What's a lightweight, hassle-free site for playing Go

April 6, 2011 12:51 PM

Is there any site which is as awesome for playing Go with a friend as lichess is for chess? "Awesome" means more specifically lightweight (dial-up friendly), browser-based, ad-free, no registration required.
posted by Wolfdog to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

I used to play on KGS and liked it. I think it would be OK with dialup, though it does require Java.
posted by exogenous at 1:01 PM on April 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

There's also DGS, but it requires registration and isn't technically live (you need to refresh the Status page to see if your friend has played her turn yet). Advantage: it's completely HTML based, so you can play it on an ancient computer without having to worry about plugins.
posted by theodolite at 1:05 PM on April 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

There's also the fairly new No Strive Go, which is mostly in Chinese, but it's real-time, and browser-based, and I've managed to lose a few games on it.
posted by theodolite at 1:18 PM on April 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

KGS will work on dialup and is probably the best you're going to get.
posted by turkeyphant at 2:05 PM on April 6, 2011

I've played KGS on dialup, and can join the chorus of voices saying that it's a lovely place to play.
posted by piato at 2:13 PM on April 6, 2011

I used to play Go and Chess with friends on itsyourturn.com -- that site worked with Netscape 4 and IE3, 10 years ago. Should be okay on dialup.
posted by artlung at 7:36 PM on April 6, 2011