With all due respect, smaller boards are great for learning the game. They also help with tactics and life and death, so they can't be completely bad. The transition from a 9x9 to a 19x19 is huge yes, but the tactical mistakes will hopefully be gone.

_________________
My plan to become an SDK is here.

Let me put it another way: the mistakes that prevent you from becoming a single digit kyu can all be corrected on a 9x9 board, with the additional benefit that there are less distractions.

_________________
A good system naturally covers all corner cases without further effort.

Single digit kyu is already quite strong, you should have lots of experience on 19x19 by then. Playing on a 9x9 board is not a bad advice, but I think it would be even more helpful if some single digit kyu would have a look at the game on 19x19 and explain some basics there.

So, just go to KGS and ask if someone can have a look at your game. I am sure somebody will be glad to help.

_________________
Stay out of my territory! (W. White, aka Heisenberg)

well, its true that many, many go players learned to play on normal sized boards and have never touched a smaller go board. Its true that playing on smaller go boards is not necessary for learning this great game. And it should not necessarily be the preferred recommendation for a beginner who has gotten stuck and wants to improve.

But... there are indeed some very interesting and useful things that can be learned on smaller boards -- even at higher levels. If you haven't tried it, you really don't know what you're missing.

As suggested by several of you, I put my latest game in the game analysis section. My opponent left so I didn't get to play it out.

Thanks for any advice and or comments you can offer.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Black to play.
$$ -----------
$$ | . O . . . |
$$ | X X . O . |
$$ | O O O O . |
$$ | X X X X X |
$$ | . . . O . |
$$ -----------[/go]

Problem by Fukui Masaaki.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

Okay, I'll bite.

_________________
My plan to become an SDK is here.

White has better play.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

I'm going to have to think about this. How close did I actually come to the right answer on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being solved?

_________________
My plan to become an SDK is here.

Your starting move is right, but White can get a better result after that (at least pointwise).

_________________
A good system naturally covers all corner cases without further effort.

At first I thought this one was correct. Can you see how white refutes it?

The scale is from 0 to 1.

_________________
Help make L19 more organized. Make an index: https://lifein19x19.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5207

_________________
Sanity is for the weak.

Use igowin, beat it to the ground, then move on to 13x13 and finally 19x19. It takes a bit, but if u can get igowin below 10 kyu then its about time to play on a 19x19 board.

_________________
That which can be destroyed by the truth should be.
--
My (sadly neglected, but not forgotten) project: http://dailyjoseki.com

Whether it is meant as a joke or not, I say a big YES! This is the first skill to learn, thinking like that for every single move from move 1 until the very last move.
This is in fact nothing else than "reading". While it seems so obvious, whenever I try to teach a beginner I recognize they often do not even try to read just one move ahead. If you think like that every single move, you will get a couple of stones stronger in no time.

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