Overview

During the past few weeks, I ended up skewing my training to playing games and sacrificing study in order to re-acclimate myself to playing games again. As a result, my weaknesses became very clear as I would lose game after game after game.

After discovering my Master Wu, my training has once again gone under another stage of growth as I really begin to immerse myself in practicing “deep learning” as is discussed in The Talent Code. And though it’s too early to tell if it’s working, I feel like the wheels of progress are beginning to turn. Fingers crossed that I’m not wrong. Haha.

Training Regimen

• Play 3 games a week.
• Complete 1 section of Level Up Review 2 per day.
• Study 10 life and death patterns/problems.
• (Time Permitting) - Replay 1 game of Go Seigen.

Games

• Tygem - 1 game
• Pandanet-IGS - 1 game
• KGS - 1 game
• DGS - 6 ongoing games
• OGS - 7 ongoing games

Books

• Level Up Review 2 by Baduktopia
• Shape Up! by Charles Matthews
• All About Life and Death - Volume 1 by Cho Chikun
• The Com­plete Game Records of Go Seigen - Volume 1

Videos

• Analyze the most often played patterns: Star point chapter

Lessons Learned

• Though difficult to grasp, learning how to make proper trades throughout your game is one of the key milestones to being a strong player. This is particularly evident in the way Go Seigen plays (and yes admittedly difficult to do).
• As I replay more and more of Go Seigen’s kifu, I’ve realized how constricted my go has become. It is missing the freedom that is so glaringly exists in Go Seigen’s games.

Part I - Part II - Part III

Overview

_Prelude: Out of respect to Sabum-nim (i.e., In-seong), the lessons learned are kept to a minimum since it is paid content and I do not want to infringe on that in any way, shape, or form. The game reviews also only contain highlights of concise highlights instead of my normal detailed reviews since I would inadvertently write about what Sabum-nim taught in the review (which would essentially replicate his lecture). _

As a new member to the Yunguseng Dojang (YSD) during Season 9 of 2014, I was assigned to League A as my starting league (this is the highest league possible in the American division). I wasn’t sure what I was to expect, but I was excited at the prospect at being part of a formal training program.

Read More

As most of you know, I’ve spent my fair share of money on this game. Perhaps one of my craziest purchases as a beginner was The Complete Game Records of Go Seigen. Yup. I bought it in September 2010 when I was a mere 15k. And though it may have seemed like the biggest waste of money at the time, I can only smile as I think about how funny the world works sometimes.

Since my first step onto the endless path of go, I have come to learn of many different professionals along with their various styles. And though I’ve come and gone between the various ones and learned from them, none of them ever really stuck with me. It’s not that I don’t admire their strength or am not a fan of them, but there was never one that stuck with me more than another.

Read More

Overview

As some of you may have noticed, I decided to return to the KGS scene to play some ranked games again. If you’re wondering why I decided to do so, you can blame frozensoul for challenging me to do so. And the results have been pretty bad since I’m on a losing streak at the moment.

Though I’d normally feel more frustrated by this, I am actually in a decent place compared to my typical “on tilt“ mood. So while it sucks that I have been losing, I’m trying hard to take it in stride and not put myself in a position where I have to win in order to reset my emotional stability. Not an easy task, but I’d like to think it’s a step further towards the path of my zen go.

This week also marks the start of a new way of viewing acquiring skills. In this week’s Weekly Go Wednesday post, you can read about my little epiphany and new view on approaching my study of the game. So there’s starting to be some change in regards to that.

Finally, I was unable to win my last game and thus will drop to League B next month. Oh well. It is somewhat disappointing, but life goes on.

Hope you all had a good week and have a great weekend.

Training Regimen

• Spend about 50% of your time playing games.
• Complete 1 section of Level Up Review 2 per day.

