Description: Level Up 3 is part 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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Life and Death

Description: In this volume of the Elementary Go Series, Davies teaches common shapes that players will encounter in their games along with practice problems to train the reader’s life and death skills.

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Level Up 2

Description: Level Up 2 is part 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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Level Up 1

Description: Level Up 1 is part 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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It’s only Day 2 of my Korean Training Reboot and I’m happy to report that I am really enjoying this series. Although I could theoretically fly through most of the beginning books, I have been taking more time to be very thorough with the content. I’m hoping that this will help to reveal any inconsistencies with my basics as I work my way through the series.

In terms of progress though, I’m almost done with _Level Up! - Volume 1 _and plan to post the review in the near future. For my preliminary findings though, I’m 99% sure that this series will be awarded the best introductory series to go in my book. Although it might be written and designed for kids, I have a feeling that any adult who goes through this entire series will rise through the ranks much faster than by studying any other book.

This is just a preliminary analysis though, so I will let you know if my opinion changes when I’m done with the series. =D

Normally I try not to post twice in a day, but being as it is the first of July, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to go ahead and post about my new training program: Korean Style Reboot!

Starting today, I will be faithfully following the Korean texts you see above everyday until I finish them all. (I’m still missing the answer book from the Jump Level Up series and the Train Like a Pro series, but I I have more than enough to start with. =D) In the meantime, I have also created a new account on Tygem (zenlotus) that will start from 18k and go as far as I can take it. I’ll still be on the other servers, but my primary focus will be on Tygem when I have the time.

And to clarify, it’s not that I won’t study any of the other books I have, it’s just that I will be making sure to spend a dedicated amount of time each day to the Korean baduk books.

Korean training reboot initiate!

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.

Description: Essential Life & Death 1 is part of the Essential Life & Death Series that is used as workbooks in private go schools in Korea. Though it might be seen as an addendum to the Level Up Series, it certainly can be used as a standalone product for anyone looking to study life and death.

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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.

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!