GoGoD CD

   

https://gogodonline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/gogod-logo.png

Table of contents

[ext] Games of Go on Disk (GoGoD) was a partnership between T Mark Hall and John Fairbairn that for over a decade has produced a collection of professional Go games (originally distributed on floppy disk, then CD-ROM from 2001 onward). Updates are prepared twice a year, and as of Winter 2015 the collection includes over 85,000 games in standard SGF format. This is a commercial collection that can be [ext] purchased directly (15 USD). Over time, GoGoD expanded into both a database and an encyclopedia of general Go related knowledge - historical information in particular, with the encyclopedia part increasingly emphasized. With T Mark Hall's Death, John Fairbairn felt he was no longer able to properly maintain the encyclopedia portion of GoGod, and it was removed, along with a significant reduction in price.

New In Go

Starting in March 2005, GoGoD also offered a free service on its [ext] website.

Coffee-break Go

Starting in the summer of 2006, GoGoD offered a free service of one or more go problems each day at their website called "Coffee-Break Go". It is now found only on the GoGoD CD.

Authors' Blurb

Each issue of the GoGoD database has three integrated components: an encyclopaedia, a database of games, and a suite of programs. The **encyclopaedia** (TBase) offers, in easily readable HTML format:

Note that several of the features are book length. The **games database** (GBase) offers over 67,000 pro games in open SGF format, with full data, all in English and backed for accuracy by our own source material, including:

The games database is of course closely supported by TBase plus:

  • Our names dictionary of over 3,300 Go players with biographical info and many photos, plus extra program which allows easy look up of Oriental characters
  • Over 200 professional commentaries in CBase, mostly by Wang Hongjun 7d and Alexandre Dinerchtein 1d
  • A large collection of 9x9 games
  • Around 800 problems with full solutions in PBase
  • The Progor ratings, based on the GoGoD database

The **program suite** includes our own programs:

  • GoGoD reader
  • GoLibrary database reader
  • Go Scorer

It also included, with permission, third party software:

System requirements

System requirements are: Windows PC with IE Explorer or Firefox (Oriental fonts not required). MAC users can read all the database games, commentaries and html pages but the program suite will not work except, perhaps, with a Windows emulator. Install is by simple copying; no registry changes.

Using GoGoD on a Macintosh

Richard Hunter: The software such as Josekibase does not work of course, but all the games in the database are simple sgf text files, so you can view these in your favourite go program. The file names hard to identify but there is a text file listing all the games. This enables you to find the game you want. The game files are in separate folders for years or decades. On Mac OS9, Smart Go Board can open a folder and present all the games as a collection. I allocated a large amount of memory, but otherwise no problem. Then you can see the players' names etc. SenteGoban on OSX can open a collection, but seems unable to create one!

Using GoGoD on linux

xela: Likewise, of course the included software doesn't work (although I haven't tried using WINE), but all the games are in SGF and all the articles are in HTML, so there is lots of free software that can use these resources.

Pasky: Even though the software is not essential, most of it works nicely using WINE.

Updates

See also GoGoD History

Winter 2010 version

  • now over 60.000 games.
  • many new articles.

Good points:

  • 54,623 games. (no I didn't count them, and I do not understand the 12 doubles either.
  • lot of funfacts, (I am not a so professional player)
  • lots of more serious facts
  • You just need to have it

Some minor minus points:

  • CD did not have a logo (I know it is all in the eye of the beholder, but I like be be able to show that it is not just an ordinary CD) and to shw which version it was
  • The start up screen said that it was the summer 2008 version (glitch?), and why is there no link to the start page in the main directory?
  • some external links weren't working (in the introduction in GoGoD there is even a link to [www.gogod.demon.co.uk/NewInGo/NewInGo.htm]
  • some parts are a (bit) older that expected examples: the supplied kogo's Joseki Dictionary is from 2006, the most recent 9x9 game was from December 2006.

What I missed

  • list of games to exclude from a fuseki library (there are some amateur games on the disk but it would be nice to have a list on it.
  • Nothing about Hikaru No Go okay it is a bit a personal matter
  • Sensei's Library [ext] CHM snapshot is not on the disk.

But still something that I can advise to any English reading Go player with Computer.

Comments

John F.: The current version, issued end November 2002, has over 20,300 pro games with full data. The CD includes so many other goodies, such as my monster Names Dictionary, that we are now referring to it as the GoGoD Encyclopaedia. It also includes Kombilo, by kind permission of Ulrich Goertz. We provide updates several times a year. The latest update has a new Go Seigen game.

DaveSigaty: I bought a copy over New Years (2002 :-) and have been fascinated. I definitely recommend it for anyone serious about studying professional games. As interesting as the CD is however, it took a quantum leap forward when I downloaded Kombilo to use with it. This combination may well change the way amateurs study fuseki.

AshleyF: Just received the November 2003 version. It's up to 26,200 games and has a beta version of a new program, PBase.exe, to present classical go problems. The small but growing collection of problems can be used with other problem viewers as well such as uliGo and Go Album.

mgoetze: So, I'm wondering whether I should buy this CD and I have some questions... does it have any commented Kitani games which are not against Go Seigen? Ideally, from before 1935 or so? What percentage approximately is commented? Also, how many of those 22,150+ games are also available on GoBase? Thanks in advance to any answerers...

Thomas Thomsen: In the July 2005 version, 70 games are commented. Some are from classical sources, long out of copyright, and some commissioned from a strong Chinese professional, so these are unique to the GoGoD collection.

Floris: I also have a question. I bought GoGoD at Het Paard in the Netherlands. They charged 75 Euro instead of the 55 mentioned on the GoGoD site, besides that, they also gave me standard CD-R with the TDK label still present. I hope this is the actual distribution and not a copy, I don't like paying 20 euro's more for an illegal copy. Also I think that *if* GoGoD really is a copied CD, that u guys should at least take the effort to give the CD a cover and back. These are some pre-use frustrations, the contents of the CD is all fine and so far GoGoD has been a tool worthwhile.

John F.: Het Paard is our official distributor in Europe and operates from a master disk we supply. So they are not making illegal copies, though I'm disappointed to hear that they may not be making much of an effort at presentation (the UK supplied copies are now properly printed CDs). It seems that the European version suffers two other handicaps. One is that it is somewhat out of date (I think January 2003 and there have been big additions in two updates since then). The other, as Floris notes, is price. This is because het Paard have to add European taxes and other costs and we don't. It has been a bit similar in North America where Yutopian are the official distributors. I believe, however, that they have always produced their own packaging, and from now on (Mark Hall having talked to Sid Yuan in Houston) they will provide timely updates. The ideal, I suppose, is to come to us direct, though we have always been chary of being inundated with administrative work - remember this is hobby-time stuff for us. If anyone already has an out-of-date or expensive version from a distributor and wants to subscribe direct, we will happily offer a discount on a new subscription. Contact Mark Hall for that. (Contact information available at [ext] Go Games on Disk collection)

GoGoD or GoGod ?

For people who don't know how to name this disk it is GoGoD and NOT GoGod. (John Fairbairn insists he's not a deity, yet?)


GoGoD CD last edited by 2.87.81.68 on July 7, 2023 - 04:26
RecentChanges · StartingPoints · About
Edit page ·Search · Related · Page info · Latest diff
[Welcome to Sensei's Library!]
RecentChanges
StartingPoints
About
RandomPage
Search position
Page history
Latest page diff
Partner sites:
Go Teaching Ladder
Goproblems.com
Login / Prefs
Tools
Sensei's Library