Friday Go Forward: Week 38

Overview

Overall, this week has been a continuation of me just trying to figure out what kind of studying works best in the time I have. Though I am far from releasing a user guide of sorts, the one advice that I am sure will not change is this: Start small. Whether it’s only 5 minutes every day to sit down and do a couple tsumego or go over ten moves of a pro game, it will add up over time. That much I can promise you. =)

And by the way, the BadukTV English from GoGamGuru continues to impress me with how little I know even though I’m technically 3-4 kyu KGS. Even though I’m more than halfway through the “Becoming 5 Kyu” series, I am just flabbergated

Games

• KGS - 3 games
• DGS - 3 ongoing games
• Nova - 10+ games

Training Menu

• 20 minutes of Reading Training (i.e., Life & Death, Tesuji, etc.)
• 20 minutes of Go Theory Study (i.e., Joseki, Direction of Play, etc.)
• 20 minutes of Experience Training (i.e., Play or review a game)

Reading Material

• Worked on Otake’s Secrets of Strategy.
• Worked on Jump Level Up 5.
• Started working on Dictionary of Basic Joseki 1.

Video Lessons

• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 19
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 20
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 21
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 22
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 23
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 24
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 25

Earlier today, I saw that my friend Michael was in the middle of a game and so I decided to pop on in. Upon arrival and scanning the board a bit, it became pretty apparent that it was a one-sided game. Sure enough, it wouldn’t be long before his opponent resigned.

In our post-game discussion, Michael said, “In beginning, I felt like I was behind on territory; but I told myself to be patient and it really paid off.” Though he didn’t know it at the time, I found it interesting that he brought up the notion of being patient since it had been on my mind as of late.

When it comes to playing games, I noticed that I have a tendency to be antsy about what my opponent played so that I could play my next move. Or when I’m reviewing a professional game, I find myself trying to figure out simply find the next move instead of savoring each moment and submerging myself in its meaning and purpose. As a result, I’m pretty sure that I am end up being able to only apply part of what I am really capable of.

In other words, what I think I’m trying to say is that impatience is clearly an obstacle when it comes to my own growth and development. Definitely something I will need to to work on…

For this week’s bonus review, we come to the final conclusion of my Canada Go League performance! After my performance from the third game, my goal was to be much calmer during this game and avoid any big blunders like before. Do I manage to end with a 3-1 record? Or will I be put in my place again and be left with a 2-2 record? Jump into the kifu and find out!

As some of you know, I recently ramped up my activity on Online-Go.com (which in case you missed the news, it is a merger of the former Nova.gs community and the Online-Go community) and I have something crazy like 16 games going on at once.

In my last Friday Go Forward post, I mentioned the fact that I was feeling appreciative of the fact that turn based go is allowing me to practice applying concepts. Although that sentiment is still true for the most part, I have come to the conclusion that it’s not quite the same. And while I would love to go on a rant right now about turn-based go and its merits and demerits, I will save that for another time and focus on the reason I’m writing here today: disjointed moves that lack the energy and vigor that comes with playing real time games.

Though some might argue that one (ideally) should be able to identify the best move on the board at any time, I personally believe there is something to said about a person’s ability being pushed to the max when under time pressure and facing your opponent in real time. Sure, you might make mistakes here and there; but each move is made with purpose and with energy that only builds upon itself as the game goes on. I won’t speak for everyone else, but turn based games just don’t carry the same intensity for me.

To be clear though, I am not against turn based games and would still recommend it to those who simply don’t have the time to play games in real time. However, for me personally, I think it is in my best interest to avoid playing turn based games with random strangers (similar to the way one just play anyone on a real time go server like KGS). My moves and thoughts are just too broken for me to really use it as an opportunity to grow my skills and abilities.*

*I am sure that what I am feeling is exacerbated by the fact that I am playing 15+ games at once, but I think that it allowed me to come to this realization faster than I would have otherwise. So though it’s a bit painful at the moment, I am glad that I realized this now rather than later.

Jump Level Up 4

Description: Jump Level Up 4 is the fourth volume of the intermediate counterpart of the Level Up! Series that serves as a workbook in private go schools in Korea. Though designed for children, the content and practice provided is invaluable for adults and children alike.

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Catching Scent of Victory

Description: In the second volume of The Heart of Go Series, O Rissei 9P discusses twenty of his own games and various strategies that he devised during them. Though it is intended to serve as a guide for developing your intuition in the game, it is a very advanced book that is beyond the scope of what kyu players will be able to comprehend. It should be seen as a collection of game commentary from O Rissei 9P with advanced analysis and content.

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Friday Go Forward: Week 37

Overview

After attempting to try and play one real time game every day (and then every other day), the realities finally set in and I decided that the only work around to not going long periods of not playing go was to ramp up my activity on Nova.gs. As much as correspondence games do not hold quite the same value as real time games (since your thoughts are often disjointed and your ideas are constantly changing which means you might not like the plan you came up with 2 days ago), I have found them to be a convenient and effective way to ensure that I’m not rusty when it comes time to play a game in real time. Otherwise, things have been pretty solid and I’m continuing onwards with my training regimen. Till next week!

Games

• KGS - 0 games
• DGS - 3 ongoing games
• Nova - 8+ games

Training Menu

• 20 minutes of Reading Training (i.e., Life & Death, Tesuji, etc.)
• 20 minutes of Go Theory Study (i.e., Joseki, Direction of Play, etc.)
• 20 minutes of Experience Training (i.e., Play or review a game)

Reading Material

• Finished Jump Level Up 4.
• Started and finished Scent of Victory.
• Started working on Otake’s Secrets of Strategy.
• Started working on Jump Level Up 5.
• Worked on The 1971 Honinbo Tournament.

Video Lessons

• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 12
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 13
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 14
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 15
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 16
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 17
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 18
• Attacking Vitamins: Lesson 1

Earlier today, I was reading Otake’s Secrets of Strategy by Hideo Otake 9P when I stumbled upon an interesting quote:

In the opening there are no predetermined shapes. - Otake 9P
I know that it might seem terribly obvious to some of you, but it struck me as rather profound when I read it.

Otake was discussing the fact that many amateur players play joseki faithfully believing that since they are joseki it can’t be that bad. He considers this a huge flaw with our rationale because joseki are only as good as the position it was meant to be used in. So when he said that “there are no predetermined shapes” in the opening, it opened my eyes as to how unimaginative I have been with my openings lately.

Perhaps this quote will cause me to start playing some very odd experimental games where I lose and drop rank; but if it means that I’m developing my own creative style as I play, I have a feeling it will be an enjoyable journey: win or lose.