Playing Go on the 9x9

Playing Go on the 9x9
An example game for beginning Go players
Go is a board game that originated in ancient China and has fascinated us for thousands of years.
I will continue with some more beginner level videos to help people get started enjoying this game. If you live in Asia you might have a Go club within walking distance, but otherwise you might want to play on the net. The following page has a list of Go servers:
www.usgo.org/g...
Support my channel at
Patreon
/ michaelredmond
Beginner Lessons (playlist)
• Beginner lessons
Previous video in this set:
How to Play Go
• How to play the board ...
Subscribe for easy access to more Go videos and the upcoming beginner playlist!
/ @michaelredmondsgotv
Learn to play Go
• How to play the board ...
suggested video:
The Direct 3-3 Invasion Keep it Simple!
• The Direct 3-3 Invasio...
playlists:
View Master Games
• View Master Games
Michael Redmond stories
• Noni's stories ノニーの部屋
Go problems
• Go puzzles
Sign up to my Twitter channel!
/ redmondgopro

[@JungleLibrary]

You mentioned that stronger players might agree to end the game - is it possible for either player to invade at that point? In some of my 9x9 games, even when I have a seemingly strong wall, it seems my opponents are able to reduce my territory through an invasion, though that might be because of my imperfect response. As a beginner breaking into go, I really appreciate these videos! I'm looking forward to further installments. Thank you

[@MichaelRedmondsGoTV]

Yes, areas can be invaded until the players agree that the game is over. The part from about 14:25 is an example of Black attempting to do that. Video 4 of the series (coming 1/6) will show some examples of capturing stones, which might help you defend your areas in some cases. There will be more weekly videos with related themes coming up.

[@leiakon9688]

I've got the same problem. I'm a newbie and every time I pray that my opponent is merciful and passes because I never seem to be able to defend my territories if it's invaded. I've lost too many games I had actually already won because my opponent invaded my already-surrounded territory. (T_T)

[@yesnotesinfo]

I really like this sober and humble Personality of Michael Redmond. This is more advertisement for Go than someone who would brag. Overall I observed that Go-players seem to have a pleasant character.

[@themonstergroups]

Very rare to see no dislikes on a video, but I can see why. Thanks for the video, man.

[@gabri9728]

I’m an upper intermediate chess player, who just recently discover the game of Go and been absolutely in love with the game since then. As chess, it presents countless variations and possibilities combined with a refined strategical and tactical theme. I’m still a total beginner so i’m sure that, as i improve in my journey, as it was for chess, i will discover the true deepness and potential of Go. That said,i’m thrilled to learn the game from a well recognised master as yourself. Thanks for your time.

[@MeTuFy25]

that is the same for me, since i love board games and i am an advanced chess player for many years i thought it would be a good idea to try go

[@suntzu6122]

You are really gifted at teaching Michael. Good pacing, very thorough. Easy to understand and learn.

[@justin9202]

Great video on 9x9 boards. Go Seigen liked to play a lot of 9x9 when he was playing kitani minoru in private

[@MarjorieGalangco]

I've watched so many Go tutorials to start learning and now your tuts are the only ones I watch. Thank you! Please keep em coming. 😊

[@DankstaTV]

Knife fights in phone booths!

[@bspokehub]

Excellent guide. Your video was recommended by Google Bard and am glad that I got introduced to this game via this video. You made it so easy to understand and thanks for extra efforts on explaining it visually.

[@vdinh143]

I really appreciate this series of videos, Redmond-sensei! I've been interested in Go for a long time and i found your commentary during the AlphaGo games to be particularly understandable and enjoyable. I'm glad to have that level of communication for my level of play!

[@mbiraside]

Thankyou Michael. You continue to put out great content for us beginners. Much appreciated.

[@seop1721]

Go is such a beautiful game. Thank you for this series, Michael. And the fact you became a top pro as a Westerner (as far as I’m aware) is amazing. Can you suggest other videos or a few books that would usefully follow your series in order to improve in Go? Currently, I’m reading Cho Chikun’s introduction and plan to do the Graded Go Problems for Beginners. Thank you!

