So for the longest time I was stuck at KGS 8-9k. Took a nice, long break over the course of a few very busy months, and voila! I hop on today, play a few games, and am sitting at a pleasant 6k Seems that every time I take a while off and come back I gain a stone or few in strength. Maybe I should just be less dedicated?

Have a good one, y'all!

Hi Cynosure, I have experienced this kind of happenings myself (not only at GO).
It often happen to me when I insist in trying and trying, in fact struggling to get better at something.

I think it's related to the BIG amount of clarity of thinking GO is made of opposed to the struggle to get better at Go in fact decreasing that same clarity.

“The right art," cried the Master, "is purposeless, aimless!
The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and the further the other will recede.
What stands in your way is that you have a much too willful will. You think that what you do not do yourself does not happen.”
Eugen Herrigel - Zen in the Art of Archery

Sometimes being less dedicated and letting things go their way, taking their time, is in fact being more dedicated

Good life & good GO!

Galation

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When you play Weiqi you are joining millions of people across four thousand years of time.
Jonathan Hop - So You Want to Play Go?

It is often the case that one has acquired a bad habit or way of thinking about the game that hampers playing strength and improvement. Taking a break from the game can sometimes flush a bad habit out of one's system and when you come back you've retained some pure basics while having gotten rid of problematic habits.

This has also happened to me once or twice. I think it's very common in go in general. Problems often arise from playing alot of games and adopting bad habits from your weak opponents. Then the bad habits perpetuate themselves and you find yourself playing unreasonable moves that prevent you from improving. It's the same with ways of thinking about go, like 'I must take territory. Giving territory in exchange for influence always makes me lose the game, so no matter what I must stubbornly take territory, even if it means crawling on the 2nd line.'
'I can never give my opponent anything, I must always invade everything. If I don't he will make a big territory and invade me and destroy my territory! Then I will have nothing. It's better if I am the one invading and destroying his stuff, then he has to find a way to get points, not me."

That kind of thinking often happens because players are too weak to punish the opponents bad moves and that leads players to believe that the opponents bad moves are good moves, and they start playing like their opponent because it works against weaker players.

I don't think you need a complete break from Go to flush out some of these bad habits. I think you can improve quicker if you do tsumego/tesuji problems and view pro games, read go books on opening etc, but REFRAIN from playing ANY games for atleast a week or two. That gives you enough time to 'reset' your mind and flush out some bad habits.

I basically do everything that you mention, except I RARELY actually play games because...I'm intimidated. :p

If it helps, we're as scared of you as you are of us.

Drop me a game request on OGS

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Confucius in the Analects says "even playing go is better than eating chips in front of tv all day." -- kivi