Blog

Minutes for Go

by Anders Kierulf

2015-01-03

One of your New Year’s resolutions may be to study more Go. If you can sit down for hours with a board, perfect. More likely, you’ll just have minutes here and there. Take advantage of SmartGo Kifu to use those moments for Go.

Replay pro games

  • Pick a random pro game. (Tap the Go to Game icon at the top left of the game list, choose Random Game.)
  • Turn on automatic replay, maybe 3 seconds per move.
  • Pause replay as necessary to think about what’s going on.

Guess next move

  • Pick a random pro game (see above). Maybe filter games by your favorite pro first.
  • Turn on Guess Next Move. (Tap the Tools button in the lower left of the board, choose Guess.)
  • Try to figure out where you would play. SmartGo Kifu will give you feedback: right move, right move but wrong timing, right area, or not even close.

Study problems

  • Pick a set of Go problems at your level.
  • Start working through them.

Study joseki

  • Pick one of your recent games in My Games. Replay to a corner position you’re wondering about.
  • Turn on joseki analysis for that corner. (Tap the Tools button in the lower left of the board, choose Joseki.)
  • Check out what moves professionals have played in that position.
  • Explore how games with that joseki typically develop from there. (Tap on the joseki stats at the bottom to see the list of games matching that joseki.)

Study fuseki

  • Tap on the New Game button above the My Games list, choose New Empty Board.
  • Turn on fuseki analysis. (Tap the Tools button in the lower left of the board, choose Fuseki.)
  • Explore your favorite opening.

Read biographies of pro players

  • Tap on the Players icon above the list of pro games.
  • Tap on a player name.
  • Read John Fairbairn’s mini-biography for that player. (You can also see these biographies by clicking on a player name above the board.)

And Go Books adds many more opportunities to study on the go, both problems and games.

Happy New Year!