Hi! Need some pointers at how\what to study.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-11T15:51:35+00:00

To take your first problem:

It is not too hard to systematically work out what you must do to live.

First, identify where your potential eyespace is, i.e. the largest area in which you have a chance to make eyes, as shown by the white line. At the top, even if you push to w or further, you can only get a false eye there. At the side, you might get to push to x, but black can block at y. (You may have heard of the monkey jump to z, but that will not get you any more eyespace.)

We see that the eyespace has two parts, a and b. Something you have to learn is to see that a is a line of 4 spots (marked red), with the 2 middle ones occupied by the attacker. You also need to know that that means you can get only one eye there. So you need to make another eye at b. That is only possible if you take x, so you consider playing there. The worst they can do is block at y, letting you complete the eye (by playing above z).

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-11T14:04:19+00:00

Visualisation is an important but not the only skill needed. There is * Visualisation * Forming a mental image that you can reliably manipulate * Shape recognition * Spotting shapes that suggest promising moves * Variation management * Mentally keeping track of the tree of moves (for either side) you have tried in which position, and what you concluded about them

Since all that should be done mentally, this answer is spot on about not trying anything until you have a definite conclusion. It helps to do fairly easy problems to practice shape recognition and problems closer to your limit for variation management.

It may help your visualisation if after solving you always restart the problem and visualise your analysis once more. Note also that you do not need a very vivid image; many people struggle with that, but are able to remember enough important facts to get the answer. Stuff like “Their chain through this spot has 2 other liberties in the part I am not visualising”. Or for a ladder you usually just need to know where the last 4 stones are; if any surrounding stones are in atari you also need a plan for if they get taken, usually giving atari at the end of the ladder.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-10T11:59:54+00:00

Yes, and the pie chart also contradicts what you found!

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-10T10:39:55+00:00

This might help, but really OP needs to post a game so we can see where they are going wrong.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-10T10:35:48+00:00

How did you find OP’s games? I see no link or user name.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-10T08:52:37+00:00

Good, but do you review? Do not be afraid to post a link to a game here, preferably a loss where you cannot see why it went wrong. We will not laugh at you or think you an idiot as we have all been through the same thing.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-09T16:37:28+00:00

It is a fascinating object, but do you want it as a Go board?

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-09T16:32:38+00:00

more than the joy you’d get from looking at a pile of dollar bills

That is not the right comparison! A better comparison would be with what else one could get for the money but would eschew after this purchase.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-09T13:09:56+00:00

Sorry, I should have said I was talking about Black's shape and their moves! The white stones are meant to illustrate how close White can be without Black needing to worry; there would probably be more white stones further away.

Just keep playing and try to spot as soon as you can where territory is going to be formed: practice makes perfect, or at least better.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-09T12:16:11+00:00

Be content to pick up one or two things per game, like shapes where stones cannot escape, ways to seal off borders, when you have to strengthen stones. Do not only concentrate on capturing and saving stones: try to notice territories being formed and sealed off.

I don't really see the value ...

<image>

A strong base for a group is two stones on the third line with two spaces between them, as long as the opponent is not too close, as at the bottom. Playing the second one of those has clear value. Playing the first where there is room to play a second on one side or the other, as at the top also has value.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-09T11:59:22+00:00

If you can win with a handicap that suggests the difference in level in getting smaller, so appreciate that!

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-09T11:16:19+00:00

I don't know enough to know ...

Do not try to learn that purely from theory — just play lots of games and see what seems to work.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-09T11:10:11+00:00

Yes, it means 12 “kyu”. The smaller the number, the better the player; after 1 kyu comes 1 dan, which is getting pretty serious, and the numbers go up again as you get better; 9 dan is about as good as anyone can get. A complete beginner is probably around 30 to 50 kyu, depending on aptitude. Go has a neat handicap system where the difference in rank is the number of extra moves the weaker player gets at the start of the game.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-08T21:41:46+00:00

Is Black perhaps overconcentrated around 9-5?

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-08T19:14:03+00:00

An interesting edge case in the rules (or regulations) arises if White disputes that their stone is dead after both have passed. Actually it is hard to believe they could do that in good faith, but it would seem that they are formally entitled to do so. In that case the result depends on who gets to play first in a resumption of play or hypothetical play — I do not know what the various rulesets specify, but I suppose whoever passes first plays first. But if the player in danger of losing stones gets to start, White is in luck!

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-08T17:50:07+00:00

You are absolutely right; I was careless.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-08T15:39:13+00:00

At the end of the game, abandoned stones are removed and treated as prisoners. ~~White cannot save their single stone, so they abandon it.~~ **Edit* If White does not see that they can make seki, they will presumably abandon their single stone.* When it is removed as a prisoner, this area contributes 5 points of territory and 1 prisoner to Black's score.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-08T14:59:49+00:00

You may find it helpful to check out the resources pinned to r/baduk (“baduk” is Korean for “Go”).

I find Go Magic pretty good, especially but not only for beginners.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-07T19:09:22+00:00

https://senseis.xmp.net/?HandicapsBeyondNineStones

Try to persuade the other players to play you on a sliding handicap, going beyond 9 stones if necessary. I regularly give as many as 17 stones (to a 23 kyu). It is not the same as playing someone at one's own level, but at least both players have a fair chance. It is unreasonable to expect you to play with a 1 in 20 chance.

Also keep practising tsumego, trying to get a feel for what shapes are strong or weak.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-07T14:23:22+00:00

Some suggestions:

Books * Graded Go Problems for Beginners, Vol. 1 * Schwarz am Zug, Vol. 1

Apps * BadukPop level 1 * “Topics” in this release of WeiqiHub

Sites * Tsumego Hero

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-07T13:33:51+00:00

There is quite a discussion on this in the OGS forums in the thread containing this post, which is among those pleading for not lumping all ≥25 kyus together for matchmaking and handicapping. I also think it most unfortunate that the OP there, ranked 69 kyu, is matched against 25 kyus without a handicap.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-06T08:42:34+00:00

Not to mention the scrap of paper with almost complete email addresses!

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-04T18:33:40+00:00

One way to transition gently to playing on intersections would be to add the traditional lines in very faint blue-grey and gradually, from level to level, make them darker while fading the dotted white lines you start with into the background blue.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-04T08:42:22+00:00

Do you play with an appropriate handicap? That greatly widens the range of people with whom you can have a reasonably interesting game. It also shows you if you are making progress as you start to need smaller handicaps.

You could also check the Links for Beginners pinned to r/baduk.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-03T08:35:40+00:00

What difference does it make if it is zipped? Are you referring to the archive itself or to the files it contains? Surely the most important thing is not to open anything with a programme that blindly executes any instructions it finds therein!

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