I finally started my own study journal thread, I'm a member of the tribe, now!

Recently, I was not enjoying go that much anymore and I played more shogi which is nice but I started to wonder why I didn't feel the same excitement about go.

I realized part of the problem was that I played all my games on DGS. And while it's certainly possible to play good games on DGS, the way I have been doing it lately was not so great. Because I just played a few moves in a hurry during the day (at work), I just quickly played a local answer to my opponents moves instead of playing to win the game. As a result not only did I lose many games and almost 2 stones in strength, but I also started to lose interest.

So this my attempt to get back into the game the way it's meant to be played. I won't set a target goal of 1d or something like that, what's the point? 1d is not fundamentally different than 1k or 2d, it's the journey that matters not the destination. And I haven't made progress is so many years now that I can't really say "shodan by next year" anymore

So I'll start playing more on KGS again (I barely managed to avoid to go back to [?] from lack of recent games this time). And I'm now rereading Otake's Opening Theory Made Easy and I will go through my Graded Go Problems for Beginners again and maybe I'll manage to survive trough more than one chapter of Attack and Defense.

Anyway that's all for now!

Good luck, keep us informed and don't be lazy

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Tsumego/Tesuji apps for iPad, iPhone & Android devices:http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=7511

So this past week has been a good start.

Opening Theory Made Easy was a good choice, it's easy to read and the principles make sense (at least in the context of the book, using them correctly in the heat of the moment might be more difficult). I also started reading Yilun Yang's Fundamental Principles of Go and I managed to go through 75% of Graded Go Problems vol. 2 in a single session. I'm looking forward to getting to volume 3 again, I remember it had some really tricky problems.

Also I renewed my yearly subscription to Guo Juan's video lessons. I hope I'll use it more this time than the previous years. Anyway I started with her new series Joseki for Beginners which is really great. I learned the answers to questions I have had for years. That was 15 lectures of 15-20 min so far, I hope there will be more in that series.

As for actual play, I played a few games on KGS and I was a bit lucky so now I'm 4k with no ? even though I know this is overrated by 2-3 stones easily. Well, I can look forward to being crushed for a while until it goes back to normal.

Next I'm probably going to reread Fan Hui's "L'Ame du Go" (The Soul of Go), it's about basic shapes and I remember it was also quite good. And I'll watch more videos from Guo Juan

I'm wondering if that was either a long session you did on tsumego or if you're really quick at them. I've been going over volumes 2 and 3 a few times and there's definitely some tricky problems in the third one for me, as you're about the same level as me I suspect it'll be the same for you, though I know areas of strength can vary wildly.

Even if you feel the journey is the important part, just having a goal can help you stay more focused, doesn't have to be reach X rank either, though that's certainly the most common one.

PeterN

That was a long session (I think over 4 hours with a few short breaks). I think reading is an area where I'm rather weak for my level (I'm not sure what my strong points though). Most problems in volume 2 are not too hard but I try to make sure I read them well enough to be sure of my answer. Some of the trickier problems I actually remembered from the last time I did them (4-5 years ago?).

I just lost two games in the most stupid way:

The first one I failed to answer what was, after all, a real ko-threat during the very last one-point ko. It turns out I was ahead by 6.5 without winning the ko. In the next game, I was afraid to repeat such a disaster and I played an unnecessary defensive move and lost by half a point. Go is a cruel game.

Both situations were actually quite easy to read and I should have been able to play correctly. Shame on me!

That does raise the question of how many games do we lose because the previous game has made us overconfident or scared, and how many do we win because the opponent is suffering from it instead?

Are we our own worst enemy really?

PeterN

Yes.

Actually I used to have this principle of never playing a defensive move if I couldn't see the threat clearly. It taught me a lot during my ddk days. I should not have forgotten it.

(it looks like my KGS rank has stabilized to 5k for now, I'll see if I can manage to keep it that way)

It has been a long time but I can hear the goban calling me again...

Have I forgotten all the tesuji or just the bad habits?

Welcome back!



A fresh start is always good. Besides, things have changed quite a bit in recent years.

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The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins
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Many are cold, but few are frozen.