Today has been quite an interesting day. In all the games I played today, there seemed to be one consistent theme: When the opponent gives me an opportunity to attack, I am in attack mode the rest of the game.

This is rather reminiscent of my DDK (double digit kyu) days when I would engage in these local battles that just bled onto the rest of the board. The main difference now though is that I am actually aware of the effects my moves have on my other groups and how the progression will affect my territory. Unfortunately, my attacks always fell short by a bit and I’d end up losing by a rather wide margin.

That being said, there were a number of times where I realized I was probably ahead and should’ve played more solid moves and let my opponent live. The rational course of action would be to just win the game without any hiccups, but it seems the green eyed go monster has been haunting me all day. Hopefully for my next set of games, I will be able to maintain a calmer demeanor in my go.

Finally, before I close out tonight’s post, I wanted to give a shout out to Frederic! It was great to meet you and be able to play with you today! Looking forward to playing you more often in the future!

That is the question.

I’ve been fortunate enough to make some incredible friends since my return to go, and I was quite surprised to find that many were curious about when I would finally play a ranked game again.

To start, I’m shocked that I didn’t try to play a ranked game the moment the clock struck midnight on New Years Eve. Yet, more than three days later, I’m sitting here with three free games under my belt and not a ranked game in sight. So the question is, what am I waiting for?

In all honesty, I think part of me is torn between returning to ranked games and continuing my study method for an additional month. On one hand, I’m really curious how much growth I’ve undergone since my ranked game sabbatical in December. On the other hand, I’m thinking that it might be more exciting to continue as I have and see where I am in another month! xD After all, I need to get as strong as I can possibly get before the North American Go Convention!!!

And the other thing that I have to remember is that I am getting thrashed on Tygem and WBaduk at 6k or below, so in actuality, I might not have grown as much as I am hoping I did. So for now, looks I’m going to continue sticking to league games and continuing my training!

Weekly Go Wednesday, Issue #11

Counting (i.e., estimating territory at any point in the game). Although this is a skill that many would say is critical to improving the consistency of your games, this is probably the skill that is most avoided by go players all around. For those who are not aware of the benefits of counting, it boils down to one simple principle: It provides guidance as to how aggressively/defensively you should be playing.

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Happy 2013!!!!

For my first post of 2013, I’m happy to inform you all that I will now be on Tygem as well as KGS! My username is still bengozen, so be sure to request a game if you ever see me on! (If you’re wondering what my thoughts are on the server, be on the lookout for the review in the near future!)

When I asked frozensoul what his thoughts were about me getting on Tygem, he told me that I should set my rank at 18k and then fight my way up. I really liked the idea, except I realized that I had already registered my account as 8-9k (a few months ago) and it seems I cannot change it anymore. So even though I am missing out on the DDK fighting, it’ll still be nice to see if I can climb up to my KGS rank this way.

Thus far, the opponents I have played on have a completely different style from what I’m used to on KGS. Lots and lots of fighting….

Case and point: see my first game record for 2013 below!