Games

• Tygem - 6 games
• KGS - 6 games
• DGS - 5 ongoing games
• OGS - 4 ongoing games

Books

• Level Up Review 2
• Essential Life and Death 1

Lessons Learned

• Just because you are struggling to learn something doesn’t mean you don’t have talent for it, it just means your brain is working hard to make that new skill more instinctive. Don’t give up.
• I’ve stated this more than once on the blog, but seriously: don’t underestimate your opponent just because his rank is lower than yours. It usually leads to overconfidence that can allow for a rather tragic loss.
• Don’t make any big decisions or any decisive evaluations about yourself when you’re feeling down. Your head is just not in the right place to do so.

Though there was a small chance that I would be able to stay in League A for Yunguseng Dojang, unfortunately I was unable to rise to the occasion and will receive my first demotion to League B.

Before Sabumnim’s* Review**

I always thought that getting demoted would feel similar to seeing my rank drop, but I have to say that this feels worse. Maybe I’ll change my mind after the fact, but this feels worse. And if I were to give a reason why, it’s probably because I spent time and effort over an entire month only to be shown my inadequacy.

I would be lying if I said that I’m cool with it and feeling whatever about it. A large part of me is frustrated and disappointed with myself.

As I sulk in this aura of frustration and angst, it is causing a lot of doubt to spread. Doubt as to whether or not I actually got any stronger over this last month. Doubt as to whether I have any talent at all since my games were nothing to be proud of (as evident in the past reviews). Doubt as to what the hell I’ve been doing this entire month since I’ve been so unstable (especially towards the end of the month).

It’s stupid and childish to think such thoughts. I know. I guess I’m just really feeling at a loss for what is going on with me. While part of it might be mental, another part of me feel like there is something wrong with my go. I just feel like I can’t make sense of what I’m doing anymore.

After Sabumim’s Review

When I started writing this post, my self-pity almost caused me to skip the review since I wasn’t sure if I could handle hearing that my game was awful or anything that could further my self-doubt. So as I wrote the first section of this post, I thought that I was doomed to feeling awful for the rest of the night. Thankfully though, against my feelings of self-doubt, I decided to go ahead and stay for the review.

To my surprise, I was happy to find out that my game was actually not a bad game at all. In fact, though I have been in a weird funk lately (in regards to the games I’ve been playing), this final game was probably one of most inspired ones so far. It’s kind of odd writing that because I ended up losing a rather important match, but I really feel that it was one of my most creative games I’ve played to date.***

Part of me still carries some of the frustration from earlier, but I’m in a better place now. Though getting demoted to League B is a bit disappointing, it simply means that I’ll need to work hard next month to get back to League A. Challenge accepted.

*Note: Sabumnim is the Korean equivalent of sensei when it comes to how to address your teacher. And in case it wasn’t obvious, sabumnim refers to Inseong.

**Part of me debated deleting this section to shelter you from my whining and self-pity, but I felt it would be wrong to try and hide it. As much as it might be pathetic and childish, this is part of my journey to gaining that next stone. The frustration, the self-doubt, and the feeling of wanting to just throw in the towel are all obstacles that I deal with and I don’t want to sugarcoat it at all. So for that reason, I hope you’ll understand why I left it in.

_***I’m sure many of you will want to see the game, but I promise I’ll be releasing a full post on my first month in Yunguseng Dojang next week so you can see all of my games along with my thoughts on each of them as well. _

The first month of Yunguseng Dojang (YSD) is almost over and you know what that means: top two players get promoted while the bottom two players get demoted. And as you might have guessed from the title of the post, I am on thin ice this month.

Based on my calculations of how the rest of the players in my league will do, everything hinges on my final game this Thursday. My opponent is already guaranteed a spot in League A, so for some reason I feel even more pressure since he holds the key to my fate next month.

To my surprise, I am more worried and stressed out about this than I would have imagined. Perhaps it’s due to sheer ego and desire to remain in the top class, but I do feel pressure to stay in League A next month.

Ah well. No point sitting here dreading and worrying about it. Off to prepare what I can before the game.

