Overview

It seems I’m on a trend of not playing as many games anymore, but I’m okay with that for now since I’m currently in a big study mode. I have over 100+ books in my collection (and that’s physical books mind you) and I have barely made a dent. In addition, I have another plan to immerse myself in studying Korean style go books. It will involve buying lots of new books and changing my regimen, but before I do that I want to finish all the Kiseido series that I have started. So, be on the lookout for lots more book reviews!

Games

• KGS - 3 games (2 wins : 1 loss)
• DGS - 2 ongoing games
• Nova - 2 ongoing games

Training

• Worked on _Essential Life & Death,__ Vol. 2 _everyday.
• Worked a little bit on Attacking and Defending Moyos.
• Worked through Modern Master Games, Vol. 1.
• Finished Positional Judgment.
• Started and finished The Direction of Play.
• Started Elementary Go Series - Tesuji.

Lessons Learned

1. I am not vigilant when it comes to reading out sequences properly.
2. I still play “wishful go” and think that my opponents will respond to things that I myself would never respond to.
3. To help remedy my problem of playing moves without thinking, I’m trying to take one deep breath before each move to try and slow down.

Overview

This has been an interesting week that was fraught with frustration, but paired with deep introspection that yielded something valuable for me as a whole. Although it took me some time to realize, there was a growing tendency for me to rush in both Go and my life in general. So, I am grateful that go has once again provided an avenue for me to improve my life as a whole once again. Beginning the path back to zen will have a number of butterfly effects, but I have a feeling they will be far from regrettable. =)

Games

• KGS - 4 games (2 wins : 2 losses)
• DGS - 1 ongoing game
• Nova - 2 ongoing games

Training

• Finished _Essential Life & Death: Vol. 1 and started Vol. 2_.
• Finished reading The Chinese Opening by Yuan Zhou.
• Started working on _Attacking and Defending Moyos _by Zeijst and Bozulich.
• Started reading _Modern Master Games, Vol. 1 _by Zeijst and Bozulich.
• Started working on _Positional Judgment _by Cho Chikun.

Lessons Learned

1. If I feel like I am strapped for time or rushed before I even start a game, it’s probably best to not even bother playing.
2. To refrain from kyu tunnel vision, I need to look at the board with fresh eyes after every move.

Overview

This week seems to have been dwindling down in terms of playing. Part of it is due to the fact that I know that I’ve been in more aggressive mood lately (which usually leads to me going on tilt), but I think the other part is that I am getting in a study groove again. I’ve gotten an urge to try and read as many books as I can possibly can before needing to burning out from studying, by which of course then it’ll be time to play more games again. On top of that, I’m also trying to really create a robust Book Review section for this blog so that players can really get a sense of what they’re buying when selecting a book.

Games

• KGS - 1 game (0 wins : 1 loss)
• DGS - 1 ongoing game
• Nova - 1 ongoing game

Training

• Started the Essential Life & Death series again.
• Finished the theory section and some problems in Mastering the Basics: Ko.
• Finished my first reading of Kage’s Secret Chronicles of Handicap Go.
• Started reading The Chinese Opening by Yuan Zhou.

Lessons Learned

1. If I can’t give 100% of my attention to a game of go, I should refrain from playing with strangers.
2. I need to re-discipline my reading abilities so that I feel certain about what might happen instead of playing a move because it “looks like it’ll work.”

Overview

This week has been a little light in regards to playing, but I got a chance to participate in the MD Open (which I will post about tomorrow) and gain some really valuable insight from my sensei frozensoul. Some of the ideas are still sort of jumbled and not clearly integrated in my play yet; but this week has felt like a big shift for me in terms of my perspective of the game in addition to taking one step closer to sharpening my blade.

Games

• Tournament - 2 games (2 wins: 0 losses)
• KGS - 1 game (0 wins : 1 loss)
• DGS - 2 ongoing games
• Nova - 2 ongoing games

Training

• 20 tsumego problems each day.
• Finished Mastering the Basics: The Basics of Go Strategy.
• Started and working on Mastering the Basics: Ko.
• Working on Kage’s Secret Chronicles of Handicap Go.

Lessons Learned

1. Being able to treat forcing moves as light stones has made a world of difference in my play.
2. I am starting to understand how to exploit aji in conjunction with forcing moves and probes.
3. Being able to estimate territory (even to only some accuracy) has really helped me figure out what I need to do to possibly win the game.

