Beginner Go Series E2: Staying Connected/How to Practice

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Hello go players! The next episode in my beginner go series teaches you how to start thinking about getting serious about the game, and the quickest way to learn! It also teaches you about connectivity, one of the most important concepts in the game complete with a game review!

[@InSente]

If you enjoyed these tutorials, be sure to place a stone on that SUBSCRIBE button for more Go content - it helps you learn AND supports the channel! Thanks so much for your support!

[@diamondmeeple]

Playing 9x9 is a nice way to start... the full board look daunting. "Lose the first 100 games as fast as you can, but try to learn at least ONE thing from each game", what a nice approach!

[@bm8350]

There are so many different resources for getting better at chess, I'm sad with how hard it is to find quality content for beginning go players. Thanks for doing this! I love playing chess and I hope to learn go and get to a level I feel comfortable with.

[@phantomcruizer]

Brady McLean Check out "theduddha2" channel on KZbin.

[@FinetalPies]

I finally understand how that AI became the best Go player, they lost their first 100 games at supercomputer speeds

[@eac-ox2ly]

Lmao true

[@WideMouth]

I know this is a joke, but that’s literally what they did lmao

[@polandsilver3419]

That's how AI programs are developed. Biggest problem with making learning program is the way it misinterprets data. AlphaGo Zero (best one) played tens of millions of games. 4,9 milion in first 3 days, it's the same engine that played Shogi and Chess :)

[@CosmicNana1]

Kudos to your friend for his honesty and humility. I enjoyed this lesson and learned a lot!

[@skaffenamtiskaw]

thank you for making all this content. I finally found a place on youtube that I can spend some relaxing, meaningful, productive time instead of getting lost down rabbit holes. Great, wholesome, enjoyable, informative stuff you got here. Way to go!

[@andrewimanuel3580]

Never win any match before, just watched this and instantly win one. Nice video!

[@cloudydays6849]

This series has been the best intro to Go I've ever found!!

[@OysterPir8]

I wish there were a whole bunch more of these beginner go videos. You are an excellent teacher and this format is really helpful. Thank you for making them.

[@moss9310]

very comforting to know that it's fine to be frusterated and not know anything to start. good video

[@abnewgemchoice1699]

I just started a day ago and I literally don't understand anything but thanks to you I'm having confidence

[@pigonckra]

Your gonna Go far, much love for the teachings of a beautiful game!

[@norabellerose8560]

Finally, somebody who is actually making sense on explaining the game.

[@eac-ox2ly]

Damn, what a superb video. Never thought about the strength I'd get from simply reviewing my games. I'll start doing this asap.

[@nols426]

This was so helpful, thank you very much! I just now realized that one of my major mistakes is that I only always see and think about territory right away from the beginning.

[@teresaf1290]

Love this video! I learned a lot more from watching the actual game between 2 beginners, making the same mistakes I do and having your commentary explaining the better options.

[@JamesThompson-zu3bq]

I first started watching your videos a couple months ago and I wanted to come back to this video and say that your tip about reviewing your game every time you lose has been sooo helpful for me. Now when a game ends I'm always excited to go back and review to see what i did wrong and how I can improve. It's always just a great learning experience

[@davidlean1060]

Although I have known of the game for years and have been intrigued by it, I literally only began my Go journey yesterday. I have no interest in Chess, but something about the visual element of go intrigues me. I also love that go is particularly Asian and reflects, some argue anyway, how Asian cultures think in general. Anyway, the first issue you bring up is the thing that has been killing me so far. I have only been playing the beginner bot on OGC, but 3/4 the way through every game, I can see how the cpus patterns have so many connections on the board, whereas mine are all disjointed. I did at least manage to keep some territory in my last game and score some points..baby steps! Slow and steady wins the race and all that!!

[@RayLillywhite]

I watched this video and immediately won my next 10 games to go from 30kyu to 24kyu. I thought I needed to spread out my pieces for board control, but this showed me how much better a good balance of spread and connectedness is. So thank you for this video! One thing that's very popular and helpful from chess youtuber's is "speedruns". I don't know if any of the Go servers would allow that, but it's super helpful to see a stronger player work their way up through the ranks and explain the mistakes that lower rated players are making and how to take advantage.

[@princeloirenzadao675]

I won my first game !!!! Thanks for providing these videos

[@patrickbarks997]

Thanks for these videos, I like your disciplined and calm approach. I discovered this game since watching The Glory.

[@Pabloparsil]

I love this format (teaching beginners on real games)

[@ultima_thule3173]

Thanks. My mom and I are going to give it a go😂. You are a great teacher.

