Introduction - by Chuck Elliott, 3 dan  
  • Having both learned Go and having considerable involvement in teaching Go, especially to beginners over 35 years I have learned very much and my desire is to share this knowledge with you the Go teacher and hopefully to make you much more effective. We know see growth from 20 kyu to about 8 kyu in one year. I believe this will be improved to 20 kyu to 1 kyu in one year with the more systematic approach described here. I have about a dozen students starting out. Where will they be in Sept. 2008? Watch and see.
  • Many of the ideas have come from paying attention to young Chinese Go players taught in China and then moved to Edmonton or other parts of Canada. How is it that a 7 year old is 1 dan? A 13 year old 6 dan?

     

The Old Method

The old method basically tried to teach Go players technique by showing them problems, usually from a book written by professionals, asking what their response to a move would be and then discussing the answers and comparing to the "correct" answer.

This isn't bad. Its fun and there is no doubt that it is helpful. We did this at the beginning of every meeting and used about 30-40 minutes before games started. Usually the audience playing level was anywhere from 20 kyu to dan players so when we asked for responses we would start with the weaker players and work up to the strongest. This way the answers wouldn't be influenced by the previous answers. In general as you went up the ladder the answers and the reasons given got closer and closer to the real issue.

 

 

  
   

Problems with the Old Method

  • It relies heavily on instructor time and skill and strength.
  • It requires the presence of the students.
  • The problem level of difficulty is high for some, low for others
  • No good way to practice later
  • Requires many problems to finally absorb the principles
  • It is really not systematic
  • No way to measure student learning
   
   

The Better Method - Self Learning

The self learning method puts almost entirely the responsibility to learn on the student. How can this be made systematic to achieve the results similar to those in China or Korea?

Answer: 20 kyu to 1 dan

Consider the English problem Go books written by Kano Yoshinori "graded Go Problems for Beginners", volumes 1 to 4. Volume 1 problems are very easy but even weak players about 15 kyu will make mistake. At volume 4 level 7-8 kyu players will only succeed on say 50%. As you go higher the percent correct increases.However even a 1 dan will get some wrong. There is another factor and that is time. The stronger players will solve the problems faster. I have given sample tests to players and the results are like this -

Player A (12 kyu) 30%correct in 15 min (maximum allowed time)

Player B (8 kyu) 45%correct in 12 min

Player C (2 kyu) 70%correct in 5.0 min

Player D (1 dan) 80%correct in 3.0 min

Player E (6 dan) 100%correct in 1 min

Here now is the idea. A beginner starts with volume 1. He buys the book for a fixed cost say $20. When he is finished with it we buy it back for say $10.00 and sell the next volume at the $20.00 rate. Of course the student could keep the book if he chose to.

Each volume is divided up into 4 or 5 sections. Let's say section 1 covers problems 1 - 75. A test sheet is produced with say 12 sample problems selected from the book from that range. The student doesn't know which problems are on the test until the test is taken. A time limit is given and the student marks the move. Problems not complete because of lack of time are counted as wrong.

Answer sheets are provided so the marker does not make a mistake. A student can request a test at any time he feels confident. If he can solve all problems in a section quickly he should be confident of a score of 100%

The idea is simply this - when all tests are passed successfully the student is no longer 20 kyu they will be a strong kyu player at the least and perhaps even a dan player. Every one will agree to this statement - "A strong go player is good at solving problems". Is the reverse true - "A player who is good at solving ploblems is strong". We assume it to be true.

 

   
 
   

Sample Tests - Life and Death

So you can get a feel of what a test is like perhaps you want to try a sample on the righ (Life and Death problems). The samples are not from the books mentioned but are provided daily by www.GoBase.org

The complete set of all tests and answers are posted on this website. To get access email me at ChuckBrenda@shaw.ca

 

  L & D - 1a       Answers LD-1a

  L & D - 2a       Answers LD-2a

  L & D - 3a       Answers LD-3a

  L & D - 4a        Answers LD-4a