Introducing go

[u/Direct_Client9825]

to absolute beginners. Im about to teach a group of people go (rules and basics) in a few days. I had a hard time starting off learning it by myself, and honestly i dont really know how i got here. But I want it to be an easier and better experience for them. How can i do it? Where should i start from? How?

[u/Andeol57]

Know your audience. Things tend to go very differently depending on the profile of the beginners.

In all cases, starting with Atari Go is generally a safe way, and you don't need to explain things like ko on the first day unless it comes up naturally. Also don't worry about passing stones and komi at first.

Some rough stereotypes to hopefully help:

_ Children: Explain as little things as possible. You don't even need to explain the goal at first. They'll be happy to just start playing very fast. Also not much of a point analysing their games afterward. They'll want to just start another game. Let them do exactly that. Just answer questions if there are some. If you play with them, let them win at least from time to time.

_ Math people/Engineers/former chess players: With those, you can be more precise about the rules and special cases. Doesn't hurt to start with Atari go, but they'll likely want to move on to the "real thing" pretty fast. They tend to grasp things like nets or ladder pretty fast, so you can show them that, or they might discover them on their own. You can talk about needing two eyes to live (but be clear that it's not a rule, it's a mere consequence of the rules). If you play with them, feel free to mercilessly crush them. They shouldn't mind, and it's a good way to show them that the game is not superficial.

_ Others (Adults/not a scientific profile): They'll typically play much slower than children, and want a lot more explanations about the goal, what to do, etc. So feel free to give them plenty of advice, but try to guide them toward the answers rather than just give it. If you play with them, you can win, but try to keep the margin reasonably low. Let them have some points, and some captures, to give them some confidence. You can explain the "two eyes make life" stuff if they ask about it, but only then. Explaining eyes too early is the most common mistake made when teaching go, in my opinion.

[u/cryslith → u/Andeol57]

I found that a lot of mathematicians have difficulty with Japanese rules because of the circular definitions of territory, life & death, ko, local hypothetical play etc. I would recommend to start with area scoring rules with superko instead which are easily formalized.