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Is there any way to do a more long-term, play-by-email style game of Go via IGS? My android app (Elygo) only works through IGS and it seems like most of the games there are live.
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Nov 12, 2013 23:51
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 23:38 |
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If you're looking to play correspondence games, you should play on Nova instead. They recently merged with OGS and have a much better playerbase, as well as the most modern software of any Go server. There's also an SA group on Nova, so you can join that and hit other people up for games.
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Nov 13, 2013 00:33
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Hi all, I just recently started playing and I dwell in Apple-device-land, so I wrote up a post about what I've used app-wise to learn to play on OS X and iOS. It was positively received elsewhere on the internet, so I figured I'd post it here http://amiantos.net/post/66890357669/learning-to-play-go-on-ios-and-os-x It mentions the Dragon Go Server client for iOS made by a fellow goon (I saw it recommended in this thread), which is my preferred way to play asynchronous/long-term Go games vs remote iOS users. I'm going to do a similar followup for "Improving your Go play" mentioning free apps/utilities/videos/websites for learning more in-depth play after you get going.
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Nov 18, 2013 07:39
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So, I just found a go ranking test: http://play.baduk.org/ It told me I am supposed to be 3-kyu European. Looks like I am critically under ranked on KGS. 
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Nov 18, 2013 15:31
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tonberrytoby posted:So, I just found a go ranking test: http://play.baduk.org/ That was pretty accurate for me, last time I was ranked on KGS I was 9 kyu, and it put me at 11 kyu. I don't know how well the ranks translate, but that still seems like it's in the right ballpark.
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Nov 18, 2013 17:51
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Apogee15 posted:That was pretty accurate for me, last time I was ranked on KGS I was 9 kyu, and it put me at 11 kyu. I don't know how well the ranks translate, but that still seems like it's in the right ballpark.
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Nov 18, 2013 18:41
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It said I was a European 10k. I think that'd be about right if whenever I played Go, I was magically presented with only 5 options on what to do next.
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Nov 18, 2013 19:16
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I seem to remember there was a set of answers/explanations for those questions... anyone know where to find them?
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Nov 18, 2013 20:15
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Has anyone tried Go variants, like the Tibetan version? There are a bunch on these pages: http://senseis.xmp.net/?Variants http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_variants#cite_ref-11 They all look terrible. The only one with the potential to add something interesting is Omino Go, where you place up to four (touching) stones each turn. Seems like that would add more more importance to shaping and visualization to the game, and add another element where humans would have a better time of it than computers. Another one that I'd like to see is "Continuum Go". No lines or intersections.  It would only work on a computer, though.
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Nov 18, 2013 23:19
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Berlekamp has some "fun" variants. Those are mainly used for analyzing go or partisan games in general. The simples is coupon go, where a player can instead of moving on the board draw a coupon tat gives him a set number of points. But he also has a lot of rules for playing several different games at the same time, for example coupon go and domineering: http://math.berkeley.edu/~berlek/papers/econview.pdf Practically he uses small boards and given starting positions for his go boards, Here is a starting position with some simple math for where a smart player should make the first move: 
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Nov 19, 2013 00:06
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Wouldn't call them true 'variants' but we used to trade turns as black and white playing the Shape Game using Teaching or Demo boards in the SA room and I thought it was a pretty fun exercise. Rengo/Pair Go is also a blast and supported on KGS. I personally enjoy each team having an SDK-ish level player paired with a much weaker player to ruin everything.
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Nov 19, 2013 18:41
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WuChou posted:Wouldn't call them true 'variants' but we used to trade turns as black and white playing the Shape Game using Teaching or Demo boards in the SA room and I thought it was a pretty fun exercise. Rengo/Pair Go is also a blast and supported on KGS. I personally enjoy each team having an SDK-ish level player paired with a much weaker player to ruin everything. I watched a cool rengo game with Breakfast and a SDK against two 2-3 dan players. There were some pretty neat tricks getting pulled like playing forcing moves whenever it was gonna be Breakfast's turn to play so that he couldn't influence strategy as strongly.
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Nov 20, 2013 20:54
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Are go AIs good enough yet that they are helpful for top players? In chess a human-computer team is significantly better than a computer or human alone.
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Nov 21, 2013 17:58
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pointsofdata posted:Are go AIs good enough yet that they are helpful for top players? In chess a human-computer team is significantly better than a computer or human alone. The best AIs are currently on the level of strong Amateurs or weak Professionals. But top level Amateurs or average Pros can still beat the top level go-programs. Those Programs are also computationally intensive. Most Go-Programs on Android are based on Gnugo and can be beaten by a player with a few month of experience.
