Games & Puzzles
Go
Simpler rules than chess, and a far larger board to hold in mind
There are only a few rules, fewer than chess, but the board is large and the first real difficulty is judging whether a group is alive or dead. So the standard entry is playing on a nine-by-nine board for a few dozen games before moving up, since starting on the full board leaves you without bearings. Handicaps work well.
First stepStart on the small 9×9 board and play twenty games online against people at your level, learning to tell whether a group has two eyes.
Barriers
Cost to start
Under $50
Going deep → $2k–10k
Alone or with people
Anyone will do
Effort
Sitting
Without a teacher?
Self-taught
One session takes
1–2 hours
Where
At home
Why people take it up
Related guides
Keeping the spending in checkStarts at Under $50, going deep runs $2k–10kSkills
BuildsMemorising patterns and lines