Man…. it’s only day four of February’s training regimen and I can already feel the weight of it bearing down on me. On top of that, I’m playing even more even games with players 5+ stones stronger than me and getting crushed left and right. Not feeling bad about myself or anything, but definitely slightly winded. The good thing is that I think I’m starting to become more immune to losing, but we’ll have to wait and see if that’s true. =D

As I continue to try and analyze the gaps in my ability, I’ve found that watching other people’s games has been helpful in reinforcing my understanding of the game. While I find myself wanting to yell at the screen when people choose a variation that is in favor of their opponent, the experience is quite humorous as a whole and helps me to see the gaps in other players’ knowledge; which in turn helps to fill mine.

Nonetheless, it seems I’m a track to straight losses in ASR; but hopefully I can rack up enough points to stay in the class. Here’s to hoping!

This weekend has been pretty crazy and busy, but I thought I would let you guys know about something my friend azural found in his perusing of a go forum: PlayMoreGo.com.

The purpose of this short film (i.e. movie trailer) is to try and find a way to tackle the issue of how to explain the game of go in an exciting way. Not everyone has the time nor ability to watch something like Hikaru No Go and get bitten by the go bug, so this is something that I think would really help to further spread the word of go. After all, just because someone doesn’t like chess doesn’t mean they won’t be smitten by how amazing go is. =D

Based on the their website, I think they have the potential to make something incredible. So if you would like to support them, be sure to visit their page at IndieGoGo (an equivalent to Kickstarter) to do so! In case you don’t know what Kickstarter is, the group only receives the funding if they reach their target goal. If they fall short of their goal, everyone gets their money refunded. It’s a win win situation!

They only have a month to go and still need to raise a bit of money. So if you can, please donate what you can! I already have! =D

After an awesome discussion with Feather , I’ve been inspired to start another weekly series in order to give you a glimpse into my world of go. It will be a high level overview of my progress every week and will be released every Friday at 5:00 PM. Let me know what you think and I can always update the format if people want!

Games

• KGS - 9 games (4 wins : 5 losses)
• Tygem - 1 game (0 wins : 1 loss)

Tsumego

• 1001 Life and Death Problems - #851 - 1001
• Essential Life & Death (Vol. 1) - Pages 1-33

Other

• Commented Games by Lee Sedol - Game #1 - Part 1
• Shape Up! - Introduction & Chapters 1 - 3

Thoughts

Overall, it’s been a rather eventful week since the ASR League was wrapping up and the final points were being tallied. The good news is that I managed to get promoted to Alpha!!! Woot woot! I know that some people will say, “It’s easy to get to Alpha. Just play a lot of games.” To you I say that may be true if you actually win some of your games, but otherwise it’s near impossible since your points rack up so slowly compared to people who win a majority of their games.

Since February is going to be a short month, it seems I will be going on another ranked game sabbatical since I will have my hands full trying to stay in Alpha class and also keeping up with my study schedule for the month. Not to mention that North American Go Convention is this month as well, and that will take out four days of studying/playing. So lots to do this month, and very little time. Something’s got to give right? =) Here’s to the start of a crazy month! Ikuzo!

Last night I had the opportunity to play my first game of rengo ever! For those wondering what rengo is, it is pair go! You essentially alternate turns with your teammates. Obviously, the trickiest part is trying to make sure your strategy is not conflicting with your opponents.

As I look back on it, it was a lot of fun. It’s very interesting to see the game through so many different perspectives. Thinking as a collective mind and trying to understand the minds of your opponents makes the game on a much more global level than local fights. At least that’s how I felt when I played. (^.^) For the game record, see the end of the post.

Definitely something I would recommend players to experience (if they can find a partner that they feel comfortable with). It is a lot of fun and definitely helps you avoid being one track minded about things.

On another note, tomorrow will be the official start of my Korean Style Study. For those curious as to what I’m planning on doing, here’s the outline:

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I’ve been on a losing streak these last couple of days. I could blame it on any number of things, but I know that one of my immediate problems is not knowing when to stop while I’m ahead.

In my quest to maintain zen state throughout the entire game, it seems that the red eyed goblin still creeps up as the game goes on. My killing instinct is subdued to the point where I’m generally attacking without a thought of killing, but then it starts to move towards the end of the game and then I realize that capturing an entire group is possible. All of a sudden, the hunt is on and next thing I know I’m clicking the resign button since one of my groups dies in the battle.

It seems I am still unable to step back and just ask myself, “What is the estimated score? Should I continue being so aggressive? Is it time to wrap up the game?” It’s something that dan players are telling me time and time again, but I keep getting caught up in the moment and being too focused on determining tactical strategies instead of figuring out if my global strategy needs to change.

