Games

• KGS - 5 games ( 1 win : 4 losses )
• DGS - 5 ongoing games

Tsumego

• Go Game - Life and Death (iPad App) - Practice Phase 2 ( Class 18 - 20 )
• Five Hundred and One Opening Problems - Page 55 - 90

Other

• The Chi­nese Open­ing — Page 63 - 87

Thoughts

I’m happy to announce that the StudyGroupKyu site went live this week! There are still some enhancements to be made, and that will continue to take up my time; but it’s been fun to combine my love for design with go. Definitely hoping to do more of that as time goes on.

With that being said, this week has a decently studious week combined with sporadic blitz go. Now although none of the game time settings will indicate that, I generally didn’t spend more than 30 seconds on a move. This is probably due to my lack of time and newly acquired ability to not be attached to winning or losing a game. I’ve been more obsessed with trying out new things and experimenting with what I’ve been learning. And to be honest, it’s quite refreshing.

Games

• KGS - 2 games ( 1 win : 1 loss )
• DGS - 6 ongoing games

Tsumego

• Go Game - Life and Death (iPad App) - Practice Phase 2 ( Class 11 - 17 )

Other

• Five Hundred and One Opening Problems - Page 1 - 54

Thoughts

It’s been a rather light week in terms of playing and studying, but hopefully the Study Group Kyu website will be up and running soon! In addition, starting tomorrow I will be releasing updates and revisions on previous equipment reviews and integrating new reviews as time goes on! So it was still a productive go week even though I didn’t get to play as much as I would’ve liked. Here’s to hoping my schedule will stabilize next week so I can play more ranked games!

Games

• KGS - 8 game ( 6 win : 2 loss )
• DGS - 7 ongoing games

Tsumego

• Go Game - Life and Death (iPad App) - Practice Phase 2 ( Class 6 - 10 )

Other

• Elementary Go Series, Volume 5 - Attack and Defense - Page 21-57

Thoughts

Although it doesn’t feel like it, this week has actually been pretty active in regards to playing. As you can see, I have seven ongoing games on Dragon Go Server! And although this isn’t final or solid quite yet, my KGS account did manage to hit 5k this week! So we’ll see whether or not it sticks around. Haha.

Meanwhile, I find myself actually taking even more time to play games than I used to. I’m in this weird place where 30 minutes feels a bit too short but anything longer than that takes a long time and can be very tiring. Oh well, looks like I have two more things I need to improve: (1) Stamina & (2) My Brain’s Processing Speed. After all, I need to get myself competition ready! MD Open 2013 is only two months away!

Many thanks to the following people for taking the time to find me and play with me on DGS: Paul, Tilwen, Devin, Tyler, Andrew, Todd, and Gurujeet! I’m looking forward to seeing what you all play next!

Games

• KGS - 1 game ( 1 win : 0 loss )

Tsumego

• Essential Life & Death (Vol. 2) - Complete
• Go Game - Life and Death (iPad App) - Practice Phase 2 (Class 3 - 5)

Other

• Elementary Go Series, Volume 5 - Attack and Defense - Page 1 - 20
• Dictionary of Basic Joseki: Volume 1 - Page 16 - 32
• The Chinese Opening - Pages 50 - 63
• 36 Stratagems Applied to Go - Pages 1 - 9

Thoughts

Overall, it’s been a rather quiet week in terms of games. In the meanwhile though, I’ve had lots of little bits of free time that have allowed me to peruse various topics that I’ve had my eye on for some time. So in terms of learning new things, it’s been a rather enriching week. I still have a lot to sort through regarding lessons that I’ve had from frozensoul, zyoda, and Myung, but I’m hoping to get to them next week so I can really solidify what they’ve taught me.

Games

• KGS - 2 games ( 2 win : 0 loss )

Tsumego

• Essential Life & Death (Vol. 2) - Pages 87 - 110
• Go Game - Life and Death (iPad App) - Practice Phase 1 (Class 1-3) & Phase 2 (Class 1-2)

Other

• Elementary Go Series, Volume 3 - Tesuji - Pages 23 - 60
• The Chinese Opening - Pages 1 - 50

Thoughts

Although it seems like a rather light week in terms of playing, I’ve had a number of teaching games that have been quite eye opening. I haven’t yet processed a lot of what has been passed onto me this week, but I hope to take the weekend to look over the kifus and reinforce anything that I learned. On the upside, I’ve found some really interesting go books that I’m hell bent on trying to finish as soon as possible. More on this next week!

Games

• KGS - 3 games ( 2 win : 1 loss )
• Real Life - 2 games ( 1 win : 1 loss )

Tsumego

• Essential Life & Death (Vol. 2) - Pages 82 - 87

Other

• Elementary Go Series, Volume 3 - Tesuji - Pages 1 - 22
• Dictionary of Basic Joseki, Volume 1 - Pages 1 - 15

Thoughts

Although I haven’t played as much as I might have liked, this week has been pretty interesting in terms of the various activities I’ve had going on. My go studying has taken on more flavors and variety, which has greatly increased my enjoyment of what I’m learning. In addition, it feels as if I’m starting to think less and less of winning, which is something I hope to ingrain permanently into my being. There are a number of reasons due to this spark of an epiphany. One that I will mention in particular is from Hajime no Ippo.

