How did you get to 10 kyu?

I think 10 kyu is a great milestone for anyone who loves Go. I’m really curious about how you got there, with or without the help of books, internet materials, friends, clubs, or teachers.

Even if you're 15 or 20 kyu, please share your story about getting past the first phase of understanding how to play Go.

---

I’ll go first.

I learned the rules of Go from a very basic book back in 2007 at a school club. I tried to play a couple of times but found it pretty boring and confusing since nobody in the club actually knew how to play.

Luckily, one day, a guy who was 12 kyu joined the club and beat the shit out of me. I asked him how he did that magical thing, and he introduced me to KGS.

I started playing on KGS relentlessly, about 150-200 games per month (mostly 19x19) against players of the same strength or stronger (1 to 5 stones above me). I became 10 kyu after just two months there.

I can’t quite remember how I learned capturing, life and death, yose, or openings; I think it just came to me naturally through playing games. I only read one introductory book and did a bit of tsumego, but I didn't do a lot of tsumego at that time.

How about you?