Forum: boardgames.stackexchange.com
Tags: <go>
Title: How does one set up a 1/4 board for Go – and is it a good way to start?
Question: As a beginner, I was handed a full go board. And, somehow figured it out.  A beginner friend wants to start "small" on something like 1/4 of the board.  Personally, I think that we should start with the entire board.

Answers:
sents: text: There is a lot of discussion on whether starting on 19x19 or 9x9 is preferable, the general consensus tends to 9x9.
text: Personally, I started on 19x19 but would have preferred 9x9.
text: As a beginner, you first need to understand the most basic melee fighting tactics (atari, ladder, snapback, basic life and death, etc).
text: 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.
text: 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).
answer_details: author: boardgames.stackexchange.com/users/60/mafu
score: 16
sents: text: If you have played go for a while, a full board can seem like a natural place to learn.
text: Obviously it is possible; So
text: that asks the question: "Why do so many people learn on a 9x9 board?"
text: and "Why does a 9x9 board exist at all?"
text: I have found, (past 10 years of teaching
text: Go), that a 9x9 is the right place to teach people.
text: 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.
text: 19x19 lines looks like 18x18 squares to someone that has learnt to play, almost all other board games.
text: The mind can boggle at how complicated that must be;
text: 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.)
text: So to sum up, some reasons to learn on a 9x9: Friendly size Get through teaching games quicker Learn the rules without the distraction of the deeper complexities, (the fun part), getting in the way.
text: Still fun Cheaper to make or buy Easier to store
answer_details: author: boardgames.stackexchange.com/users/3288/Alexx Roche
score: 7
sents: text: A 1/4 board (11x11), is not a standard size , so I do not believe that any official setup for black handicap stones exists.
text: Some confusion exists on what a quarter board is though, as I have seen a 9x9 also called a quarter board.
text: The handicaps for that board are listed here .
answer_details: author: boardgames.stackexchange.com/users/1873/user1873
score: 2
sents: text: a 9x9 is a board that is set for a battle not a war.
text: and that is ok.
text: There is a lot less centre area in a 9x9, which is good because there is no territory in the centre.
text: I find a 9x9 takes 15 minutes to pay,where as a 19x19 will take an hour or more.
text: A 13x13 is a interesting compromise.
text: A small war.
answer_details: author: boardgames.stackexchange.com/users/6665/Lyndon White
score: 1
sents: text: Actually setting up the 'quarter board' is hard to do on a 19x19 board.
text: Most people use a small board specifically made for the size, or make their own.
text: It is possible to crop an area from the large board, but this can be inconvenient.
text: As for learning on one, I feel Pieter Geerkens comment is quite correct.
text: 13x13 gives a more balanced vision of the game than 9x9.
text: 19x19 is too large, 9x9 is too small, but good to introduce the rules with.
text: Once the player has the basic rules down 100% on 13x13 then 19x19 becomes more interesting.
text: After some years playing primarily 19x19, I've gone back to 9x9 and 13x13 to improve my life and death techniques and starting moves.
answer_details: author: boardgames.stackexchange.com/users/6767/karmington
score: 1
sents: text: The basic board sizes are 9 x 9, 81 points or a "one-quarter" board, 13 X 13, or a "half" size board of 169 points, and 19 x 19, for a "full" board of 361 points.
text: Many full sized boards will have a 9 x 9, or 13
text: X 13, board printed on the back.
text: Otherwise, you could take paper and "block off the extra ten rows or columns of points above 9 x 9 on a full board.
text: I learned to play Go on a full-sized board and never looked back.
text: You might want to use a smaller board for the first five or ten games, just to learn the mechanics, but you'll want to transition to a full sized board as soon as possible so that you don't learn strategies that work on the smaller board but may be inappropriate for the full version.
answer_details: author: boardgames.stackexchange.com/users/1344/Tom Au
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
It is possible to crop an area but it would be inconvenient. 9x9 is a board set for battle not war.
A 1/4 board (11x11), is not a  standard size , so I do not believe that any official setup for black handicap stones exists.  19x19 is too large, 9x9 is too small, but good to introduce the rules with. A 9x9 is a board that is set for a battle not a war.   S2: There is a lot less centre area in a 9x9, which is good because there is no territory in the centre.  
It is also possible to crop an area from the large board, but this can be inconvenient.