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Yeah, I play on it all the time and it's usually okay with me. Just a pet peeve. I'm not about to break out thirty bucks to solve the problem. Urban, who are you on KGS? Blendy, yeah it's a slotted goban plus carrying case. I like it just fine. The case is mighty convenient, but I feel awkward carrying it anywhere public for fear of people thinking I'll whip out a machine gun or something. 
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May 14, 2009 23:28
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qxan posted:I feel awkward carrying it anywhere public for fear of people thinking I'll whip out a machine gun or something. Hahahaha awesome. Though I've seen pictures and the carrying cases do look very much like something you'd carry a gun around in. The slotted boards seemed kind of cool, but there weren't any on 'layaway' so I got the standard. Does the line down the middle ever cause problems/annoy you? Also Urban is pyro. Blendy fucked around with this message at 23:46 on May 14, 2009 |
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May 14, 2009 23:44
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qxan posted:So I realized I hosed up buying my goban. I got a neat shin-kaya Japanese board which is totally off the hook and Chinese yunzi stones which are off the hook. I'm sure a lot of people reading this see the problem. The stones are too big for the board. Not by much. Ever so slightly. But it's enough to bother me when I play on it. I have to readjust the stones as every move maligns other stones. Buy a goban with larger spacing as well as smaller stones. Keep the smaller or larger set for yourself and convince a friend that he really wants to start playing go.
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May 14, 2009 23:47
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Buffis posted:a friend that he really wants to start playing go. I wish. Though I did get my roommate into backgammon. Kind of.
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May 14, 2009 23:52
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No, the slot doesn't give me a problem. Remind me to take a picture of the reason it was a hundred dollars off if you ever want a good laugh. The smallest break I have ever seen. By the way, if I wanted to buy some cheap cute lil' appropriately sized stones, how much would that run me?
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May 15, 2009 00:18
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Yeah all the damages that reduce the prices at ymi are laughable. That's why I got my board. I recommend just getting a set of the $10 synthetic stones they have on ymi, see the photos of my stuff. I know people don't think they are pretty and they're not worthy of a nice board, but I think they're decent. And I kind of like the look, plust for $10 you can't argue too much. They are flat on one side which I like.
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May 15, 2009 00:21
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qxan posted:No, the slot doesn't give me a problem. Remind me to take a picture of the reason it was a hundred dollars off if you ever want a good laugh. The smallest break I have ever seen. suppose the real reason the board was 100 dollars off is because they made it too small 
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May 15, 2009 04:46
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OK I've put a couple of days worth of remembering the rules, and reading through website after website. With GnuGo on its easiest setting I now need about a six stone headstart to win 50% of the time. So basically I'm one tiny step ahead of "placing stones randomly". Will come and hang out on kgs tomorrow. I do have a question. As a complete and utter beginner is it worth me reading a book at all? or are internet tutorials enough, and the important thing is just to play?
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May 15, 2009 13:20
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Zeiros posted:OK I've put a couple of days worth of remembering the rules, and reading through website after website. With GnuGo on its easiest setting I now need about a six stone headstart to win 50% of the time. So basically I'm one tiny step ahead of "placing stones randomly". Will come and hang out on kgs tomorrow. There are books which are written for beginners, which might be good to get you started on the right line on play and avoid common mistakes, but while it may help, it probably isn't necessary and probably won't spare you Go's initiation of 100 crushing losses. I cut my teeth grinding 9x9 games, but don't be afraid to head to the 19x19 board, otherwise you won't get to learn about whole board strategy or the crucial corner battles. I think that reading books as well as playing games would be a good start. Hope to see you there!
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May 15, 2009 13:58
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Under 15 posted:suppose the real reason the board was 100 dollars off is because they made it too small Good heavens. 
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May 15, 2009 15:07
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Zeiros I agree with You are Jennifer, while there are books for beginners they are unlikely going to spare you (or teach you as much) as losing a lot. Hard. That being said I recommend the first three Janice Kim books, and for this I'll be mocked by all the other people here. The books are pretty awful, I agree. But I read the first three when I didn't have anyone to play and hadn't found this thread yet. They were easy to understand and got me to about 19k on KGS, after that they and Janice Kim are worthless. But once you push through that there are better books you'll be more capable of understanding. Still just playing a ton of games is the best way to learn as a young'en. qxan where did you buy your board from that it was $100 off? Slotted boards are only like $67 on YMI when they're not made too small/chipped/cracked/or whatever.
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May 15, 2009 15:21
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Zeiros posted:I do have a question. As a complete and utter beginner is it worth me reading a book at all? or are internet tutorials enough, and the important thing is just to play? If you just want to get good enough to play decent games with people, the best thing to do is play games with people.
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May 15, 2009 16:01
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Zeiros posted:OK I've put a couple of days worth of remembering the rules, and reading through website after website. With GnuGo on its easiest setting I now need about a six stone headstart to win 50% of the time. So basically I'm one tiny step ahead of "placing stones randomly". Will come and hang out on kgs tomorrow. A book is not going to be all that helpful to a beginner because it's more or less written in a language you don't understand. Just like if you were going to learn Spanish or something, playing with other people is much better than reading a book about it.
