I am a living example that you can not learn Go by books alone.
I learned about Go in 1984, but over the years I have had very little opportunity to play. In the days before the Internet, I could never find an opponent on a regular basis, so I read books and worked problems to satisfy my Go cravings. When the Internet Go servers became available, I always told myself that I would start playing “someday” but never took the time to begin. As a result, I have amassed quite a bit of Go theory but absolutely no practice.
Recently on my 40th birthday it occurred to me that if I did not begin to put some time and effort into actually playing Go it would be too late. My time would pass and I would never truly understand this game that has fascinated me for over 20 years. It was time to make Go a priority.
Between my various real life responsibilities I may not have time to study Go on a daily basis, but I have been attending the Kyu class at the Seattle Go Center each Sunday at 5:00pm. I try to get there a hour or two early and am always up for a game before the class. If time allows I also attend the monthly AGA rating tournaments at the Go Center. You can't miss me; I'm the big guy with the Red Beard.
I love reading my Go books and working on problems, but I find when I sit down at the board all of that knowledge goes away. Playing a live Go game takes a different set of mental muscles than reading on your own. A good Go player needs to have real world game experience in addition to theory and tactics.
