I would like to here from folks who took up go later in life, perhaps after 50. Why did you take it up? How did you find out about it? What do you think of it now? What has it meant to you?

All the best,

Andy

I took up go seriously in the age of 38. Here are the details

Now that's a reply.

I had been exposed to go as a kid, but became quickly discouraged seeing that my stepfather was always three steps ahead of me. I basically forgot about the game until I came upon a go program (goknot) in a computer magazine when I was 45. It had a link to the interactive way to go, and I was thrilled to find this enigma could be taught step by step, and that I could play with a computer and learn enough to not make a fool of myself when I would eventually muster up the courage to play real people. Boy was I wrong.

My first sojourns to kgs were marked by intense strain and emotional excesses. This new experience came hand in hand with my introduction to the online community, which unveiled a social aspect of the internet that I had not previously known. This is the main reason that my interest has not waned over the years despite my meager progress. Though my initial motivation, the desire to rectify my sense of inadequacy as a child gradually faded, it became replaced with the idea that as an adult, the game offers a marvelous opportunity to limber up a brain that in some aspects had begun to feel stiff, lazy and unchallenged.

I am sorry that my stepfather wasn't able to find a way to make the game feel less demeaning, but having a daughter of my own has allowed me to get a new perspective on the matter. I didn't like and wasn't well prepared for the idea that I wasn't immediately good at go. Now I like it, and though it would have been better to have learned earlier the values of tenacity, patience and civil disobedience to one's emotional dictator, I'm pleased to have the opportunity to work on it all now.

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Patience, grasshopper.

Thankfully, I still haven't hit 50. (Sorry I can't answer your question.)

I didn't learn about Go until I was 44, is that close enough?

"It was ten years ago today..." {camera fades in to a drizzly Seattle office}

I had been working for a company doing business in Japan, so I was getting interested in learning Japanese and a little about their culture. I thought to myself, "I like chess, I wonder if they have their own version of chess." A little research turned up Shogi. I asked one of our sales reps to bring me back something from one of his trips to Japan, a little pocket-sized magnetic Shogi game. Still nothing about Go yet.

Some months later, another couple of coworkers were playing Go in the lunchroom. I stared at it as I walked by, but didn't stop to ask. It looked interesting, but confusing. And I only recall them playing that one time.

Many more months later, a different pair of coworkers started playing. But they played only a few moves at a time, leaving the game setup in an empty cubicle. It took weeks to finish a game, and since there was only the one board, I never got a chance to get in line for the next match as it stirred a lot of interest from several of our coworkers.

So I pretty much learned some of the basics from just watching the daily play of two to three moves at a time.

When I did get my chance, I immediately fell prey to a ladder and my opponent was surprised to see anyone actually play out a losing ladder all the way across the board. That game didn't last very long and I had to return to the end of the waiting line.

As software developers, we're always on the lookout for new and interesting developments. One day a new Go Game Server showed up on Slashdot, or Sourceforge -- Dragon Go Server. We all signed up. No more waiting lines. We all had games with each other now.

Except for that first crushing defeat against who we all thought was our strongest coworker at 14 kyu (we were all in awe of such a strong level -- later we learned our CEO was 1 dan), I quickly learned that I was actually the next strongest player rising to about 22 kyu from everyone else's 25 kyu or weaker -- just from watching their long drawn out daily play of only a few moves at a time.

But DGS games were still slow. I wanted to experience a full game to find out what this game was all about. I couldn't get that with only a few moves a day. I went to the book store and bought a book, you know the one, it has a cardboard board and punch out stones. I tried to get my daughter to play, but we still couldn't grasp the feel of the game. So I found it on Yahoo Games. But there's no ranking system there, so my first game there, I lost every stone I put down. How could that be? I didn't understand that at all. I tried a few wild and stupid experiments -- playing on the 1st line, passing the first move. I couldn't figure out how I could be at such a disadvantage. I almost gave up the game before I ever got started.