[@saadnhome3078]

Hello I'm from Iraq but this game is not famous for us but I loved it, although it is difficult to understand but I did not give up and played for about 3 months and became strong through the game Android name Go Quset

[@InSente]

Wow that's so great! It's so cool to meet new people through Go :)

[@saadnhome3078]

Do you play this application if you download it and wait for you on the server (22) only in the play list with a friend and please be ready

[@saadnhome3078]

Iam wait

[@tyomphia]

this is perfect. having a beginner like me to be taught and all my questions. wow

[@codymichaelsouthgate9705]

Fantastic video, super helpful, great format; working through a 9x9 game with a beginner is very helpful for other beginners to learn from. We get to see familiar mistakes and gameplay style, while also gaining coaching from the process, well done, I will be watching more. Blast from the past.

[@mavil64]

I was playing a game versus a 20kyu (I'm a complete beginner) and I was winning by a lot. I had more than half of the territory and I was ahead by 8 captures. All I did was stop being agressive and tried to connect my stones and give them many solid liberties. Sadly I lost because the timer started to tick and I panicked placing stupid stones left and right having them captured, but still your advice was unimaginably helpful!

[@bethanyleigh5936]

I'm from the Philippines and trying to learn Go. Thank you for these videos!

[@randomslytherin2432]

Making my way through this beginner series. I'm really excited to learn this go (passion fuelled because I'm currently reading Hikaru no Go) 💕 I hope to see more content from you, like strategies and how pros think during their games. Thank you for being so passionate about Go.

[@andrewhawkinson3410]

i watched the first lesson video a few weeks ago. before that i bought a 19x19 board. i might not ever be a good go player but something about playing the moves of other pros is fun. especially the "tak!" sound of the stones being placed on the board.

[@TWolf317]

This is just what I was looking for. I just learned the rules of the game and worked a few easy problems. But I needed to understand the kinds of things beginners should be considering in their first games. This helped a lot.

[@daviderwin1204]

This video was extremely helpful. Love the level of depth you focus on and how you hint at deeper concepts. Thanks!

[@aerodylluk2543]

I watched this and thought I had learned something. I then got smashed 6 times in a row by a very low level ai. I hate this game but I cannot stop playing.

[@479210251]

Love the bromance going on

[@patrickporter585]

Thanks man. Just the building blocks i needed to really understand the concepts of the game.

[@paulthoresen8241]

Hardest part for me is early game. I can see where everything is at the end, but by then I have nothing because I haven't set anything up, I just kind of keep going until something interesting/familiar happens

[@lazysnorlaxcooks9107]

This was so helpful, thank you very much! I just now realized that one of my major mistakes is that I only always see and think about territory right away from the beginning.

[@muskyoxes]

Seeing these years after you made them, i had the idea that it might be cool to start out in go by playing a strong AI but at a handicap, so that you're able to always see what good play looks like and can still track progress by shrinking the handicap. Playing against other beginners seems like it might reinforce bad play.

[@InSente]

Well, it could help, but I also think that could reinforce bad habits cause a beginner doesn't know WHY the AI is making those moves. A big part of getting better in Go is exploiting opponents mistakes, and playing other beginners is a great way to learn how to do that. Your play will be constantly evolving as you get stronger, so as long as you are open to changing and adapting as you rise through the ranks, you should avoid the trap of bad habits 😁

[@muskyoxes]

@@InSente That's cool, but i'd counter that my own mistakes would be plenty of fodder for watching mistakes get exploited

[@comicfan3133]

very interesting, KZbin recomended me the first video from this series, and I was interested. partly because I like all kind of strategy games and because my father once said, that we should try it out, but we didn´t come to it and we already played chess. now I have tried it out, and after like three games I wanted directly to watch the next video, but you said at the beginning that we should have about a week of experience, so I thought it´s better to improve myself a little bit. and so I did. that lead me to more knowledge because at the first two games I really had no plan other than attacking. the third game I realized that I let to many openings. I thought this video would help me, but I still played further and I developed "techniques" like staying connected and don´t get intimidated by the complex formations. and I think it´s much more valuable if you find it out on your own. And when I saw my prior mistakes debated here why they were bad, I partly knew the reason and it felt so satisfying. and still this video offered some new Insights. but the best part is I think how much you also value the experience from losing. I gained much more from them, then from my one game where I won. but it also boosts your moral when you see the first success from your failures. Now I think how often you oversee to learn from every experience. after this it was a lot of fun to try it, now it´s time for me to fail even more and enjoying the journey.

[@BramJam]

I just played my first game against a human and did surprisingly well! I credit this video with teaching me a few crucial things to think about when playing

[@zdem8259]

I really like expression that you used: metod in the madness, because that is exactly how I feel about Go right now... I think I learned something, but then, while trying to play, i find out I'm just confused... let's hope with practice it will get better....

[@abstractbybrian]

What makes me so frustrated is when I'm playing the computer (Igowin for the windows) - it seems like no matter how hard I try to play well the computer gets me in a position that no matter my move it's a bad move and I don't get what I'm doing wrong and I have no idea to how to fix it and it's extremely frustrating and I want to quit and give up. But I do want to learn to play and learn this game. I used to think chess was difficult...

[@x0xFaruqx0x]

You are very well spoken from what I've seen thus far, Niceuuu ! :) Liking the pace of your videos for beginners, Cheers !

[@sharingmatters]

Perfect walk-through! Thanks. Learning a lot from your videos.

[@geconucd]

Thanks guys. This was a really helpful lesson!

[@stuk8328]

All of these videos are helping me get started! Im winning almost all of my high kyu 9x9 matches. Going to try and break into bigger boards soon. Still having problems with making strong shapes, as I lose track of complicated shape liberties. But I think this will just come with time. Thanks again for taking the time to help beginners into this seriously complicated game!

[@InSente]

Thanks for the comment, it's great to hear that it helps players get into the game! Concerning your shape weakness, that will certainly come with time. Your shapes will evolve as your game evolves. But make sure to check out the next video in this series where I talk about creating strong shapes to get you started!

[@kingcobrav.s.cottonmouth5306]

I'm getting into this game.

[@josephschubert6561]

I got done watching this video and started a game on OGS. The opponent was black and played in the corner. I play in the center. Then the opponent plays in the opposite corner. He literally made the same mistake the video talked about XD. I calmly cut a line through his pieces because they were too far apart for him to connect fast enough, then managed to surround one group and then the next, and eventually, I managed to control every cell on the board. Yes, I'm bragging at this point. But it was my first win, so I'm allowed to. Thanks for the tips In Sente.

[@OzySpade]

Hi, don't know if you still active, great tutorials, watched them all, been playing for some time now and im at that point in 9x9 where I don't know where I made the mistake but lost, is there any program that can show you your mistakes or something or better moves, or how do you learn more

[@poisonpotato1]

Oskars Zāģeris google cosumi

[@tiarradavis4182]

i have been watching your videos and i really like them

[@editbalazs349]

Very nice Tutorial video! Congrats

[@rolirolster]

Have you got any videos where you're not talking with anyone, it's you talking to camera just going through tactics, like openings, mid-games, end-games and so on?

[@gamarad]

I wonder if we ever played on ogs. I've just started playing go and I've played a ton of low level 9x9 matches.

[@LaurentLaborde]

nice channel to learn go, count me in. subscribed. i never played yet. i decided to learn an hour ago :)

[@markg999]

Great video..won my first game after watching vs computer.

[@ReflectionOcean]

- Begin with a 9x9 board to grasp basic concepts - 0:52 - Start learning Go by engaging with excitement - 1:06 - Consider both territory and connection when strategizing - 4:43 - Prioritize staying connected to prevent piece capture - 5:00 - Choose moves that ensure connectivity and strength - 6:18 - Avoid playing multiple games without reflection to prevent frustration - 7:42 - Play often but also review each game to learn from mistakes - 9:46 - Focus on one lesson per game to incrementally improve - 10:17 - Analyze games right after playing to retain lessons - 11:31 - Learn to manage in-game pressure by staying calm - 22:09

[@aionmizu3846]

I learned the game today 7am I have a competition at 9am ty

[@Mst3kRowsdower]

I'm at the beginning phase of my Go journey. One of the hardest parts for me to grasp is knowing when the game is over. I'm looking at the above board and I still see lots of moves. Has black conceded everything or does he control the upper left corner of the board?

[@saadnhome3078]

I'm excited to play with you but I only play 9x9 size and I'm used to it

[@Renigade68]

I'm definitely guilty of overly aggressive plays like the kind the guy was making in this video that kept getting his pieces captured, going for those diagonal hanging connections instead of actual connections, thankfully it's easy to reset the game the minute I realize it's a lost cause (and I've come to learn that on 9X9 if you let a single one of your stones get captured without anything to show for it, it probably already is) playing several games against a basic AI helped me learn when I had to focus on connecting and when the aggression is warranted (cuz of Komi I feel aggression is mandatory when playing black on 9X9, and so far I've only practiced black, should try white soon)

[@DustyQatun]

Thanks between you and my discord friend Im doing pretty well on my 9x9's now

[@jacklucy8745]

Again, You are wonderufl keep doing this

[@odetteh.]

