G'day all,

I'm a beginner from Australia. I learned of go a couple of years ago when I stumbled across Hikaru no Go. Since then I've only played a handful of 9x9 games against the computer and half of one 19x19 game against the computer (Ipad battery died before I finished). So on the surface it doesn't seem that I like go at all. But I keep thinking about it even though I don't play. I really enjoy watching/reading commented games and hearing about the strategy behind each move. But I never actually bother setting aside time to play. I think it comes down to two things, one is that I play so poorly that my game feels random and therefore uninteresting. The other reason may be that if I just play against my computer I have no ranking, no real way of tracking my progress.

So I'm thinking I can fix these two things by playing online. Playing ranked games will enable me to track my progress as well as giving the games more meaning. I don't expect to get very far in Go, I just want to play for fun, drop it when I get busy with other things, pick it up again when I have time. My real goal in Go is simply to sharpen my mind. I'm a believer of the "use it or lose it" concept when it comes to the human brain and go seems like a great way to exercise the brain.

So, online play. I had a look on KGS and there seems to be a distinct lack of beginner kyu players. Very few 15 - 19's and almost none in the 20's. I had a look at the Kaya server, I know it's just starting, but when you sign up the highest (or is that lowest?) rank you can choose is 20kyu. So is 20 the new 30? Or are new players generally expected to skill up against the computer before playing online? I don't mind ranking up against the bots for a while, in fact I'd probably prefer that while I learn the ropes. I was just surprised that there aren't more beginners around. I'd have expected something more like - Lots of beginners (30 - 20k) many of whom will quit, then a thin area between 19 - 10K where the few beginners who continue playing work on ranking up, then a larger group of experienced players further beyond that.

So is there anything I'm missing about why beginners don't play online? Actually, I have heard stories of people's rank getting stuck because they lost too many games at a certain rank and they have trouble digging themselves out of the hole. This works against my plan to lose my first 100 games. Is this anything to be concerned about? I don't want to get stuck in the 20kyu area since it'd be hard to get an opponent up there.

P.S. Thanks to all of you for making this forum the valuable resource that it is.

Hi there and welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome aboard. Where in Australia are you?

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Poka King of the south east.

Welcome to L19

You'll find ranks vary quite a lot between different servers - 20k on KGS isn't that far above beginner to be honest, there really aren't many players in the 20s. You shouldn't find it too long before you are giving 20k players a good game

Welcome.

I definitely agree with what topazg said. Ranks tend to be very fluid from 30k to 20k. Complete beginners can imrove in skill by two or three stones in the course of a single game, which means players don't stay at those ranks for very long. That's why there's relatively few of them.

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Poka King of the south east.

Thanks all. I’ll just start playing the bots and move over to humans when my playing ability is slightly less humiliating.

TheBigH – I live in Brisbane. I think I read previously that you’re from Melbourne right? Do you play in person often or do you prefer the convenience of online?

That's right, I'm in Melbourne. I play a few times a month at the Victorian Go Club, and occasionally on KGS. My nickname there is heatshield.

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Poka King of the south east.