Overview

This week has been a great continuation of my new philosophy of gaining experience on the battlefield. I’ve always felt that experience on the battlefield was necessary, but it wasn’t until I really started taking it seriously that I’ve come to understand the depth of that fundamental truth. In fact, as a result of me playing more games (and of course losing more often), I was actually able to win my third round of Yunguseng Dojang! So within a week, I already have some proof of the method working!

As you will notice, my training regimen has been trimmed a bit. Unlike the past however, the reason I’ve decided to trim it down is not because it’s burning me out or anything of the sort, but instead it’s a matter of having some other activities I need to prioritize at the moment. And to be clear, what I write in the “Training Regimen” section is what I am requiring myself to work on everyday. When I have some extra time, then I will be doing other things as well.

Hope that all is well with everyone and that you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Training Regimen

• Spend about 50% of your time playing games.
• Complete 1 section of Level Up Review 2.

Games

• Tygem - 8 games
• WBaduk - 2 games
• PandaNet-IGS - 3 games
• KGS - 2 games
• DGS - 5 ongoing games
• OGS - 3 ongoing games

Books

• Level Up Review 2
• The Theory and Practice of Shape

Videos

• YD S9 2nd lecture (1-3-5 opening)
• This week’s Highlight S9 May 1st week
• A,B,C 2nd round 2nd additional review oren vs Sauk
• AYD S9 3rd lecture All about 3-3 invasion

Lessons Learned

• Just because you have a three in a row shape inside your opponent’s group doesn’t mean it’s dead. Seki is possible too. (-_-)
• When you are about to start a fight, make sure that you are not at a disadvantage.
• A ponnuki with an empty triangle is not as efficient early on as you might think.
• Do not underestimate the power of a good extension from your thickness.

In case you’re not involved in the Go Twitter Community, a new movie involving go has been released!!!! There is go and it has kung fu!!! Ahhh!!!!!!

I’ve embedded the trailer below. Stop whatever else you’re doing and check this out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvYEhqqemrY

I can’t wait to buy a copy of this. So psyched!!!!

Credit to @goBum for sharing this epic news!

Overview

This week has been a continuation of trying to get used to the new training regimen that I started last week. Believe it or not, I have been rather successful at playing more instead of solely focusing on studying. So in that regard, things are a success.

On the other hand, I lost again in my match this week for Yunguseng Dojang. After some thought and introspection, I have come to the conclusion that my go has become very impatient lately. I try to complicate the game with every move while also experimenting with a territorial style that just ends up not working out for me. Sigh.

Ah well. It has been fun experimenting with the territorial style. And who knows? Maybe this little detour of mine will help to patch up some of my weaknesses from my normal style. Guess we’ll have to see!

Training Regimen

• Spend about 50% of your time playing games.
• Spend 10 minutes/day perusing a new book of go.
• Spend 20 minutes/day diligently working on the Level Up series.

Games

• Tygem - 6 games
• IGS - 2 games
• KGS - 3 games
• DGS - 5 ongoing games
• OGS - 3 ongoing games

Books

• Level Up Review 1
• Level Up Review 2
• The Theory and Practice of Semeai

Lessons Learned

• Patience is an important value when playing go.
• When you have an overwhelming advantage, (1) don’t become overconfident and (2) don’t give your opponent a chance to turn it around.

I just finished my second round of Yunguseng Dojang. As the title of the post states explicitly, it was another sound defeat to be added to my battle staff of go.

On one hand, I want to make myself feel better by telling myself that I played well. On the other hand though, I also was playing completely out of my style this game as well.

I don’t know why it is, but lately I’ve been trying really hard to use the territorial style as White. And then on top of that, I’ve been hell bent on making the game as complicated as possible from the start. So that ends up putting me in experimental territory that I’m completely unfamiliar with.

Do I wish I would have managed to win my second round? Yeah. Feeling a bit crummy at the moment. Hopefully the review will shed some light on my mistakes. Ah well. Off to bed I go.