Hello what do you recommend to a first time player on downloading a game where I can play one on one in order to learn?

[@Notester82]

As far as I know, OGS (online-go.com) is a very good site for playing against others but I'm sure there's programs that exist for playing against a computer, I just haven't searched around at them yet.

[@sanjeetplus]

why is the letter 'I' is not there on the board?

[@galekoewing7001]

It IS used on a 19x19, but I think on this little 9x9 the "I" and "1" could easily confused by a beginning player, esp. during notation of an I1 move...

[@jongilchrist7229]

This guy's great. Good teacher!

[@vertusrexreus2014]

On point teaching.. im amazed

[@DirtyZiggy]

I just beat AlphaGo on my first day playing, its not even hard.

[@adityavipradas3252]

These videos are really good. Thank you :)

[@Fummy007]

Good stuff. I was making this mistake too.

[@SoloRenegade]

first video I ever found that Actually explains what is going on! Typical "beginner" content leaves me so confused what is going on or how the game works, or what it was I was supposed to be doing besides just randomly placing pieces and not knowing why. I still don't understand scoring though. are occupied spaces not counted?

[@InSente]

Thank you for the comment! In Japanese rules for scoring (which most players use), only the points inside the territories are counted, the stones themselves are not included. However, captured stones are worth one point each and are added in at the end. I explain this in later episodes in the series as well, if you need more info :)

[@abstractbybrian]

btw, what software are you using for the GO game itself?

[@AK-qm8uw]

Hello . I want to ask something . I am having trouble defining my territory . For example at 26:56 the left side of white stones (bottom)are connected but the right side doesn't seem connected ( F3 G2 H1) yet the white was able to capture the black stones . Can you please explain why

[@InSente]

Ah I see. So, it is true that they weren't connected, but stones don't have to be connected to capture your opponent, they all just need to have liberties. So, in the capture, none of the black stones had any liberties left, but all the white stones did, so teh black stones were captured. The reason you want to stay connected is that when stones share liberties they are stronger and herder to kill than when they are separated.

[@AK-qm8uw]

In Sente Thankyou . In sente , how many games did you lose before winning any?

[@InSente]

hahaha there's a proverb for beginners that says "Lose your first 50 games as fast as you can". It takes a while for your brain to understand the basics of the game. You'll get there!

[@JohnWaltz]

Hello! I was wondering, I see you started your friend out on 9x9 boards. I tried playing 9x9 but I find it much much more difficult than a full 19x19 board. I like to blame this on the fact that I can't seem to figure out how to start a game of go. My early game/ Start is horrible. I can grasp mid to late game though. So I guess what I'm asking is: Do you recommend starting on 9x9 or 19x19, and why? Thanks! Also: at 23:45 White plays at E8, Wouldn't it have been better to play at d9 to make an eye, instead of closing it?

[@InSente]

+John Nothaft haha it's funny you say that! so when I started, I actually started at 19 by 19 as well. It was incredibly frustrating (this was back in high school when I had no go resources at all). Eventually I figured it out, but dropped the game and didnt pick it up again till last summer. My impression on that is....I think in 9 by 9 you learn REALLY valuable lessons about fighting, shapes, and corner life and death. Spending a good month playing 9 by 9 consistently I think can be really helpful. You may feel like it's easier doing 19 by 19, but that's because the board is so big, you aren't forced to confront your fighting weaknesses right away haha. But I think honing them on 9 by 9 is a good idea, because you'll be much better at reading and fighting on a 19 by 19 board, and you can focus on positional judgement and which areas are more important. And yes, D9 is a better move (but both are slow moves in the context of the game, nethier side should have played there) ;)

[@JohnWaltz]

+In Sente awesome! I'll try to get in some 9x9 training then! It's really nice being able to get this feedback from you! It was also great watching you stream tonight! Ended up having to get off randomly during the match with ru. But it was really helpful seeing you say your thought process as you played!! Thanks again! And if you don't mind me saying. You might consider doing a video on eyes and life for your beginners!

