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 Post subject: Study Plan and Progress Tracking
Post #1 Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 5:19 am 
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Hi everyone,

I was recently wondering how other go players organize their daily go-routine.

Since we're neither professional players nor have access to Korean Baduk schools, we have to mostly rely on ourselves to make progress somehow.
Some people might have teachers and regular lessons, but I'm not sure if that is the norm. I don't have access to those things where I live, so I'm on my own.

I think especially for beginners like me, it is quite important to stick to some kind of a routine. The game is confusing and tough early on, I'm constantly losing and yet I have to make as much constant progress as possible to get out of this phase.

Of course, depending on ones ambitions, some players might invest more or less time, some just play a game whenever they feel like and others have a strict plan.
What about you? Do you have a plan for tsumego, tesuji, reading books and playing each day? Also: Why? (or why not)
Maybe you also play regular tournaments or do other stuff.


The other thing I'm curious about is progress and how to keep track of it.
Of course we can all see our ranks going up or down (hopefully up) on the various servers, but I'm wondering if there are more methods to see progress?
I haven't experienced it yet, but that could be especially useful when one reaches a plateau. The rank doesn't change anymore for a longer period of time so it should be helpful to have some other way of measuring your progress. Just because the rank is stuck doesn't mean you're not progressing, right?
I can think of keeping track of the number of games played/won, go problems solved (time and accuracy)...and that's about it.

How do you track your progress?


As for me, I'm forcing myself right now to play at least one 19x19 game each day, even though I have a bit of an anxiety problem. I also play a handful of blitz 9x9 games on my phone and do half a dozen go problems each on a couple of website and in Graded Go Problems 2.
I try to keep track of my played games, rank development and the number of solved problems in a very simple Excel spreadsheet.
Maybe this is all overkill, especially for a beginner, or a good idea. I don't know.


Looking forward to reading your replies. Perhaps there are even some good ideas I can incorporate into my own daily routine.

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 Post subject: Re: Study Plan and Progress Tracking
Post #2 Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 8:13 am 
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MysteryFTG wrote:
I think especially for beginners like me, it is quite important to stick to some kind of a routine. The game i confusing and tough early on, I'm constantly losing and yet I have to make as much constant progress as possible to get out of this phase.


For what it's worth I'm not entirely convinced that you need to have much of a strict study routine until around 10 kyu. Play some games, read a couple of books, do easy tsumego (30 seconds to 1 minute to solve without having to place any stones). I think viewtopic.php?f=10&t=13052&hilit=rate+progress is pretty informative to get some expectations about rate of improvement.

MysteryFTG wrote:
I can think of keeping track of the number of games played/won, go problems solved (time and accuracy)...and that's about it.


If you look at popular Chess applications - this is exactly how progress is tracked. It's hard to think of anything better other than getting a teacher.

MysteryFTG wrote:
As for me, I'm forcing myself right now to play at least one 19x19 game each day, even though I have a bit of an anxiety problem. I also play a handful of blitz 9x9 games on my phone and do half a dozen go problems each on a couple of website and in Graded Go Problems 2.


I don't know that the blitz is useful, especially when you are starting out. Instead of playing slow 19x19 play fast games (5-10 minutes main time etc, 3-5 periods of 20 or 30 second byo-yomi).

Now your tsumego practice and game playing will be reinforcing each other. You focus on problems you can solve in 20-30 seconds accurately and your time controls give you that much time to put that work into practice.

I'm pretty skeptical of random problem sets for beginners - even Graded Go Problems suffers from a lack of technical organization. I keep saying this and I'll keep saying it - Level Up, Jump Level Up & Essential Life & Death from Baduktopia is much better for drilling on technique, and in total cover like 10000+ problems. More than enough to revisit many, many, many times.


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 Post subject: Re: Study Plan and Progress Tracking
Post #3 Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 9:07 am 
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One of the most important things as a beginner is to enjoy the game. Meeting your checklist for games played and problems completed is pointless if it feels like a chore. You will soon stop playing. On the other hand, it can be good to have a plan so that you don't forget to play.(In my case)

My ideal daily schedule is as follows:

Internet Go School problems, if no new problems and under ten learning problems watch a new set of lectures. I'm currently doing the star point and three four point joseki step by step, as well as the corner shapes life and death.

Participate in American Yunguseng Dojang if a season is active.

One hundred life and death and/or tesuji problems. I thought about doing endgame problems as well, but my reading is not strong enough for any of the ones I own yet. I use Cho's Encyclopedia of Life and Death, the Lee Changho six volume collections, and 1001 life and death problems for my pool.

Play at least one game on tygem. Minimum main time ten minutes.


I can't always keep this schedule of course, it is a three to four hour commitment per day.


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 Post subject: Re: Study Plan and Progress Tracking
Post #4 Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 9:20 am 
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I've unfortunately had much less time for go over the last few months (frustrating health issue...) But here are my thoughts:

MysteryFTG wrote:
I was recently wondering how other go players organize their daily go-routine.


Mine varies depending on what I think I need to work on at any particular moment. I try to pick an area that I think is weak and then focus on it for a few weeks.

MysteryFTG wrote:
Some people might have teachers and regular lessons, but I'm not sure if that is the norm. I don't have access to those things where I live, so I'm on my own.[\quote]

There are many people offering go lessons on-line. I think the British Go Association has a very nice list on their website. However, a lot of them require you to have a base level of knowledge before starting. I have found regular lessons to be helpful, but many have improved without them. You can also post your games here or check out resources like Open Study Room.

MysteryFTG wrote:
I think especially for beginners like me, it is quite important to stick to some kind of a routine. The game is confusing and tough early on, I'm constantly losing and yet I have to make as much constant progress as possible to get out of this phase.


I think this varies by person. I lean in your direction though -- I like to create a structured routine when I'm learning things. Without the organization, I have a tendency to "spin" and focus on less productive efforts.

MysteryFTG wrote:
Of course, depending on ones ambitions, some players might invest more or less time, some just play a game whenever they feel like and others have a strict plan.
What about you? Do you have a plan for tsumego, tesuji, reading books and playing each day? Also: Why? (or why not)
Maybe you also play regular tournaments or do other stuff. [\quote]

I think you should focus on the parts of the game that you find most interesting or that you think are most important to you. There is so much to learn, I think plunging somewhere quickly to get started is probably more important than figuring out where to jump.


MysteryFTG wrote:
The other thing I'm curious about is progress and how to keep track of it.
Of course we can all see our ranks going up or down (hopefully up) on the various servers, but I'm wondering if there are more methods to see progress?
I haven't experienced it yet, but that could be especially useful when one reaches a plateau. The rank doesn't change anymore for a longer period of time so it should be helpful to have some other way of measuring your progress. Just because the rank is stuck doesn't mean you're not progressing, right?
I can think of keeping track of the number of games played/won, go problems solved (time and accuracy)...and that's about it.

How do you track your progress?


I'd suggest something more abstract. I've made a bit of a hobby of picking up complicated past-times, and when I was learning to shoot, I discovered that there is an ethos in the sport that encourages people to focus on process over outcomes. I have found this to be very broadly helpful. The idea is that if you focus on the different things that go into playing well, you'll get better at what you are focused on and winning/better scores will follow naturally. (I have also found that this helps easy the anxiety of some of my students who get agitated when they think about the outcome of a game.) Don't go into the game thinking, "I'm going to win." Rather, focus on a particular issue -- I'm going to keep my groups connected, I'm going to focus on using influence properly, etc. Then try to assess your performance by how well you achieved that goal.

