Sensei’s Library

Put simply, Sensei’s Library is one of the best resources for weiqi players.  From Aji to Yose, you’ll be able to find pages on any weiqi-related term along with examples along and past discussion on that term.

Sensei’s is a wiki similar to Wikipedia, in consideration to a few differences that include Sensei’s specialization in weiqi-related material. The community on Sensei’s is generally friendly, and wiki faux pas are usually forgiven with a light reprimand for failing to do more research concerning etiquette.

The question of where to begin can be overwhelming to the new visitor, but Sensei’s provides a “Starting Points” link which gives the user just that: A place to begin their understanding of Sensei’s Library and through it, weiqi.

Starting Points

• Pages for Beginners – This section will be of most use to the new players (although some “old hats” might benefit from a revisit from time to time). From a section on “Rules” to suggestions on how and what to study, this really is a fantastic place to begin, and a section that players of every level should visit when they first begin working with Sensei’s.
• Guided Tours – Here you’ll find many “themed” paths to pursue to gain a better understanding of this resource. The possibilities branching from this page are many. I’d recommend not missing out on this one during initial visits too.
• Recent Changes – Once you’ve become a regular at Sensei’s, this will probably be your most frequented page. Any time a change is made on a page, it shows up here. Find out something interesting about a recent cup tournament or follow a discussion on a newly developed joseki.

A page I just recently discovered is Benjamin Teuber’s Guide to Become Strong. Stressing study around tsumego, this guide also includes a great discussion from some of the giants of Sensei’s. Regardless of skill level, pages like Joseki and Japanese Go Terms will probably help in your study of the game.

Once you’ve gotten a feel for how Sensei’s is run and what a good page looks like, you might feel the need to begin editing pages. While entering the edit mode itself is quite easy, Sensei’s does have a few peculiarities all of its own. From text formatting to diagram guides, all of the relevant information can be found on the page How to Use Wiki.

One of the first pages you’ll probably be apt to create will be your own personal page. While not a stunning example of what you can do, check out my personal page. On it, I include not only a little bit of information about my life, but relevant links to other pages of mine, how to catch me for a game, and what to expect in terms of skill from that game. Take it as a starting point, rather than a template. The great thing about the Wiki-style site is that you have complete freedom over what you include.

As cliche as it sounds, Sensei’s is what we (the weiqi-playing community) make of it. The more we contribute, the more useful it becomes. It really is a fantastic site that encourages a bidirectional flow of information (between the contributors, viewers, and site admin) rather than the one-way flow (from the contributors to the viewers).

Likewise, this blog needs contribution in order to really be effective for the weiqi playing community of St. Louis. Do you recommend any pages from Sensei’s that I missed here? Feel free to leave in comments where they’ll probably be edited back up to the article.

Explanation of the Site

Since everyone visiting will be new to this blog (because the blog itself is new), a description of its features seems wise.

First, the navigation: Look above this article. At present, there are three navigation links: “Home,” “Clubs,” and “Events.” The “Clubs” link will provide you with information about all the go clubs currently meeting in St. Louis. Unfortunately, there’s only the Creve Coeur club right now. Hopefully there’ll be more in the future, and they’ll all get space here.

After that is the “Events” link. If we every organize a tournament locally, information about it will be posted there. Until that time, it’ll basically be listing any tournaments within a reasonable radius around St. Louis (e.g. Chicago).

On the left there are several links which the aspiring go player will find useful. “Blogroll” is a collection of other go-related blogs which will have their own unique take on the game and life as a go player. As I find (or am recommended to visit) new, quality blogs, they’ll be added to the presently short list.

“Go Links” includes various sites, including the AGA website, which didn’t fit neatly into any particular category because of its content. The AGA website is a great place to find information on events and other clubs. Milt’s Go Page has many Go-related anecdotes and articles which, during a break in studying, is a nice change of pace.

“Play” provides many different opportunities to play over the Internet. IGS, KGS, and Yahoo! games are all active game sites, where both players are “sitting” at the same board at the same time. Dragon Go Server, or DGS, is an asynchronous site where players can take days to play a single move (this is great if you want to play, but aren’t sure you’ll a large enough block of time to sit through an entire game).

Finally, “Study” is, as the name suggests, a collection of links where go players can find studying resources. Check each link out, as they are all incredibly useful to players at every level of strength. Game records (ancient and recent), game review, and much more can be found within those links.

These links will change over the course of this blog’s life. If it becomes obvious that a few of the blogs I’ve linked to are no longer being actively maintained, they’ll come down and hopefully replaced by new ones. If there’s an exciting new site added I’ll try to make mention of it here with a brief introduction, but generally speaking it’ll be on the reader himself to pay attention.

I sincerely hope that this helps all readers, local and otherwise, in their growth and enjoyment of go.