Just beginning

[toshii]

Hello! Thought I would make my first post here an introduction. I am a total beginner living in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have been interested in Go for many years (more than I'd like to count!), since college. As with many things, my interest waned as my life filled with other things: work, children, noise. The AlphaGo competitions rekindled my interest in the game.

Video tutorials from In Sente and Sunday Go Lessons have been quite valuable to me so far. I've also found beginner videos from Jonathan Markowitz, dwyrin, theduddha2, and Nick Sibicky which I intend to study. Also, I'm playing a bit on the OGS server, and trying to quell my competitive spirit and embrace the path of losing one's first hundred games. Or perhaps the first thousand!

Many of you seem to have physical Go sets, so you can play through games and see them in 3-dimensional space, instead of as a projection on flat computer screens. It may also help create a more focused atmosphere to study skilled play, and explore patterns, which are aspects of the game's pursuit which I greatly appreciate. I find it much more interesting than Chess, for reasons I cannot easily articulate.

Therefore, I've placed an order for an inexpensive set from YMI, with a reversible 9x9 and 13x13 board. To accompany it, I've also bought two beginner books: _Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game_ by Cho, and _Graded Go Problems for Beginners, Vol. 1: Introductory Problems, 30 Kyu to 25 Kyu_ by Kano.

It's my hope that these approaches will enable me to climb the initial learning curve, and embark on a much longer journey.

Thank you for this forum. Cheers!

[EdLee]

Enjoy.

[jeromie]

I hope you find much joy in the game! If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask here.

[goTony]

Welcome! I agree it is more interesting than Chess. But both have their own beauty and characteristics that make them fun to play. I imagine you can find quite a few players in the SF area.