Introduction

So what you’ll probably notice first is that my rank in this game is a lot lower than you might expect. This is because my OGS rank is super outdated as I never played many games and lost a few games due to time around the time I took a break.

That said, it was a blitz game and man I forgot how antsy those made me. I played one previous to this with 10 seconds time and that was one full of mistakes. This one was 30 seconds and also pretty bad, but I thought I would post it nonetheless since there are still things to learn from it. Enjoy!

One Point Lesson

In blitz go, be prepared to prove you know what you’re doing because your opponent will test you time and time again…

I decided to marathon a bunch of games against computers last night. It did not go well. Haha. And when I mean did not go well, I mean a string of resignations and embarrassing defeats of 60 points or more.

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I’ve been sick the last week or so. And against my better judgment, I thought it would be a great idea to try playing League of Legends (LoL) again. Haha. Fortunately after only a game or two, I was very quickly reminded of how much trash talking and just unnecessary cursing and name calling goes in those games. You get like 1 game of good sportsmanship for every like 10.

Anyhow, so then I was like, “Screw this! I’m just going to play go! Who cares if my rank drops or whatever. I’m just going to play and gain experience in go instead of trying to level up my account.” And what do I decide to play first thing in? Blitz.

Needless to say it was fraught with reckless play and incredible bloodlust. Just kill… get killed… try to kill again… and then ultimately combust in one fantastic poof where I resign. Haha. And the best part is that I decide to try and continue on to another game, which ends in a similar manner. I suspect that this may be induced by the League of Legends I had just played, but no matter.

Oh well. Haha. It’s times like these I have to look at myself and either fall into the emotional roller coaster I used to feel when I would lose like earlier, or to simply laugh it off and move on. And as someone who is currently working towards a path of zen, I choose the latter. =)

Earlier today, I thought it would be a good idea to get back in the groove of things by playing a quick 10 minute game. I think it was going okay, until my time ran short and then I made a blunder and lost a big group. That might have been okay, but then I thought that it would be an even better idea to play a blitz game with 10 seconds on the clock. Worst. Idea. Ever.

As I was bombarded by the painstaking beeping of the clock reminding me I’m running out of time, my opponents would just play any crazy invasion they could think of just to burn time and hope for me to make an error. Fortunately for them, the strategy worked quite well and I made more than my fair share of blunders. Sigh.

So once again, I am painfully reminded of how I need to remember my own advice and stick with longer games. Short games are fun when it’s casual and with friends, but blitz games against strangers leaves a rather bitter taste in my mouth that I would like to avoid from now on.

What a terrible way to come back to ranked games on KGS. And to top it off, since I haven’t played a ranked game in so long, the two losses caused me to drop a rank. Whomp whomp… But no matter, I know that I am not a 6k anymore. It’s just a temporary blip on the radar that will be insignificant once I get back in the groove of things.

So lately, I’ve been playing pool with my family, and I have to say that I realized how accustomed I’ve become to the manner of play in go. For those who aren’t familiar with pool, a player can theoretically play the entire game from start to finish without ever letting the opponent have a single turn. Can you imagine how I felt as a go player?! It’s as if I passed every time an opponent put down a stone. AHHHHHHH!!!!!

With that random anecdote, I’m still happy to report that my ranked game sabbatical has continued to be sustain. Although in all honesty, with the league games diminishing in availability, I am starting to feel the urge to start playing ranked games again. I’ve even resorted to playing two games of blitz go yesterday (which was a complete and utter mistake might I add). Playing league games consistently has certainly weakened my ability to play blitz go properly, but I think that’s a plus more than a negative.

On that note, the month is nearly over! I’m not sure whether or not I want to continue abstaining from ranked games or not, so I guess I’ll see when the time comes.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Weekly Go Wednesday, Issue #2

For many players, one of the major obstacles to playing go is time. After all, an average game can take anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes depending on the level of thinking that goes into each game. So in order to accommodate the faster players and those without much time, the format known as blitz go was born.

For new players who’ve never played blitz go, the general idea is that you have less than a minute to make each move. If you fail to make your move within the allotted time, you lose by default on time.

While there are different perspectives on blitz go, you should seriously consider the following points as to whether or you should be playing blitz go:

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So I think this is my first official Saturday post in terms of posting a game and giving an overview as to my progress. Last night I visited the GWGC, but it was relatively uneventful… just a friendly sparring match with my cousin. For him, go is far more of a recreational activity. So I tried to give him four stones, but that wasn’t not enough of a handicap. Oh well, we’ll try six stones next time.

In terms of Go study, that’s kind of been slowed down a bit. Job hunt and school are taking a lot more of my time these days (which it should =D), but I’ve tried to play at least one to two games a day. Today I played one against an 18k, but it was utter destruction. Unless people would like me to post it up, I’ll post the second game I played yesterday against a 11kyu. It was more or less speed Go for me since I only had 10 min main time. He loss on time, but it’d be nice to get some commentaries on whether I would’ve been able to actually win. Cheers!

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