The line comes from a scene after the main character, Ippo, manages to win against a boxer who’s goal was to become like his idol. When analyzing what happened and why Ippo won (even though he was an underdog), the idol said:

It was the result of different goals between the challengers. Those who try to reach and those who try to surpass.

Although I’ve heard similar lines to this before, it was rather profound to me when I read it (perhaps due to the emotional attachment to characters and the story). And to be honest, I think there’s a lot of truth in there. Because in actuality, my goal is not to simply reach shodan; but to surpass it entirely.

Games

• KGS - 4 games (2 wins : 2 losses)

Thoughts

This week has been rather unfruitful in regards to training and what not. Been really busy with work, and as many of you are aware, I’ve been pretty busy trying to recap all that happened at last week’s North American Go Convention. My games have been somewhat hit or miss. Not the happiest with my performance this week, but I plan on finding ways to continue improving my game.

Meanwhile, the next week will probably be spent restructuring my schedule regarding blog posts and how training will all fit together without detracting from other aspects of my life. I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted when I have a finalized schedule that you all can look forward to. =)

Games

• KGS - 4 games (1 wins : 3 losses)

Tsumego

• Essential Life & Death (Vol. 2) - Pages 36 - 82

Other

• Shape Up! - Chapter 6 and 7
• Dictionary of Modern Fuseki: Korean Style - Patterns 1 - 6

Thoughts

Although I did manage to end my losing streak this week, I am still traversing the depths of my broken go. This week has been rather unfruitful in regards to training and playing games, but it is probably for the best. With the two days of the North American Go Convention under my belt though, I’m starting to feel like I might be getting somewhere. Not to mention, this week has been full of surprises and I have a good feeling that this may be the start of something really incredible. This is not just in reference to my playing ability, but also in regards to the entire spectrum of go and its impact on my life. More on it when the time is right, but for now, I can assure you that I will not be taking any breaks from go in the near future. =)

Games

• KGS - 12 games (1 wins : 11 losses)
• Tygem - 7 game (0 wins : 7 loss)

Tsumego

• Essential Life & Death (Vol. 1) - Complete
• Essential Life & Death (Vol. 2) - Pages 8 - 35

Other

• Shape Up! - No Progress

Thoughts

I am having a rough week. Besides a nice solid win, it’s been nothing been getting demolished. I feel that my reading is improving a bit, but overall I think my go has sunk to a 10k level. I’m not sure where my head is anymore. It’s not so much that I’m on tilt and just losing strings of games, but it’s more like I’m getting numb and have completely lost my focus. An absolutely terrible state to be in for go.

After some discussion with frozen, I also think it’s best that I forgo my ASR League duties for the month. I still plan on playing one of my classmates twice before dropping (you know who you are =D), but otherwise I think it’s time that I spent my time elsewhere to prevent me from taking a break from go. I’ve seem to hit a rather large roadblock that is rather daunting at the moment. =(

It’s definitely been a tough week, but I will confront my demons and try to continue moving forward. After all, it is precisely these moments that we are given an opportunity to prove our resilience and capacity to grow to the next level. Here’s to the uphill battle that I’m about to embark on. Wish me luck.

After an awesome discussion with Feather , I’ve been inspired to start another weekly series in order to give you a glimpse into my world of go. It will be a high level overview of my progress every week and will be released every Friday at 5:00 PM. Let me know what you think and I can always update the format if people want!

Games

• KGS - 9 games (4 wins : 5 losses)
• Tygem - 1 game (0 wins : 1 loss)

Tsumego

• 1001 Life and Death Problems - #851 - 1001
• Essential Life & Death (Vol. 1) - Pages 1-33

Other

• Commented Games by Lee Sedol - Game #1 - Part 1
• Shape Up! - Introduction & Chapters 1 - 3

Thoughts

Overall, it’s been a rather eventful week since the ASR League was wrapping up and the final points were being tallied. The good news is that I managed to get promoted to Alpha!!! Woot woot! I know that some people will say, “It’s easy to get to Alpha. Just play a lot of games.” To you I say that may be true if you actually win some of your games, but otherwise it’s near impossible since your points rack up so slowly compared to people who win a majority of their games.

Since February is going to be a short month, it seems I will be going on another ranked game sabbatical since I will have my hands full trying to stay in Alpha class and also keeping up with my study schedule for the month. Not to mention that North American Go Convention is this month as well, and that will take out four days of studying/playing. So lots to do this month, and very little time. Something’s got to give right? =) Here’s to the start of a crazy month! Ikuzo!