BenShoemaker

Ben Shoemaker and Go.

I first learned about Go when a friend of mine (Tait) showed me the game at some point in the year 2000. We played once a week for several months after that, but I haven't had any regular games since. In 2001, I moved from Southern California to Boston (I'm originally from Long Island, New York.) In 2004 I moved from Boston to Providence, RI and again in 2006 to Madison, WI.

I don't seem to have enough time to play face-to-face very often, but I play turn-by-turn online at the excellent Dragon Go Server: http://www.dragongoserver.net

I seem to be just under 20 kyu.

I play computer opponents occasionally, and am working on my own Computer Go Program. At this point, it has 0 lines of code. Here are some basic strategies I would like to experiment with in my program. I polled the computer-go mailing list with a ComputerGoLanguageQuestion and got some good responses.

I have tried getting most of my friends to play go, but it has only stuck with a few of them (Jeff).

I have watched and read HikaruNoGo which I think is pretty cool.

I think Sensei's is great and am glad to be a part of it.

I have made a goban from a piece of abandoned plywood, but I am planning on making a HomeMadeFloorBoard. (I have started the HomeMadeFloorBoard, but it is progressing very slowly.)

I think I'll try starting TeachingGame66.

Check out this page about the ComputerGoServer.