Hi
I'm Kodey. I'm a 19yr old student form England.
I first played go when I was about 13 at a festival I visited but I never really got into it as I didn't have any one to play with and never had enough uninterrupted free time to play on the computer. Since moving out from my parents I now have far more free time for playing go so have started to get a bit more into it in the last month.
I'm currently 15k on KGS though I'm not really sure how accurate that is. I want to improve my play and need recommendations on how to do that without having to spend much money, I keep seeing lots of suggested books but I can't afford any on a student budget.

Anyway thats me

Hi Kodey! The best thing for you at your level is exposure. Try to play as many games as possible and don't worry so much about winning and losing; instead, try to experiment and figure out what works and what doesn't. You have to develop a certain level of skill before theory really makes much sense and you'll know when you're ready for the next step.

Also, you might find some of this helpful: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=667

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Thinking like a go player during a game of chess is like bringing a knife to a gun-fight. Thinking like a chess player during a game of go feels like getting knifed while you're holding a gun...

Cheers.

Gday Kodey,

Playing games and reviewing them is probably most important- and free. If you have a game where you lose and can't really work out why, post it here for stronger players to review.
There are a lot of free problems available. If you have an android phone I quite like the problems on the WBaduk app. But maybe avoid playing games on Wbaduk as a beginner because it can be pretty dis-heartening. If you have a thick skin, then go for it.
Make sure you do problems properly! Read out ALL sequences to arrive at an answer. It's really tempting with electronic problems to just guess, click and see what happens. Avoid the temptation.
There is also a lot of information available on Senseis Library- http://senseis.xmp.net/?PagesForBeginners
Try and play with stronger players if you can. I notice that on KGS it can be hard to get handicap games at times, I find it's easier on IGS and OGS.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone

At the moment I am mostly just playing as many games as I can. I'm loosing most of them but thats because several people on KGS started a ranked game with me and then resigned after about 5 moves so my grade got pushed up to 8k so when I play people better than me, it may give them a handicap but each time I loose it get nearer to my actual strength.

Just chipping in, that there are a lot of ways to solve problems. What stays the same is the goal to (quickly) spot and solve them in your games.

I recently stumpled across this again: http://senseis.xmp.net/?GoProblemsTheFudgeFactor.
In the given problem, I would only see the first move and then go on. I know it's dead, no matter what White will play. I will not go through every possible line White has to offer. I may get surprised this way (Black on the 1-1-point) but as Bill also said, he would have found the right move in a game anyway. For me that is what counts.

Now whether you want to count it as solved or not seems to be a question of personal definition. But, for me, as long as you can kill such a group in your games, you're fine.

This being said: The important thing about problems is doing them, so do them any way you like as long as you have fun and keep at it ; )

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My "guide" to become stronger in Go

Thanks

I have an app with problems on my phone by I sometimes get frustrated and start clicking anywhere to guess the answer which I need to stop doing, probably by actually playing through them.

If you ever play on OGS, hit me up for a game! My name's Saint Ravitt.

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Thinking like a go player during a game of chess is like bringing a knife to a gun-fight. Thinking like a chess player during a game of go feels like getting knifed while you're holding a gun...

Ok, I haven't really played much on OGS yet, i mostly just play on KGS.