Some stuff happened while I was gone! There’s an AMERICAN world champion??
World Youth Go Championship Article
Season 3 of Star Point will return September 15, 2025!
I have mentioned my Go-supportive fiancée a few times on this show and I’m excited to finally have her on as a guest! Kim gives her very interesting thoughts about the game from a beginner’s perspective. I hope you all find this episode as fun and interesting as I did!
This is not your typical Go lecture. It’s a whole new way to view the game and enter the world of 19x19 with the right frame of mind. We’ll go over how to know when you’re ready to advance from the 9x9 and from then on I’ll share with you an analogy that I’ve been cooking up that may help you get a leg up on the competition as you enter the beautiful full-sized game.
How to Start Playing Go on 19x19 - Star Point Video
I finally made it to 2 dan on Fox! Here’s everything I did to get past my (very) long plateau, including the BIG question: the super important question you should be asking yourself every single game.
Wyatt is a listener of the show and we had a fantastic conversation about Go covering topics like why he took 15 years to play over-the-board, what it takes to start your own Go club, and Go’s similarities to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.
What does the Fox say? Star Point listeners should be well aware that my server of choice for live games is Fox Weiqi (or just Fox). This server has some interesting quirks that might surprise or confuse those of you coming from OGS. Not to worry! We’ll go over it all in this episode from strange scores to unorthodox play styles.
I asked, you answered! Thank you so much to Isaiah, Dalan, Seventus, & Sadaharu for your amazing answers to so many of my kyu questions!
A long-winded discussion of the long-awaited Go movie, The Match (승부). Starring Lee Byung-hun as Cho Hun-hyun and Yoo Ah-in as Lee Chang-ho, The Match is a biopic of one of the most legendary student-teacher duos in Korean Go.
The beginning of the episode is spoiler-free, but go watch the movie first if you haven’t already!
If I could have an unlimited Q&A session with a dan player (without them getting annoyed at me), what would I ask? If somebody asked me the same questions, what would I say?
Reviewing games: Everyone says it’s important but it’s so easy to get sidetracked! Here’s how I’ve been doing punchy game reviews in a pinch. Plus, how to interpret AI graph patterns to really get to the meat of what it’s trying to tell you.
I recently read Black Box Thinking: Why Most People Never Learn From Their Mistakes—But Some Do, by Matthew Syed and harvested all the Go-related nuggets of knowledge just for all you Star Point listeners! Thank you so much for listening and supporting the show :)
Pokémon Go Board Clip (Full Episode)
The Devil’s Plan Season 2 Trailer w/ Lee Sedol
Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed
Some of us have a rough time getting into Go. There’s something about this game that attracts us, but it can be really discouraging at times. Is this game just not for everyone? What does it take? At some point, do you keep trying to tape Jell-O to a tree or is it time to throw in the towel?
This one kicks off with a casual update of my Go life including some musings about proverbs and removing “rank bias.” Then I read a translated article featuring the legendary Cho Hun-hyun who gave his thoughts on new Korean Go film, The Match.
I see you. Go “player.” Do you even play? Do you even study? It’s time to get serious and finally make some progress! Good study habits make good Go players, so listen up and make a study plan with me!
In the Edo period of Japan, there were four houses of Go. They were… the Four Houses of Go. And there were four of them. And they were houses. And they were of Go. Come on in for a short history lesson!
Kendall’s Pro Game Memorization App
Let’s look at how modern board games reflect our beloved game of Go. From Carcassonne to Ticket to Ride, you can find Go-like elements hiding in plain sight at your local game store!
Also... Lee Sedol designs board games now??
Games mentioned in this episode: Carcassonne
I am always chasing the secret formula for Go improvement. But what if it’s not a singular magic bullet? What if it’s a collection of habits that eventually come together to synergize into an overall understanding of the game?
Why is the empty triangle bad? Go is a game rich with mathematical and geometric ideas. Let’s do some light math and counting to see what we can find out about shape efficiency! Plus, a new analogy to introduce the game to friends who aren’t sold on the usual war comparisons.
Let’s talk about some unsettling experiments conducted during the 60s and 70s that revealed how limitations can be internalized and learned. Can we unlearn our limitations in Go and break through our ruts? Plus, some bonus futurology ramblings inspired by the AlphaGo documentary.
All Things Go Podcast: The Surrounding Game Interview
Lots of happenings in the Go world recently! A world chess champion talks Go, an inaugural world major tournament in Singapore, and a spicy cheating incident.
Korean Search Terms:
바둑 - Baduk
조훈현 - Cho Hunhyun
Links:
Shin Jinseo Drinks from the MerlionGo Set for the Visually Impaired
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