Despite the depth and complexity of the game of go you can learn the rules in just a few minutes. If you know a go player you can ask for an introduction. But, if you want to learn by yourself there are many excellent resources online. Our favourites are:
- The page online-go.com has an interactive guide, see figure to the right.
- A video from Gobutiken in Swedish.
- A video from GoMagic in English.
We also have PDF-files with summarised rules for new players (in Swedish) on this page.
When you know the basics, try playing as many games as you can to get experience. You may visit a go-club, or play online or against a computer. To play against others can be tough in the beginning as they may have more experience than you. But, remember that everyone lose many games in the beginning - don't take this as lack of talent! Go takes time to master, and it usually takes several months before you start to get a feeling for what is happening on the board.
To compare the skill level in different players, and enable playing even games despite different skill levels, there is a grading system just like in many martial arts. You can read more about this on the page for ranker och handikapp.
If you want suggestions for how to improve as a go player, check out the page to bli starkare!