When you start playing the game of go, it's somewhat daunting. There are a lot of things to learn, you lose all of the time, and it can be all around intimidating. But the good part of all of this is, you've got a key ability up your sleeve - the ability to move up and improve. The ability to get better - and easily. You can, of course, continue to improve as you get better, but it becomes harder and harder to noticeably do so.

In some ways, I think that the game is more fun now, because I know more about the details, and I feel like I have a plan of what I'm actually doing. But in other ways, I feel a little sad: Yes, I can improve. But I probably cannot improve as fast as I could when I started.

So what do you think? Was the fresh start of the game, not knowing your potential, and being able to improve rapidly - was that more fun? Or is it more fun now that you know more about the game - you might improve more slowly, but at least the game seems richer and more meaningful.

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be immersed

I think I found it more fun at first,

That's not to say that I don't find it fun now, but then it was about learning and trying new things, now it's a slog. (And I'm starting to feel like I'm actually forgetting)

There's something amazing about that period where every month or so, you have this enormous change in perspective, and suddenly get a whole lot better, I haven't had one of those in a long time.

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Tactics yes, Tact no...

I wonder if people's answers will be biased based on their current rank and how long they've been at that rank.

Personally I have more fun now, because I feel like I'm starting to have some idea of what I'm doing, or, at least, what I'm trying to do, and I'm starting to eliminate really frustrating things like simple misreads or atari-blindness.

BTW, I've been 9k for less than a month feel well on my way to 8k. I suspect my feelings might change if I get stuck at a rank for a long period of time.

For me a significant part of the enjoyment of playing go is improving.

(You are just beginning).

As for me, I don't think it's changed much. I have fun when the game is good (like painting a portrait) and not so much fun when it isn't (like laying bricks).

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Patience, grasshopper.

I miss the fun of exploring a new game with other new or similarly weak players. Now, as the strongest regular in our local area I don't ever get this chance anymore. And when I want to set up a pro game study with some other players, I end up having to become the teacher. It's not in my nature to just sit back and let a lot of other players reach faulty conclusions which may lead to bad ideas or habits, and once you step-up they begin to look at you for their other moves. And it's more difficult for mid-dans and above to find regular study partners. Playing partners is easy, just go to an online Go server, but study partner is different.

However, on the other end. I gain more joy from studying professional games and play in general. In play, combining techniques to string together a flowing game from beginning to end is a heavenly challenge -- and the stronger you get the closer you find yourselves becoming. Also, the game seems to open up to more flexibility -- at least to me. Finally, I can concretely understand several professional players play styles, so every time I begin a game I can ask "Who's style do I want to try and use this game?" It's very fun, exciting and rewarding. I also enjoy handicap games more.

It's definitely more fun now and I've been on this rank (or thereabouts) over a year now.

It's more fun because of the already stated reasons: You understand more, you come closer to actually playing and not just stones clashing, the stronger you become the more possibilities you can enjoy, you can see several branches in your game how you would like it to develop, you can appreciate strong players (pros) a lot more when you are stronger yourself.
In short Go just makes more sense if you are stronger.

On the other side I never improved steadily, let alone fast. I just used the wrong means most of the time, that's why I almost quit Go twice. Now I think I found my way and it works quite nicely. So there is the thrill of the chase again now! =D

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My "guide" to become stronger in Go

What's this "fun" thing.

I have to put more effort into it to have fun now.

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Help make L19 more organized. Make an index: https://lifein19x19.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5207

These things are hard to say. When I started playing Go, I could put aside 90 minutes for an internet game (or even 120 minutes for an ASR game plus review) practically at will. Now, setting aside that time is much harder and takes a major force of will. I was spending a lot of time taking the subway, and tsumego were a perfect use of that time. Now, tsumego compete directly with other uses of my time. Back then, I played online nearly exclusively and didn't really know the people at my (inconveniently located) local club; now it's a ten minute walk, the players are all fun people, but they're mostly weaker players and I play white a lot.

There are probably three dozen other things I would remember if I meditated on how my life in 2010 was different from my life in 2013, which are affecting whether I was having more fun then or now, which have little to do with "innocent sense of wonder" versus "finely honed* feeling for the subtleties of the game."

*(Well, okay, coarsely honed? can I have coarsely honed?)

I think it is more fun for people before they start to really care about winning (which is the typical measure of progress/improvement). After that, it just feels like hard work. Of course, for those with an innate knack for the game, it is always fun because they aren't struggling with the fundamentals so much, rather, they are exploring new ideas all the time, and creative exploration is almost always fun.

It reminds me of when I was getting my C.S. degree. For 90% of my fellow students, learning to write software was a struggle and always felt like work. For me, however, it was like a fun game that I never got tired of. But that, I believe, was because I had an innate gift for it which made learning effortless. I never struggled to grasp the basics, nor even the more advanced stuff later on; I was perpetually in a phase of creative exploration, which was always engaging, rewarding, and even fun.

I believe this to be true for any creative endeavor, whether it is writing code, writing music, or playing Go or Chess. For those with a knack for it, it feels like play more than it feels like work. For the rest of us it is the other way around.

I think I enjoyed it the most in my late ddks. I was studying, playing a lot (both at a club, which was pretty much the only time I got out of the house at the time, and online), and I was improving rapidly. I was one of the weakest players in the club at the start, but each time we played with one fewer handicap (and eventually even!) was amazingly satisfying.

As I became even stronger, the game itself became more interesting, as I could see more possibilities than I had been able to. But it also became a bit more of a chore; my opponents also see those possibilities, and they'll make fewer blunders that I can take advantage of (well, I do consider that a good thing; winning because of a blunder is kind of disappointing).

A few months ago (a year, maybe?) I decided that I'm actually happiest where I'm at right now. There are some really fun fights, but I also don't really have to worry about counting or micrimanaging, or even winning or losing. Now I just play the game as a game. It means I probably won't improve much (although, I do hope that just by playing regularly, I will eventually reach 1 dan), but that's fine; I can finally enjoy the game without worrying about rank.

I am definitely having more fun than when I started. There are many reasons for this, but the most important is probably the social aspect. I now have access to at least one friendly teacher. There are some people I can now play offline while chatting over the board. Unfortunately, I only get to play once a week these days due to lack of time, but that only makes that "once" that much more enjoyable.

It's a lousy musical group.

(Whether it's worse than Psy is something you can all discuss amongst yourselves.)

Yes, because it felt great playing a few games before bedtime and waking up 3 stones stronger.

I first started to learn the game when I was 14 or 15. I am now 41. Over that period, my enthusiam had gone through high points and low points.

The main thing the high points over the last 15 years or so have had in common is that when I read well, I enjoy the game, If I become out of practice, and my reading gets rusty, I enjoy the game less. I find I care less about winning, and more about finding fiendishly complex fights that create an entertaining game.

Conversely, if my reading is rusty, I back away from seemingly ridiculous fights and try to use strategy to win. (My strategy is pretty poor for a player of my stength.) I enjoy the game less, and I desparately want to win. Of course, I lose more often when this is the case.

Over the last couple of years, my reading has started to improve again and so I'm enjoying the game more.

Psy is marginally better than fun, but they are both pretty poor. Here's some music I like - some Roni Size.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb9HACLDTwk

(Ranks are based on kgs)
30-20kyu: frustrated because i could not see the board
20-15kyu: very happy as i was learning so much, every game was super exciting
15-10kyu: "wow feeling": there is even more depth to this game than imagined!!!
10-8kyu: "downfall in fun" this game requires reading in order to win, not just remembering patterns, need more practice.
8-5kyu: whooaaa my game is so much better now i read everything
5-?:(current) ...

So I think my fun has been going like a rollercoaster.
When I learn something new I'm really excited about it.
Like when I started playing "influencencial games" for the first time.

But then usualy right after that I face stronger opponents who teach me for example that using thickness requires a lot of reading.
Then you realise that you have to go back to studying more in order to get past this barrier again.

In a way this is also fun but when you feel that you are improving (drasticly changing your game) then I think you have the most fun.

I still have lots of fun and hope that I will keep having fun for a long time.


Have fun

Otenki

I can't generalize and say I have more fun now or back then in the beginning because I have only have fun or feel relieved when I play good
But I never forget my pride and happiness when I captured my first stone in my first tournament (I learned the game maybe three weeks before) or I read the first ladder correctly. It was all like "I drew first blood" and now I am going to win all the games. Of course I've lost all my games at this tournament
But even now I feel the same, when I play a strong game or at least read a complicated sequence correct. I think this is also my motivation to keep playing, to find good moves.

One thing that did not change so far was that at any rank, I always feel like an imposter:
- My same rank opponent plays clearly better throughout the midgame and loses on a big blunder (happens frequently and is kind of disapppointing).
- My opponent is not clearly behind, but resigns (happens occasionally).

In both cases I feel like I did not deserve to win. Since I do not want to give the opponent the same feeling, getting a higher ranking comes with an increased anxiety not make stupid mistakes.

But if it was a good close game where I don't have the feeling that either party made a stupid mistake, it is as much fun as ever...