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Describe Go To Non Players
   

Dieters entry on CompareGoToChess triggered this one off.

I often meet people who, once they find out that I play (in the largest possible sense :-) Go, want to know what Go is, and I never know what to say.

I try to avoid to CompareGoToChess, and often end up to explain Go by similarity/dissimilarity to Chess.

Something along the lines of:

  • Just like chess, Go is played by two players across a board
  • Just like chess, it is a 'complete knowledge' game, i.e. no randomness
  • Unlike chess, the board is bigger and starts out empty - the placement rules are simpler
  • Simplicity, Beauty, Complexity, how computers cannot do it etc. etc.

Traditionally, this has not managed to create many new Go-players.

How do other people explain Go? I don't mean how you teach Go to a beginner, but how do you try to create the initial interest to begin with?

-- MortenPahle

I tend to say its the oldest game in the world and that it is easy to learn, fun to play and as complex or simple as you want to make it.

-- OneEye

Tell us the reasons why you started to play at WhyDidYouStartGo and maybe we can think of how to get more people to try Go.

-- PekkaKarjalainen

I think the best way to get new people to play go is to first get the rules layed out. Next, find a player around their skill level (you may want to teach 2 people at once and have them play each other) and get them to play a game to get the hang of it. I've always thought go was the most fun in even games, if you play someone much better than you, it's sometimes overwhelming.

--IronChefSakai



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