Weekly Go Wednesday, Issue #28

Welcome to a continuation of my series on how to play as White for beginner/intermediate players. Just like before, I would appreciate any additional insight from stronger players below to supplement my thoughts here. With that said, onwards we go: 2 stone handicap games.

Concern #1: “Black has two corners!! Ahh!!! Must overplay like crazy to catchup!”

First and foremost, two star points does not equal two corners. Black just has two positions setup on the diagonal corners. So stop panicking and breathe. What you have to remember is that it is only a 2 stone handicap. Yes. Only two stones. If you forgot what it means to give your opponent handicap stones, let me remind you: you are stronger than them. So play normally and establish your positions as you typically would.

Concern #2: “But it’s TWO STONES!!!!!”

Yes. I heard you the first time; but let me remind you that the two stones you are so worried about is a double edged sword. As you know, people’s strength can fluctuate a stone or two depending on the time and day along with the style being used; so what that means to you is that you need to realize that your overplays have a pretty good chance of being punished properly. As a result, you need to remember to just play calmly. Your opponent’s mistake will show itself eventually.

Similar to playing as White in even games, here are a few things to remember:

1. Be patient. Two stones might seem like a lot, but there it is not a huge barrier to overcome. Play solidly and wait for your opponent to make an overplay and then things will start to turn in your favor.
2. Two stones can be a double-edged sword. This is particularly true of two stone handicap games because there is no saying whether or not you will be playing one stone weaker or your stone will be playing one stone stronger. So avoid huge overplays because there is a good chance that your opponent will be able to punish it properly.
3. Feel honored to play as White. I have a feeling this piece of advice will be staying throughout this series, but you really should feel honored to have the opportunity to prove your strength as White.
   I hope that this helps! Please be sure to leave a comment below if you have any additional comments or questions!

Over the last few days or so, I have to admit that I have started to feel more and more burnt out when it comes to go. For a while, I couldn’t quite grasp why I was feeling this way. After all, I haven’t been studying a lot nor playing a lot, so what was the cause?

Well, after a lot of introspection, I came to the conclusion that I have hit rock bottom when it comes to failing to judge the board as a whole. Years of not counting and avoiding making positional judgments have finally caught up to me. However, I know that if I continue down this path, I’ll probably actually burnout and could lose the immense enjoyment I get from this game.

Ever since my blog started back up last year, I’ve been trying to tear through book after book in hopes of compiling a really comprehensive book review library. So naturally (with the exception of First Kyu and Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go), I have only read each book once and no more. However, I think it’s time that I slowed down and revisited Positional Judgment and The Direction of Play again. It might slow down my reviews a bit, but it’s probably imperative that I do so. Here’s to hoping this works._
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Master Play: The Fighting Styles of Kato Masao & Seo Bong Soo

Description: In this X volume of the Master Play series, Yuan Zhou does a magnificent job taking amateur players through what is actually considered “fighting style” in the professional world of go. Due to the chaotic nature that go can take in crazy cross-cuts and blown out battles, it is no surprise that many kyu players might consider themselves “fighters,” but once you read this book, it might open to your eyes as to what fighting really means.

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Friday Go Forward: Week 41

Overview

Note: It seems my life will forever be consistently crazy and busy, so instead of talking about all the time I don’t have, I will be approaching these overviews from more of a goal and progress type theme for now until I can come up with something better.

This week’s goal was to really started chipping away at the pile of equipment reviews that I need to do. I’m happy to report that I’ve finished two (Go Bento Box and Folding Go Board), but there are still quite a few to go and so that work will definitely resume into next week. In regards to my progress of studying however, though that as taken a back seat for a little while, I was able to fit in a couple lessons with my sensei frozensoul. There are quite a few things he remarked on that have got me thinking, but more on that when I have processed it a bit better.

For next week, I’m hoping to wrap up on all of my equipment reviews so that I can can resume work on my book reviews. In addition, I will be going on a mini-go retreat at a friend’s house this weekend, so I will also be looking to put out a detailed post recounting the games and good times that is sure to come. So be on the lookout for those! See you next week!

Games

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

Reading Material

• Worked on Changing One’s Conceptions: Awaji’s Aphorisms.

Folding Go Board

Description: When it comes to go on the go (yes that just happened), this folding go board from GoGameGuru really does seem to hit the sweet spot between portability, quality, and price. It utilizes a hinge mechanism to keep the go board in one piece and even has a Chinese chess board on the reverse side! Recommended stone size are 21 or 22. It fits other stones, but it’s a bit snug. Highly recommended!

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Weekly Go Wednesday, Issue #27

After watching numerous kyu games over the last few months, there is a tendency that I’ve noticed among many kyu players that is not nearly as common in dan games: we try to establish a dominating position early in the game so that there is little to no possibility of your opponent coming back. In other words, it’s almost as if we would prefer to kill a large group in the beginning so that we can take it easy the rest of the game. And if we have any intention of getting stronger, we must get rid of this mentality.

A number of games out there lend themselves to that sort of mentality. For example, in League of Legends, if your team is able to score an ace (aka the opponent’s team has been killed and has yet to re-spawn) early on in the game, it can lead to a dominating position that can make for an easy win. Instead, go should be seen as a marathon instead of a 50 meter dash. There is no point in trying to sprint the first mile and gain a lead on everyone because what actually matters is your final time when you cross the finish line.

The primary reason this type of mentality is damaging for kyu players is that go is a game where you must prove yourself every time. In other words, no player (of approximately equal strength) would play the first 50 moves of a game, see a big moyo, and go, “Well, that does it. Game over. The moyo you sketched out looks so big I must resign.” So even if you manage to establish an advantageous position in the opening, failure to defend it or utilize your position correctly will often lead to a game reversal.

In addition, the pursuit of obtaining a huge advantage in the beginning can often lead players to making poor choices or creating a ton of weak groups (which translates to an epic disaster during the middle and endgame). Or, another common scenario would be starting a whole board fight that determines the fate of the game instead of simply establishing a favorable position.

My advice to you on avoiding this sort of mentality is this: stop trying to win in 50 moves. Just focus on keeping your groups strong, and play a balanced game. Your opponents will inevitably make overplays, and then you will have an easier time punishing their overplays and then gaining a winning position. After all, remember that you only need half a point more than your opponent to win.

Go Game Set Bento Box

Description: The “Go Game Set Bento Box” this is perhaps the first product I’ve seen that aims to provide players with a portable set of go stones that are not cheap plastic stones. Not only do they pack away very well and are easy to carry, but the stones are also a respectable size and material that should delight any go player who wants a portable set of stones!

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Friday Go Forward: Week 40

Overview

Quite a bit has happened over the past week. First off, my training menu is completely thrown off now. Due to other pursuits in my life (i.e., design, boxing, etc.), it seems I lost track of time and could not be consistent about my study. In addition, I am also pretty swamped with trying to get my reviews for my GoGameGuru items up and online asap. So I’ve definitely lost a little bit momentum this week, but hopefully I’ll be able to regain my footing soon and resume my research into the ideal training menu. Anyhow, lots of work to do. See you next week!

Games

• KGS - 3 game
• DGS - 2 ongoing games
• Nova - 4 games

Reading Material

• Worked on Getting Strong at Endgame.
• Worked on Changing One’s Conceptions: Awaji’s Aphorisms.
• Finished Master Play: The Fighting Styles of Kato Masao & Seo Bong Soo.
• Started working on Getting Strong at Attacking.