Teaching Paths

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This page is IMO outdated and replaced by Beginner Study Section - Dieter

I have to agree - can we delete / deprecate? - kb

Table of contents

Inspired by a discussion going on on rec.games.go, I would like to gather some reflections on the path people should follow when studying Go.

The discussion evolves about statements by RobertJasiek that there is a complete lack of a systematic approach to Go Theory at least in Go literature available to the Western world. He intends to write volumes of his own to cover this gap.

I wondered, if I were to redo my study experiences, knowing what I know now, amongst other matters the professional advice to study tsumego, what I would study and in what order. Likewise, if a beginner asked me to bring him to a certain level in the shortest time possible, how would I take on the endeavour ? Since by no means I intend to write something myself, I'd use material already available. I came up with the following:


1. The rules

Theory: from Go for beginners; Kaoru Iwamoto

Exercises:

  • the capturing game (1 stone) on 9 x 9
  • the capturing game (5 stones) on 9 x 9
  • the capturing game (as many stones as possible) on 9 x 9

Remarks:

  • explain suicide rule and ko when it appears)
  • play 20 games in total on 9 x 9

See also: Atari Go Teaching Method

2. The concept of territory

Theory: from Go for beginners; Kaoru Iwamoto

Exercises:

  • real games 9x9 (more than 10; as much as possible)
  • switch to 13x13 if 9x9 starts feeling small (typically: when Black always wins)

3. The concept of life and death

Theory: from Go for beginners; Kaoru Iwamoto

Exercises:

  • Basic tsumego from various books
  • more games on 13x13 (>10)

4. The theory and analysis of life and death

Theory: from Life and death; James Davies

Exercises:

5. Fighting: counting liberties; how to win capturing races

Theory: from Counting Liberties And Winning Capturing Races ; (Richard Hunter)

Exercises:

  • More games on 13x13 (>10)
  • Start to play games on 19x19

6. The concept of efficiency: shape and tesuji

Theory on shape: Bruce Wilcox
Theory on tesuji: Tesuji ; James Davies

Exercises:

  • Get strong at tesuji; Bozulich
  • Graded Go problems for beginners 3 & 4 : Kano
  • play the shape game (see shape)
  • play games on 19x19

7. The fundamentals

Theory: Lessons in the fundamentals of go; Kageyama


Remarks for step 4 to 7

  • play up to 100 games (live or online).
  • Remember / write down games.
  • Analyze briefly with opponent.
  • Analyze extensively with teacher.

8. The concept of positional judgment

Theory: Positional judgment ; Cho Chikun

Exercise: in each game, make a positional judgment 5 times a game

9. Strategic concepts

Theory and exercises:

10. More tesuji and tsumego

Theory and exercises:

11. The endgame

Theory: from The Endgame; Ogawa and Davies

Exercises: Get strong at the endgame ; Bozulich

12. Study professional games

  • replay without reading comments
  • replay and ask yourself questions
  • replay with comments; more questions

See also StudyingProfessionalGames

References


Notice the relatively low presence of strategy books and especially the complete absence of systematic study of joseki, as opposed to the high exposure to tsumego. The former would be kept only until dan level is reached.

--Dieter


TakeNGive 10k: Hi Dieter, good thoughts. My news server is spotty, and I missed the RGG thread. Maybe I'll try to find it with Deja. My gut feeling is that go students should be systematic with the capturing game (your step 1 "the rules") -- but probably should play "capture one" and "capture five" at least a few hundred times, to get firmly grounded in the fundamentals -- building a mental pattern recognition library -- before proceeding further. (Milton Bradley has argued against the capturing game, but I think it is beneficial, and I wish I had been taught that way.) When the capturing game grows dull, move the student to "real" games of go; but I think at this point, no systematic study -- just play a few hundred more games (9x9, 13x13) with other newbies, and play teaching games with a stronger player who can explain why your groups all die.

Gradually the new player gets a glimpse of how deeply convoluted the game is, and he is now ready to study systematically. First, life and death, and lots of it (never stop studying life and death, I don't think); and as you suggest, counting liberties and winning capturing races, including the quirks of the corner. Next, endgame plays -- polishing the endgame will win many close games. The next step perhaps, analysing your games with a stronger player; then, analysing pro games, on your own and with other players. After that, I have no idea; but that is how I now wish my learning had gone. Part of the problem is that formal study just isn't as much fun as actually playing. So, make playing a big part of the formal study?

Good books you chose. What's y'all's opinion of Janice Kim's Learn to Play Go series?

My two cents, - TakeNGive

amc: Being only around 25k, I obviously have no idea where the approach I'm taking will lead me. What I *can* say is that the method you describe would certainly not work in my case. For some reason (my interest in wargames, perhaps) I started developing a real affection with the way JaniceKim is teaching me through her books. The first one is a nice and simple introduction to the rules, with some techniques for capturing that give you a nice feeling, like you're adding them to your "bag of tricks". The second one immediately starts discussing basic strategic concepts, and how a game typically progresses. I think this is useful because it gives you a sense of how to play, which avoids those types of mistakes where you put the first 10 stones in one corner, or start playing the contact game without putting down influence anywhere. You also learn to leave endgame plays to the endgame, and assures you reach the middle game from a solid (at this level) base foundation.

For me this approach is preferable, because it tells me what "good go" is. I may lose on the fighting itself (and I do. A LOT) but this is more easily learned than strategy, and it also helps that you start the fight from a better position because of your earlier plays. The feeling I get is that I "get" the game (wrong as I may be), and this is much more enjoyable to me than spending 100 games playing capture games, only to then unlearn the emphasis on combat because captures are not the key to real go. I guess the only thing this proves is that any teaching paths written down here are valid, but they must be selected by the student, not the teacher. Of course, there are bad ways to learn, and these should be cautioned against here, but no single path should be chosen before others.


Moonprince: For go students with learning disabilities, alternative teaching methods: SpecialIssuesInLearningGo


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