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Nov 21, 2013 18:24
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thanks for the other version of this thread too. it helped a lot when i prepared for go club on campus
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Nov 21, 2013 19:25
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pointsofdata posted:Are go AIs good enough yet that they are helpful for top players? In chess a human-computer team is significantly better than a computer or human alone. Not yet, but the whole idea that computers suck at go is basically over. There are bots on KGS that run on ordinary [high-end] computers that carry a 5d rank. Run on a supercomputer, you can get stronger still - in a 9x9 environment, especially, a supercomputer is a credible opponent even for professionals. 5d is strong, but not strong enough to be anywhere near the professional realm. If you send your kid to go school like they do in korea and whatever and they like it, they might be 5d before becoming a teenager. Still, the advance of computers in go has been steady and stronger than mine. 
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Nov 21, 2013 22:49
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Anyone know of where you could find a board and stones in Los Angeles/Orange County? I went to a pretty extensive board game store in Brea called Dice House and was excited to see a worn board and set of stones on a shelf but they weren't for sale, though they were covered in dust and cobwebs. We sat down and played a game with it. I figure going to little Tokyo or koreatown might be a good bet, but I'm figuring at that point I might as well just order something online because the prices in a store might be a bit absurd?
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Dec 1, 2013 01:42
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I'd say you'd have better luck buying online. Maybe look at Yunzi or Ing stones which wont be too expensive, but are still nice to play with on a decent wooden board. I have a set of Ing stones, I think they cost me about $40. I've had them for about 6 years, and they've served me well. If you really want to go big though, the slate and shell stone sets are awesome. But also quite expensive. I'd get the Japanese type stones that don't have a flat bottom, they are more popular. Make sure you get the right size of stone for your board, otherwise they either wont fit on the board or they'll be tiny and wont look continuous.
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Dec 1, 2013 04:29
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amiantos posted:Anyone know of where you could find a board and stones in Los Angeles/Orange County? Yellow Mountain Imports, where most people seem to recommend buying online, is housed in LA. Their website says that you can order online and select "local pickup." I got my goban and yunzi stones there and am very satisfied.
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Dec 1, 2013 04:56
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RoboBlaster posted:Yellow Mountain Imports, where most people seem to recommend buying online, is housed in LA. Their website says that you can order online and select "local pickup." I got my goban and yunzi stones there and am very satisfied. Ah! I would never have noticed that on my own. Thank you. They had 15% off over the weekend as well.
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Dec 3, 2013 10:07
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I'm thinking of buying this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0008EJXEW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1OSFFZX3JZB4Z I don't know what good having a board will do me, but I've never touched a go-stone in my life so I think it'll be pretty neat.
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Dec 8, 2013 22:01
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Kheldragar posted:I'm thinking of buying this: As the person who recommended that board, I support your purchase and affirm your opinion.
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Dec 8, 2013 22:16
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Seems awful small... about a quarter the size of an actual board? If only it was full sized, it'd be pretty cool.
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Dec 9, 2013 06:40
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Under 15 posted:Seems awful small... about a quarter the size of an actual board? If only it was full sized, it'd be pretty cool. Good thing I was lazy and didn't order it yet. Holy poo poo. 
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Dec 9, 2013 08:53
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http://www.ymimports.com/p-2211-beechwood-58-go-reversible-board-wood-bowls-melamine-stones.aspx#.UqV6OOL8J8E This looks better.
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Dec 9, 2013 09:59
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Kheldragar posted:http://www.ymimports.com/p-2211-beechwood-58-go-reversible-board-wood-bowls-melamine-stones.aspx#.UqV6OOL8J8E A basket/bowl is way better than a drawer too. Also, I can't imagine the hollowness of the board leaves the same solid feeling you get when you place a stone on a good wooden board. I have one similar to the one linked here, it's pretty good. Only difference is mine is lighter colored wood, and has 13x13 on the other side, with stones and 2 baskets purchased separately. Never tried those melamine stones though, so no idea how decent they are. I noticed they are single convex though, which I have to say i'm not a fan of. Something like this http://www.amazon.com/Bamboo-Revers...ywords=go+board With stones and bowls purchased separately might be nicer. But I guess it'd be more expensive too. I have baskets like these
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Dec 9, 2013 11:27
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Kheldragar posted:http://www.ymimports.com/p-2211-beechwood-58-go-reversible-board-wood-bowls-melamine-stones.aspx#.UqV6OOL8J8E This board is legit, but I don't have any experience with melamine either. When it comes to stones, though, I'm a loving philistine - I think plain old PVC stones are the jam. I own yunzi stones and I don't like them at all, they feel weird and no amount of oiling will make them tolerable.
