The board game Go (aka Igo/Baduk/Weiqi) is believed to be the oldest board game in the world of which is still continuously played to this day. The game is played worldwide though predominantly played in Asia, but has recently gained in popularity since the advent of Google‘s DeepMind and its documented mastery of the game. The documentary AlphaGo is in fact a fascinating look at the subject and how an AI was able to beat the world’s top Go player Lee Sedol in 2016.
Checkout the AlphaGo trailer and full movie here:
How to play GO online
There are plenty of ways to play GO online. There are in fact many, many apps and resources, and all of which are too numerous to list here. Here is a small sample of Go apps and resources.
1. OGS
This is a great resource for learning the fundamentals about GO. You can learn to play, try sample puzzles, watch tournaments and more.
https://online-go.com
2. Tsumego Pro
If you want to practice GO problems on the…uh…”go”…you can try Tsumego which has a large database of problems to solve, and more.
Get it from Google Play
Get it from the AppStore
3. BadukPop Go
BadukPop Go is yet another way to learn Go by playing against an AI. You can try different difficulty levels for a variety of puzzles. You can also play with friends and with a variety of players from around the world.
Get it from Google Play
Get it from the AppStore
4. GoQuest
GoQuest is another Go app that allows you to practice against an AI. GoQuest is great for beginners as it is known for having many weak bots. We like weak bots.
Get it from Google Play
Get it from the AppStore
If you’re looking for a visual how-to on how to play Go, here’s an informative video: