I made some casual attempts to learn Go a few years ago, and I've got the first 3 volumes of "Learn to Play Go" by Janice Kim in near-perfect condition to show for it. Now I also have an Ipad and the SmartGo Books app with Cho Chikun's book "Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game". Most importantly, I have some time to devote to learning the game.

I'd like to begin by playing against my Ipad, before I try playing online, but I can't decide which app to purchase. Igowin HD and Smartgo Kifu both sound good. Is one better than the other for getting started, or is there another Ipad app to consider?

2 comments:
1/ Smartgo Kifu is the best app for go on the iPad. It is at the same time a tutorial, an AI to play games, a way to record games, a way to review and comment games (even from other sources through SGF file), a library of professional games and a database of go problems graded by level. Igowin is to play against the computer and potentially to review those games. If you need to make a choice and can afford both, I would recommend Smartgo Kifu even if Igowin HD has maybe a slight edge as far as playing against the computer is concerned.
2/ playing against a computer is not the best way to learn the game. It's fine for 9x9 but on greater board, it doesn't play like a human player. Besides you may learn bad habits by knowing how to exploit the weaknesses of the AI rather than playing against human players more variable in playing styles.

1.Smartgo Kifu + smartgo books - those are a must
2. Igowin HD or Champion Go - play against AI
3. Brugo joseki if you want offline reference
4. PandaTetsuki for online games
5. MagicBadukGo+Master of Go for additional problems solving

I have more go apps o ipad but i can recomend those above.

It is ok when you start. But you need to stop when you have enough playing power for AI engine exploits.
I think on iPad, IgowinHd is best for humanlike play.

I'm new to this forum and I'm really grateful and impressed with how quickly I received helpful responses. I just purchased SmartGo Kifu and I'll have time later today to begin exploring it's features.

I have a follow-up question. I also own an IPod Touch that's always with me when I'm out and about and on public transportation. I'm trying to cure myself of a serious addiction to KenKen and while I don't want to play Go on the small screen I'm wondering if there are Go problem solving apps that have beginner problems (different than the ones in SmartGo Kifu). I'm usually on the bus or train for 15 minutes so that should be enough time for one problem.

TIA

for the iphone/I touch there is the free app igowin life. It has a bunch of problems and uses a level system you work your way up on by solving them correctly.

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I'm thinking...

MagicBadukGo is with good beginner section and i think i this better than old Igowin Life

Best iPad app for learning and enjoying go is Mail. Use Mail to set up a meeting at a coffee shop with someone in your town who plays go.

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David Bogie, Boise ID
I play go, I ride a recumbent, of course I use Macintosh.

For studying games, downloading latest prof games, definitely the app needed should be Go Eye (http://e-intuit.hk/goeye).

Look below at my signature and you'll find tsumego/tesuji list of apps for ipad and iphone.

Additionaly I can recommend following apps
For playing real time online:
WBaduk
Tygem
PandaTetsuki

Correspondence games:
DGS
Boardz

Play a lot of online games against other players. Don't afraid of losing - it is important part of training. More you lose = better progress you'll make.
Good luck!

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Tsumego/Tesuji apps for iPad, iPhone & Android devices:http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=7511

Nice post, lobotommy. I would be grateful if you could add Go Eye in the list too Thanks.

The above was true before Go Eye (http://e-intuit.hk/goeye) was released

Definitely!

For games storage, editing, review, and all things you want to do while study go there are three apps that are absolutely top notch quality:

GoEye, SmartGo Kifu and EasyGo.

Every of these apps has it's own pros and cons. And there are more pros than cons in every case. And cons are very very tiny, almost impossible to see .
Each one has a great tools for annotations and reviewing games. But they all have some special features.

GoEye - great go4go online integration and easy access to other www sites (thousands and thousands of games). Live updates feature (works with kgs for example). It has nice tool for creating pdf files from your games and really amazing tool for simple creating sgfs out from images. You can edit and copy raw sgf.

SmartGo Kifu - great tools for pro games, fuseki and joseki study thanks to it's huge database of 73 000 of pro games and very fast pattern recognition engine. Tree view of sgf.

EasyGo - great for doing and creating problems, very good for importing huge number of games, easy way to export games to other apps or via iTunes share or mail. Tree view of sgf. Www browser integration is also very nice addition. Also you can edit and copy raw sgf.

So you can't go wrong with any of them - I use all of them on my daily basis.

I will probably make another thread with closer look at these apps, but for now I think this short info should be ok

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Tsumego/Tesuji apps for iPad, iPhone & Android devices:http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=7511

Don't be so needy. I doubt it works on sales prospects any better than it does when dating.

(This advice from a content Go Eye user)

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- Brady
Want to see videos of low-dan mistakes and what to learn from them? Brady's Blunders

Related to iPad apps, what's the experience on an iPad Mini? I held one in my hand is the shop, seems ok foe reading, too small for playing on a server.

Dudoso

I think you might be surprised. I play on wbaduk on a Nexus 7 all the time and love it.

I was also sceptical, but the nexus 7 turns out to be great for playing online.

What I really like about EasyGo is the user profiles—this way I can let the kids from the School Go Workshop play through the Tsumego w/o disturbing each other’s “highscore” (and mine just as well)

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“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali ★ Play a slooooow correspondence game with me on OGS?

Heck, people play go on their phones. The mini is a great tool for just about everything but you do need to get used to the small format for anything that requires detail. A stylus helps but it's a hassle to carry unless you use a case with an captive stylus.

However, I cannot use my wife's mini for more than a few minutes and I want my full-size iPad back.

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David Bogie, Boise ID
I play go, I ride a recumbent, of course I use Macintosh.