It’s like playing Smash Bros. You only play with people at your skill level. That one friend who likes the game a little too much and watches competitive events? Yeah, you’re not going to have fun playing against them. Just play with other people who don’t really know what they’re doing, and maybe consider throwing items on to even out skill with randomness (someone needs to invent random item drops for chess).
This is why I think Go is actually significantly more approachable than chess. With chess, you really need someone of very similar level; if one of you is a little better, that person will almost always win, and that’s often kinda boring for both of you. But Go has a handicapping system built in that makes it way more forgiving of differences in skill, so that you can both play a pretty challenging game. I think it’s contributed a lot to the culture around the game being more open and focused on teaching others, too.
That said, there are still a lot of things that high-level players memorize. But it seems like there are a lot more folks just playing for the joy of the game, and at the low levels, those folks will often outplay those who get very into the memorization too early.
My only problem with Go is that it can literally take days or weeks. That’s just more patience than I have with a single game. I love the concept, but the time required for a single game is just too much for me. Even played in chunks.
It’s possible to play games like that, but most folks don’t. Even professional or tournament games are mostly played over the course of an hour or two; there are just a few extremely high level tournaments where the games are split over a few days. I’ve played a couple of postal games that went on like that, but people do that with chess too. All my in-person games have been under two hours, including in tournaments, and most under an hour.
I’d encourage you to find a local Go club and check it out. As I say, the folks are very friendly and eager to teach newcomers.
You start with a piece handicap. It’s interesting for both because it makes it competitive, but also completely destroys the better player’s knowledge base because they’re missing important pieces, making it more about intuition.
I play this way with a friend that I’m like a thousand points higher rated than. With a rook+knight handicap, it’s very competitive, we probably each win about half the time.
I refuse to play against those sweaty final destination no items 1v1 people. I went with my girlfriend to one of her friend birthday party and they pulled up smash, I was sorta excited because there were like 8 controllers and a bunch of people who wanted to play aaaaand fucking 1v1 final destination no items. I just politely refused to play even though apparently my girlfriend had been talking me up as a pretty good gamer. I just want to have casual fun, I have enough salt and sweat ranking in league.
It’s like playing Smash Bros. You only play with people at your skill level. That one friend who likes the game a little too much and watches competitive events? Yeah, you’re not going to have fun playing against them. Just play with other people who don’t really know what they’re doing, and maybe consider throwing items on to even out skill with randomness (someone needs to invent random item drops for chess).
This is why I think Go is actually significantly more approachable than chess. With chess, you really need someone of very similar level; if one of you is a little better, that person will almost always win, and that’s often kinda boring for both of you. But Go has a handicapping system built in that makes it way more forgiving of differences in skill, so that you can both play a pretty challenging game. I think it’s contributed a lot to the culture around the game being more open and focused on teaching others, too.
That said, there are still a lot of things that high-level players memorize. But it seems like there are a lot more folks just playing for the joy of the game, and at the low levels, those folks will often outplay those who get very into the memorization too early.
My only problem with Go is that it can literally take days or weeks. That’s just more patience than I have with a single game. I love the concept, but the time required for a single game is just too much for me. Even played in chunks.
It’s possible to play games like that, but most folks don’t. Even professional or tournament games are mostly played over the course of an hour or two; there are just a few extremely high level tournaments where the games are split over a few days. I’ve played a couple of postal games that went on like that, but people do that with chess too. All my in-person games have been under two hours, including in tournaments, and most under an hour.
I’d encourage you to find a local Go club and check it out. As I say, the folks are very friendly and eager to teach newcomers.
You start with a piece handicap. It’s interesting for both because it makes it competitive, but also completely destroys the better player’s knowledge base because they’re missing important pieces, making it more about intuition.
I play this way with a friend that I’m like a thousand points higher rated than. With a rook+knight handicap, it’s very competitive, we probably each win about half the time.
“Hey guys, I have an idea! Let’s play Smash Bros with items on! I got my Wiimote!”
I refuse to play against those sweaty final destination no items 1v1 people. I went with my girlfriend to one of her friend birthday party and they pulled up smash, I was sorta excited because there were like 8 controllers and a bunch of people who wanted to play aaaaand fucking 1v1 final destination no items. I just politely refused to play even though apparently my girlfriend had been talking me up as a pretty good gamer. I just want to have casual fun, I have enough salt and sweat ranking in league.
That’s it! You think you’re checkmating me? Think again with a Pokéball in your face!
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