# Chinese Game 'Go' **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 8, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-game-go/765367 "2016-09-08T20:39:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-game-go/765367/1 "2016-09-08T20:39:02Z")
Is there anywhere legit I can download the Chinese game Go? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-game-go/765367/2 "2016-09-08T20:48:31Z")
Do you just want a board simulator, that two people can play on, or do you want a computer opponent? Most ([though not all](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaGo)) go-playing computers are notoriously bad at it. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-game-go/765367/3 "2016-09-10T22:39:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Do you just want a board simulator, that two people can play on, or do you want a computer opponent? Most ([though not all](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaGo)) go-playing computers are notoriously bad at it. Computer opponent for practice, however bad they are, they won’t be as bad as me, first time player 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-game-go/765367/4 "2016-09-11T00:25:15Z")
Try this one. > **[Go Browser Game COSUMI - It's Free!](https://www.cosumi.net/en/)** ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-game-go/765367/5 "2016-09-11T23:48:18Z")
Playing Go against computers works for a little bit. The problem is that the programs, at least the commercial ones, tend to play to programs strength (duh!). Since the programs are really good at counting, you end up wih a lot of races whch you will lose. This gives newbies a skewed idea of the game. The answer to this is to play online at the internet go server. [www.panda-igs.com](http://www.panda-igs.com). There are always games for most levels and you can get commented games. For practicing there are a bunch of programs. I have tsumego pro which is ok and there are some others. These generally just show a problem and allow you to try and solve. I also always recommend reading Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go by Kageyama. Learn the rules, play at least 50 games and then start on the book. The book explains the baiscs well. I played a lot and didn’t really get anywhere. I read that book and walked through the problems until I understood and I went from ~15k strength to ~5k. (ratings are roughly 30 to 21 k = beginner, 20 to 11k=casual player, 10k to 1 k = intermediate amateur) I don’t play muchh these days, the programs are frustrating because they always start races and I don’t have enough time to play online. So my skill has dropped quite a bit. When I do get the time the first thing I am going to do is go reread Fundamentals. Slee