Friday Go Forward: Week 35

Overview

This week has been quite an interesting one for me. I made the decision to switch from task based productivity to time based productivity and have found it to be a much more manageable method to keeping consistent about the things that are important to me. In addition, now that I have been shifting my focus to increase the quality of my training, I am feeling a lot more at peace with my progress and don’t feel like I will be burning out anytime soon. So while my training menu might seem very simple, the key factor I’m aiming for is consistency. And if I have additional time in the day, then I’m welcome to pile on any additional training that I’m in the mood for. =)

Games

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

Training Menu

• 20 minutes of Reading Training (i.e., Life & Death, Tesuji, etc.)
• 20 minutes of Go Theory Study (i.e., Joseki, Direction of Play, etc.)
• 20 minutes of Experience Training (i.e., Play or review a game)

Reading Material

• Working on Jump Level Up 3.
• Working on Get Strong at Endgame.
• Working on_ __Perceiving the Direction of Play_.

Video Lessons

• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 1
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 2
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 3
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 4
• Becoming a 5 Kyu - Lesson 5

Last week, I was playing a game when other players started showing up to watch the game. My opponent then remarked, “Everyone is here to see me lose.” And then I promptly replied, “You’ve got it wrong. They’re here to see me lose.” Though it was said in a joking manner that was also supposed to be humble, it wasn’t until after the game that a comment made by a visitng dan player struck me: “Confidence is worth two stones.”

It got me thinking about my whole approach to the game, or perhaps life in general. With the way I’ve been brought up, it’s expected that one be humble and not be cocky or overconfident. However, I started to wonder whether or not I ended up taking this mentality too far and becoming self-deprecating instead. In other words, even though I would say things like, “No no, I’m a weak player” as a way of being humble; I may have actually been planting seeds of doubt in myself this entire time.

Now to be clear, I’m not saying that one should prance around saying how they’ll win every game and rub it in their opponent’s faces. “Look at me! I’m so great!” I mean sure, sometimes the cockiness works as a placebo effect and some people end up becoming “stronger,” but then everyone thinks you’re an asshole and that is way worse than being a weak player. So instead, I will stop using negative statements and stop worrying about what other people think.

With each stone I play, I will simply aim to play the best go that I can. That is all that matters.

October is upon us and the time for trick or treating is here! Luckily for you, I have yet to come up with any imaginative ways to prank my readers. So until I do, looks like you’ll be stuck with treats of extra game reviews for this month! xD

As I mentioned before, I joined the Canada Go League* recently and so I thought it would be appropriate if I reviewed my games that I played as part of this bonus material. So to start of this month’s bonus game reviews, we will begin with the first game I played in the Canada Go League.

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I’m happy to announce that I have finally gotten the opportunity to sign up for GoGameGuru’s (GGG) BadukTV English service! Needless to say, I am thrilled with it! I’ve only made it through two lessons in their “Becoming a 5 Kyu” video series and I am loving it! Not only am I learning a lot, but it’s really incredible to be able to watch material that is not game commentary and actually aimed at weak players like me!!!! Ahhh!!! So wonderful!!!!_
_

Now, before I go into why I think BadukTV by GGG is awesome, let me clarify something. Some of you got a chance to watch a BadukTV video that I posted recently, but I want to remind everyone that they are completely different services. The BadukTV English that I posted is from the BadukTV channel that features English speakers and is currently free. BadukTV from GGG on the other hand, is a paid service that focuses on providing popular Korean BadukTV episodes that have English subtitles.

“Wait wait wait Ben. Why the hell would I pay for something when I can get it for free?”

Well it’s actually quite simple:

1. The problem with free material is that you never know when you’re going to get new material and whether or not it’s even going to be helpful to you.

2. There is no guarantee that the quality of material will be up to par.

3. The material is most likely going to be more advanced than the typical kyu player will be able to really handle.

In other words, let me ask you this: How many videos or lectures have you seen out there that is a lecture series with titles like “Becoming 5 Kyu” or “Level Up to 3 Kyu”?

Let’s face it. There are plenty of material out there with strong players reviewing professional games and trying to go through the variations. And sure, BadukTV from GGG has those lectures too for stronger players; however, when it comes to videos of professionals lecturing on material that’s relevant to kyu players who are anxious to get stronger, the Western hemisphere is lacking in this area and BadukTV by GGG helps to fill that empty void many of us long for.

And just in case I haven’t sold you on their English service, they also have:

1. BadukTV OnDemand - TV programs that you can stream whenever you want. They don’t all have subtitles, but like someone reminded me, go transcends all language barriers and you might find yourself understanding more than you expected!

2. BadukTV Live - Watch BadukTV live as if you had it as part of your cable service!

3. BadukTV Mobile - Watch BadukTV programs right from your mobile device!

Bottom line: If you’re one of those people who wished that that the Western hemisphere could have a channel dedicated to go, you definitely need to check this out. They are providing an incredible service and I hope you’ll join me in supporting them in their efforts! Be sure to check out their site here for more information!

P.S. And if you have any other questions about the service, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below or contact me and I’ll be sure to answer your questions to the best of my ability!

A couple days ago, I suffered a rather one handed defeat that was a rather rude awakening. Not only did I lose convincingly, but I made three very critical misreads during the game that sealed the deal. Needless to say, it was rather dishearteningly en you consider how much time I’ve put into my studying.

Of course, with a shock like that, it is only natural that I took some time to really evaluate how I have been studying. Though my reading productivity has been rather impressive to some, it is no surprise that I have ended up sacrificed accuracy in end. My reading speed is rather quick, but the lack of discipline when it comes to reading alternate variations or considering the fact that my opponent might just flat out ignore me is not taken into consideration when I’m actually playing. As a result, I have thought about different ways to approach my training.

So far, what I have decided that I need to switch from a task based productivity to a time based productivity. What does that mean exactly? Well, instead of trying to complete say 300 problems a day, I will instead devote a full 20 minutes to practicing problems. How ever many I finish is completely irrelevant, but I will hopefully be able to focus more on the accuracy and discipline of my reading this way. In addition, this will hopefully help me manage my time better and prevent me from throwing my life out of balance.

Get Strong at Tesuji

Description: In the sixth volume of the Get Strong at Go Series, Bozulich has compiled a fantastic set of tesuji problems that focus on developing a player’s intuition through practicing lots of easier problems. Though there are a few intermediate/hard problems dispersed throughout the book, this is a great book for players of all levels (especially beginnger and intermediate levels).

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Friday Go Forward: Week 34

Overview

The theme of this week seems to be “Revisions and Updates.” After attempting the aggressive tsumego regimen I had set last week, I realized that I was once again just starting to blow through problems instead of trying to practice reading variations. So it’s been changed again to try and find a better balance between quality and intensity. In addition, I am sad to report that I won’t be getting on Tygem any time soon since it seems that the resignation button causes the iPad app to crash all the time. It just really sucks because I enjoy Tygem as a server but their software is just SOOOO crappy. People might complain about KGS being outdated, but it generally works like a charm.

On a more progress-based note, getting a chance to finally see Go Seigen’s brilliance shine on the board has been incredibly eye-opening for me. It’s not so much that other professionals are not brilliant in their own way, but perhaps what I’m talking about is the fact that Go Seigen’s play constantly reminds players just how much freedom they really have on the board. Forget joseki or proper sequences, if you want to play somewhere else because you have a grand plan in mind. Go for it!

Otherwise though, it was a pretty productive week and I look forward to what challenges the next week has for me. Till next week!

Games

• KGS - 8 games
• DGS - 2 ongoing games
• Nova - 3 ongoing games

Daily Training

• Life & Death Routine (Magic Baduk Go on iPhone)

  • 300 Beginner Problems
  • 50 Intermediate Problems

• 30 Pages of Jump Level Up 2

• 50 Problems from the Get Strong at Go Series.
• Play or review at least one game per day.

Reading Material

• Finished Commented Games by Lee Sedol - Volume 2.
• Finished Get Strong at Invading.
• Finished Jump Level Up 2.
• Finished Get Strong at Tesuji.
• Started and finished Master Play: The Style of Go Seigen.
• Started and working on Jump Level Up 3.
• Started and working on Get Strong at Endgame.
• Started and working on_ __Perceiving the Direction of Play_.

Jump Level Up 2

Description: Jump Level Up 2 is the second volume of the intermediate counterpart of the Level Up! Series that serves as a workbook in private go schools in Korea. Though designed for children, the content and practice provided is invaluable for adults and children alike.

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So my resolution to play one game a day has ultimately fallen through. As time went on, my games began deteriorating in quality and each game began to feel more like a chore that I needed to hurry and finish instead of a learning experience. After feeling like this for a few days, I decided to that I needed to re-examine what I was doing before I started developing bad habits. Instead of just stopping the idea as a whole however, I decided to revise it to the following: Play 1 game of go / thoroughly review one of your previous games per day.

As an active blogger, I face some challenges when it comes to things like generating content. One of the pieces of content that people seem to like are the game reviews. However, I found that trying to find time to play one game a day every day was making it difficult for me to find time to review my games. In addition, even though it doesn’t normally take too long for some people to review their games, I have been trying to make my reviews much more thorough and explain each move as I go. So as you might guess, it takes me a lot longer to review games than one might normally take.

By doing this, I hope to not only reinforce my own understanding of the game; but to also make the reviews more useful to readers of various levels. In addition, by allowing myself the option to choose between playing and reviewing, I am hoping I will be able to maintain a higher quality of learning for myself while generating content for the blog. And for someone with a crazy schedule like me, being able to save that kind of time will do wonders for the other aspects of my life. With that said, hopefully my revised discipline inspires some of you to possibly take a similar route with your study as well. =)