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May 15, 2009 18:31
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qxan posted:No, the slot doesn't give me a problem. Remind me to take a picture of the reason it was a hundred dollars off if you ever want a good laugh. The smallest break I have ever seen. In case someone hasn't told you this yet, your problem is that you bought a Japanese sized board with Chinese style stones. The one-sided Chinese stones are slightly wider than the double-sided Japanese stones. That's why some board retailers offer boards in either Chinese or Japanese sizing. I bought a set of ING stones with plastic bowls a while back from Yutopian, the total was about $30 including shipping. Some people say that don't like them but they seem fine to me. One Space Jump fucked around with this message at 20:21 on May 15, 2009 |
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May 15, 2009 20:19
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Just bumping the thread because the Go goons are a pretty awesome bunch. I just spent almost an hour on Skype with whoever VincentD is on here... he demolished me in game and the proceeded to explain why and how it happened, with about a billion interesting digressions about aspects of the game. I think I probably grasped 20% of the details, but feel like I took away some 'nebulous concepts' that will help in the long run.
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May 15, 2009 23:38
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Zeiros posted:Just bumping the thread because the Go goons are a pretty awesome bunch. I just spent almost an hour on Skype with whoever VincentD is on here... he demolished me in game and the proceeded to explain why and how it happened, with about a billion interesting digressions about aspects of the game. and Vincent is the weakest ITGO regular  Central to Go is the theme that once you think you have figured out what is going on and what to focus on and improve, you find out what a chump you are and have to start all over again. It's a retardedly complicated game. When you start out, the perspective shifts happen so often that it's just a blur, but there's still plenty later on down the line when things start to quiet down. I remember being pretty indignant when I realized that there really was a huge difference between playing on the third line and the fourth.
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May 16, 2009 03:32
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Under 15 posted:
11k  got to make sdk
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May 16, 2009 04:33
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Blendy posted:11k Come on, rival. What are you waiting for? 
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May 17, 2009 18:52
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qxan posted:Come on, rival. What are you waiting for? Waiting for you to play some ranked games and drop back to 11k 
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May 17, 2009 19:32
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Under 15 posted:Waiting for you to play some ranked games and drop back to 11k I just won a 9k game today thank you very much! 
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May 17, 2009 20:09
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Zeiros posted:OK I've put a couple of days worth of remembering the rules, and reading through website after website. With GnuGo on its easiest setting I now need about a six stone headstart to win 50% of the time. So basically I'm one tiny step ahead of "placing stones randomly". By the way, play a hundred quick games on a 9x9 board first. Does your GnuGo program have that option?
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May 17, 2009 20:12
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qxan posted:Come on, rival. What are you waiting for? The ghost of shusaku to become my buddy  Or until fundamentals sinks into my head and a&d gets here.  Don't forget you started a long time before I did. I'm catching up quickly.
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May 17, 2009 20:46
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Phyzzle posted:By the way, play a hundred quick games on a 9x9 board first. Does your GnuGo program have that option? nooo 9x9 is the pits
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May 17, 2009 21:20
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9x9 is good to learn about basic shape and how to fight. you know that urban 
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May 17, 2009 21:55
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So I'm wanting to add to my go library and I'm thinking about a book of life and death problems. Anyone got suggestions for something that could take me from 11k to SDK? I was looking at either: Graded Go Problems for Beginners, Vol. 3 or Mastering the Basics Series Volume Two: 1001 Life-and-Death Problems Anyone tried either of these? Other suggestions welcome. I don't remember where I heard it but I heard The Elementary Go Series Volume Four: Life and Death book kind of sucks.
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May 18, 2009 01:01
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Blendy posted:The ghost of shusaku to become my buddy I played from July to September and now May. Nice try.  Useful information Edit: I heard the Life and Death book from Elementary Go stinks too.
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May 18, 2009 05:09
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qxan posted:I played from July to September and now May. Nice try. It's still been part of your life longer than mine!  Anyway I though you had the whole elementary series. Or was that someone else that said that?
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May 18, 2009 05:18
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Personally I don't really see the use of buying a book of life and death problems, since there are so many available online at different sites. For example I was looking at the Graded Go Problems for Beginners Vol. 3 and there were really no problems that I couldn't solve instantly, so you can expect that within a few months the book will be useless to you. If that doesn't matter to you then whatever, but it seems to be much more worthwhile to get a general principles book like the ones you have right now. The other option is to get a book about life and death that treats the problem more systematically instead of just offering problems, like Cho Chikun's All About Life and Death (although I think that's out of print so I'm afraid that's not much help).
