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As a beginner, I was handed a full go board. And, somehow figured it out.

A beginner friend wants to start "small" and something like 1/4 of the board.

Personally, I think that we should start with the entire board.

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This might be of interest to you boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/6336/… – user1873 Jul 3 '12 at 2:14

3 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

A 1/4 board (11x11), is not a standard size, so I do not believe that any official setup for black handicap stones exists.

Some confusion exists on what a quarter board is though, as I have seen a 9x9 also called a quarter board. The handicaps for that board are listed here.

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4  
1/4 likely refers to 9x9, I have never seen 11x11 in this context. – mafutrct♦ Jul 3 '12 at 10:06
up vote 6 down vote

There is a lot of discussion on whether starting on 19x19 or 9x9 is preferable, the general consensus tends to 9x9. Personally, I started on 19x19 but would have preferred 9x9.

As a beginner, you first need to understand the most basic melee fighting tactics (atari, ladder, snapback, basic life and death, etc). Those can be learned on both big and small boards, but small boards avoid introducing complex strategic issues and make for faster games that are easier to review.

You probably should stick to small boards until you are familiar enough with the game to stop making "obvious" mistakes (crawling with a dead group on the first line, playing out ladders, stuff like that).

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2  
I preferred 9x9 when I was first starting to learn because the games were faster. – TimothyAWiseman Jul 3 '12 at 22:27
Play on a 9x9 board goes much faster, and allows people to learn by playing the "capturing game", in which the first person to capture any stones wins. There are even some professional games on a 9x9 board. – Gustav Bertram Nov 12 '12 at 14:05
up vote 2 down vote

If you have played go for a while, a full board can seem like a natural place to learn. Obviously it is possible; So that asks the question: "Why do so many people learn on a 9x9 board?" and "Why does a 9x9 board exist at all?"

I have found, (past 10 years of teaching Go), that a 9x9 is the right place to teach people. There are lots of reasons, (that you will probably find in the other answers - "get through your first 100 games quickly"), but my top reason is fear.

19x19 lines looks like 18x18 squares to someone that has learnt to play, almost all other board games. The mind can boggle at how complicated that must be; A 9x9 looks like 8x8 squares, which is the same dimensions as some other games use, (though they are mostly tactic based games and Go adds strategy into the mix.)

So to sum up, some reasons to learn on a 9x9:

  1. Friendly size
  2. Get through teaching games quicker
  3. Learn the rules without the distraction of the deeper complexities, (the fun part), getting in the way.
  4. Still fun
  5. Cheaper to make or buy
  6. Easier to store
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