Along these lines, I think it is also important to develop an internal sense of your skill level in different areas and to use that to measure your progress. Sometimes when you are learning new things, your rank can fall as you learn to put all of the pieces together. My focus for the past few months has been to learn to use influence properly, but it turns out that doing so depends on a number of other things that I need to learn to do to make it all work. I can feel it coming together -- I see the board differently. I think my judgement about territory in the middle has improved dramatically. I have a much better sense of how to use moyos strategically. However, my rank has actually fallen by a stone or two because I can't yet put it all together. Obviously, it is frustrating to see your rank drop, but being able to identify the things that I've learned to do that I couldn't before has kept me motivated.

MysteryFTG wrote:
As for me, I'm forcing myself right now to play at least one 19x19 game each day, even though I have a bit of an anxiety problem. I also play a handful of blitz 9x9 games on my phone and do half a dozen go problems each on a couple of website and in Graded Go Problems 2.
I try to keep track of my played games, rank development and the number of solved problems in a very simple Excel spreadsheet.
Maybe this is all overkill, especially for a beginner, or a good idea. I don't know.


This is a question that I think only you can answer. Try different things -- be flexible (good lesson in go!) and find what works for you. The one suggestion that I will make is that you should review your own games regularly and post some of them for comments. What I like to do is to take the thing that I'm focusing on at the moment, and review the game focused on that element.


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 Post subject: Re: Study Plan and Progress Tracking
Post #5 Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 12:25 pm 
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I don't have a set program right now (life is too busy, and go is not my primary focus), but here are a few thoughts:

  • Pick realistic goals. If you set goals you often miss, it's likely to become demotivating. Also, don't be concerned about changing your goals if what you are doing isn't working for you. We aren't go professionals, so we have a great deal of latitude regarding how we approach the game.
  • If you have physical copies of tsumego books, print a bookmark with checkboxes for each problem. That way you can keep track of where you are and which problems you've gotten right or wrong. For bigger problem books, you can use more than one bookmark during the course of the book, which also gives you a nice intermediate goal.
  • I recently saw a post where someone was making their own personal joseki dictionary. Which joseki do you actually play? What happens in your games when you play them? I thought it was a clever idea.
  • I've recently considered making a web app that would show finished positions of games so I can practice counting. Counting is a basic skill that is really easy to skip when we play all our games online. You can practice this without a dedicated app, too.
  • Review your games. At the very least, try to find the losing move in your losses. How did you get to that point? What went right? What went wrong? Software can be helpful for this, but it's also worth using your own critical thinking skills.
  • If you like teaching, offer feedback and help for others. It's a great way to participate in the community, and you're likely to learn while you do it. If a stronger player disagrees with your comment later on, all the better--there's more to learn!
  • It may be worth keeping track of other things going on in your life while you are studying. Do you get the same amount of sleep each night? Are there periods where you are more stress than others? These type of incidentals are likely to have a big impact on your rate of improvement.
  • You probably shouldn't do all of these things, or your bookkeeping habits will take up as much time as you get playing the game. ;-)
  • Have fun! As others have said, this is ultimately what will keep you coming back to the game over time.


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Post #6 Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2018 2:02 pm 
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Keeping track of progress in terms of which problems you have solved, what books you have read, and so on, is fine. As for rating or rank, I would not worry about that until you have played go for at least one year. Progress during the first year is so rapid that accurate rating is hardly possible. A three year old is not concerned about how many words she knows. :)

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 Post subject: Re: Study Plan and Progress Tracking
Post #7 Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2018 1:28 pm 
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IMHO, you'll be best served by playing a larger number of 9 X 9 games, rather than a smaller number of 19 X 19 games. That way you get to see more games through to completion. It's not as good for sector understanding, but much better for mastering contact fights.

And, of course, 13 X 13 is also a standard setting.

I'm currently 9 kyu per Igowin.

My routine is reasonably iterative. When I'm ready to do a "Go-cycle", I'll play a 9 X 9 with Igowin. Then I work through another section or two with the Bruce Wilcox Go Dojo. Then I come over here to the BBS and check to see what's up.

Lather, rinse, repeat! I usually get in 3-4 of these "Go-cycles" per day.

FWIW...

:study:

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