Overview

In case it wasn’t apparent to everyone, this week has been entirely centered around boxing analogies along with handicap go. There hasn’t been as many ranked games as I might have liked, but the amount of go I’ve been playing/studying seems to be harmonizing much better with the rest of my life. Still fine tuning a number of things, but just glad to not feel overwhelemed by go anymore.

Games

• KGS - 2 games (2 wins : 0 losses)
• DGS - 2 ongoing games
• Nova - 3 ongoing games

Training

• 20 tsumego problems each day.
• Worked Mastering the Basics: The Basics of Go Strategy.
• Started reading Kage’s Secret Chronicles of Handicap Go.

Lessons Learned

1. When attacking, strike at the vital points while maintaining strength and not overextending yourself.
2. It’s okay to let things live or give your opponents points, as long as you are getting more in return.
3. Don’t over think your moves in turn based go. Rather than spend hours staring at the screen trying to make the perfect move, you will learn and gain more by playing more games and learning from your mistakes.

Overview

As this is my first week back since my vacation, it has been a relatively light week that has consisted of me trying to get my feet wet again in the world of go. Like I mentioned before in a previous post, I’m working on hard on really gaining a better understanding of what I’m capable of maintaining consistently without burnout.

Playing ranked games has been a little weird and disappointing since I can’t seem to hold my own at the moment, but I’m trying not to let it bother me too much since I am a bit rusty and loss through very clear and obvious mistakes. So as long as I work hard to become more disciplined about how I play each move, my games should improve without much effort.

Games

• KGS - 6 games ( 2 wins : 4 losses )
• DGS - 2 ongoing games
• Nova - 4 ongoing games

Training

• 20 tsumego problems each day.
• Worked on Mastering the Basics: 501 Tesuji Problems.
• Started on Mastering the Basics: The Basics of Go Strategy.

Lessons Learned

1. Avoid blitz games and games 25 minutes or less since I am a thinker. Fast games will come when my fundamentals are more solid.
2. Really need to stop the bad habit of “Let’s play here and see what happens.”
3. Got to keep working on thinking of games as if I’m playing myself.

Games

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

Tsumego

• Life and Death - 40 Problems

Thoughts

It only seems appropriate that my training has been winding down as I prepare to completely vacate from go for a whole week. Although I thought it would be rather difficult to break the habit of obsessing over go constantly, I have found that simply decreasing my exposure to go as already begun to lift a burden off of my shoulder. In that regard, it seems that the prospects of this vacation doing me some good are looking pretty good.

As you might guess, there will be no Friday Go Forward next week since I won’t be doing anything; but you can still look forward to Monday Go Meditation! Meanwhile, I wish you all the best of luck with your own games! Till then!

Games

• DGS - 2 ongoing games
• Nova - 6 ongoing games

Tsumego

• Life and Death - 100 Problems
• Five Hundred and One Opening Problems - Finished
• Five Hundred and One Tesuji Problems - Page 1 - 39

Other

• Studying one professional game from Lee Sedol’s book.

Thoughts

I’m still trying to figure out a way out of my funk, but I spent this week trying to reinvigorate my studies and gain some perspective on the game. As you can see, one of the new elements I added to my studies is starting to study professional games. As a friend mentioned to me, this is usually difficult for most players (even at the high dan level). I’m not sure how beneficial it will be, but we’ll see how it goes. If anyone ever wants to discuss the pro game I’m studying with me, let me know and we can meet up online to talk about it. Till next week!

Games

• DGS - 3 ongoing games
• Nova - 8 ongoing games

Tsumego

• General Practice (SmartGo Kifu) - 100 Problems
• Life and Death - 60 Problems
• Five Hundred and One Opening Problems - Page 162 - 225

Thoughts

Feeling pretty out of it this week. I’ll be taking the weekend to think about everything. Trying desperately hard not to burn out.

Games

• KGS - 5 games ( 3 win : 2 loss )
• DGS - 5 ongoing games
• Nova - 9 ongoing games

Tsumego

• Five Hundred and One Opening Problems - Page 91 - 161

Other

• The Chi­nese Open­ing — Page 87 - 90

Thoughts

Biggest concern: Way too many turn based games going on. I know it works for some people, but I get overly focused on them and then everything else around me falls to the wayside. No no no… so as I wrote yesterday, no more games with strangers. Haha. And to be honest, I’m feeling the studying is a little too light, so hopefully I can find a better balance for myself next week!