For this week's go meditation, the primary theme is illustrating how to bounce back after failing to kill a group. I'm sure that most players have encountered this scenario multiple times. Think about the numerous times you thought your opponent was going to die in your influence, only to have your opponent suddenly live. It can be quite a hard pill to swallow. However, in this game, I'm hoping that you'll see that failing to kill a group is often a far cry from the game being over. This game contains to large hunts that should be quite entertaining. Enjoy!

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For this week's go meditation, one of the primary themes of this game is trying to recognize when it's worth it to respond to your opponent and when you should ignore your opponent. Throughout the game, there are numerous times where responding to my opponent locally would not have technically have been "wrong," but it would have been difficult on the board as a whole if I simply let my opponent get sente to play where he wanted. So be sure to pay attention to when I respond and why I have no problem doing so, but then it is equally important to note when I ignore my opponent and tenuki. Hope you enjoy!

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For this week's meditation, I chose a game out of a kadoban (i.e., continuous series of games with the same opponent) that has grown to quite a hefty rivalry. Haha. Overall I think I'm doing okay, but the one thing I will say is that we've had a number of games where my moyo gets out of control and ended up deciding a game. So with that background, enjoy!

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For this week's go meditation, I am happy to welcome my friend Bonscott back to being featured on MGM. Though our KGS ranks might say there's a 3 stone difference, this game shows that the gap has closed a bit since last time we played. xD In terms of the game however, I think that this game goes to show how a lack of positional judgment and overestimation of your own territory can be the end of you. Hope you enjoy!

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For this week's meditation, I am featuring my first long game that I played after being on break from them for a long time. It's an interesting game that illustrates how to properly chase and harrass a weak group while taking profit and learning to restrain the urge to kill. Hope you enjoy this new feature and enjoy the review!

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This week's game is a great example of how to play against an opponent who is extremely aggressive and overplays on a consistent basis. Throughout the game, you'll see my opponent try to fight for what he thinks is important; and how I respond in kind in pursuit of bigger territory or more important areas. In addition, you get to watch me hunt him down when he invades my moyo. Hope you enjoy!

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For this week's meditation, prepare for an epic battle where I try to kill my opponent's group time after time again. Not only do I manage to fail once, but I fail a second time. However, while that sounds negative, was it necessarily a bad thing? Prepare yourself for a journey that will show you why a group that barely lives is hardly a reason to resign. Hope you enjoy!

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First and foremost, I will start by stating this game was played on OGS recently. Two reasons for that: (1) I don't want you to think that this is an old game. (2) Although my rank says 7k, the ranks in OGS are completely weird and is really a poor indicator of your true skill level. So in other words, my opponent could be way stronger than 7k. That being said, this game is a weird one where my opponent played a lot of odd moves. Overplays if you ask me, but I'll let you be the judge of that. Enjoy!

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For the second Monday Go Meditation of 2014, I thought it would be great to feature the game where my sensei (frozensoul) and I played a game together online. While this was not rengo, it was a really interesting experience to have frozensoul's input on the game while I was playing. You very quickly come to realize how differently high dan level players actually think. I hope that you enjoy this game and see the difference I'm talking about. =D

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After much thought and motivation from readers like you, I am happy to announce that Monday Go Meditations is coming back in full swing for 2014! And seeing as how this is the first post for 2014, I thought it would only be appropriate that I feature my first ranked game of 2014!

I had played a free game the night before, but as I sat there on KGS, I admit that I was a little hesitant at playing a ranked game. After all, what if I played poorly? Or what if I lost? Or worst case, what if I had gotten weaker? But after a minute of doubt, I realized that I would gain nothing by sitting there worrying. So without concerning myself with the results and useless negativity, I challenged a 4 kyu to a game.* In the spirit of starting the new year with vibrant energy, I think you'll agree with me that this game is very fitting. Enjoy!

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