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Dec 9, 2013 11:45
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I keep trying to learn Go, then promptly forget about it when I get other stuff to do. Guess it's time to try again! I've requested to join the OGS group as eHobo.
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Dec 9, 2013 12:15
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Thou art accepted
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Dec 9, 2013 13:45
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I ordered https://www.ymimports.com/p-2414-beechwood-58-go-reversible-board-double-convex-stones.aspx because I couldn't stand the thought of only having single convex stones. The bowls aren't as nice, but whatever.
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Dec 10, 2013 00:50
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Kheldragar posted:Good thing I was lazy and didn't order it yet. Holy poo poo. My company has one of the boards and its tiny. The stones are like skittle sized and you always drop them and it shoots stones off the board and is generally terrible.
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Dec 10, 2013 02:52
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Uncle Jam posted:My company has one of the boards and its tiny. The stones are like skittle sized and you always drop them and it shoots stones off the board and is generally terrible. The only regret I have regarding my physical board and stones (which are very nice) is how little use they get. In the ten years that I have owned them I have managed to convince a grand total of two people to sit down for a game with me. Online go is free and has people to play against; so, I see the purchase of a set as entirely option at this point.
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Dec 10, 2013 03:11
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Kheldragar posted:I ordered https://www.ymimports.com/p-2414-beechwood-58-go-reversible-board-double-convex-stones.aspx because I couldn't stand the thought of only having single convex stones. The bowls aren't as nice, but whatever. I was going to tell you that you could pick up some nice straw bowls for like $10 like I did(my stones came in a container very similar to the one you got). But I looked around, and could not find anywhere that sold straw bowls separately, only with stones. So... *shrug* The straw bowls really gives it a nice aesthetic feel though. zhuangcg posted:The only regret I have regarding my physical board and stones (which are very nice) is how little use they get. In the ten years that I have owned them I have managed to convince a grand total of two people to sit down for a game with me. Online go is free and has people to play against; so, I see the purchase of a set as entirely option at this point. I don't get to play in person very often either(there is a go club nearby, but 'eh), but I still much prefer playing in person. I started out with a small really cheap $15 dollar set, and I found the experience to be so much better with a decent set that wasn't super tiny. It's like the difference between playing chess on a small crappy travel magnet set and a big nice wooden board with marble pieces. It doesn't change the actual game, but it's so much nicer to play with.
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Dec 10, 2013 08:05
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Now I can force the people who live in my house to play this game with me even though they've never heard of it in their life! Seriously, though, I wish it had a better name than just "go". "Hey, you wanna play go with me?" "Oh, you mean like go fish?"
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Dec 10, 2013 13:16
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Kheldragar posted:I ordered https://www.ymimports.com/p-2414-beechwood-58-go-reversible-board-double-convex-stones.aspx because I couldn't stand the thought of only having single convex stones. The bowls aren't as nice, but whatever. My only gripe with this is I find the wood to be too dark. If you play in a place with poor lighting (such as perhaps a drinking establishment) you find yourself missing ataris sometimes, and so on.
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Dec 10, 2013 14:27
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Yeah, it was mainly about the cost; the next best boards that were your standard yellow/golden colour were $80-$120, so I didn't feel it was too worth it when I'm just owning a board to maybe play with some people who aren't even 30K and to play alongside internet games.
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Dec 10, 2013 14:30
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 /216
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Dec 10, 2013 14:48
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Kheldragar posted:Now I can force the people who live in my house to play this game with me even though they've never heard of it in their life! Seriously, though, I wish it had a better name than just "go". You can use the chinese name, "weiqi", instead of the japanese name.
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Dec 10, 2013 15:06
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Kheldragar posted:Now I can force the people who live in my house to play this game with me even though they've never heard of it in their life! Seriously, though, I wish it had a better name than just "go". Whoever named it Go was not thinking about Search Engine Optimization. Might as well name your new product "Or"
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Dec 10, 2013 22:02
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 23:38 |
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zhuangcg posted:You can use the chinese name, "weiqi", instead of the japanese name. Or the Korean name, baduk.
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Dec 11, 2013 01:01
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