Guo Juan's Internet Go School

* While you are watching the lectures, you can copy the sgf files and write down your own comments. We think this is a very good way to learn from our audio lectures. You will understand more and remember the variations better. Also, you can take a look at your own notes later again whenever you like without having to pay 1 euro again to watch them.

* Keep track of the questions that arise from your study. We have a room on KGS where we answer your questions each two weeks. Please check 'Questions?' for the details.

* We will have more and more new lectures, I will update this study guide from time to time. Stay with us and thanks for supporting us!

New!!!

• Efficiency for level between 15k and 5d.   
  

• New French lectures about shape La Forme
  

• Two new courses in Basic course: Pincer and Invasion for kyu players 
  

A route from 30k to 5d (English lectures)

Step by step course -> Basic Course -> Important stones ->Typical mistakes -> Opening training -> Game reviewing -> Middle game training -> All about sente moves -> Basic shapes -> Common Opening -> Sacrificing stones -> Efficiency -> The correct way of using basic josekis -> All about attacking -> All about invasion -> Monkey jump -> Big end game moves -> How to win a won game -> Counting/Judgement ->  All about star point -> All about 3-4 point -> Punish opponent's mistakes

For everyone who loves these subjects:

Pro game reviews -> Grand master Go Seigen's games -> Chinese Opening -> Kobayashi Opening -> San Lian Xing/San Ren Sei -> Mini Chinese Opening -> Avalanche -> Magic Sword -> New Opening moves -> Wu ZhaoYi 9p's class

                                                   Detailed Study Guide

30k - 20k | 20k - 10k | 10k - 1d | 1d - 5d

Since we have more and more lectures, I would like to help you to study them more efficiently. Of course you can also follow your own way.

30k - 20k

1. Study the Step by step course, but please do not go too fast. Take at least a half month to study each lecture.
   Play as many games as possible, and try to use the things you have learned from the lessons. Solve life and death problems, 5 problems each day. You can find problems online. We are planning to have our own problem training system, and hopefully in the near future we will have special basic shape lessons for you.
2. Each week, take one Opening training lecture. This is a step course, so it is better to start from A-1.
3. The Important Stones lectures from Jennie Shen 2p are very interesting, they will help you see what is important, so that you avoid killing or saving unimportant stones. Take the first three lectures.
4. Study Typical mistakes, the two lectures for 30k-20k.
5. Study Common Opening lecture 1.
6. Take Middle Game Training. But only the A level. In this training program, we focus on basic ideas and principles.
7. Take a look at game reviews, but only for 30k-20k.
8. Take the first lecture of Sacrificing stones. We all know trying to save every stone is not a good idea, but when we sacrifice stones, sometimes even giving up one stone is difficult for us. By using this strategy wisely, you can sacrifice something small locally to gain more globally.
9. All about sente moves is a basic course for beginners up to 1d. After studying these lessons, you will know the difference between good sente moves and bad sente moves. You will learn to avoid bad sente, and play more good sente moves.
10. Watch some pro games. Before you watch the audio lecture, it will be very good if you download the sgf file first, study the game, and see how pros play their games.
11. Grand master Go Seigen's games commented by Jujo 9p. This is really interesting for everybody, because they are not just great games, but because they also have very interesting stories.
12. If you are interested in Chinese Opening, why not take a look at these lectures? They are not easy for our level, but it is nice to know a little bit about it.
13. Basic Shapes are very important in the game of Go. They are fundamental, and are similar to the foundation of a house. If a foundation is solid, a large house may be built, with many additions and new stories. If the foundation is shaky, it is like building a house on sand.
    In this course, we will help you learn the basic shapes. We will draw examples from real games, so you will recognize the basic shapes in your own games.
14. Basic Course. The things we learn in this course are very useful, and it is hardly to find them in any books. We will have three lectures in each subject.
15. After your games, try to remember some moves. Think about what you have done well and 1 or 2 important mistakes. These are the mistakes that you yourself can see as you review the game. Try to find out why you made the mistake. Normally these are shape mistakes. You will learn a lot and improve from these reviews.

