Some of you already know, but I went to one of the local malls and volunteered to teach go for the Chinese New Year 2014 celebration. As you can see in the little collage I put together above, there were nice decorations along with performances in the center of the mall. Definitely felt like Chinese New Year! Haha. And of course, how could you have a Chinese New Year celebration without go? (I might be a little biased though xD)

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Slate and Shell Go Stones - Sample Pack - Size 36 Biconvex

Description: “This is a sample pack of our size 36 slate and shell Go stones, which are among the highest quality Go stones available. It contains three black stones and three white stones. Size 36 refers to the thickness of the stone (in this case 10.4 mm or 0.41 inches). The additional thickness and weight of these stones gives them a pleasant feeling in your hand and produces a sharp and satisfying snapping sound when the stones are played.” - GoGameGuru

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Friday Go Forward: Week 49

Overview

Another week has passed me by and man have I been swamped. On the upside, I am starting to be able to grasp my to-do list and really start cutting it down to size. It’s certainly been a big relief as I continue working on multiple aspects of my life. Once again, I must apologize for being so absent this week; but I am really hoping to be coming back full swing with real consistency soon. So until then, hope all is well with you and your journey to gaining the next stone!

PS. I’ve updated my Leather Goban Review to include information on how it was made. Be sure to check it out if you haven’t read it already!

Training Regimen

• Step #1: Do 5 go problems a day. (Estimated time: 5-10 minutes)

Games

• KGS - 0 games
• DGS - 1 ongoing game
• OGS - 5 ongoing games

Books

• Worked on Graded Go Problems for Dan Players - Volume One: 300 Life-and-Death Problems.
• Worked on Life and Death Problems 1 - Basics by Robert Jasiek.
• Finished Fighting Fundamentals by Robert Jasiek.

Hey everyone! Just wanted to drop in and let you all know about a brand new go server that is currently in beta: Bitcoin Go! Though currently still undergoing development and being in beta, one of the unique factors about them is that they will be using bit coins (aka digital currency) as prizes for the tournaments! Isn’t that awesome?

So since it won’t cost you a thing, be sure to get on over to Bitcoin Go and sign up for an account and become a beta tester with them! And if you have any suggestions or notice any bugs, feel free to contact the developers. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and playing with Steven and he was really responsive and friendly. So don’t delay, go check it out! =)

Friday Go Forward: Week 48

Overview

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! It’s the Year of the Horse and with that I think the theme for this new (lunar) year will be charging forward full speed!

I’ve been a little quieter this week than I would have liked, but I’ve started on some new ventures that I think will greatly enhance my life and I’ll be sure to report on them once I feel I’ve settled down and gotten in a good rhythm with it. But meanwhile, I’ve been working hard on figuring out how to do game reviews effectively without consuming a lot of time. It seems as if I’m constantly trying to catch up on creating game reviews no matter how hard I try. I think the plan is to try and review the games immediately after in order to speed up the process.

Second, I have been much more active on KGS that I have been in the past. In particular, I have actually started playing longer games again (i.e., 30 minutes main time each person). Many thanks goes out to my friend Nate for helping me get back on track. I will write a post on his advice to me later, so be looking out for that later.

The other focus of mine has been to get the rest of my reviews finished within the next week or so. I still have a couple of product and book reviews to finish and they’ve been hanging over my head. So hopefully I’ll be able to get those done ASAP so I can alleviate that weight off my back.

Finally, you’ll probably notice that I but the training regimen in half. This is due to the fact that I was actually having a hard time simply doing 10 a day. It’s not so much that I “couldn’t,” but more along the lines of I was unable to be consistent since the 10 problems felt like a lot more when you also have like 30 other things that need your attention that day. So I’m dropping it down to 5 to see if that can get me to a perfectly consistent level.

Training Regimen

• Step #1: Do 5 go problems a day. (Estimated time: 5-10 minutes)

Games

• KGS - 2 games
• DGS - 1 ongoing game
• OGS - 7 ongoing games

Books

• Worked on Graded Go Problems for Dan Players - Volume One: 300 Life-and-Death Problems.
• Worked on Life and Death Problems 1 - Basics by Robert Jasiek.
• Worked on Fighting Fundamentals by Robert Jasiek.

Dirt Cheap Goban

Description: “Are you looking for an affordable Go board? You’ve found it! The Dirt Cheap Go Board is a full size 19x19 Go board at an incredible price!” - GoGameGuru

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Friday Go Forward: Week 47

Overview

This week is all about playing catchup and getting back to where I was prior to my trip. While it was fun, I have to say that it threw me more out of sync than I would have liked. No matter. Content is back up and running and I’ll do my best to prevent it from stopping again.

In terms of overall, the highlight of the week is definitely finding out about Kaz’s Online Go School. If you haven’t heard about it, go check out my post and I definitely recommend that you sign up! Even if you can’t make all the classes, Kaz will send you the game record from the lesson and it will include his written comments (since he won’t be using a mic). Isn’t that great?

Other than that, I’ve been doing my best to actually start playing again. Trying to not put so much pressure on myself before each game. I still get a bit anxious before playing, but I’m hoping that will get better over time. See you all next week!

Training Regimen

• Step #1: Do 10 go problems a day. (Estimated time: 10 minutes) - My California trip totally threw off my training regimen. So this training has been lacking lately. Trying to get back on track this week. Hopefully it’ll be back to normal by next week.

Games

• KGS - 1 game
• DGS - 1 ongoing game
• OGS - 7 ongoing games

Books

• Worked on Graded Go Problems for Dan Players - Volume One: 300 Life-and-Death Problems.
• Worked on Fighting Fundamentals by Robert Jasiek.

Videos

• None this week. Been super swamped in California. Haha.

Tiny Habit

1. Every time I use the restroom, I will do 5 tsumego problems.

In case you weren’t aware, there is about to be an epic clash between two titans of our time: Gu Li and Lee Sedol! They have perhaps the most well known rivalry in the professional scene and will be starting their jubango (i.e., ten game series) to determine who is the strongest this weekend!

And for those who are curious to see the epicness and excitement captured in a video, you’re in luck! Thanks to Nate for sharing this so I could discover it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huGtJCjsQ5I

The game will be broadcasted live on KGS starting at 8:30 pm EST / 5:30 pm PST. The commentary by Myungwan Kim and others will start at 10 pm EST and 7 pm PST. Be there if you can! I know I will try my best to!