StlWill/Teaching Curriculum

Table of contents Summary Beginning Rules Liberties for a Single Stone Liberties for a Group of Connected Stones

Table of diagrams Single stone (in the middle) & Liberties v. To capture a single stone Single stone (on the edge) & Liberties v. To capture a single stone Single stone (on the corner) & Liberties v. To capture a single stone Group of stones (in the middle) & Liberties v. To capture Group of stones (in the middle) & Liberties v. To capture Group of stones (in the middle) & Liberties v. To capture

Summary

We're still few in number, the SWIC Go Club is still around. The SWIC Go Club functions as both a learning environment and a gathering of friends. We've seen some of our novice players make significant gains in skill, and a few friendly rivalries have broken out that lead to enthusiastic and energetic play.

This page has been a bit sparse while I attempted to develop a decent curriculum for new players. Admittedly, I've only been using this specific guide for a few weeks, but by and large this seems to work well with the club.

I'd be interested to hear what other people have found does and doesn't work with newcomers to the game, especially any specific study guides.

Audience: SWIC Go Club (College Students)

Pre-existing knowledge: Little, to none

Goal: Introduce audience to aspects of the go world

Timeframe: Weekly, 1-2 hour sessions over 1 year

Beginning

The Pitch:

• I usually mention that humans are still superior to computers at playing go.
• Go has fewer rules than chess, but a far larger number of possible board positions.
• References to 'Pi' are hip for college students, so mentioning either that or 'A Beautiful Mind' helps.

Rules

1. A stone can be played on any intersection of the board as long as that stone, or group of connected stones, has at least one liberty and the board position is not repeated.
2. A stone, or a group of connected stones, is taken off of the board when it has no remaining liberties.
3. The object of the game is to surround more territory than your opponent.

Obviously, these rules take some explaining. I had a few problems early on when I introduced the ko rule after it occurred. If I showed the beginner that the rule was there from the beginning, however, there was a little more understanding.

Liberties for a Single Stone

Single stone (in the middle) & Liberties v. To capture a single stone

Single stone on the middle of the board has 4 liberties on it's cardinal directions: North, South, East, and West. That stone comes off of the board when those 4 liberties are taken by the opposite color (in this case, White).

Single stone (on the edge) & Liberties v. To capture a single stone

Stones placed on the edge of the board have one less liberty in comparison to a stone placed in the middle of the board. In this case, the Western liberty does not exist, therefore white only need take the Northern, Southern, and Eastern liberties to capture the black stone.

Single stone (on the corner) & Liberties v. To capture a single stone

If we slide that side stone into the corner, one can see that the number of liberties is reduced, bringing the total to 2. Again, white only need take the remaining liberties (Eastern and Southern) in order to capture the black stone.

Liberties for a Group of Connected Stones

Group of stones (in the middle) & Liberties v. To capture

As mentioned earlier, two or more stones share liberties when they are played next to each other (on one of the cardinal directions). While one stone has 4 liberties, two connected stones have 6 liberties. Note that points a, b, c, and d are not liberties of the two black stones.

Group of stones (in the middle) & Liberties v. To capture

Both of these formation have the same number of stones. However, the formation on the right has is a little different to capture.

Group of stones (in the middle) & Liberties v. To capture