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May 18, 2009 08:56
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Ironis I totally get your point. I'm currently leaning towards getting Get Strong at Life and Death by Richard Bozulich, which seems to be the best (currently in print) book that strikes a balance of teaching about life and death and giving problems to solve. I mean essentially all books I get on go well (hopefully) be less and less useful as I master their concepts. I guess I'm not totally concerned if a problem book became useless because in the case of Grade Go Problems for Beginners Vol 3 it has problems up to the 5k level (which will take me a long time to reach), and frankly problems at my current level that I can solve with some thought I often forget how to solve quickly the next time I look at it. So having the book would give me a way to review them daily and stress test my brain's reading ability. That being said I could see why people don't buy problem books.
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May 18, 2009 16:53
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Blendy posted:Ironis I totally get your point. I'm currently leaning towards getting Get Strong at Life and Death by Richard Bozulich, which seems to be the best (currently in print) book that strikes a balance of teaching about life and death and giving problems to solve. I mean essentially all books I get on go well (hopefully) be less and less useful as I master their concepts. I guess I'm not totally concerned if a problem book became useless because in the case of Grade Go Problems for Beginners Vol 3 it has problems up to the 5k level (which will take me a long time to reach), and frankly problems at my current level that I can solve with some thought I often forget how to solve quickly the next time I look at it. So having the book would give me a way to review them daily and stress test my brain's reading ability. That being said I could see why people don't buy problem books. I'd just print out swathes of Cho Chikun's encyclopedia of life and death. Nothing but a billion problems, up to shodan level I think.
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May 19, 2009 00:37
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I always have a hard time finding the answers (as in the provided answers) to these collections.
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May 19, 2009 04:28
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Blendy posted:I always have a hard time finding the answers (as in the provided answers) to these collections. I don't think that actually solving the problem is the real objective so much as enhancing your intuition for situations and practicing your reading ability.
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May 19, 2009 06:46
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For problems I think you're much better off using goproblems.com than a book. You get instant feedback on whether you're wrong without having to look up the full answer, and in many cases they'll even have alternate paths to show why you're wrong. Sometimes there are alternate solutions, possibly with a worse result, that would be missed or omitted in a book. And if you have a question you can ask on the site -- usually someone else already has. Example from Cho Chikun's L&D Encyclopedia. Sometimes you can also find annotated sgfs of problem collections as well. The only "advantage" books have for problems is forcing you to read like crazy, and you might as well just play an actual game for that.
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May 19, 2009 07:13
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books look cooler and your bookshelf, which is the only reason I ever buy anything (ask about my james joyce collection)
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May 19, 2009 19:07
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Urban Renewal posted:books look cooler and your bookshelf, which is the only reason I ever buy anything (ask about my james joyce collection) You have a James Joyce collection? Do tell us more! Also what go books you got on those shelves?
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May 19, 2009 21:35
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As far as books go, I can heartily recommend Opening Theory Made Easy, I bought it a few weeks back and it's very easy to understand and digest, and most importantly, put into practise. After reading through it I've jumped to 13k, which is nice. If anything books tend to work better for me because while I read them they have my full attention. I've tried go problems a few times and always I get distracted chatting to friends or reading SA.
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May 20, 2009 22:48
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Blendy posted:You have a James Joyce collection? Do tell us more! Also what go books you got on those shelves? I once read Ulysses for a bet. I took me 6 months or something. I disagree that problem books aren't good, or that online problems are somehow better. You should try doing problem books without looking at the answers. When you have read a problem all the way through, you shouldn't need the answer anyway, because you already know it. It's also not true that playing games is better for tactical skill, because these situations come up a lot less in actual games than in a book which only has problems. When you do a lot of problems, you'll find that you'll get to see the solution to problems in games a lot quicker, and also that you'll have an easier time reading out harder problems: you'll be able to combine your instant reading of smaller problems into slightly less instant reading of bigger problems. I think where I am now, (about 10k or something), solving problems is the best way to become better. Unfortunately, I'm far too lazy to do enough of them. Edit: more about goproblems.com (or whatever) vs problem books: I think that with goproblems.com, you're more inclined to use trial-and-error to solve a problem, while you really should try to read out the entire problem first, and only then answer. The point is to practice your reading skill, and you can only do that by, well, reading. When you just guess and then let the computer show you the actual answer, you'll learn a lot less than if you would have read out the entire problem yourself. If the problems in a collection are too hard for you to do that, try some easier problems. uXs fucked around with this message at 14:17 on May 21, 2009 |
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May 21, 2009 14:12
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Even though I'm maybe 18k going on 15k, I'm really enjoying Elementary series 1: In The Beginning. The opening is this crazy mystical land of trial and error for me, but not so much anymore. Those first 30 moves mean WAY too much.
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May 23, 2009 04:23
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For all your go problem needs : http://tsumego.tasuki.org/?page=tsumego
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May 23, 2009 07:46
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Quad posted:Even though I'm maybe 18k going on 15k, I'm really enjoying Elementary series 1: In The Beginning. Can't speak from experience, but I've always been told that In The Beginning isn't a book for beginners, at all. I do have the book because I have all the others in the series and because I wanted a complete collection, but I've never read it. (I haven't really read the others either, but anyway...) Opening Theory Made Easy is much, well, easier. And here I can speak from experience.
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May 24, 2009 00:01
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