The ol' switcharoo

[daal]

I had an interesting teaching experience that I thought I might share with you. I've been teaching a friend of mine to play go, and up until now, we've been playing on a small board. Yesterday though, we forgot the piece of paper we've been using to reduce the board's size, so we decided to play a 19x19 game. This was perhaps her 10th game, and her second or third try on a large board (she's been playing with a relative too). We decided to play without handicap, and after about 30 or 40 moves, the situation was looking pretty hopeless for her. We talked about how the game had progressed so far, and I told her what possibilities I was seeing in the current board position. Then she suggested that we switch colors so it wouldn't be so boring for me. I thought that this was a great idea, as it gave her an opportunity to try to exploit the weaknesses I had mentioned in my position, and would indeed pose a real challenge for me. After another 50 or so moves, the tides had turned, and so we followed the same procedure: discussing the game and current position, and switching sides. It was like fighting against a handicap all over again. It might have been a bit demoralizing for her, but she didn't seem to take it too hard, and it offered me both a challenge, and quite a few interesting teaching moments. What do you think of the idea?

[p2501]

That reminds me of my first real game (real as in not on the internet).

A 2k played a simul with me (he was also playing another game) giving me 5(?) stones on a 13x13. We played pretty far until I resigned, after which he offered me to switch colors and he forced me to resign again. Was amazing.

[Bonobo]

Done this quite a few times with beginners, it’s fun and challenging.