Shahgoshah and go: a beginner's guide to chess and go

An independent beginner's guide to chess and go. It is not a club, federation or gaming service and is not connected with the former website on this domain.

Guides

Practical guides

The first article in this section covers a skill that helps chess and go players alike: reviewing your own games. A game that is played and forgotten teaches you almost nothing. A reviewed game shows which habit is stopping you from winning and tells you what to work on next.

The key mistake in a game is rarely where you lost a piece or a group of stones. It usually happened a few moves earlier — at the point where you stopped paying attention to your opponent's plans.

— Editor's view

What to prepare

  • A record of the game: chess notation on a scoresheet or a game saved online.
  • A board with pieces or stones, so you can set up positions by hand rather than just looking at a screen.
  • A notebook or file for notes: this is where your conclusions from each review will go.
  • Half an hour of quiet time, ideally the same day, while the game is fresh in your mind.
  • A willingness to admit your own miscalculations instead of blaming it all on bad luck.

  1. Write down your first impression

    Right after the game, before opening any programs, write a few lines about where you think the game was decided and how you felt at that moment.

    Illustrative example: a player writes that they lost to a sudden attack on the king, although it later turns out the position went wrong much earlier.

  2. Play through the game from start to finish

    Set up the starting position and replay all the moves on the board. Do not stop for long — right now you need to rebuild the overall picture and find the places where you thought for a long time or hesitated.

    Illustrative example: in a go game, a student notices that three times in a row she answered her opponent's moves right next to them without looking at the rest of the board.

  3. Mark the turning points

    Find two or three places after which the position changed noticeably: lost material, a weakened king, a surrounded group, a missed opportunity.

    Illustrative example: a chess player marks the moment he decided not to castle, and the next one, when his queen came under attack.

  4. Think through each moment yourself

    Set up the position and look for the best move without help. Write down your lines and reasoning, even if you are unsure. It is exactly this independent work that trains you.

    Illustrative example: a go player finds that instead of yet another contact reply, she could have strengthened a weak group in another corner.

  5. Compare notes with your opponent or a program

    Discuss the game with your partner or check your conclusions with an analysis program. Compare its assessment with yours and try to understand why they differ, rather than simply memorising the suggested move.

    Illustrative example: the program shows that the position went wrong one move earlier than the player thought: he missed a knight fork.

  6. Name the key mistake

    Put it into one sentence as a habit rather than a single move: "I don't check what is threatened after my opponent's move", "I rush into an attack before finishing development", "I forget about my group's liberties".

    Illustrative example: a new line appears in the notes: "before every move, check all captures and checks — mine and my opponent's".

  7. Draw a lesson for the future

    Pick puzzles on the theme where you went wrong and solve a few over the next days. In your next games, pay special attention to that particular habit.

    Illustrative example: after a run of games lost because of undefended pieces, a player spends a week solving simple fork puzzles.

Common mistakes

  • Opening a program straight away and looking only at its evaluation without thinking for yourself even once.
  • Reviewing only your losses: won games contain just as many mistakes.
  • Making excuses like "I just blundered" instead of working out why the blunder became possible.
  • Memorising suggested moves without understanding why they are stronger than yours.
  • Putting the review off until later and forgetting what you were thinking during the game.
  • Trying to fix everything at once instead of one key habit.

Other options

  • If the record was not saved, reconstruct at least the key position from memory and review just that.
  • If you have no program to hand, show the game to a more experienced player or discuss it with your opponent.
  • If you have too many games, review one in several in detail, and for the rest stick to your first impression and the key mistake.

Check yourself

  • First impression written down right after the game
  • Whole game replayed on the board
  • Two or three turning points marked
  • Own lines for each moment, found without help
  • Conclusions checked with the opponent or a program
  • Key mistake phrased as a habit
  • Puzzles on that theme picked out
  • Note saved in a notebook or file

Article catalogue for English-speaking readers

This is where standalone articles on chess and go for beginners will appear: about the rules, learning and playing with other people. They are written specifically for the English version, with an eye to how English-speaking amateurs usually learn and play — at home, at school, in local clubs and online.

What we are working on

  • Puzzles that actually help: how many, which kind and in what order.
  • Your first game of go on a small board: how to work out who won.
  • Keeping score in chess: how to write down the moves without losing track.
  • Etiquette at the board: what is expected and what to avoid.
  • Getting ready for your first amateur event or school club match.

Editorial policy

  • Articles in this catalogue are written separately for each language version and are not translations.
  • Some articles link to third-party websites, including gaming services; we do not control their content, prices or terms.
  • We do not take bets or publish advertising for clubs, schools or gaming services, rankings, prices or reviews.
  • Questions

    Short answers about chess, go, learning and fair play over the board and online.

  • Reference

    Glossary: check, checkmate, stalemate, castling, notation, liberty, ko, komi, time control.

  • Collections

    Reading paths: your first month of chess, your first month of go, strategy board games with a child.

Sources

  • FIDE — Laws of Chess
  • Encyclopedic sources on the history of chess and go

Information is current as of the date the material was prepared. Official competition rules are revised from time to time, so before a tournament check the current edition of the rules and the regulations of that particular event.