I've started studying Go seriously about two months ago. From then on, I've spend several hours a day learning Go; reading books, playing games, reviewing, replaying pro-games...
So far, I've already grown a lot in that time. If I compare with 2 months ago, I'm very happy at my progress.

However, I am interested in hearing some opinions/experiences on the following matter:

When I study music, I usually study hard for a few weeks, but then often I leave the instrument alone for a week or so. Sometimes even longer. Often I find that I have improved when I return to that instrument. So taking a break sometimes helps me come back to it stronger. I don't know why this is: renewed energy, new insights, having had time to process everything...

Has anyone experience with this phenomenon? And, more specifically, anyone had it apply to Go?
For now, I enjoy studying Go too much, so I'll probably still spend a few hours every day doing it. But I wonder when the time comes for a break, will that actually benefit me, or is then the moment to push myself and keep working hard to improve. (obviously if it's no longer fun, it's not worth it, but you know what I mean)?

Thanks!

Hi Ian,

I've had a number of breaks since I learnt the game. At times I've been quite strict with the way that I practice, study and play. Most recently I had a break for around 2 years. Coming back, I wasn't too much weaker, I'd dropped from around weak 5k to strong 8k or so. I've improved very quickly since then, and have passed my former level quite easily. This took maybe 200 or so games over 2 or 3 months. I would say that the break helped in a number of ways.

Because I hadn't played for so long I went back to playing by the fundamentals, as I understood them. After playing for a while, I might fall in to bad habits e.g. using thickness to try and make territory, because of bad experiences during games where I have tried to use it to attack etc. Because I have higher expectations of myself, I really play up to myself and put a lot of constructive thought in to my moves, rather than relying on intuition and repeating known patterns. Another large part of accelerating my progress, I believe, is renewed enthusiasm for the game. I've been lucky to find a group that plays regularly face-to-face, so that helps keep motivation high. No doubt I will hit a rut again, where I am not enjoying the game so much, frustrated by my play or progress. I've been considering actually scheduling short breaks from the game, to make me really desperate to get back to the game, rather than get to the point where I feel burnt out and end up taking a longer break. Short of that, I've been varying my effort; solving less or easier problems, playing on different servers, not watching lectures or reading books etc.


All the best,

Zac