My First Go Lesson (as a complete beginner)

Thanks to Aakaash for this collaboration! Check him out:

0:00 Introduction
2:17 Game 1 (learning the rules)
45:50 Game 2 (more competitive)

Now accepting fan mail! My mailbox address:
Eric Rosen
4579 Laclede Ave #205
St. Louis, MO 63108

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[schere]

Chess: “oh my queen is hanging, I can resign.”
Go: “oh I made a mistake, and I find out 10 moves later that it actually was a mistake and after 30 moves I realise it lost me the game.”

[Aakaash]

Just for anybody who wasn't satisfied by my explanations... I started playing Go less than 2 months ago, so I am by no means a qualified teacher (my 18kyu rank should make that apparent 🙂)

[soymoder]

Eric: Are there gambits?
Aakaash: Yes!
Eric: 😏

[jasongent]

"Because if it's bad, I'll learn" is always the right attitude.

[Rubrickety]

But seriously, if you'd like a go lesson with a stronger go player (though not a streamer), I'd be happy to give you one. Some of Aakaash's advice was... suboptimal. :-) Actually your instincts are excellent for a beginner; your "panic" moves were all quite reasonable.

[MoreDenseThanRationals]

Holy shit, just as I was starting to get into GO, I hope you keep doing it.

[grmwatch]

Awesome! As a long time Go player who recently got back into chess with your videos, seeing this video makes me super happy! Welcome to the community! :)

[danielgourdeau]

Hey Eric! If you want to keep learning the game, I'm a 7 dan Go streamer, it would be a delight to show you more. I've introduced literally hundreds of beginner to the game!

[Rubrickety]

Also, your questions about scoring were perceptive, and actually get to the heart of the difference between Japanese and Chinese scoring. In Japanese scoring, your score is the number of *empty* intersections you surround, plus the number of enemy stones you've captured (including ones that are considered "dead as they stand" at the end of the game). In Chinese scoring, your score is the number of empty intersections *plus* the number of stones you have on the board, and captured stones don't count for anything.

This sounds radically different, but actually if you do the math, you'll realize that they're *almost* equivalent. Since you take turns, if there are no captures, you will have the same number of stones on the board at the end (+/- 1 depending on who played last). So adding a captured stone to your score (as in Japanese rules) is equivalent to subtracting it from your opponent's score (which is essentially what you're doing in Chinese scoring, since if it was captured it is no longer on the board, and so doesn't count as a point in Chinese scoring).

In practical terms, durin the game, it's simpler to forget about which scoring system you're using and always estimate the score as if it's Japanese scoring. Even Chinese players do this; it's simply quicker to count just the empty territory than to also count all the played stones (which can be quite a lot on a 19x19 board).

[samadhist]

One great thing about the game of Go is that you can handicap it and a GM can play a 7-year-old and it can still be a good game. The same thing isn't really true with chess handicapping.

[jonl]

Eric’s voice is so soft and gentle that it makes me feel on guard, like he might say something completely outrageous, but his voice will be so smooth that I will just believe everything and be satisfied.

[damiester]

I hope there's more to come. Seeing a professional chess player learn weiqi/go/baduk is probably the most interesting thing to watch on youtube.

[rj]

I just love the way you speak, so soft spoken. Its amazing and i would like to thank you for doing this video . I would love to see a series for go. Would like to learn along, i already know the basics i think but this is awesome

[esol]

I've been playing Go for almost 14 years now, and I love it. It's always a pleasure to see new players get introduced to the game.

[Wrfire]

Aakaash was really a helpful buddy, I like how he is really patient and trying to explain his ideas

[lucirex]

Love that go is getting some love. I'm addicted to go and always felt that it deserves more attention

[alexairheart]

Woah, I love go and I play it online! Im so glad your learning it!!!

[DuskEagle]

I'm more of a Go player than a chess player, but I really enjoy watching Eric play chess. So excited to see Eric try Go!

[trinyli]

Me watching Eric’s chess video is like me reading an ancient book that’s in a different language, this go video is like me looking at Eric struggling to read a children’s book while me yelling at him

[shinuito]

I checked out the stream as well. Watching you guys work on the puzzles was really interesting too. I'm about 7k over the board. It was really cool watching you both work out the difficult one in the 'Beginner puzzles' but also figure out things like false eyes in the Cho Chikun ones. Great stream though to both :)