20k - 10k

1. If you haven't completed the training for 20k - 30k, please follow 1 to 12, above.
2. If you have completed the 20k - 30k training, you should take the All about attacking lectures from Jennie Shen 2p.
3. Study MingJiu 7p's lectures on The correct way of using basic josekis. These lectures will help you to learn how to avoid choosing the wrong joseki globally, and how to take advantage when your opponent does not play the joseki moves. All the examples Mingjiu 7p uses in these lectures are real games, with many from western players.
4. Study Common Opening. It would be best to start from lecture one, because this is a step by step course. No need to go fast, because in each lecture there is a lot of information, which you will need time to digest. When you find something interesting, especially something you like very much, try it in your games. This is the best way to understand them.
5. You should take the How to Win a Won Game lecture from Yan An. However, you should take only the first 3 lectures. Take your time, and don't watch them all at once.
6. Wu ZhaoYi 9p's lectures are very good for directions of play, but they are not at all easy. You should take one, and if you understand what he wants to tell you, you can go further. But again, don't do it fast. One lecture per month would be enough.
7. Study Typical mistakes appropriate for your level.
8. All about invasion. This series of lectures covers many of the basic variations that are involved in invasions. Ming Jiu clearly explains the details based on his years of experience teaching Western players. Each lecture contains many variations. You can begin with lesson one, or may go directly to any of the lessons.
9. Sacrificing stones. We all know trying to save every stone is not a good idea, but when we sacrifice stones, sometimes even giving up one stone is difficult for us. By using this strategy wisely, you can sacrifice something small locally to gain more globally.
10. Take a look at game reviews 20k-10k. We explain the typical mistakes in our games.
11. If you are interested in Chinese Opening, why not take a look at these lectures. They are not easy for our level, but to know a little bit of its idea is very nice. Especially the first lecture may help you win more games.
12. Watch some pro games. Before you watch the audio lecture, it will be very good if you download the sgf file first, study the game and see how pros play their games.
13. Grand master Go Seigen's games commented by Jujo 9p. This is really interesting for everybody, because they are not just great games, but with very interesting stories.
14. After you study these Monkey jump. lectures, we are sure you will be able to handle monkey Jumps.
15. Big end game moves. In this group of lectures, we will show you the most common big end game moves. These moves will help us win many more points in the end game.
16. All about sente moves is a basic course for beginners up to 1d. After studying these lessons, you will know the difference between good sente moves and bad sente moves. You will learn to avoid bad sente, and play more good sente moves.
17. Basic shapes are very important in the game of Go. They are fundamental, and are similar to the foundation of a house. If a foundation is solid, a large house may be built, with many additions and new stories. If the foundation is shaky, it is like building a house on sand. In this course, we will help you learn the basic shapes. We will draw examples from real games, so you will recognize the basic shapes in your own games.
18. Counting/Judgement. is one of the most difficult subjects, but it is very important. If we count well and have a clear understanding of the current score and situation, we will make much better decisions. Even we are not yet a strong player, to get use to counting during our games is really necessary.
19. Basic Course. The things we learn in this course are very useful, and it is hardly to find them in any books. We will have three lecture in each subject.
    

10k - 1d

1. If you haven't done the training above, I suggest you to follow them all because I believe what we here in the west miss is the basics. Players often complain that they get stuck at 1d to 3d, and I believe this is because they are missing the basics.
2. Take Opening Training B level.
3. Take Wu ZhaoYi 9p's lectures. All his lectures are good for you, only please don't go too fast. Don't watch the lectures all at once.
4. Take the All About the Star-Points and All About the 3-4 Points lectures. I would prefer that you take these lectures slowly. Try to remember the variations and use them in your games. By using them you will understand them better.
5. Take Jennie Shen 2p's lectures in All about attacking.
6. Chinese Opening. is a very powerful opening. Study them and use them in your games. For our level this opening can help us win more games.
7. Take Middle Game Training. The B level. In this training program, we focus on basic ideas and principles.
8. Watch the lecture on game reviews, level 10k-1k.
9. Take lectures on Monkey jump. After you study these lectures, we are sure you will be able to handle Monkey Jumps.
10. Study Typical mistakes appropriate for your level.
11. Watch some pro games. Before you watch the audio lecture, it will be very good if you down load the sgf file first, study the game and answer the questions.
12. Mini Chinese opening. This is a very powerful opening which easily give us a good opening. There are three lectures, some of the variations are also in 'Common Opening'.
13. Grand master Go Seigen's games commented by Jujo 9p. This is really interesting for everybody, because they are not just great games, but because they also have very interesting stories.
14. Big end game moves In this group of lectures, we will show you the most common big end game moves. These moves will help us win many more points in the end game.
15. All about sente moves is a basic course for beginners up to 1d. After studying these lessons, you will know the difference between good sente moves and bad sente moves. You will learn to avoid bad sente, and play more good sente moves.
16. Counting/Judgement. is one of the most difficult subjects, but it is very important. If we count well and have a clear understanding of the current score and situation, we will make much better decisions. Even if we are not yet a strong player, it is really necessary to get use to counting during our games.
17. Basic shapes are very important in the game of Go. They are fundamental, and are similar to the foundation of a house. If a foundation is solid, a large house may be built, with many additions and new stories. If the foundation is shaky, it is like building a house on sand. In this course, we will help you learn the basic shapes. We will draw examples from real games, so you will recognize the basic shapes in your own games.
18. We all know some josekis, but what if our opponent does not follow the correct joseki moves? How do we punish the mistakes? Mingjiu 7p is starting a set of lectures on How to punish opponent's mistakes in josekis. He will tell you how to handle overplays and mistakes.
19. Magic Sword. Have you ever heard of joseki Magic Sword? If you like to play two space high pincer, it is a good idea to know something about Magic Sword.
20. Large Avalanche. The joseki Large Avalanche is really interesting and exciting! But it is not easy because there are so many variations. In this set of lectures we will show you the history of Avalanche and the modern variations. They will help you on contact fighting. Please take your time to learn the variations which you like and can use in your games.
21. Basic Course. The things we learn in this course are very useful, and it is hardly to find them in any books. We will have three lecture in each subject.
    
