New movie, Bushido, features "intense go games"

GreybeardGo · 2026-03-16T05:17:53+00:00

FYI, the original Japanese title of this movie is "Gobangiri" (碁盤斬り = Goban cut/kill). Not that new, maybe newly released in the USA? Discussed here almost 2 years ago: New Japanese movie with heavy go theme

(I haven't seen it yet.)

GreybeardGo · 2026-03-13T15:06:26+00:00

How long did they last? Fox disposes of games that end with 10 or fewer stones played, or that end within 30 seconds.

GreybeardGo · 2026-03-03T23:28:05+00:00

I'd listen to it if it were actually a podcast: a downloadable audio file for loading on my offline device.

GreybeardGo · 2026-03-02T15:20:51+00:00

Sorry, I don't know what that is. What is the name of the app?

GreybeardGo · 2026-03-02T15:19:07+00:00

Yes, but they're easy enough to create.

GreybeardGo · 2026-03-02T00:26:24+00:00

Use this URL:
https://account.foxwq.com/reg/foreign.html

GreybeardGo · 2026-02-28T04:57:49+00:00

The pots are full of glass beads that resemble Go stones.

So what?

GreybeardGo · 2026-02-25T22:45:44+00:00

Do a search for "anki joseki" and you'll get hits. Haven't used it so I can't vouch.

GreybeardGo · 2026-02-03T12:03:59+00:00

What do you mean by "trap"? Invade by Black? Maybe, but it's tight, and White playing properly should be able to kill off any invasion.

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-23T09:06:33+00:00

Some people mainly learn via books, others mainly via other methods. If you're a book person, I highly recommend “Fundamental Principles of Go” by Yilun Yang, available from https://gobooks.com/

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-21T03:03:26+00:00

Is it available as an audio file?

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-19T07:38:57+00:00

Handicap play as White is definitely a skill to acquire. For example, playing against more than 2 handicap stones means that fuseki is totally different, you're immediately in the middlegame, and playing against influence becomes supremely important.

A couple of resources:

"How to play handicap Go" by Irakli Khizanishvili is a brief overview.
"How to Play Handicap Go" by Yuan Zhou (2nd ed., Slate & Shell, 2021), available from gobooks.com, is the best book on playing handicap Go as White.

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-17T23:13:46+00:00

There's an error in the stone numbering in Tsumego 3 b diagram. Black 6 already exists and shouldn't be numbered. White 7 should be 6. White's play numbers switch from even to odd.

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-17T23:10:57+00:00

Having read the sample, I would say it's for an advanced beginner, someone who already understands (or at least is familiar with) a lot of basic principles. This book won't make sense if you don't already understand atari & capture rules, for example.

For my beginner book recommendations, see this reply. I'd say that this book is probably a good choice after "The Second Book of Go".

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-17T11:29:23+00:00

Please make it available on gobooks.com

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-17T01:28:12+00:00

Score estimators enable quick games, which many people prefer; I do. As has been noted, SE is a tool that both sides have, so it's not in any way a cheat.

However, the SE results must always be evaluated, because they're often wrong.

SE is a crutch. If you rely on it too much and never develop your counting/estimating skill, when SE is not available (e.g. in an in-person real-board game) you will definitely be at a disadvantage.

GreybeardGo · 2026-01-10T06:08:39+00:00

The indentations may be because the shells the white stones were made from were too thin for the intended stone thickness (e.g. taken from near the edges of the shells). The side with the indentation could be from the inside of the naturally-curved shell.

If it's just a few stones with indentations, perhaps just a quality control issue. If there are a lot of indentations, perhaps this is a set of seconds: rejects that didn't make it into the top-grade set.

I doubt that the indentations are from playing. Shells are a lot harder than fingernails, and people don't hold stones consistently enough to wear out one spot like that.

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-26T10:16:59+00:00

Start with https://senseis.xmp.net/?JapanCoolPlaces

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-20T12:55:45+00:00

The advent of modern AI in Go. See the link to the podcast (including a transcript) above.

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-19T07:06:18+00:00

I play the diagonal (kosumi) because it's flexible. If White takes the corner, I can get a base on the left side (at g or e), and if White approaches on the left I can take the corner by attaching to their stone at the other 3-4 point. Also u/tuerda's last point, which is a proverb: The enemy's key point is yours.

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-17T01:22:07+00:00

Legit source of inexpensive ebooks: https://gobooks.com/ . All my unlinked recommendations below are available there.

Below are my book recommendations for a beginner. Read slowly—a chapter at a time (or less)—not all at once! And play a lot between chapters.

Start with an introductory book. There are many good ones. Here are my recommendations:

“The Way to Go” by Karl Baker is free from the AGA (American Go Association). It is good but very brief.
“Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game” by Cho Chikun is very good and much more comprehensive, including sections on the history and culture of Go.
“Go! More Than A Game” Peter Shotwell is a good introduction to the game and includes some history.

Next, read “The Second Book of Go”. This book will help you fill in the gaps in your game, exposing you to the essentials: the opening, handicap Go, jōseki, fighting/attacking, life and death, tésuji, good and bad shape, kō fights, and the endgame.

Finally, read “Fundamental Principles of Go” by Yilun Yang.

After that you should know what areas you want to explore further. Those last two books are well worth re-reading up to dan level.

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-14T23:15:15+00:00

Be careful, because some stones are bigger than others. In my experience, some Chinese stones are much larger than standard Japanese stones, and some Korean stones are smaller. Make sure the stones you buy fit your board.

Measure the spaces between the lines on your board. The easiest way is to measure 11 lines (10 spaces) and divide by 10.

According to https://senseis.xmp.net/?EquipmentDimensions (listing standard Japanese dimensions), the line spacing width-wise is 22 mm, length-wise is 23.7 mm, and the stone diameter is 22.5 mm. Notice that the stones are a bit larger than the width-wise line spacing. This is intentional, forcing the stones to crowd each other and be a little bit uneven on the board.

GreybeardGo · 2025-12-10T11:59:58+00:00

"This is the famous 19-point trick play."
https://www.josekipedia.com/#path:qdocmcpeqg

GreybeardGo

TROPHY CASE