[@InSente]

+John Nothaft Great, best of luck! And thanks, I'm really glad beginners are enjoying my go! And oh yeah, corner life and death will for sure be something I cover. I'm currently trying to figure out which subject should come first XD

[@JohnWaltz]

Cool, I look forward to it! Another thing (hopefully you don't mind) you might consider doing a short, 10-15 minute video explaining the most commonly used vocab for the game: IE Hane, Tenuki, Aji, Sente, Gotei, etc. With examples of what they are. Cause I know when i started out i was constantly searching "$Vocabword sensei's library" in google. I'm not sure how many other people would find it useful. But still something to consider cause it typically gets over looked alot. Thanks!

[@LarsRyeJeppesen]

Fantastic video

[@gamblemountain9621]

These videos are helping me tremendously bring this game out of the abstract. Out of curiosity, does your friend still play? If so, is he a much stronger player now? Thank you for these amazing videos.

[@richardmills5326]

what I'm so confused about go is how do I start everyone sat to start in the corner but then all you control is the corner and what I want to do is directly attack every piece and also I see in the pro games they just put dots on the board but I don't know why

[@InSente]

hahaha don't even look at pro games untill you are a single digit kyu. Just focus on fighting an good shapes. And it depends, so in 9x9 playing in the center of the board rather than the corners is okay. but in 19x19 generally players like to establish strong bases for their stones to prepare for middle-game fighting. You can ask me any questions at [e-mail]

[@richardmills5326]

In Sente got it thanks

[@matthewarney1068]

I don't have any internet but im going to start walking to the public coffee house in my town to play online

[@cetalinhacetalona7069]

Nice 👍

[@AlinariPn]

18.11 why is white disconnected? In kther video you said that diognal stones are also connected?

[@tescomealdeals]

diagonal stones are connected in the sense that you can use diagonals to contain territory without needing to fill the corners. however, stones connected diagonally don't share liberties, so when people talk about staying connected they are talking about not giving your opponent opportunities to capture parts of a group. hope that made sense

[@vivilavita5950]

awesome tutorial 👏

[@dannychen1768]

Hi In Sente. This is definitely a very helpful video. What software is are you using in this video?

[@mariankushigbor9605]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who sucks so bad

[@abstractbybrian]

@18:08 you say that white is disconnected, isn't black as well?

[@adamgrant6433]

"metaphors are everything" damn

[@sebastianbejarano1124]

Is there a Go program or website where you could review your games?

[@ink7761]

What software do you use? It looks great!

[@InSente]

Hey, thanks! Believe it or not, I just used OBS to screen capture, and used onlinego.com to play out the game! With some getting used to, obs can be a really great teaching tool!

[@griffithsnellman1405]

The friend is fine

[@Hyrtsi]

Thanks still very useful

[@BudoKai]

What happened to the letter 'I' on the board? Is that GO or is that a NO GO?

[@andrewhawkinson3410]

i have a game record of a game i played i'd like to have looked at. who can assist?

[@OysterPir8]

Are you still adding to this series? I hope so

[@skalderman]

OysterPir8 how many stones are in 9x9 go set?

[@OysterPir8]

@@skalderman Not sure... enough? 9x9=81 Maybe 100 or so?

[@skalderman]

OysterPir8 so one player has 1 more stone if you say so

[@ShamefulDispleey]

This ain’t no sunshine and rainbow. It will knock you out. Thanks for the advice! I finally got my revenge against the AI.

[@dokerbohm9209]

fun there is no fun in this game only frustration and pain

[@VerSalieri]

Do you know of any ipad or android go apps? One without adverts if possible, and maybe one with the ability to play online with otherplayers... I used to play on PC using the many faces of go, but I can’t find a simple utilitarian go app. I hate “shiny” apps, ones that focus on “look” rather than content.

[@kidherder]

I liked the first two in this series but this isn't very How To. It's more like a discussion about Go. Especially for only the 3rd in a Beginner Go Series. “I technically know what I’m allowed to do, but I have no clue what I should do”. -Frank from Alpha Go

[@jamesbarnes1496]

How does anyone down vote this.

[@heyhonpuds]

They click the thumbs down button

[@cetalinhacetalona7069]

@@heyhonpuds True.

[@realtimeinc2159]

OK I'm not even playing I'm looking first at some videos and can feel already that my first 100 games are going to be hmmmm lol

[@marcelgagnon5748]

Merci pour les sous-titres

[@michaelstoneman8893]

im struggling to under stand how a game ends

[@suminqiusu5347]

Michael Stoneman

[@suminqiusu5347]

😜😜😜

[@MrKemKemal]

Game ends when one player passes, and the other passes as well

[@36gamers]

Thought this said "staying confused" lmao

[@peterwarren6418]

I feel like I am falling off! Aaa😮

[@dgnash]

yeah yeah yeah. GET ON WITH IT