Go seems like a simple game. You can learn to play in 2 or 3 minutes --- less if you're paying attention. Yet many of us spend a good chunk of our lives trying to improve, trying to gain another stone in strength. What is the best way to do this?

I'm asking you. Please email your opinions to me, bobbacon@earthlink.net, and I'll post (most of) your responses on these pages. I hope this will make for interesting and useful reading. This won't be a blog (see the links page for some great Go blogs) but will be updated as time allows.

Here are my humble thoughts on this subject.

This game has been played for thousands of years. It still keeps changing, and will always be new and interesting, but a few things have been figured out pretty well: Fuseki (openings); Joseki (orchestrated moves that result in roughly equal results, often in a corner); and Tesuji (especially skillful moves). We need to benefit from the work of those past masters whose spirits linger around our Go boards. They have a lot to tell us.

So, how do we listen? There are tons of books out there. A few are in English, and more are being written or translated every year. Many of these books are very good. Some are quite difficult, and may not be worth the effort, especially when we're just beginning. Book study is a good path to take, but I believe there is a better way.

In sports, when we want to get better, we use trainers and coaches. In academia, our teachers, advisors and tutors help us to learn. Musicians study under maestros. In all human endeavors, from the noblest to the most base, if we want to get better at something, the best way is to find someone who is very, very good at it, and ask them to help us to learn. When we want to improve our skills, we find a teacher.

In early 2008 there are only a few professional Go teachers available to westerners. But, 10 years ago, there were even fewer. I think it's obvious that the best instruction is available from the Pros. They've dedicated their lives to playing and teaching Go, and they know more about the game than any of us will ever have time to learn. To improve our game, we should listen to them, understand their words, and apply their teachings.

I have a favorite Pro. And she appears at the top of the following list. But each of these pros, and the one very strong amateur in the list, have a lot to offer. I encourage you to get to know them, find one whose style and knowledge are a good match for you, and avail yourself of their knowledge, their wisdom and their guidance. We need to support our Go Pros living in the West. By supporting them, we will become better players, and we will help create an environment where Go can become more widely enjoyed.

Guo Juan 5P, guojuangoschool@gmail.com (group and individual lessons), and www.audiogolessons.com (over 400 audio recordings with KGS-style boards covering a wide range of topics, from san-ren-sai (san-lian-xin), the Chinese openings, counting, step-by-step study, shapes, monkey jumps and much more, to the games of Go Seigen, and reviews of today's games of Cho Chikun, Lee ChangHo, Gu Li, Lee SeDol, Cho U, and most of the other current top players).

MingJiu Jiang 7P, www.audiogolessons.com, www.gomasters.com

Xiaoren He 5P, xiaorenh@hotmail.com

Jennie ShenJing 2P, www.audiogolessons.com

James Kerwin 1P, jimk@maroon.tc.umn.edu.

Feng Yun 9P, mywebpages.comcast.net/fengyun/

Yilun Yang 7P, yanggo@earthlink.net

Janice Kim 3P, www.Samarkand.net

Huiren Yang 1P, yangxujian@hotmail.com

Yuan Zhou, 7D