When did you start playing go?

[tj86430]

I haven't seen this thread here:

When were you first introduced to go?

[Redundant]

Last fall I started college, and there was this asian kid a couple doors down with a goban. I got curious, and he taught me how to play.

[Hushfield]

2007 in my second year of college, a classmate was reading "Cosmic Go: A Guide to Four-Stone Handicap Games", and after he taught me how to play, we played 9x9 in class, on pieces of square paper for the next few weeks.

[freegame]

I hope a lot of people vote. I'd like to see the distribution of this.

(i voted 2005-2006)

[Joaz Banbeck]

This could have been a two-item poll: pre-HNG and post-HNG.

[oren]

This could have been a two-item poll: pre-HNG and post-HNG.

Anime or manga?

It would make a difference for me even though I didn't see Hikaru no Go until years later.

[judicata]

This could have been a two-item poll: pre-HNG and post-HNG.

Anime or manga?

It would make a difference for me even though I didn't see Hikaru no Go until years later.

I have yet to read or see it.

[DrStraw]

I hope a lot of people vote. I'd like to see the distribution of this.

(i voted 2005-2006)

The buckets are not the same size so it would not be very useful.

[Nakamura]

Started reading Hikaru no Go manga in 2005. Got a goban in December, played for a while. Then I stopped playing until march 2008. I played again for about 7-8 months, not very seriously, and was around 8-9k before I stopped being serious again. In 09 I started playing regularly, and only at the end of 09 did I not play frequently (couple games a week)


But, since january I've played pretty much everyday. It's hard not to.

[tj86430]

This could have been a two-item poll: pre-HNG and post-HNG.

I did not know what that was until some time after joining this forum ;-D

[xed_over]

This could have been a two-item poll: pre-HNG and post-HNG.

Japanese or English?

[Redbeard]

My story with Go is a bit long, but I don't think it's uncommon. I learned how to play in high school, which doesn't sound like much, but high school for me was 1984 .

Over time, I only played occasionally and would go years without playing one game. In 2006, on my 40th birthday, I decided to make an effort to get better at the game and play regularly. I still don't play as much as I would like and I'm nowhere near as strong as I want to be, but I do get at least a game a week in now.

With all that in mind, I voted 2006.

And yes...I did start reading the English versions of Hikaru No Go when they were published in 2005, why do you ask?

[karaklis]

This could have been a two-item poll: pre-HNG and post-HNG.

I did not know what that was until some time after joining this forum ;-D

I did not know what that was until some time after joining the predecessor of this forum ;-D

[Suji]

This could have been a two-item poll: pre-HNG and post-HNG.

I did not know what that was until some time after joining this forum ;-D

I did not know what that was until some time after joining the predecessor of this forum ;-D

I didn't know that forums existed for Go until after I watched (and fell in love with) Hikaru No Go.

I put 2009. I had run into the game previously on Yahoo! games (when I was bored with chess) circa 2001. I played 9 games, then I went back to playing chess. I really didn't "play" go, though. At that time, the game just didn't hold my interest.

Hikaru No Go jump started an interest in the game for me. After this renewed interest in finding a game other than chess, I found this community, KGS, and IGS. I'm now a go player for life.

[CarlJung]

The buckets are not the same size so it would not be very useful.

The statistician has spoken

Even if the buckets are not the same size, it would still provide information, no? It may be that most kinds of analysis can't be done on the data but still, some information would be presented. Perhaps one could apply meta-buckets, i.e. group the answers in fewer buckets.