comments!

Shaddy doesn't need SGF output, he sees the matrix directly. =)

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Someday I want to be strong enough to earn KGS[-].

whoops, haha. fixed.

Thanks for the comments, Shaddy! I do seem to take gote (and tiny moves) a little too often. Gonna have to work on fixing that.

So, I've been an active go player in the ASR League this past month, squeaking into the Beta level. My Beta class, Beta II, is incredibly active. Also, in Beta, instead of being at or near top strength (like in Gamma), I'm closer to the middle. I'm getting to play a number of good games with strong players.

As for getting stronger, I think I'm doing well in that department. I'm more or less a solid 3k now on KGS, and I have set a goal for November: 1k by the end of November.

How will I do this? Well, I'm going to play a lot. I'm going to review my games ... but most of all, I'm going to have fun!

I'll post some interesting tidbits from some of my games a bit later ...

I'm back! At least, somewhat.

What happened? Well, internet in general was taking over my life. So, I cut all extraneous internet use in my life out for a month. Now, I'm phasing some stuff back in ... but I won't be nearly as active as I was. So, my improvement will be even slower.

That doesn't mean I can't have some fun! Look at this recent game. I admit, I won because my opponent made a mistake and seemed to tilt. Also, there's nothing really impressive to highlight. However, I played "Big Moyo" as my game strategy ... and it didn't go too badly. Playing a style so much different from what I usually play seems to have helped me slow down and really LOOK at the board in this game. Plus, thinking about the game from a new angle can be fun, too! Take a quick glance through, if you have a bit of time:

I have reached 2k on KGS!

Not that my play is very consistent. Sometimes I feel like my play has gotten much stronger ... other times I feel like I'm still so weak ... sometimes I feel both in the same game!

This most recent game is a good example. My opening feels like I don't have any plan. Some highlights of things that seem wrong in my own play:

a) I abandon my lower left attacking stone at (not in and of itself an issue) then go back and try to extract it at , after White has added a third move in the lower left.

b) I jump into a cramped space with , abandoning yet another single stone.

c) What kind of aji keshi move is ????

d) Move 115 ... no words to describe how I feel about that one.

Still, a win is a win. This is just another game for me to review, looking for improvements.

A review:

Thank you for the review, Shaddy! It's much appreciated.

I think I'll resurrect this journal ... I'm finally taking a bit more time to play, and I might take some time to study some more.

To update those who might be interested (maybe there are one or two floating around the borads ...):

My time has always been limited. I don't have the time to devote for study like so many others who have reached my level. Nor do I have much in the way of monetary resources to spend on Tsumego books or Lessons. I have no Go club (though I know of a couple I might be able visit if I weren't working all the time).

This was all true the last time I updated this. Couple new things: I have a second child on the way, which has meant some more planning, and less time (child was at least a planned event, so it's not like this is a surprise). Also, work has been extra crappy this past year, so I'm squeezed in that direction as well.

So, Go ... my attitude has shifted a bit ... I'm enjoying the games I play more, but my play has devolved significantly from my peak performance ... I am now 4k on KGS, which is my typical measuring bar for rank (I play zero in-person games; no time to do so). I also play a lot of games on DGS (5/6k on there).

Got a bit of time back into my schedule recently, so I'm going to try this whole studying things again. I'm a poor student, though. I don't stick to regimens and tend to fall back on just playing for fun.

I'll never be truly strong! But that doesn't mean I won't continue to learn. Go is fun!

What's on the menu this time? I haven't decided yet. I'll post again soon! (I hope ...)

Hey, hey, hey, what's this? You aren't spending a significant proportion of your day on go? Who the hell do you think you are? A grownup? (sarcasm)

First off, you beat that (censored, but something evil) Kirby. Second: If I am better than you by the end of the Temovich game HELL is going to rain down on you! (this is my way of encouraging you ) The least you can do is crush the bjesus out of redundant (I think this is an official malkovich declaration)

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While I was teaching the game to a friend of mine, my mother from the other room:
"Cutting? Killing? Poking out eyes? What the hell are you playing?"

I guess it's all about reading. I just played this game. I'm quite happy with the game overall, but the final ladder was a good bit of reading. The game also brought my volatile rank back up to 3k.

For those who want some practice, stop at move 146 and try to read it out:

Ha ha ha, nice one! =) Good catch! (With focus to the situation, I could also read it out - yay!)

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My "guide" to become stronger in Go

I was able to read it out fairly easily, except knowing there was an answer helped a lot. If I saw that in the game, I might not read past 153 or so where the obvious ladder continuation (the other atari) just doesn't work (hope that's not a spoiler).

But yeah, that reminds me of the chapter in "Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go" where he says ladders are the gateway to deeper reading since they don't branch at all so it's just a matter of visualization. This one is rather long, but it also doesn't really branch so I'd say most high SDKs should have no trouble reading it out with the knowledge that the ladder works.

You might consider posting it to goproblems.com.

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1k KGS

I was disappointed when the lower left didn't die. The ladder was pretty cool though, I might have missed that in a game.

Yeah, I wanted to kill the group, but I misread how to make the ko in my favour. That's one of the mistakes I went over on my own after the game was over.

Nice catch! Though the game really was already over when white had to live in gote at move 118...

You definitely dominated this game

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My name is Gijs, from Utrecht, NL.

When in doubt, play the most aggressive move

There was no ko.

I'm going to revisit this game in a day or two, when I finally have the time to properly evaluate it. Maybe add to my "Go Problems that come up in my games" SGF/DB.

Cool ladder! I managed to read it out from 146 and was pretty delighted...but I would NEVER see that in a game.