Hi everyone, I'm new.

I noticed on registering that there were quite a few servers which I could list my username for.
My question is, are some better than others? and which(if any) would be best for a noob to start out on?


sorry if there is already a thread like this, if so a link would be greatly appreciated

thanks:)

KGS has a large international community, and there are plenty of helpful people there to help you get started. On the other servers, chatting is not so common - at least in English - and they can be a bit confusing if you're new. Ask again if any questions or problems crop up.

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Patience, grasshopper.

I spent over an hour last night trying to help my team mates connect to and then play a game on IGS for the European Team Championship. So I cannot recommend IGS.

Not to get too off topic, but have you tried the gopanda java client? You can get it here: http://pandanet-igs.com/gopanda/gopanda.jnlp

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Patience, grasshopper.

Not sure whether I would recommend that. It has happend in every game that the last set stone is not shown. That's why I switched back to the old client.

@cptn.strawhat:

I would second daal's recommendation of KGS as the best place for beginners and DDKs to play. It has a great community, a lot of people chatting, plenty of people willing to help you learn, and plenty of other DDKs (Double-Digit Kyu (>= 10k)). No other server can claim all of that, at least not in English. Plus, many of the popular Asian servers (Tygem, Wbaduk) have severely messed up ranks in the DDK area. As you get stronger and become an SDK (Single-Digit Kyu) or low Dan, KGS remains good, but then there are other good choices as well.

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We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are.
Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness.
We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before,
No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.

Also KGS has a lifein19x19 room you can join that is even more helpful.

Yes, he was using that client. I downloaded it too and was on the phone for 10 minutes walking through it with him. Still failed to make it work.</IGS rant>

Use KGS!!!!! (Or OGS if you like correspondence Go, but that's not so good for total beginners).

If you play on IGS or WBaduk you will be less distracted by chat and kibitz etc. So it is better for playing, which is most important as a beginner. If you want English-language game reviews and teaching too, KGS is probably better. Don't start with correspondence games as a beginner.

There's a list of reviews at GoServerReviewsAndReports, but I still recommend sticking to KGS unless you feel something missing, or can't play there.

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a1h1 [1d]: You just need to curse the gods and defend.
Good Go = Shape.
Associação Portuguesa de Go

Hi everyone thank you so much for the replys! I'm gonna give KGS a try once finals are over this week

Would it be wrong for me to "like" every post that recommends KGS?

Definetely

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Founder of Kaya.gs

NO!

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My plan to become an SDK is here.

Fingers crossed kaya will be a go server to recommend in the future.

I actually recommend trying most of them. For example, DGS and IGS are greatmobilephone access. DGS for slow turned based games over days. While the IGS Mobile app is great for real games on the fly. Wbaduk however is not, in my opinion good for mobile access. The app is buggy and easily misclicks which is frustrating. Along with the poor automatch implementation.

On the iPad both IGS and tygem are great. I actually find the players on tygem to be more adventurous in their styles of play. But like mentioned previously the rank system varies greatly on reflection against other ranked servers. There are a lot of sandbaggers though for example in the low to mid kyu's.

On the computer however kgs is great for the social aspect and friendly atmosphere, however I find some matches lag at peak times which can get annoying. Also the java applet is not visually appealing at all
Tygem, on the computer is great for watching pro matches live. There are countless active professionals fighting it out daily for the delight of the public. The down side however is there are not many English speaking players that know English well enough to discuss the games as you watch. The client is likely to be the best looking too out of all of the servers mentioned.
IGS on the computer is some what average, there are a Lot of kind people, just not an abundance of atmosphere and the user interface is very basic in most clients.

This is just a very brief indication of why using more than one can be beneficial

Would it be wrong for me to like every post by the creator of KGS?