I'm still trying to learn and play chess. Of course I know how to play (for the most part) but tactics and strategy, when and what to play, how to develop pieces to enable the positions you want, how to discern attacker's strategy, etc, all remain quite elusive. I suspect it will take years and many games to win consistently.

I found a film (Netflix) called Queen of Chess (story of Judit Polgar) and her quest to beat Kasparov (considered to be one of the all time greats?). I thought it was interesting.

In parallel, I'm trying to learn Go; actually, I'm more interested in playing Go than chess but chess is easier. I have a headstart, there are computer games, there are local players, there are books, and there seem to be practical limitations to game play (again, but still overwhelming for me).

Go is challenging still. Read a couple of books but still can't grasp what legal moves are in some cases, strategy and development. I get the objectve but have no clue how to make it happen. There is no target (ie - the King in chess).

Does anybody play Go? Go and Chess? Does Go get easier to learn and play? Or does one really need a teacher? I can play chess w/o a teacher - probably learn faster / better if I had a teacher but I can put up a somewhat defensive game lasting 30-40 moves against more experienced players. But Go is like a blank white canvas and I have no idea how to start.

Chess, you have about 18 possible first moves. Go, there seems to be about 361....

I prefer go, I find chess is simplistic and formulaic in comparison.

https://online-go.com/

My son in law showed me this documentary about a computer playing Go and winning. If you've got some time, it's an interesting watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXuK6gekU1Y

"Go is to Western chess what philosophy is to double-entry accounting". -Shibumi by Trevanian

quote:

Originally posted by Appliance Brad:
"Go is to Western chess what philosophy is to double-entry accounting". -Shibumi by Trevanian

That's one of my favorite books

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
My son in law showed me this documentary about a computer playing Go and winning. If you've got some time, it's an interesting watch:

[FLASH_VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXuK6gekU1Y[/FLASH_VIDEO]

Interesting. Thanks. Even buggy and not fully optimized, it still won convincingly.

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

quote:

Originally posted by Appliance Brad:
"Go is to Western chess what philosophy is to double-entry accounting". -Shibumi by Trevanian

That's one of my favorite books

Mine too except for the anti-American slant.

I have played Go. I play chess much better. I was a 10 kyu in Go on KGS, however my best at chess was as an "Expert", just a step below Master level in the US at that time.

Highly recco Chess.com. Tutorials, game reviews, and live play with random opponents.

Surprised you aren't learning Shogi.

Shogi rules are complicated for me. I can play the Chinese version. But there is nobody around here who plays.

Shogi is similar to chess. Go is a different type of game.

quote:

I can play the Chinese version. But there is nobody around here who plays.

I didn't know there was a Japanese version of Chinese Chess. The first thing I noticed is that the pieces move on the squares while the Chinese pieces move on the lines Next most noticeable thing is the lack of a "River"
How are the rules different?

My father taught me how to play Chinese chess when I was 10.

I brought it to my high school one time and other folks started getting interested so I taught them the basics. Next thing I knew, we had a Chinese Chess club going every lunch period.

I need a refresher and don’t know anything about strategy but if you want to play xianqi sometime, let me know. I have pieces and a small board. Shogi is similar but rules are different. Minor different pieces and you can put into play captured pieces. Complicated. Xianqi is simpler.