I started playing Net go, thinking this would be a good way to communicate with my father, who lives a long way away. However, I’m a beginner, and my father is a dan player. To some extent, I’ve mastered the basic rules, such as ko and kosumi, but I really can’t play the kind of games that would make my father happy. (At present, I play on six stones.) I keep losing, which bothers me, and I’d like to be able to play games that would make my father happy. Can you recommend any good ways to improve or any good study methods? Consultation Two : Mr. Tabata Hello, Mr. Tabata. Thank you for your question. You say that you’re a beginner, but if you are playing a dan player on six stones, you are much more than that. If you can get up to four stones, the games will become much more interesting for your father. As for ways to improve, the first thing I recommend is to play a lot of games. The best thing is to play not handicap games but lots of games on even with opponents of similar strength. Rather than losing confidence by playing handicap games, it’s better to build up your confidence by winning and losing even games. That will be more help in improving. When you don’t have enough time to play actual games, try simple life-and-death problems (ones that can be solved in one to three moves). Trying a lot of different things might not be effective, so for the time being how about focussing on these two: actual games and life-and-death problems? Also, when you are playing, make an effort to look at the whole board instead of just looking where your opponent has just played. The good thing about the Net is that you can play with someone far away, so parent and child can keep in contact. Please develop your skills on Pandanet! I think you’ll be able to become stronger immediately. I’m rooting for you.