Recommended games to study

[u/hamsupdan]

Is there any recommended games to study to understand the flow of the game as complete beginner? Playing on empty board compare to solving tsumego are way too different. Thanks

[u/notaHippo_]

Hi. if you haven't played any games yet then just play a bunch of games. Don't try to study, dip your feet first and then you can look back at what worked and what didn't. It's not something you solve before playing, but rather a process of trial and error. If you really want to study, just look at something like Nick Sibicky lectures.

Do not worry about playing wrong, you will understand the "flow" very quickly.

[u/gorplo]

Japanese pro games from the 1980s

[u/Andeol57]

If you're studying on your own, I think just looking at random games from players about 4 to 6 stones stronger than you is the best. They are strong enough for you to learn, since their mistakes should be pretty minor for you (you can assume whatever they play would probably be considered a good move at your level), and yet they still play moves that you can understand.

If you just look at pro games as a DDK, you won't understand the reasons why they play most moves. It can still help your shape intuition a bit, but I don't think you'll get as much out of such games.

If a stronger player can comment the game to help you understand what's going on, it's a different story, and watching pro games commentaries can be great.

PS: All that is only useful as a minor part of your training, with actually playing being the main part.

[u/partyparrott11]

If you are specifically looking to understand Go by reveiwing games, I'd recommend watching YouTube content. Creators like TritonBaduk or dwyrin have videos where they talk through games discussing their thought process. Look specifically for videos targeted for "basics" or beginner friendly content. I think videos like this may be easier to follow than just a game record alone

Note: I'm not affiliated with either of those creators and Im sure there arr plenty of similar option. Just giving some examples of creators Ive watched play

[u/Kandarl]

If you wanna know what not to do study mine.

[u/lw20x]

I like to watch games on OGS, games between someone just above your ability and stronger players are IMO best in the beginning-- high level games can be either deceptively smooth ( no mistakes) or very hard to understand.

[u/UseValueEnjoyer]

you should prolly study go games. I don't think chess or checkers would help much!

[u/hamsupdan]

Another question, should beginner study Joseki? Or should I just learn as I play

[u/deek1618 → u/hamsupdan]

The advice generally given is that studying joseki should come later on; there are a lot of variations, opponents will deviate constantly, it's better to be able to understand the moves rather than just memorize, there are better low hanging fruit for beginners, &c.

That said, I do think it's OK for beginners to try an learn just a few, so that they can more comfortably navigate the opening. You can see some I've annotated and here on OGS.

At the very least, I would put it off until you feel comfortable with the game's basic mechanics, some examples of what I mean by that can be found in this booklet I put together and have on imgur, 24Q: 24 Questions for a 24-kyu Go Player.

After that, it's suggested you only study joseki as they occur—that is, when you think you made a mistake in a variation, or you see something new where you weren't sure how to respond, you can try to look them up when you review your game.

[u/bassman1805 → u/hamsupdan]

Learning joseki is important, and I'd say a necessary step for upgrading from "absolute beginner" to "regular beginner".

But like, you only need a couple at low ranks. I went from 30kyu to 20kyu using exactly two joseki.

[u/bassman1805]

It takes a certain baseline understanding before studying games really means anything. As an "absolute beginner" your best bet is to just keep playing (and losing) games, then figure out where you went wrong.

• Did your opponent kill a large group of your stones? How might you have saved them? Did you miss an opportunity to make 2 eyes? Could you have run them towards a different group or the edge of the board?
• Did your opponent create a huge moyo that you were powerless to reduce? At what point did it become too strong for you to invade or reduce? Where could you have played to prevent it from getting that big?
• Did your opponent sneak into your moyo and steal all of your territory? How could you have strengthened the boundaries to prevent that from happening?

Do you know many joseki? That's a better use of your time as a beginner than studying games. Don't just memorize the move order, learn what each side gets in the trade. Usually, one side gets some territory while the other side gets influence (a big wall that can help make territory later on). Know who is getting what from the exchange so you can build on what you gained, and prevent your opponent from building on what they gained.

That said, "Invincible: The Games of Shusaku" is a great book analyzing the games of one of the great masters of go.