I started to play a few games on Tygem, since there was no way to get my iPad to work with my favorite server (KGS)

There are a few things I did not like:

- One of my first games, I got a message that the opponent resigned but in the record the game was lost for me ( I think that was a bug at that time).
- Most of the time I tried automatch, I get a message that there are no players of my (low) rank available. Rather than pairing automatches with a proper handicap, like KGS, Tygem seems to only pairs players of the same rank
- Somehow I always have to look through a number of servers... I would rather prefer to have "one" server.
- The style of the games that I have played was quite different from the ones on KGS: It seemed like my opponents did not really follow a strategy, but managed to make everything on the board a giant L&D problem (which I lost, of course). I do not mind loosing, but I enjoy the style played at KGS more (At least I can delude myself that there is something like strategy going on...).


I think in the end what is the main reason for me to not use Tygem is the unsatisfactory automatch function. If I log on to the server, I want to get a game quickly without browsing several servers, without endless invitations and so on. This always works on KGS better than on any other server I have tried.

This is weird. When I log in to Tygem, someone else always offers me a match within five seconds (usually by automatch), while it takes more than five minutes to find a opponent in KGS. There are 23000 ~ 28000 simultaneous users when I play in Tygem, but I never saw KGS people more than a thousand.

I have been playing much in KGS during last few weeks, but I'm now back again to Tygem and Netmarble for a fast match.

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Amsterdam, soon.

It may depend on the rank. There are really not a lot weak players on Tygem. At KGS the distribution may be more shifted to weaker ranks and on Tygem towards higher ranks.

What rank do you have on tygem?

Interesting: I just went to the iPad to check my rank and I got a game request within seconds... Probably I should reconsider Tygem. My rank is 16k, but I think you could not call it stable yet.

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Amsterdam, soon.

I meant my rank is not yet stable (I had only a few games). I do not doubt that the server is stable...

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Amsterdam, soon.

Hi, I think I figured it out: After yous suggestion, I logged in and got an immediate game. However: This was in the European afternoon, so evening in Korea. When I tred to get a match at 9:00 pm central Europe time, the server was not all that busy, only three players with my rank. SO I think there is not a large enough European userbase to get a game at convenient times...

Tygem generally feels very unsociable to me. It seems like the sort of place you go if you want to play go and do nothing else - there seems to be no culture of reviewing at the end or chat or teaching. And the chat is sadly full of racist nonsense. At the weakest ranks it's full of sandbaggers, though at stronger ranks it seems much better. I do play on there (I'm 16k on there, but given the number of sandbaggers I normally get a decent thrashing from a 17-18k), but only when I can't get a game on KGS (which is rare).

I find it funny that anyone would even bother with "clients" and all that nonsense when there are sites that dont require interfaces and work great on tablets/phones. in fact, kicks ass. Compared to KGS or any other site, there are so many games for easy review on mainland China. A big applause to the guy in Guangdong that implemented this Chinese site and was courteous enough to also include English on it. This free site blows me away each time I visit it! And no client needed!

Admin: This thread is about Tygem and not about other go sites so those references have been deleted from this post. Please keep your post relevant to the topic and do not inappropriately advertise other sites as per forum rules. You already have another thread in announcement which discusses the free go site so references to that site will not be entertained on this thread as it has been reported by other members as follows: "The reported message has the only purpose to advertise for a website or another product."

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Posting or private messaging advertisement is not allowed. However, if the advertisement is for your own product, it is Go-related, and it's not intrusive to the forums, then it is allowable to have it in your signature and brought up in threads only when appropriate (e.g: someone asks for places to buy Go bowls, and you have a site that sells Go bowls. In this case, it's allowable to post a link to your site).

You really gotta advertise that wuzheng site in every thread, huh.

I don't know about those websites, but thanks for sharing them.

About Tygem, I think every serious kyu player should play there because the playing style is a lot different.
(Although I would recommend 7-8 kyu on KGS and higher, anything lower than that and you might just get discouraged. )

I'm 3k on KGS and 2k on Tygem at the moment, and feel that every game on Tygem is a good learning opportunity - especially when it comes to fighting.

- If you want to work on your openings, then KGS/IGS are probably better (at the kyu level) because you won't get try tradional fuseki and joseki on Tygem - your opponent will very likely force you to diverge from them very quickly.
- If you want a more thrilling challenge where experienced players force you to read so that you do not die, then definitely try Tygem. I typically lose because of very simple reading mistakes.

I have been playing on tygem since I was about EGF 14kyu and I really like it. In my opinion it is one of the best servers out there for exciting games. Usualy I play on the chinese servers, big fun. Last night I had 2 of the same type games.

It started with me building a way too big framework, then of course my oponent invades. I start chasing the group without killing it and build lots of influence. With this influence I start to build a big area so that they will invade it and I can kill it. And so I did.

I'm ahead with 60 points because of the kill. Now its yosé and my oponent is sneaky sneaky filling all kinds of liberties to make its center group back alive by killing my side because it had bad shape. And oooo from a 60 points lead I go to my opponent winning with 1.5 point. So frustrating, but it did teach me lots of stuff.

Also if you want lots of tsumego without doing actual tsumego, then tygem is the place to go because you have to read a lot!

One very important thing is to register as a 10kyu. (if you are lower than lets say kgs 4kyu) Around this level I get lots of good fighting matches without being sandbagged like hell.

Have fun!
Otenki

For those who like it to get sandbagged and get a good teaching game, registering at 18k would be helpful. Be sure to play it to the end to get everything out of the teaching games, so that you can also improve your endgame.

I can't tell if this post is being serious or not.

I would play on Tygem more if the ranks weren't all roughly identical .

I use tygem to watch pro's play, because there are a lot of them that play there. I also like tygem's escape policy better than the one from KGS. What I do not like are the ranks. KGS ranks are already soft, but tygem's are even softer and I don't like that rank pimping. The betting tool is nonsense, one should be able to bet for 5 cents or for free pro lectures. The client of KGS is just more intuitive and looks prettier, but tygem is not far away.

I think you need to play on different servers and play accord to what do you want, for example now I changed to Tygem because I wanted to play against stronger players, since when playing on KGS sometimes I do bad things, but I don't get punished because of them

Also in Tygem you really improve your ability to kill things

Because nobody greets? I did it for like 40 games and then gave up since maybe only one or two did greet back.