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Teaching Go to Newcomers Discussion
  Difficulty: Beginner  

Let's give each our opinion on how to teach go to newcomers. Hopefully we can assemble it into Teaching Go To Newcomers?

Kris Rhodes: (How about a page on HowNotToTeachGo?)

Dieter: Yesterday, I taught the basic aspects of the game to a newcomer. Then he played one of our clubmembers. I told him incidentally that he should put down the three stones so that White's lower right corner remained empty. Next, I played another clubmember. We wished each other good luck with the game, saying "Onegaeshimas" - or whatever it should be. It occurred that the newcomer was struck by both habits of politeness. He later asked "Should I know other things ?"

I will most certainly include those GoodHabits in my next "first session" and include others like HowToProperlyHoldAndPlayAGoStone in second and third sessions. People usually get overwhelmed by too technical explanations. They just love it when those side aspects come into the picture. And I remember I did.


Scartol: Things I usually include in my first lesson:

  • Basic rules (alternating moves, stones don't move, territory)
  • Atari
  • Ko
  • Connections
  • Corners vs. sides vs. center
  • Life and death -- why two eyes live

... and along the way I toss in the things I find most intriguing; the respect players show each other, the history of the game, how to hold a stone, Japanese terms, etc. I think it's important -- whatever is being taught -- to combine information with excitement.


BenShoemaker: To create a useful TeachingGoToNewcomers? page I think we need to discuss:

  • What should be covered when teaching a first lesson
    1. What concepts are absolutely neccesary to start playing go?
      • Alternate plays
      • Liberties
      • Atari
      • Territory
    2. What concepts are advanced / semi-optional?
      • Ko
      • Two Eyes
      • Corner vs Sides vs Center
      • Joseki
    3. What concepts are completely optional?
      • Culture / History
  • What are good ways to teach?
    1. What order should concepts be introduced?
    2. How to adjust teaching to the student?
    3. Should the "capture game" be used?
    4. How to keep things fun and interesting?

I personally would find the organization and completeness of such lists to be very helpful. (As I think about it, it would be nice to have a list of concepts for the beginner to study further, not just during the first lesson. If the list could be in order of complexity, that would be great, but maybe at least ordered to allow certain concepts to build on others.)

Dieter: I think we have that already at TeachingPaths and BeginnerStudySection


Chris Hayashida: Having started playing go just over a year ago, and now teaching a beginner's class, I thought I'd share my thoughts, less on material, and more on style:

  1. If you are watching your students play, try not to comment on every move. They are usually having a tough time trying to play as it is, and often saying too much will only lead to more confusion. If they have a question, they will ask. I have found that commenting too much may also undermine a student's confidence. I was once asked by a student, "What's the best move?" after four moves on a 19x19!
  2. I like capture go, and I like normal go. Make it the student's choice. Some people want to play "real go" as soon as possible. Others just have fun reading and trying to take stones. However, I have noticed that capture go leads to aggressive play and some bad habits, like BeginnersPlayAtari.
  3. Don't start by playing a handicap game against them. (moved to HowNotToTeachGo)
  4. Class needs to be fun. I think just some of the cultural notes, HikaruNoGo, and just being friendly in general goes a long way to retaining students. Letting them play (and make their own mistakes) is also important. It is also much more fun to play others at your level.

As for technique, I would say that these are the most important, after the basic rules:

  1. Cutting and connecting
  2. Miai (even if only showing how a kosumi is still connected)
  3. Extensions in the opening
  4. Tesuji - Ladders, nets, chase down, throw-ins, and snapback can all be discussed as they come up. The students usually think "Wow, that's neat!" and begin to look for tesuji in their games.

Conversely, I think these can wait:

  1. Life and death - It doesn't come up on a 9x9 as much, and it sort of sticks more when they happen about it by themselves. It probably should be introduced early, but it can quickly get dry (and boring) with formal study. If they ask, teach, if not, let them play a bit and figure it out. I was so impressed when, after one day of play, a student came up with "Four (spaces) in a row is alive" on his own. He then extrapolated that it didn't matter if the four was not in a straight line. Theory is often more meaningful and memorable if the logic is behind it. They should start studying it when they play on a 19x19, and can also learn post-mortem when a group is killed. This will also help develop a feeling of the amount of space that a group will need to live.
  2. Ko - Meaningful ko just doesn't doesn't happen on a 9x9 board. Explain the rule if it comes up, but leave out the theory until they play on a bigger board. There's just not enough room to make a threat. (Often even if there is a threat, it's too difficult explaining how to value the ko and the threat, let alone trying to have beginners try to calculate it themselves in their own games.)
  3. Joseki - Obviously, they don't work on a 9x9. I think without understanding all of the concepts behind the joseki, studying them is all but useless for beginners.

Scartol: The more I teach beginners, the less use I have for the 9x9 board. It feels analogous to teaching someone how to play chess using only pawns. The complexity of the board's regions and groups is what makes the game interesting for me, and beginners get none of that on a 9x9 -- it's all corner play. I moved to the 13x13 as soon as I was able, and I encourage my students to do the same.

Stefan: I think I know where you're coming from. Most beginners in our club don't play on 9x9 very long, but do on 13x13 for a while. I'd say 9x9 is for getting a working knowledge of the rules, 13x13 for getting a working knowledge of the basic techniques and concepts, and 19x19 for finding out you'll never have a clue.

Chris Hayashida: Sorry, I didn't mean that the beginners should stay on a 9x9 board for very long. I should have written "smaller boards" instead of "9x9 boards." Usually our beginners start playing on a 13x13 within two or three nights. (More than anything, I think it's a lack of boards that's causing this, but the AGA will soon fix that. :) However, I do think that simplifying the game does appeal to some people. My comments above apply to 13x13 board as well.

Our club is a little different, since we meet weekly in a local coffeehouse. Many people come to the coffeehouse, see the game, and decide to start playing. I think the simple rules attract potential students. It also helps that you can get several games in the course of an hour. These people are a little more intimidated by the 19x19 boards. I think it's a different situation than a "real" go club, since people visiting there would only be coming by if they wanted to learn to play anyway.


I get the sense that this site is a sister-site to SL, but just in case people don't know about it..

I accidentally typed in [ext] http://www.senseis.xmp.net/ instead of leaving off the www part. I fell in love! This page contains the cutest and most entertaining introduction to Go I've ever seen! If you're showing people how to play and they speak some French, send them here!

SAS: The usual URL is [ext] http://jeudego.org . [ext] http://put-some-nonsense-here.senseis.xmp.net works only because it's undefined and gets redirected to the main page.

And I can't find a list anywhere of web-based sites for leading folks through the basics. Should we start one?

-- Scartol



This is a copy of the living page "Teaching Go to Newcomers Discussion" at Sensei's Library.
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