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Atari Go As A Teaching Method
Keywords: Problem
Though there is some controversy about it, I feel that using Atari Go is one (of several) great way to teach the fundamentals of go (to kids especially). One thing about teaching with the Capture Game is that it presents the rules slowly enough for beginners to fully absorb and understand them. The usual advice for First Capture is to not confuse beginners with concepts like eyes, living groups, seki, ko, miai, semeai, etc.; but rather to let them just practice capturing and evading capture, and answer their questions as they discover these concepts for themselves through their games. Some players understandably feel unhappy when they thought they knew the rules, but you keep telling them new ones. For this reason, it's important to say up front that Atari Go is not "real" go. Also, the Capture Game method of teaching works better when you know that the beginner will be getting future instruction from you or another go player. It works less well for casual instruction in a chance encounter with someone who is idly curious, unless you're sure you'll have enough time to get through the stages to "real go" (Capture One; Capture Five; Capture Most; Real Go). With most folks, especially if you start with the recommended cross-cut stones on the 9x9 board, this doesn't need to take a long time, but it's better to move to the next stage when the student is ready to, and not just because the teacher is in a hurry. Another thing is that, once the student knows how to capture, the First Capture method works best when beginners play each other instead of playing against the teacher. That way the players teach each other through experience (and the teacher is not totally bored and frustrated that the student still doesn't see the ladder). The teacher should be on hand to answer questions. I don't worry about the bad habits First Capture Go may teach. Nobody is born with dan strength, so everyone must make progress. Overcoming bad habits and replacing them with deeper understanding is a powerful form of progress. I don't think we should erect barriers merely so players can have something to work on, but in my opinion, the innate understanding of go fundamentals that beginners rapidly gain through the Capture Game is worth the risk of a few bad habits to overcome. (Hey, I was not taught via the Capturing Game, so how come I have bad habits? ;-) What are these bad habits that might become second nature if we use Atari Go for teaching beginners? Becoming bored and giving up on learning the game? I find this happens less if we start with the Capturing Game. Being fixated on making captures, unwilling to sacrifice? Most beginners do that anyway. Not seeing the snapback? Most beginners have to work on that for a while anyway. Trying to save useless stones? Even mid-kyu players like me have to work on this. So, I'm not convinced that learning via Atari Go makes bad habits worse. Others insist it does. There are master teachers who love the Capture Game, and have very excellent results with it. There are master teachers who have no use for the Capture Game, or who have found it to work worse than simply explaining all the rules up front. Your Mileage May Vary. - TakeNGive (12k and falling) This is a copy of the living page "Atari Go As A Teaching Method" at Sensei's Library. (C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0. |