Ladders: When and How

Difficulty
Audio En
Subtitles EnRuDe
Quiz EnRu
Find a ladder and count it till you mount it
May 2026
(35)

Ladders are one of the first things you learn in Go, yet they remain a frequent source of mistakes. They may be simple in principle, but they are incredibly demanding in practice. This course offers a deep dive into ladders: how to recognize them early and manage them effectively. You’ll master common shapes and tactical patterns that will sharpen your reading and ensure you never fall into a costly ladder trap again.

Suitable for: 20–13 kyu

Teacher

Marianna Szychowiak 2d

Devoted Go player from Poland deciphering the game and the Chinese language.

  $39.90 *
Trial Lesson
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Course Includes

5 Lessons
7 Quizzes
~ 60 min

Reviews

4.9
Avg. Rating
35 Reviews
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We'd love to know what you think!
Posted 6 days ago

The course was good and clearly explained when a ladder works and when it doesn't. As constructive feedback, I would have liked more depth on when you should actually choose to play a ladder, when to avoid it even if it works, and how to respond effectively when your opponent starts one. It felt a bit too basic overall.

Posted 1 week ago

Nunca pensé que las escaleras te llevarás a tantos sitios, ahora soy capaz de reconocerlas. 🙂

Posted 1 month ago

Very good

Posted 1 month ago

Very good

Posted 1 month ago

Very interesting (and useful) course. Thanks!

Posted 2 months ago

Very helpful course for intermediate-beginners. Gets a little tricky at the end which makes things not feel too boring! Nice to have new teachers as you leave the beginner phase.

Posted 2 months ago

Nice course. Clear and usefull. Thanks

Posted 2 months ago

Really fun course with great examples! I would love to see even more quizzes which tests reading out ladders to see if they work or not 🙂

Posted 2 months ago

At the beginning it was very easy but the end was really fun

Posted 2 months ago

Very clear

Posted 2 months ago

It's an excellent course, it's really well made and the explanation are clear. You get a very good explanation about ladders, how to use them, when to use them and how to respond to them. The way she explained it is precise and understandable. I recommend it.

Posted 2 months ago

learned a lot excellent course

Posted 2 months ago

Very interesting, I would have been more pleased to see more different situations using ladder breakers. Congratulations.

Posted 3 months ago

I enjoyed the instructor's dry sense of humor. At times the course moved just a little too fast for me, so I'll go back and study each board. My favorite part was the rapid sequence of examples from real-world games. I was surprised at how well I read those -- not great but better than I expected for my inexperience. Now, at least I will understand when I am beaten by a ladder!

Posted 3 months ago

Course was a bit easy. I would have included more examples where you need to read ladders move by move precisely.

Posted 3 months ago

Nice course for beginner’s in ladders

Posted 3 months ago

I learned so much about ladders! Super fun course. Quizzes were good too!

Posted 3 months ago

Great course! Didn't know ladders could be this tricky

Posted 3 months ago

Des explications simples et claires pour des exercices pas si simples. Merci

Posted 3 months ago

That's a great course. Thanks, Marianna! Even though I was able to solve all the problems in the course except for one, I still feel that I've become much more confident in this important area. The point that you shouldn't “estimate” the ladders but count them stone by stone is very important.

We'd love to know what you think!