On a semi-unrelated note, is there a decent English-speaking online Go community anywhere?
I would like to try my hand at playing but I can't find anything along the lines of FICS, or even a decent-looking client for Android.
I would like to try my hand at playing but I can't find anything along the lines of FICS, or even a decent-looking client for Android.
There is also online-go.com, which is web-based. It has real-time games, but the majority of games on the server are correspondance.
Resources: senseis.xmp.net (an old wiki that has lots of content, but few active contributors), and lifein19x19.com/forum, a forum dedicated to Go.
Someday I'd like to make it more feature complete, such as adding accounts and multiple rooms, but since I just started a new job I won't have time for a while!
Can someone recommend a decent board and set of stones, that don't feel too shabby yet don't cost an arm and a leg?
I went to the local go club a few times before picking up my own go equipment. I wanted to get some "hands on" feel for the board and stones, to pick the brain of people who have played longer than me on a greater variety of equipment, and to find out how genuinely terrible I am at go. I live in a town where there is a decent sized Asian market area. While some of the shops had go equipment, it was subpar and way too expensive for my blood.
The set MichaelGG is talking about is the first set that I picked up for myself. It was the centerpiece of my living room for several years, and has taken all of the abuse I can throw at it (over eager new players, drunk friends, young kids, pets, the go club) in stride.
As I was still learning and teaching the game I picked up a smaller, reversible 9x9 and 13x13 board with plastic stones, and that set never sees the light of day. It's far too light and chintzy to play on now. If you're sure you want go equipment, I would take at least a bamboo board and single convex yunzi stones. The upfront cost might seem like much, but the set from YMI will last at least a generation if not longer.