[@shantanuacharya5652]

i like how this lesson prioritizes simplicity over perfect play

[@MrJaccTrippa]

God bless you for this Michael. I’m struggling

[@drmntpibb]

Excellent quality. Wish me luck sharing this with friends to try to indoctrinate more go players

[@LoveTonsure]

5:20 "Here this black stone is not going to survive; it's already dead." From this situation, black C6, white B6, black C7, white C8, black B7. white B8, black A7, white A6, black A8, and finally white A9. The audience of this video will learn such cases later.

[@snowwarden3711]

Why? can white not just ladder into the corner instead?

[@Crono9987]

haha i'm a 5D and i still don't understand 9x9 to be honest. great for learning how to fight and read but then after you get past that i find i have like no strategy at all while i'm playing on this board size...

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

Wow

[@Pawn2e4]

This is a useful video for an utter noob, thanks

[@jacklyfgardon9254]

Thank you for this content it is really useful

[@abexuro]

14:30 when I see this shape, my first instinct is to ladder black... Which after more thinking obviously is a horrible idea. 😅

[@johnybalohny]

Glad you mentioned that, because I thought the same, and just figured there was multuple correct ways to win those stones.

[@thedingodile5699]

Thanks! Very insightful :)

[@ChildOfDarkness85]

Michael would you consider playing a Game against Dwyrin?

[@seanromoser598]

Big fan. More please :)

[@atomant8135]

Much appreciated.

[@johnybalohny]

Hehe my current first games don't look like this. We fill the entire board because we place pieces in each other's territories, and don't know how to punish each other.

[@erichotts4685]

Mr. Redmond I remember hearing a quote you supposedly said. I was hoping that you could confirm if you said something like this at some point. "Players should play go on a 9x9 board until they are 1k" is there any truth to this?

[@MichaelRedmondsGoTV]

I don't recall having said that, and I would not agree with that statement. There is no particular rank that is optimal for changing the board size. Starting to learn with a 9x9 board is a great way to play relatively quick games, getting opportunities to pick up something new with each game. 9x9 boards are very good for learning basic tactics such as capturing and saving stones and creating connected shapes. For beginners, just finding the stone that is in danger can be challenging, so the smaller boards can make that easier. Larger boards introduce positional judgement on a larger scale that I believe will make the game more fun for most people, so I suggest trying the larger boards fairly early on, with the knowledge that you can always go back to 9x9 if you think that works best for you.

[@nexxogen]

Hello! I'm a total beginner, but I'm around 1700 at chess and 1-kyu at shogi. I was wondering at 8:47, why is it important for black to play F8 at this point? If black plays E9 instead, then I don't see white's F8 working after that, because black G8, white F9 and black G9. What am I missing?

[@MichaelRedmondsGoTV]

You were correct, and after Black E9, White D9, Black F8 would have followed. I chose to show the more generally correct connection at F8 in this video.

[@user-sz3vn9lm7u]

at 8:59, why doesnt black play D9? If white goes E9, black can simply capture. Doesnt going F8 just give white a free space?

[@MichaelRedmondsGoTV]

If Black had played at D9 instead of F8 then White would have cut at F8.

[@Vonsen]

Komi is still 6.5 points on a 9x9 board? I would have thought it would be proportionally less than on 19x19.

[@leeschumacher8285]

But the advantage of moving first is proportionally bigger. I don’t know if the strong AIs have an opinion on this though. The consensus on 19x19 seems to be that 6.5 slightly favors black and 7.5 slightly favors white.

[@piershanson1784]

I hypothesize that for every sufficiently large square Go board, the perfect komi is 7.

[@garymcivor7696]

i believe ive seen 5.5 commonly, but yeah its still tough which is why it turns it such a bloodbath. or that may just be me

[@AntheInEcht]

it s 5.5 on japanese rules and it slightly favours black according to ai s

[@davedevosbaarle]

@@leeschumacher8285 KataGo AI thinks that 6.5 slightly favours white.

[@suntzu6122]

Which ruleset for scoring do you use or prefer?

[@MichaelRedmondsGoTV]

Personally, I am familiar enough with Chinese, Ing, and Japanese rules, it is the same game, and I think of them as variations of the same ancient set of rules with different unit sizes for counting and a different strategy to resolve special situations and abbreviate the counting process, which I believe was cumbersome in the ancient ruleset.