Resources recommended for teaching a completely beginner

[tesuji]

One of my friends expresses his interest in playing Go game. After searching on the internet, I suppose the book - Go, A Complete Introduction to the Game by Chikun Cho - is a good resource. Basically I would go through

- rules
- capturing stones
- eyes (living group)
- ko

In addition to these, I suppose presenting some examples might be interesting as well after let him play some games. Are there any recommended 9x9 games that looks interesting? Or anything, such as materials, examples, you would recommend?

Any suggestions are welcome.

[lightvector]

Follow the tutorial on this site and play a couple dozen games against the 5x5 and 9x9 beginner bots directly in the browser:

https://www.crazy-sensei.com/?lang=en&location=rules

to quickly build the brain patterns for being able to see how many liberties you have and when things are in atari and what moves work for very basic capture fights.

[Tryss]

Capture go is a nice introduction to go, I have the impression that it's the best first introduction to go for the majority of people :

1) it's easy to understand, the goal is clear and immediate, the first games are fast, and there is no "complicated" rule or counting
2) it teach capture, atari, ladders and contact fights
3) you can then expand to capture x stones, and with x big enough, it's very close to normal go, making the transition quite natural

[EdLee]

Hi tesuji,

- rules
- capturing stones
- eyes (living group)
- ko

Since eyes are not part of the rules, but rather a natural consequence of the rules, some people find it very enjoyable to discover eyes by themselves ( though capture Go, for example ). Ko is a fundamental part of the rules; and yet, some people still find it very enjoyable to "discover" the ko shape by themselves. YMMV.

[jlt]

Some go problems, starting from very basic level: https://gochild2009.appspot.com/

[Pio2001]

Hi,
The most important thing is to play : let him put stones on the board.

At the beginning, explain the capture rule, put one stone on the baord and let him capture it with four stones of the opposite colour. Explain that it works the same for several stones.
Define what is "atari" and what is a "liberty".
Then you can play the capture game, saying "atari" when you put one of his stones in atari.

Adult people will quickly ask what is the goal of the game. You may start with the chinese rule : the winner is the player who controls the largest area.

- rules
- capturing stones
- eyes (living group)
- ko

It is easier to explain the ko when it appears on the board for the first time.
You'll also need to introduce the suicide rule very early to avoid illegal plays : it is not allowed to play where you have no liberty, except if it captures immediately.

I suppose the book - Go, A Complete Introduction to the Game by Chikun Cho - is a good resource.

Yes, this is a good book. It is short (80 pages about theory and 40 pages about go culture, IIRC) and presents very briefly most of the fundamentals, except the endgame, that is not really explained.
It is suited for people who have little time for reading and want to quickly get to the point.

Baduk for Beginners is easier, with both theory and exercises. It is quite complete, with 350 pages. Very good for people who need practical examples.
There is also Learn to Play Go (vol 1 & 2). Very few exercises compared to the former, but a good introduction to the 19x19 play in vol 2, and a good annotated 13x13 example game in vol 1.

[tesuji]

Follow the tutorial on this site and play a couple dozen games against the 5x5 and 9x9 beginner bots directly in the browser:

https://www.crazy-sensei.com/?lang=en&location=rules

to quickly build the brain patterns for being able to see how many liberties you have and when things are in atari and what moves work for very basic capture fights.

That's nice I can use this to let him try some moves against computer in 9x9 and 5x5. Thank you!

[tesuji]

Capture go is a nice introduction to go, I have the impression that it's the best first introduction to go for the majority of people :

1) it's easy to understand, the goal is clear and immediate, the first games are fast, and there is no "complicated" rule or counting
2) it teach capture, atari, ladders and contact fights
3) you can then expand to capture x stones, and with x big enough, it's very close to normal go, making the transition quite natural

Is this website still active? I only find archive version. The website itself returns 500 error.

[tesuji]

Hi tesuji,

- rules
- capturing stones
- eyes (living group)
- ko

Since eyes are not part of the rules, but rather a natural consequence of the rules, some people find it very enjoyable to discover eyes by themselves ( though capture Go, for example ). Ko is a fundamental part of the rules; and yet, some people still find it very enjoyable to "discover" the ko shape by themselves. YMMV.

That's also why I choose that book because I find it has diagrams which illustrates better better and clear than me. so I only need to to point to the pages that would save me a lot of time. Thank you for the useful advice!

[tesuji]

Some go problems, starting from very basic level: https://gochild2009.appspot.com/

That's what I am looking for. I find it's fun presenting some puzzle or riddle like go problems to new comers. Some of my friends like to that kind of brainstorming activity. Many thanks!

[tesuji]

Hi,
The most important thing is to play : let him put stones on the board.

At the beginning, explain the capture rule, put one stone on the baord and let him capture it with four stones of the opposite colour. Explain that it works the same for several stones.
Define what is "atari" and what is a "liberty".
Then you can play the capture game, saying "atari" when you put one of his stones in atari.

Adult people will quickly ask what is the goal of the game. You may start with the chinese rule : the winner is the player who controls the largest area.

- rules
- capturing stones
- eyes (living group)
- ko

It is easier to explain the ko when it appears on the board for the first time.
You'll also need to introduce the suicide rule very early to avoid illegal plays : it is not allowed to play where you have no liberty, except if it captures immediately.

I suppose the book - Go, A Complete Introduction to the Game by Chikun Cho - is a good resource.

Yes, this is a good book. It is short (80 pages about theory and 40 pages about go culture, IIRC) and presents very briefly most of the fundamentals, except the endgame, that is not really explained.
It is suited for people who have little time for reading and want to quickly get to the point.

Baduk for Beginners is easier, with both theory and exercises. It is quite complete, with 350 pages. Very good for people who need practical examples.
There is also Learn to Play Go (vol 1 & 2). Very few exercises compared to the former, but a good introduction to the 19x19 play in vol 2, and a good annotated 13x13 example game in vol 1.

Thank you for pointing out other book resources, as well as advice on instructing for lecture!