22. After your games, try to remember some moves. Think about what you have done well and 1 or 2 important mistakes. These are the mistakes that you yourself can see as you review the game. Try to find out why you made the mistake. Normally these are shape mistakes. You will learn a lot and improve from these reviews.

1d - 5d

1. Take Opening training B and C level.
2. Take Jennie Shen 2p's lectures in All about attacking.
3. Same as no. 4 above. Take All About the Star-Point and All about the 3-4 points. Use the variations in your games.
4. Take Wu Zhaoyi 9p's lecture.
5. Take lectures on Monkey jump. After you study these lectures, we are sure you will be able to handle Monkey Jumps.
6. Play games and review them.
7. Study Typical mistakes appropriate for your level.
8. Study Common Opening. It would be best to start from lecture one, because this is a step by step course.
9. Study The correct way of using basic josekis. It would be best to start from lecture one.
10. Take lectures from Jennie Shen 2p on Important Stones, lecture 4 and 5.
11. To follow the development in pro world, study the New Opening Moves.
12. Mini Chinese opening. This is a very powerful opening which easily give us a good opening. There are three lectures, some of the variations are also in 'Common Opening'.
13. Take lectures on game reviews, at level of 1d-3d, and 3d-5d.
14. Chinese Opening is really interesting!
15. Watch some pro games. Before you watch the audio lecture, it will be very good if you download the sgf file first, study the game and answer the questions.
16. Grand master Go Seigen's games commented by Jujo 9p. This is really interesting for everybody, because they are not just great games, but because they also have very interesting stories.
17. After you study these Monkey jump. lectures, we are sure you will be able to handle Monkey Jumps.
18. Big end game movesIn this group of lectures, we will show you the most common big end game moves. These moves will help us win many more points in the end game.
19. Counting/Judgement. is one of the most difficult subjects, but it is very important. If we count well and have a clear understanding of the current score and situation, we will make much better decisions.
20. Basic shapes are very important in the game of Go. They are fundamental, and are similar to the foundation of a house. If a foundation is solid, a large house may be built, with many additions and new stories. If the foundation is shaky, it is like building a house on sand. In this course, we will help you learn the basic shapes. We will draw examples from real games, so you will recognize the basic shapes in your own games.
21. We all know some josekis, but what if our opponent does not follow the correct joseki moves? How do we punish the mistakes? Mingjiu 7p is starting a set of lectures on How to punish opponent's mistakes in josekis. He will tell you how to handle overplays and mistakes.
22. Magic Sword. Have you ever heard of joseki Magic Sword? If you like to play two space high pincer, it is a good idea to know something about Magic Sword.
    
23. Large Avalanche. The joseki Large Avalanche is really interesting and exciting! But it is not easy because there are so many variations. In this set of lectures we will show you the history of Avalanche and the modern variations. They will help you on contact fighting. Please take your time to learn the variations which you like and can use in your games.

Author: Guo Juan
English editor: Bob Felice