Tips to improve at Go (Baduk, Weiqi) – Study pro games

Pick a pro to study

It would be best if you studied different pros. Once you find a pro whose style clicks with you, study as many of their games as you can. One by one, go through their games starting from their first game. It’s fun to see how they change over time. Modern games can be complicated to follow. I recommend older games, from around 1900 to about 2000.

Some recommendations include Takemiya Misaki, Cho Chikun, Kobayashi Koichi, Kato Masao, and many others.

How to study the games

For me, it’s more fun to do this on an actual board, but if you don’t have one, a sgf editor is more than good enough. Quickly go through the game the first time. Pay attention to direction and shape, but don’t go into depth yet. You want to get a quick feel for the game. After the first replay, try to play through the game from memory. Over time, this will get easier. If you have put meaning behind each move, the game becomes easy to remember. If it’s just a random move you haven’t put much thought into, then you won’t remember it.

The opening

In the opening, you will pay attention to joseki choice and the direction of the game. Think about why they picked this joseki and what direction they are aiming at. Constantly ask yourself questions. Why this move and not this move? Did they want sente? Why did they tenuki here? Isn’t this move slow? Once you get used to the pro that you picked, you will discover joseki they like or don’t like. You will begin to be able to predict their next moves. Soon you will be able to play similarly in your games.

The Middle game

The middle game is usually where invasions and reductions start. It is best for learning the timing of invading or reducing. Ask yourself: why did they invade this area first? Why not this one here? Before and after each invasion or reduction, you should count and ask yourself who has the better position. Who has more points? Who has better influence? Do they have a good balance of both? Knowing these can help explain why they invaded instead of reducing them, among other things. If they fell behind on points, maybe that’s why they invaded instead of reducing. Or, if their opponent had an area that was starting to get big, they tried to reduce it rather than invade deep. Pay attention to how they invade or how they reduce.  

The Early Endgame

It is when all groups are settled, and there is nothing left to attack. So they start taking points. Pay attention to where they play and when they start to take points. Many kyu players struggle with when to start the endgame. Sometimes they do it too soon or too late. It is a great way to start seeing examples of how to do this correctly. I would pay less attention to the late endgame. It’s just a bunch of small points, unless you want to.  

Repeat

I recommend going over the same game repeatedly until it is completely memorized. Keep track of the ones you learned from the most, and go over them later. You will notice more each time you do this. As you get stronger, you will see and appreciate more of the game each time. A bonus tip is to take notes on things you thought were interesting or confusing. The next time you go over it, having become stronger, you might notice that what you found confusing before makes sense. You will be able to see how much you have improved, which will motivate you to keep doing it.

I go into a bit more detail about pro games at the end of this article. How to Study and Improve at Go (Baduk, Weiqi) – Contraband Go

Let me know what pro you picked and how it’s going for you. I’m excited to hear about your progress!