I guess a good thing to start with in studying fundamentals is to pin down what they are. I consider a fundamental concept to be one that doesn't require much (if any) contemplation. When learning to drive a car, one will learn fundamentals such as 'stay in your lane' and 'don't run stop signs'. Now as as someone who knows full well how to drive, how often do you check yourself while driving to make sure you're doing these things? On the contrary, most people can be engaged in conversation, eat food or concentrate on where they're trying to drive to rather than think about such basic, "fundamental" stuff. So in Go, what I'm talking about in studying fundamentals is revisiting those things that I normally don't even contemplate but think the right move is "obvious." In the following diagram, I look at black's last move and immediately understand (so I think) what black is up to and whats going on in the game. This study is an attempt to reopen the hatch on these things and look for places where the right move isn't as obvious as I think. For instance, when I approach a star point stone and my opponent kicks me, I literally always respond with the nobi. However, I recently looked over a game played by Lee Sedol (sorry, couldnt find it again) where Sedol was kicked and played elsewhere so I know that I have a misunderstanding about why it is that we like to nobi in that position and when such things aren't applicable.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
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