Introduction #

How can a 1 kyu player allow themselves to write a book about progressing in Go? What audacity, right?

When I started Go almost 20 years ago, I learned everything on my own. I played lots of games, read all the articles I could find on the internet, and joined a club. I tried doing problems, but I didn’t understand them and quickly grew to hate them. I didn’t have a teacher, but I kept progressing, so everything was fine. I reached 3k in a year, and I was quite proud! But I had learned haphazardly. My game was riddled with bad habits, my intuition for shapes was completely wrong, my strategy chaotic. I couldn’t improve anymore, and I hit a wall that prevented me from progressing for a very long time because I hadn’t learned to play correctly.

I decided to write this book for two reasons: firstly, I want to know how to progress effectively because I want to become better at Go, and a guide summarizing this information doesn’t seem to exist yet. Secondly, I really wish I had had this guide 20 years ago. I hope it can help players all over the world avoid making the same mistakes. This guide is therefore not based on my experience, but is the result of extensive research on the subject of learning Go, with the help of several highly qualified people.

About 200 people responded to a survey I sent out before starting to write this guide. Over 65% of respondents indicated that their progress is too slow or has completely stalled!

This guide will cover what is effective or not for progressing, regardless of your level. The writing style of this work is deliberately direct. On one hand, it’s my natural style; on the other hand, I know people don’t necessarily have much time to read, so it’s best to get straight to the point.

Contributors #

Three people, in particular, contributed to the development of this book with their expertise, answering my many questions:

• Diána Kőszegi, professional 1 dan. She is the first —and so far only— Hungarian to become a professional Go player. She lives in South Korea, where she co-founded Blackie’s International Baduk Academy (BIBA) with Kim Seungjun 9p, an international Go school that has been welcoming players from all continents for years.
• In-seong Hwang, 8 dan. Founder of the Yunguseng Dojang Go school, Inseong studied in his youth in South Korea to become a pro before settling in Europe. He teaches Go to the many students at his school, and at the time of writing this book, he is the strongest player in Europe according to europeangodatabase.eu.
• Natacha Maamar, psychologist. A state-certified psychologist and psychotherapist, Natacha holds a triple master’s degree in psychology and neuroscience.

The illustrations in this book were done by Florian Shum-Kwoong.