Hi

I am a complete beginner and I have one book and different apps for tsumego.

Can some of you give advice on what to prefer as a start?

And, when using the book, should I try to solve the problem in my head or can I use a board?

As I post in the other thread, I'm having difficulties to see WHY a solution to a problem IS the solution, meaning, why does some pattern mean a group is dead (alive is a bit easier, though I find telling real eyes from false difficult).

I always try to play on after getting or looking up a solution, and since this can be many moves, I assume it is difficult to do this in my head.

Thanks!

Sounds like you are doing problems that are much too hard for you. Get some easier problems, maybe first volume of graded go problems for beginners. Also some beginner explanation material on false eyes would be good. Have you done http://playgo.to/iwtg/en/

Start with playing games. There are weak bots that can be fun to play with.



I agree with Uberdude, these problems are at the moment too difficult for you. That may not be so in a week or two, however, because beginners improve rapidly.



Do both. You are, at this stage, like a baby learning a language. There will be plenty of things that you do not yet understand, but trying to understand them is a good thing to do. You will often be wrong, but getting the right answer is less important than working on the problem. So my suggestion is to give yourself a reasonable length of time, like 30 seconds, to try to find the answer, Then you can look it up. Segoe, a top player 100 years ago, suggested an intermediate stage where you set up the problem on a board and try to solve the problem by playing out variations. You may want to try that.



What you have in these cases are called status problems. What is the status of a group, dead, ko, seki, or independently alive? You have been told the answer, but you don't see why. So set up the solution diagram on the board, and test out the answer. If a group is supposed to be dead, try to make it live. If you succeed, then probably there was a way to kill that you missed. Try to find those moves. If a group is supposed to be alive, try to kill it. Again, finding the answer is less important than playing over the variations. Important note: If you judge your efforts by whether you solve the problem or not, you will be punishing yourself instead of rewarding yourself for your work. Even if you don't solve a problem, you will learn from making the attempt. And once you have made the effort, looking at the answer can also be a learning experience. Your attempts will be fresh in your mind and you can compare them with the solution.

Bonne chance!

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

Thank you all!



I'll do that.
I think there is an SGF of it somewhere, or would you recommend using the book?



I thought I had... But, while I must have read the part on false eyes, I did not remember and was not able to solve them at first try!



Where can I find those (web or Android)?



Uhm... I give myself like, three minutes... to make a wrong move then...



I am really good at that...
Often, problems will say there will be a ko, and while I usually see it, the "dead" party lives nonetheless, e.g. escaping between the ko turns...



That's good advice.
I was trying to solve the problems (it's quite addictive, especially if there are a few with the same shape in a row), hoping to learn by that, and playing on after that to see why the group is dead, if the app allows so.
Do I get you right, that I should rather put the stones on my paper board and play both sides while trying to find the solution, and not let the app play the opposite party?

Thanks again!

I don't play against them, but if you go to a go server and ask around, you can probably find one. There are probably some that you can download and play against locally.




Unless you like doing that, IMO that is a waste of at least two minutes of time. When I was a kid trying to read magazines, I would ofter ask my mother what a word meant. That didn't keep me from learning English.



Either way can be valuable. Suit yourself.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

Always have a board in front of you.

A serious go player realizes that he may need to consider an idea at any moment, so he has one in every room, even the bathroom (that's what vinyl boards are made for).

_________________
Help make L19 more organized. Make an index: https://lifein19x19.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5207

Just don't play go while you are driving.

Some go servers to play online:
KGS: http://www.gokgs.com/ and download the client CGoban.
OGS: https://online-go.com/ No client program necessary, just play from your browser
IGS (Pandanet): https://pandanet-igs.com/communities/pandanet and download the client GoPanda2
Best to play on computer or laptop.

Some beginner exercises:

https://senseis.xmp.net/?BeginnerExercises

You get the solution AND the reason why they work, i.e. a general pattern (called "tesuji")

I've had a look at their websites (wasn't able to see KGS without Java, any hints??), but did not realize it was possible to play bots there.
How can I find them or whom should I ask their?
Do they have moderators??



Wow.



Cool!! Thank you.
I'm finding it very difficult navigating the sensei website.
There seems to be a ton of useful stuff on there, but hard to find...?

Thank you all!

You can even get toilet paper with tsumego problems printed on them.



Joaz is joshing, or he's really over the hill.

I haven't seen any tsumego toilet paper, but I have seen coasters with problems printed on them.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

Indeed, KGS or rather the KGS client program CGoban requires Java.
Should not be a problem, I hope?

At KGS, have look at the room list and select Computer Go. Most of the time, there are several bots online.
At IGS and OGS, just browse around and you'll find bots. The main room on IGS has many.
You need an account, probably, to use them. No need to contact admins/moderators.

I think the orginal comment was meant as a joke. No need to be impressed.

The former. Although the two are not mutually exclusive.

https://lifein19x19.com/viewtopic.php?f ... 44#p245244

_________________
Help make L19 more organized. Make an index: https://lifein19x19.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5207

@sybob:



Unfortunately it is:
I've spent some time looking this up, and the mighty web says that all browsers but IE11 have abandoned the Java plugin (as it is considered vulnerable).
Since I can't use IE (I'm on a Linux System, Ubuntu 16.04), I see no possibility of using KGS on their website.
Maybe I can set it up with a Go client (how?)?? (I do have qGo, did not understand CGoban)

I also tried GoGrinder, but I had to install Java (not the browser plugin), and I can't open GoGrinder.jar with the Java 8 or 9 environment.

I can play Pandanet/IGS and OGS (got slaughtered by amybot24k yesterday...), so this should suffice for starters.
But advice on KGS would be great!

Without installing anything, you can use shin.gokgs.com. It's not as good as the regular KGS client but usable.

You don't need to use the web-browser plugin, just download and execute the KGS .jar file (if you have java installed on your system)

It's available here : http://files.gokgs.com/javaBin/cgoban.jar

To install java (if not done yet) :

• sudo apt install default-jre

To execute the jar file :

• java -jar your/folder/cgoban.jar

@jlt:



Tryss suggestion does not work for me, so I tried yours and failed!

shin.gokgs asks for a login, which I don't have.
Upon "sign up", it directs to the KGS website.
But there is no option to sign in or up!

Any idea how one gets a KGS login (without having a go client that already connects to KGS)?

Thanks!!

You need to use the regular Java client to register. (Or get some friendly forum member to make one for you, I'm on phone atm).

You could play on OGS. It's all browser based and has lots of beginners. online-go.com

What failed exactly?