The Go Game Space Training Module presents Go problems grouped by technique or objective. Technique topics include “push and cut”, the “elbow lock” tesuji, the “rooster on one leg” tesuji or the “under the stones” tesuji. Objective topics include attacking, defending, living, or strategic goals.
This structure allows you to study thousands of situations covering specific aspects of the game under controlled circumstances.
Select a topic to see the problems for that topic. The “related collections” links will show problems related to the current problem; these could include alternative opponent responses, refuting mistakes or follow-up problems.
Solve problems from a topic repeatedly until you have internalized the principles behind that topic.
Problem order
Problems in a collection are shuffled. You can reshuffle them with the “Shuffle” button. When a problem is displayed, it is randomly reoriented; colors are also randomly swapped, except for full-board positions.
Use the “Narrative” sort button to sort the problems in a way that related positions are grouped together. The name “narrative order” comes from the tree of variations from which those problems have been generated.
Principles
The student never has to play a bad move.
If the opponent has several possible responses, there will be a separate problem for each response.
If the student has several possible moves, there might be a guide as to which move to play or not to play. There might be a condition written in the comment box that guides the student into choosing a move. Or, if there are several very similar but equally good moves, as is often the case in capturing races, all these moves will be accepted in the same problem.
Topics are broadly grouped into “objectives” and “techniques”. Objectives show what to do; techniques show how to do it.
A technique — such as “across attach” — includes problems where the student has to play it and where the opponent plays it and the student has to handle it.
The topics are, except for the “By Level” section, intentionally not divided by difficulty level; in a real game there are also problems of various difficulty. Even if you cannot find the solution, it is good to be exposed to new motifs and you can look at the solution using the “hint” button.
You can use keyboard shortcuts. The left arrow goes to the previous problem; the right arrow goes to the next problem; the up arrow takes back a move.
For some problems there are several moves that work, but not all are accepted as correct. This can be for several reasons:
- A sequence is longer than the accepted sequence, so the opponent has more ko threats.
- A sequence allows the opponent to block on the outside in sente when the accepted sequence does not even if it gives up a point in territory.
- A sequence includes a move or shape that I do not want to teach.
Status
This is a work-in-progress. There may be duplicate problems. There may be bugs in problems. I am working on a way to provide feedback. In the meantime please mail me (bigghosthead at gmail dot com) about the problem and attach a screenshot or the permalink URL. A permalink links to a single problem in its original orientation, so it is possible to discuss coordinates.