A couple years ago, I met someone in the Seattle Go Center who told me I was close in overall ability to a 7 kyu. He was confused though, and found me somewhat hard to judge because according to him, my skills were a bit unusual. I was better at reading the whole board than he'd usually expect from a 7 kyu, but not as good at reading out fights. Recalling his comments got me thinking, is there a "conventional" path of development you would expect for the skills of a new player?

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"I can't do it, I don't know my ABC's." - Anonymous

In fact, this is quite common for adults.In the sense that there's most likely some sort of 'normal' distribution ( for various ages ), yes.

I am reminded of the martial arts saying:

"There are 360° to the martial arts."

IOW, everybody's different.

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The Adkins Principle:

At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?

— Winona Adkins

"Once in a very great while his eyes light up for a moment, and he says "Whee!" very quietly."
— Lion Miller