I was playing Igowin on my iPad, and won a game - without realizing it. Still trying to learn defense mostly, and I can't seem to get below 28 kyu. Well, tonight I was playing, missed connecting two chains, and thought for sure I was going to lose big time. I had a few chains and eyes around, but no double eyes. I tried an eye in one corner, and on a hint from the game, played one piece and captured the majority of the other pieces! It was such a shock I thought the ones that suddenly disappeared were mine. At that point, the only area the iPad had was pretty minor. At that point it resigned. Weird, I usually don't succeed if I try to make a capture, but this one was shear dumb luck on my part.

When someone gives you a 13 stone handicap and you lose...

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...When you 10 stone self-atari.

Also, believe you me, you can make it to low dan on dumb luck. 'dumb luck' is some kind of manifestation of skill.

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Pers. Obs.

Is this the "the more I practice the luckier I get" -effect?

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Signature space for rent

...you are surprised when your opponent deviates from joseki and still gets a better result.

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If you say no, Elwood and I will come here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day of the week.

Okay, it is not 10 stone large but if I make a big mistake thinking about this prevents me from losing my spirit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt1FvPxmmfE

... if you wonder why you lost a game even if you got all four corners.

... you think you are playing sente moves but your oponent just keeps tenuki'n away.

(happens to me a lot when playing stronger players )

Yes, more like thirty stone large.

... when your forcing moves are gote.

I counted 31 stones

... if you wonder why everyone mentions eyes on the board even if there are clearly only stones... (Or could the eyes of the fly which just crawls over the board have an influence on the game ? oO)

... you play a time-tesuji to read if you can kill a group by ko or unconditionally and then forget to kill it afterwards. (Did this in my last European Teams Tournament game!)

You lose three groups every game.

You play self atari in a seki.

You make a ko threat to kill a group, and it actually kills it!

You read out a local region and find the best play, only to later realize you should have played somewhere else.

You are playing in a simul, and when your opponent comes around, he can't find your last play.

You play atari on the second line and try to remove the ataried stone.

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All but one from my own experience.

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Sheik Yerbuti -- if that really is your name --

...you reduce your opponents territory with a dead group and still wonder why your opponent tenukis all the time.

I've seen that many times. This the first time I noticed it killed his group.

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When you think your opponent has made a mistake, that's when you should be the most cautious.

... when your opponent resigns and you suddenly see that you killed a large group of his without even realizing it.

Happened in a big tournament I played in.

Relatedly, I played a simul with a pro the other day. When we reviewed, I knew my move was bad when she couldn't remember it. She also remembered some of my bad moves, but I think it was because they were so bad they really stood out.

Funny thing about this thread is trying to think of some boneheaded error that I would never make anymore.

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"When you are learning, it is not so important whether you are right or wrong." - Bill Spight

These seem more like relative beginner stories. A true beginner loses a stone in the first ten moves of the game. A true beginner doesn't have a clue. Play is a linked series of Doh! events.

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finito ludos regula

When you lose given a 9-stone handicap on a 9x9 board (also 25-stone handicap on a 19x19) .

How about when you have to look up what the definition of joseki is?
http://senseis.xmp.net/?Joseki

Brand new around here, and to the game.

Welcome! If you're new to the game, I wouldn't worry at all about all these random Japanese words people throw around - just try to enjoy yourself and have fun, get to learn the basic shapes and such just by playing some 9x9s and getting some experience .