I do feel an urge to go play another game so I can (in my mind) beat my opponent and feel better about myself, but it is not as strong as it normally is. Hopefully this is a sign of growth on my part. I am happy with the game that I played (for the most part). I just wish I didn’t give it away due to being careless due to my blood lust. To keep myself from falling back into a reckless go state though, I will play it safe and just stop for now.

Weekly Go Wednesday, Issue #15

I recently had the pleasure of discussing a game with frozensoul and DeepSnow, when DeepSnow said something that made me laugh:

“I count on kyu players to outread themselves.” - DeepSnow

While it was funny at the moment, it didn’t take long before the truth of the statement dawned on me.

For those wondering what he is talking about, DeepSnow is referring to the tendency of kyu players to automatically play conservative moves in anticipation of some crazy tesuji (even though it doesn’t exist).

There are two primary reasons for why players do this:

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Over the last couple of days, I’ve been doing a bit of self-reflection. Amidst the thinking and introspection, one of the things that I realized was that I had a really inconsistent approach to my games. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I often found myself trying to play a game for the heck of it or to try and fit in a quick win before I needed to do something else. Then, on the complete opposite end, there were times when I played games where time was not a factor and I could completely immerse myself in my games. As one might expect, this made a significant impact on the results of my games.

While time is clearly one of the aspects that impacted my games, I realized that more blame can be attributed to my attitude toward the games. After all, a number of my ranked games were played with the idea that, “I can beat stronger players in even games, so this game should take only a fraction of the time and energy.” Unbelievably cocky no? Way to completely overrate myself and not respect my opponents for the strength they possessed.

I’m sure I’ll write more on this in the future, but I think it’s important that you give every opponent the respect they deserve. Trying to complicate a game in order to utilize your strong reading abilities to win is very different from underestimating your opponent and expecting them to make poor decisions. After all, I think a lot of us can agree that losing a game because you underestimate your opponent feels pretty crappy.

So while I’ve been a little quiet in terms of playing games, it’s not because I’m taking a break from go; but I’ve decided that I want to give every game I play the attention that it deserves. I’ve been rather busy as of late, but I’m trying my best not to play a game just to satisfy an itch. After all, I want every game I play to be a game I am proud to call my own, regardless of whether I win or lose.

I’m happy to report that my ranked game today went very well. Each move was calculated and had an intended purpose. There were a few mistakes in my reading here and there, but overall it was a success when you consider some of my previous ranked games from a little while ago. So here’s to hoping that the tweak I’ve made to the ranked games I play will allow me to begin to achieve my actual rank (whatever it is).

As I continue to work towards achieving solid dan status, I have noticed that it is definitely becoming more difficult to improve. It’s not so much that it is “hard,” but the difficult lies in the fact that the proper steps to get stronger become hazy as you climb the ladder. It’s no longer as simple as improving your reading and having a better grasp of life and death. The more I have my games reviewed, the more I realize that I need to begin grasping and utilizing ideas like aji in order to reach the next level.

Like anything else though, first thing first: Achieve solid 4k status before March.

Weekly Go Wednesday, Issue #14

While nothing can replace the experience of playing games, one of the greatest mistakes that players make is to play games endlessly without any mind as to why they are winning or losing. There is nothing wrong with this approach as a whole, but it is contrary to the whole notion of getting stronger. After all, how can anyone learn from their mistake if they never knew it existed?

The one thing we have to remember as kyu players is that we often fall victim to being ignorant to fundamental go principles. It’s not so much that we’re not aware of them, but applying them in our game is a completely different story. Often times in the middle of a game, we will think one way and will not realize our mistake till later on. As a result, an extremely important aspect of getting stronger is to review your games.

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When I decided to return to ranked games, I will have to be honest in that I expected my graph to just shoot up. In fact, I’ve even developed a reputation in the ASR League for being a “3k Killer.” So it should obviously follow that any even games with 6 and 7 kyus should be something I can win in my sleep right? WRONG!

For those who don’t follow me on KGS, you’ll notice that my rank graph is well… a bit different from what I imagined it would be. xD

Like anyone else, I was really frustrated by my progress. I mean, why was I having such a difficult time beating 6-7ks when I actually managed to beat stronger players in even games from time to time? I tried to make all kinds of excuses: the stronger players were underestimating me, my opponents were just lucky I made mistakes, I was in an off mood, etc. But after I realized how those were all just external attributions for things I had control over, I decided to look inward for the answer.

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