# Calling SDMB Go players **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-sdmb-go-players/317010 "2005-08-14T22:21:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-sdmb-go-players/317010/1 "2005-08-14T22:21:48Z")
I imagine that there must be a few Dopers who play Go. I have recently rediscovered the game and would like to get a bit of help with it. If such a rank were possible I suspect I would currently be rated about 70k. Not so good, but can be improved. So, anyone out there play? Anyone on IGS? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-sdmb-go-players/317010/2 "2005-08-14T22:29:37Z")
I used to play, back in graduate school, and I love the game, but haven’t played for ages. I do have a set, though, sitting quietly in the basement. I never played enough to get ranked, but probably twenty or twenty-five handicap stones would be about right. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-sdmb-go-players/317010/3 "2005-08-14T23:28:11Z")
Is this game AKA “Othello”? ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-sdmb-go-players/317010/4 "2005-08-15T00:00:19Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > Is this game AKA “Othello”? [Nope](http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Wei-Chi.htm) I started to play in the military, many moons ago, but the guy I was learning from was reassigned. Never found another potential partner. Took up Backgammon, which is a better betting game I guess. I regret never taking the game up again. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-sdmb-go-players/317010/5 "2005-08-15T00:08:53Z")
I’ve played, never very well at all. I find it boring. My game is chess. There is no question that it is truly a great game, however. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-sdmb-go-players/317010/6 "2005-08-15T01:16:00Z")
I’ve been trying to learn to play but I have no opponent myself and I don’t think online is a good place to learn; I like having an opponent with direct personal feedback. Even if my opponent knows as little as me I think its better than just trying to scrape together random games online. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-sdmb-go-players/317010/7 "2005-08-15T01:24:22Z")
I play on KGS, about 11k now… If you’re just looking to improve your game, it might be worth spending some time just watching other high level people play, usually you gain a better understanding of the opening, and perhaps some avenues of attack that you may not have seen before (tesuji) ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-sdmb-go-players/317010/8 "2005-08-15T08:00:54Z")
I haven’t played in a while(a year or 2) but I got up to about 5-6K. Maybe a little higher. The best thing I did was to buy “Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go” by Kageyama Toshiro. I read the book and became about 2 stones stronger instantly. It’s a great book for beginners and more advanced players. It explains a lot of simple conecpts and some of the not so simple ones. There are also tons of problems. I highly recommend this book. For a while I played on IGS (a couple years ago). I got kinda tired of it because I kept getting into games with people who obviously lied about their rank and they would just absolutely destroy me. Not that there aren’t honest players on IGS, most of them are. It’s just that I got a run of bad players and it kind of soured me on IGS. AT the time there was also a little war going on between IGS and some other board that sucked. I don’t remember the details but I do remember that it turned me off. Add to that that I didn’t have much time and I stopped playing. I just registered with IGS again. Email me and we can set up a game. I haven’t played in a long time so I am going to be rusty. Slee