The ABC’s of Attack and Defense

Description: In this book, Redmond takes a different approach to teach attack and defense through handicap positions. And though the title of the book seems rather docile and cuddly, I can say for certain that this book is more advanced than the title suggests. There is quite a bit the book has to offer, but it is not for the faint of heart and is not a book I would recommend as your first exposure to attack and defense.

Read More

Friday Go Forward: Week 30

Overview

Sorry I’ve been so MIA this week. I meant to write some journal posts, but things have gotten to a whole new level of crazy as I now must juggle boxing, Chinese, freelancing, blogging, and go while working full-time and having some sort of social life. The highlight for this week is that I was promoted to 4 kyu and it seems like it’s going to be sticking around. Still have a lot of things to work on, but it was nice to see some results in my ranking. In addition, I have started whittling down on my massive book list so that I can get back to more quality studying. Anyhow, back to the craziness! I’ll see you all next week!

Games

• KGS - 5 games
• DGS - 3 ongoing games
• Nova - 2 ongoing games

Daily Training

• 10 Intermediate Life & Death Problems - Magic Baduk Go (iPhone)
• 10 Pages of Jump Level Up 1
• 25 Problems from the Get Strong at Go Series.

Reading Material

• Finished The Workshop Lectures Volume 5.
• Finished Joseki Jeongseok Compass.
• Finished The ABC’s of Attack and Defense.
• Finished Get Strong at Joseki 1.
• Working on The Workshop Lectures Volume 6.
• Worked on Jump Level Up 1.
• Worked on Fight Like a Pro.
• Started working on Get Strong at Joseki 2.

Joseki Jeongseok Compass 1

Description: This is the first of many (at least I hope) joseki books from the incredible authors who created the Level Up Series. They do a fantastic job taking joseki and breaking it down into its most elementary form in the effort to get players to learn the joseki instead of simply memorizing them.

Read More

Get Strong at Joseki 1

Description: In the second volume of the Get Strong at Go Series, Bozulich familiarizes the reader with 11 basic josekis that commonly occur around the 3-4 point and how to handle them in regards to their variations, choosing the correct joseki given the whole board, and how to play after the joseki is completed. A great book for players who want a better grasp on joseki as a whole.

Read More

The Workshop Lectures (Volume 4)

Description: The Workshop Lectures Volume 4 is part a series of lectures given by Yilun Yang (7P) at workshops in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The topics covered include: “Good and Bad Shape,” “When to Play Fast or Slow,” “Playing a Fighting Opening,” and “Destroying Large or Nearly Completed Positions.”

Read More

Friday Go Forward: Week 29

Overview

So I’m going to change up the format of my progress report in hopes of determining my own training menu and give you better insight into what I’m doing each week. Instead of an “Education and Training” section, I’ve split it up into “Training” and “Reading Material” so there is a clear distinction of what I’m actively doing. My training regimen is far from what I would like it to be at the moment, but my goal this week has been to establish consistent and disciplined habits in order to make continuous gains. I’m sure I will still find wrinkles in my system as I progress, but the key thing I’ll have to remember is to always “fail forward!”

Games

• KGS - 3 games
• DGS - 3 ongoing games
• Nova - 2 ongoing games

Daily Training

• 10 Intermediate Life & Death Problems - Magic Baduk Go (iPhone)
• 10 Pages of Jump Level Up 1
• 1 Joseki from Joseki Jeongseok Compass
• 25 Problems from the Get Strong at Go Series.

Reading Material

• Finished The Workshop Lectures Volume 4.
• Finished Get Strong at Joseki 1.
• Worked on Jump Level Up 1.
• Worked on Joseki Jeongseok Compass.
• Worked on Fight Like a Pro.

Last night I had the pleasure of playing fellow go twitter friend goBum. For our first game against one another, I thought it was exciting and a lot of fun. Afterwards though, we were severely reminded of the numerous mistakes that occurred throughout the game. Of the two of us though, I would have to say that my play was probably the most shameful. Haha. And if you’re wondering what kind of moves I’m talking about, I mean the whole gamut of making empty triangles that are thank you moves along with playing impulsive moves that are the equivalent of passing. Needless to say, I got what I deserved when it came to verbal bashing. Haha. xD

Since I’m a glutton for punishment, I decided to also show the game to sensei today. As I expected, the feedback wasn’t much better from his end either. Haha. However, he pointed out a critical flaw in my play: I still play from a pressured player mindset. In other words, I get so entangled in myself that I fail to analyze the board correctly. I fail to separate myself from what is happening on the board. Instead of calm analysis of what’s going on, any slight deviation from what I expected led to me feeling like it as a personal failure instead of a simple change on the board to be accounted for. As a result, the impulsive and reckless moves that plague my game are inevitable.

To separate myself from the game when I play… What a cumbersome obstacle I have in my way…

The Workshop Lectures (Volume 3)

Description: The Workshop Lectures Volume 3 is part a series of lectures given by Yilun Yang (7P) at workshops in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The topics covered include: “Playing the Opening,” “Developments Around the 4-4 Point,” “Punishing Weak Groups Directly,” “Using Forcing Moves,” and “Handling Weak Stones.”

Read More

A couple days ago, I was doing some mitt work with my partner at the local boxing gym. About halfway into the round, I was getting visibly tired and close to exhaustion from trying to push beyond my limits. It was then though, that my partner said something that struck me:

Remember to breathe. Control your breathing.
Seems like such an obvious statement no? After all, don’t we all breathe subconsciously? Without breathing, we’d all be dead! What a stupid thing to say!

If you think such crude and rudimentary thoughts though, you are missing the point. The fact is that while I might have been “breathing,” the fact is that I was so caught up in punching and keeping good form that I forgot to breathe half the time. You might exclaim, “How does one forget to breathe Ben? That’s ridiculous!” And you’re right to some extent, but instead of breathing more efficiently through my nose and exhaling through my mouth, I was holding my breath half the time (without even realizing it due to concentrating so hard on punching and maintaing form) and taking short gasps of air with my mouth in between. It’s no wonder that I was winded and at the point of near collapse before the round was even halfway through.

So how does this relate to go?

The reason I went to great lengths to explain breathing in boxing is because it occurred to me that a similar thing was happening to kyu players. Instead of breathing however, I would make the analogy that kyu players often players fail to play moves with the whole board in mind. Similar to breathing, it is a given that every move that is played affects the board in some way shape or form. However, if we just play moves without making a conscious effort to understand or give it a purpose in regard to the entire board, it is just as if we are going through the motions of punching without remembering to breathe properly. And then the next thing you know, you’re out of breath and your opponent cuts off a big group and delivers the knockout punch.

Of course with time and experience, playing moves with respect to the entire board will be second nature; but while we still remain the weak kyu players that we are, we must be sure to make a conscious effort to take the entire board into consideration at all times. So to put my partner’s advice into another context:

Remember to consider the board as a whole before playing your next move.