Its about time I got serious!

[Teku]

Hi everyone!

My name is Darren, and I've been trying to get into go for god knows how long now, the problem being I read a few books, do problems etc for while every day, then when I go to play actual games (so far against the computer), I tend to lose and get a sinking feeling that all the things I have been learning haven't really stuck that well at all. Because of this I got burnt out and stopped a few times.

This cycle repeated on and off for a few years with the occasional urge to try again for a few weeks with the same result By now I've covered the Learn to Play Go books (1-3), Go for Beginners, Basic Techniques of Go, Graded Go Problems (1-2) and one or two others, and I'm searching for more that cover the fundamentals just so they can be drilled in as many different ways as possible (If anybody has any they recommend let me know!). I've tried a few things that have a steep learning curve and stuck with it, but the fact go has eluded me seems to make me want to learn it more So this time I'm taking some extra steps to get over that first hurdle by signing up here and getting an account on KGS! Hopefully by actually playing other players and getting advice from around here I can finally get my go progression moving at a good speed.

Apart from that, I'm just about to move to Tokyo for work after graduating a Japanese degree this summer, so with a bit of luck I can find some clubs/a lot better access to books to keep me going! For interests I'm currently really into contact juggling (for anyone interested there are videos in my sig) and that takes up most of my time when I'm not studying Japanese.

Anyway, sorry for the long post, Hopefully I'll be around for good this time!

[jts]

Welcome!

[Hushfield]

Hi and welcome to the forums. You've actually read quite a lot of books already, For now, I just recommend playing a ton of games on KGS (see Lose your first 50 games as quickly as possible, though the L19 proverb is more like lose your first 100 games ^^). If you're up for more books, keep using the graded go problems for beginners series. If you've worked through volume 2 completely, you can start working with volume 3.

On another note, I also have a degree in Japanese studies and am moving to Japan in a few weeks I'll be in Tokyo for a few weeks, so perhaps we could play a game? If real life play is too hard to schedule because of your job, I'm available for games on KGS. You can find me as 'Hushfield' there too, just leave me a message. Have fun playing.

(Those contact juggling video's are pretty cool, by the way. I'd never heard of it, but it's interesting to watch)

[daal]

I'm sure you didn't get that good at juggling from reading books about it.

[EdLee]

Welcome!

[Teku]

Thanks everyone!

On another note, I also have a degree in Japanese studies and am moving to Japan in a few weeks I'll be in Tokyo for a few weeks, so perhaps we could play a game? If real life play is too hard to schedule because of your job, I'm available for games on KGS. You can find me as 'Hushfield' there too, just leave me a message. Have fun playing.

Nice! What are you going to be doing there? At first at least I'll be a bit busy (I start work 2 days after I arrive and need to buy everything for my apartment!), but when I am settled in it would be great to play a few games.

I'm sure you didn't get that good at juggling from reading books about it.

This is true

[Teku]

Finally made the leap and played a few games on KGS, and unexpectedly it went better than I thought it would Nice to play someone who can makes mistakes too, something you never get with SmartGo etc. Kind of curious the see roughly what rank I am now...

[Mivo]

Nice to play someone who can makes mistakes too, something you never get with SmartGo etc. Kind of curious the see roughly what rank I am now...

The "not feeling so hopelessly dumb" aspect is one of the benefits of playing with other beginners, indeed. You're also more likely to actually understand your opponent's moves, spot mistakes, and so on.

There are computer engines that dynamically adjust to your strength too and play better as you improve. It's a more human-like experience, though they'll still beat you at L&D corner situations (which is not a bad thing). The Many Faces of Go 12 engine comes to mind (in its various forms, including Igowin HD for the iPad).

I think playing against computers is better than not playing at all (e.g. afraid to play against people, lack of time or opportunity, etc.), but when you do have the chance to play with others, definitely go for it.