near chess-levels, like Deep Fritz or Deep Blue. Go is much more complex than chess and computers aren't yet up to a good human player.