Learn to play Go

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

An online interactive course for learning the board game Go is drawing praise for its clean design, lack of account requirement, and effectiveness as a beginner-friendly on-ramp, though some users criticize its heavy focus on tactical puzzles over strategic concepts like openings, direction of play, and standard patterns (joseki). Commenters compare Go with chess in terms of difficulty, rating systems, and learning paths, often arguing that reading (visualizing sequences) and local fighting matter more for improvement than memorizing openings. The thread branches into recommendations for alternative learning resources, reflections on Go’s welcoming in‑person community and cultural impact (including Hikaru no Go and AlphaGo/KataGo), and practical tips for finding online opponents and teaching the game to children.

Overall reaction to the tutorial

  • Many find it well made: clear progression, engaging puzzles, minimal distractions, and no forced signup.
  • Annoyances: on mobile you can’t change many settings without an account; some UI confusion about whose move it is or what stones belong to whom.
  • One user hit apparently “wrong” life-and-death answers that turned out to be a browser dark‑mode issue hiding white stones.
  • Some feel parts are tedious or overlong (e.g., many near‑identical “count the liberties” quizzes).
  • Auto‑generated translations are criticized as low quality; some would prefer no translation or a volunteer‑driven approach.
  • A few think the older Flash-based OGS tutorial was more intuitive and polished.

Tactics vs strategy, and what the course teaches

  • Strong thread arguing the course is almost purely tactical: captures, cuts, life-and-death, ladders.
  • Critics say it largely omits:
    • Movement shapes (1‑point and 2‑point jumps, diagonal, keima/“horse” moves).
    • Fuseki / direction of play, influence vs territory, invasions, walls.
    • Sente/gote/tenuki and tradeoffs between “strong” vs “fast” play.
  • Debate over joseki/openings:
    • One side: early moves (fuseki/joseki) decide games and should be studied early.
    • Others (including strong amateurs) say beginners should delay joseki; opening mistakes are usually small, while tactical reading and fighting decide most games.
    • Several note the proverb “learn joseki, lose two stones”: memorizing sequences without understanding context can backfire.
  • Specific example problems (stretch vs jump) spark detailed shape/AI analyses and illustrate how hard it is to teach “direction” in a beginner course.

Go difficulty, ratings, and chess comparisons

  • New Go learners report being humbled by low online ranks despite reasonable chess skill.
  • Long subthread digs into Elo math, differences between FIDE and online pools, and weird percentile reporting on chess.com; no clear consensus, just that numbers aren’t directly comparable.
  • Multiple people who dislike chess say they enjoy Go:
    • Fewer rules, more “freeform”.
    • Less reliance (or perceived reliance) on rote opening memorization.
    • Emphasis on intuition and pattern recognition over deep brute‑force calculation.

AI: AlphaGo vs modern engines

  • AlphaGo documentary is widely recommended and emotionally impactful, especially the famous human win in game 4.
  • Some push back on the mystique: AlphaGo is now far surpassed by engines like KataGo, which explicitly solve ladders and expose AlphaGo’s blind spots.
  • Suggestion that “brilliant” AlphaGo moves should be re‑evaluated with modern AIs; historic games are pivotal for AI history but less authoritative for current Go study.

Servers, tempo, and online play

  • OGS praised but some find it hard to get quick pairings; others recommend Fox, KGS, Pandanet, and tools like WeiqiHub for Asian servers.
  • Handicap settings are suggested to widen the opponent pool.
  • Compared to chess, Go online is seen as slower‑paced (longer time controls more common), which some view as a positive.

Community, culture, and personal stories

  • Multiple anecdotes about Go as a social anchor: university clubs, intergenerational play, parent–child bonding, and summer Go camps with strong intellectual/cultural communities.
  • Handicap system is repeatedly highlighted as making fair, enjoyable games across wide strength gaps.
  • Go culture is described as small but welcoming offline; online experiences are more mixed, with occasional toxic behavior.
  • Hikaru no Go (anime and manga) and its Chinese drama adaptation are praised as excellent and influential gateways into the game.

Rules nuances and “statefulness”

  • The ko rule prompts discussion about Go’s effective statefulness and comparisons to chess’s castling/en passant.
  • Clarification that in formal rules you must avoid exact repetition (superko variants), but in casual play players often only care about avoiding infinite loops.

Other learning resources mentioned

  • The Interactive Way to Go, Sensei’s Library, learn-go.net, GoMagic, European Go Journal, book series like “So You Want to Play Go”, professional commentary channels, Twitch Go streamers, and lichess’s learn section (for an analogous chess experience).