I have to admit that the responses that I received yesterday from my post have certainly made me reconsider my position from yesterday’s post, but ultimately I think it is more of a paradigm shift than necessarily regretting my decision to resign.

For those of you who have never seen this video, please take 20 seconds and watch this unbelievable and tragic event happen to a professional 9-dan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt1FvPxmmfE

Can you imagine? Playing a professional game on live television as a professional 9-dan and then putting yourself in self-atari? Although you have to admit, the man handled himself quite well and his reaction was quite priceless.

Read More

Today, I am writing about a more solemn topic that I know most people would shy away from posting on. However, I believe that this post touches on something that almost every go player will encounter along their journey: the desire to win. It is a difficult topic for me to write at the moment since the disappointing kifu is fresh off the board, but by doing so I hope to capture a vulnerability that we all feel at one point or another.

Read More

Weekly Go Wednesday, Issue #1

Welcome to the start of my Weekly Go Wednesday (WGW) series! This purpose of this series is to add some excitement to the middle of the week, so that before you know it, it’ll be the weekend again! If you have any requests or would like to be a guest writer on this series, be sure to let me know!

Unlike the games I’ve posted so far, today’s opponent has a bit of history that deserves to be recorded down for the ages to come. For those who want to check out the game commentary beforehand, go ahead and scroll down to the bottom before settling down with a hot beverage for a tale of a chance encounter that has been a big impact in my life ever since.

Read More

ANNOUNCEMENT: All the games will now come with full commentary in order to minimize the complication of having to flip back and forth between the blog post and the game. I will do my best to diligently put down any variations I saw and why I played the moves that I did. So please be sure to visit the link and then let me know your thoughts! Enjoy!

This was a pretty scary game for me. I know I’ve been playing stronger opponents in the ASR League in even matches, but for some reason playing a ranked game against a 3k gave me the jitters. And I didn’t go looking for this game, this guy challenged me. Looking back on it, I’m pretty sure he was trying to play against weaker players so he could feel all big and mighty. Too bad he came out the loser….

Read More

Prior to this game, I was on a decent winning streak… so I was feeling pretty good. Feeling good enough to think I could outplay a 5d? Apparently so….

Now granted, this was a teaching game; but I assure you that I did nothing less than try to outplay him and hope to catch him off guard. For those who are still new and wondering why this is incredibly stupid, the difference between a 5d and 9k is at the bare minimum 8 stones. So… yeah…

It’s been so long since I played against an opponent so vastly stronger than me that I forgot what it was like to play just to simply survive. That’s right: just survive. Instead, I tried to take big points and was under the false assurance that my groups were alive and that I was giving frozensoul a good game.

That being said. There are too many mistakes to be mentioned and the prized moments are practically nonexistent. If you would like to see what 9k mistakes look like and how they get properly demolished, please see the kifu below!

Read More

That’s right. I have achieved my first “Under 100 Moves Resignation.” I know that there is a high likelihood that I might have one in the past for some stupid reason, but this is the first time I felt like I truly earned it.

Read More

In light of the new blog redesign and format, I will also be including a new section in every game that I post: My Opponent, Mistakes and (if relevant) Prized Moments. [OUTDATED]

Overall

This has got to be the most intensive game that I’ve played in quite awhile. For those who haven’t been following, I joined the ASR League and have been playing a lot of even games with people who are much stronger than I. As a result, I’ve been on an incredible losing streak and have had a hard time regaining my composure.

Today’s game is probably one of the best games that I’ve played in quite awhile. It’s not the fact that I won, but the fact that a majority of my moves were well thought out and expose weaknesses that I would’ve never been able to exploit before. Not to mention that the ability to all of a sudden see the value of each move as I fought multiple ko battles was incredible.

It’s as Toshiro Kageyama said in Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go, the ability to actually read something out and knowing what will happen not only boosts a player’s confidence but brings an entirely new appreciation for the game.

Read More