But my DGS games were progressing. I found a player close to my level such that the game felt even, not lopsided. That was the most enjoyable game I ever played. We played several more, until I started surpassing him too. I started throwing out game invitations to anyone who would accept. Then I saw someone from Tacoma -- hey, that's near where I live. He was much stronger than me, but I enjoyed playing and chatting. Then one day he says, "we're having a local tournament, you should come"

There were probably 30-40 players there of all levels. What?!? You mean there have been all these local players all along? And there's a Go Center in Seattle? Wow! A whole new world just opened up to me.

I entered at 19 kyu, a little higher than my DGS rating, so I was nervous about that (not realizing the rating lag with turn-based servers). I won all my games, and won $50. Woohoo, I was hooked!!

Such a fascinating game. Always something to learn at any level, and the skill level was so vast. I was giving 9 stone handicap to some of my coworkers now, and I'm taking 9 stones from various other opponents, who could probably take 9 stones from players above them.

Of course, I was immediately taken aside (by JB) and "forced" to play a game to see if I was sandbagging at 17 kyu (my new AGA rating). An unknown comes in to sweep the tournament. I didn't realize that's what he was doing at first, but even after realizing, it didn't put me off . And JB was satisfied.

As I got stronger, I learned about major tournaments, and tried to become a fan. News of such events was sparse, so I actually got involved in running some of the online tournaments (just to keep up with the news). Then I learned about game recording -- and skill level prejudice. Wow, smart people looking down on other smart people just because they're not yet very strong at Go

I've gotten strong enough now that I'm no longer striving to become stronger. I enjoy introducing the game to beginners. I enjoy being a fan of the game, watching stronger players compete and climb that ladder.

I was 45 when I started (a couple of years ago.)

In my spare time, I sometimes answer questions on Yahoo! Answers, especially in the Comics & Animation department. Cartooning has been a lifelong hobby, plus part of my job is to buy the videos for the local library. Since I don't have kids, reading the questions is a good way to keep up on what new cartoons and anime series are popular.

One day someone asked, "What's that game they play on Hikaru No Go?" I had never watched the anime, but I had seen the DVD covers when we held our library's big anime events, and said that it was Reversi/Othello. Fortunately, someone else knew better, and gave the correct answer.

I went online to investigate (I HATE being wrong! ) and discovered the Way to Go tutorial site, and downloaded Goban from MacUpdate. GnuGo 3.7 seemed impossible to beat, and if that had been as far as things went, I'd probably never have gone on,

But we had one of our library anime events two weeks after that, and when it was finished, I decided to check out the first Hikaru No Go DVD. I didn't expect much from a shonen series about a game, but the characters and well-paced suspense hooked me. The first 8 dvds were in the library system, after which I watched the rest online.

Frankly, it was a love for the series, and especially for the character of Sai, which made Go my main obsession for the next six months. Since then I have had to give more time to other project and obsessions, but at least gave myself a decent grounding in the game, and have started a Go club at the library, so there's always at least one game a week.

And I hang on to hope that some day, I'll have time to do some serious studying again.

Started at 37(?)

I'd heard about the game years ago but never gotten into it or learned how to play. Then my wife and I were watching HnG as part of a general anime addiction (it's really another fierce fighting series at genre heart) and thought "If we knew how to play it might help us enjoy this more". So we picked up the game and found it fun.

After getting the basics down between ourselves we then decided (with 9 yr old daughter in tow) to find other people to play and learn against. We found one "club" located inside a local costume/game store (run by one guy who was chased out soon after) and had a pretty so-so experience with that; but he dragged us out to a local tournament where we were introduced to the rest of the Denver go community and quickly formed our own weekend club (still going) and started attending the "big" weekday club at the VFW.

So for the past 8 years or so I've been slowly climbing the ranks to SDK and hosting (now) bi-weekly club meetings. I've lost the taste for tournament play but still enjoy the game a lot. I think it has helped improve my mental focus and have had a lot of fun with the local players. I've always enjoyed teaching so passing along an appreciation and basic skills has been a big part of the joy on this journey for me.

Awww....


Bruce "TDK" Young

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Currently reading: Plutarch, Cerebus, and D&Q 25th Anniversary