After 2-3 false starts over the past many years, I think I've finally been stricken with the bug. I think one of the most fun parts about being a beginner is figuring out all the tools and toys to use to be able to study a bit of Go at any time. Here's what I'm doing these days.

1) Study: I have Smartgo Books and I've been slowly going through the sequence. I have finished Volume 1 of Janice Kim's "Learn to Play Go", and Volume One of Graded Go Problems. I also finished Volume 1 of Gunnar Dickfeld's "Black to Play!" but that one was a much smaller, quicker read than I thought it would be. I am currently in the beginnings of Kim's Volume II and Graded Go Problems Volume Two, and it's pretty challenging for me near the beginning. I also read Jonathan Hop's Level 1 of "So You Want to Play Go?" but I will probably re-read it after I finish the other two books.

2) Problems: goproblems.com is my favorite so far, and I am bouncing around at the 21kyu level. On the phone, I dabble a bit with Tsumego Pro and GoProblems but I don't like them as much. I also occasionally work on the problems in EasyGo since I like the spaced repetition functionality. I actually don't do a lot with the problems in SmartGo Kifu since they're pretty linear - once they're solved, they're solved. It'd be cool if Anders put some spaced repetition functionality into that. On the Mac, the pickings are slim. I figured out how to compile/build the later version of GoGrinder (named MyGoGrinder) but it is a bit funky.

I think the Go community needs two things, regarding go problems. a) a crowdsourced way to create PUBLIC DOMAIN go problems b) A really good mac desktop client for go problems. Normal SGF viewers don't work for that. Ideally, it'd be something that simultaneously estimates your kyu/dan rating, but also does spaced repetition.

3) Game study: I downloaded 100 games from Go Teaching Ladder into EasyGo and every few nights I find a game between kyu players (18 kyu or weaker) and review it, then delete it. Also, I submitted my very first game to GTL recently, which was nerve-wracking.

4) Go playing! I bought sente's Goban from the Mac store, and I also figured out how to compile and run GoGui, which is beautiful. Both can play either Pachi or GnuGo. I've also been trying to figure out how to install fuego but haven't had success yet. On the iPhone, I'll occasionally play Smartgo 9x9 (where I regularly lose with a 4-stone handicap, argh). The problem with all of these options is that I don't know the kyu rating for any of them, so I don't really feel rooted about where I am or what kind of progress I'm making.

The most recent adventure I had was to play EasyBot19x19 (27kyu) on KGS (using CGoban 3). That was my first 19x19 game, and I ended up winning by 3.5, just barely. Then I sent the game record to Go Teaching Ladder and got a really helpful review. Then a couple days later I played EasyBot again and won by 132.5 ! I know that's not impressive or anything, but it was really interesting to have that experience of learning just enough to realize where a computer player was weak.

What's really cool about playing against one computer is that you can download the SGF, and then open it in something like GoGui, and then if you have questions about certain variations, you can set up the board at that point and play a couple of moves against GnuGo or Pachi. One late bleary night I even figured out what combination of flags to set to make Pachi play a weak enough game to be roughly equivalent to GnuGo. The SGF ended up being a close game anyway.

Another thing I think the Go community needs is an open-source computer go software you can install where you can tell it roughly what kyu rating to play at. At my level, it seems like I'd get killed by the more modern ones even if I had a 9-stone handicap.

Anyway, not really sure what I'll do next - there are still a lot of tools out there I haven't played with yet. Seattle has a Go club but I'm not sure about playing humans yet. If I keep killing EasyBot I guess I will have to try out a human game on KGS, just to get a ranking. My goal right now is really just to make one identifiable "leap" and get comfortably into the teen kyu ratings. And perhaps someday I will actually play on a board. I don't have a Goban but I have two gorgeous go bowls that my dad (woodworker) made for me.

Welcome.

I found Kim's books good starting off. Graded Go Problems 2 is quite a step up from 1, they're all like that. For problems online I like gochild (you can turn off all the sounds etc). You're probably better off playing humans than AIs if you can manage to find the time. I was told when beginning by someone far wiser than me to forget about rank for a long while as it's pretty meaningless at the start. I wish I'd taken that advice more to heart!

If you're in Seattle, I highly highly recommend going to the Go Center. They have beginners nights, and lectures and other things in addition to being a venue to play go.

Most people's advice to get stronger, especially as a beginner, is to just play. Play often and lose often (hey, you're a beginner!) so that you get a lot of exposure to patterns in the game until you recognize them instinctually without conscious thought. Once the basic rules are second nature, then theory can start to help. Playing people can be scary at first, but most of them are quite nice, and may be willing to provide suggestions or go over the game with you afterwards to help figure out what went right and what went wrong.

Good luck.

Get on KGS, play some games, join the Seattle Go Center room there and start asking questions. We're always glad to help.

The Seattle Go Center is one of very few facilities fully dedicated to go outside of the three major go-playing countries. You're really doing yourself a disservice by not checking it out.

I only wish I lived close to somewhere like that.

I lived across the street from it for one summer and never got around to going in. I've been kicking myself ever since. If I make it back to Seattle I'd definitely start going.

Man, you can attend the Seattle go classes live! I'm so jealous.