I started playing Go a week ago, and i got quite addicted to it
But i do recognize being a complete newbie
Anyways i did the brief tour on the moves from "The Interactive Way To Go" (my first tutorial on go), and got the igowin program to try against the machine as the problems on the way to go were rather simple, even to me.
The 9x9 game against igowin starts easily as it gives you a lot of advantage, and as you level up it starts taking it away, i could beat it by simple "holding the line" with the given advantage until the match starts even or with a stone in my advantage, there i realized my flawed tactic as the ai beat me again and again, she pushed, i holded the line but in the end the ai ends with more territory than i do (as long as i dont do any "how i didnt saw that" mistake, otherwise its a massacre for me
). I thought in reading life/dead problems and such to avoid mistakes and hopefully play stronger to beat that mean machine
when i read some people on the web suggesting to start playing the 19x19 board rather than spending time on the small board and learn that way with the "real" game.So i gave it a try, got a program and tried in 19x19... i got owned at the lowest levels.
The board was huge, it appeared like an ocean to me, i could secure some corners or even sides as in 9x9, but the ai owned most of the board. if i played defensively i give away most of the board, and if i tried to rapidly expand, first i wasnt sure were to go (19x19 is big) and secondly my pieces felt "weak" out there in the centre.
So what should i do?, go back to 9x9 until i have a more solid knowledge and then jump to 19x19, or stay in 19x19 and try to figure out how to expand away from the corners/sides?
In the mean time i better go back to
the basics, later guys!
