Numsgil, it seems like that program is pc only, so I'm probably out of luck again. Yes, I am too lazy to restart my computer...

So anyway, here's what's been going down recently. For some reason, my only play has been terrible as of late. I've lost 8 out of my last 10 games, including losing 5 in a row. I've almost been kicked to 4k, after wavering between 2 and 3 for a while As discouraging as that is though, my in person games have been going very well. Since I have amply opportunity to play face to face combined with the fact that online play hasn't been going well, it seems I'm taking another unofficial break from it.

Regardless, I've been have a lot of fun in my f2f matches. I've gotten to play a lot of dan players recently, and I hope that these handicap games will be helpful for my improvement, because they're certainly fun. In addition, there is no doubt that my memory has improved greatly as of late. I finished memorizing the Go Seigen game, and I must admit I was proud of myself to be able to replay the entire game from memory. More usefully though, I've been having much greater success at remembering my in person games for review. This is really a godsend, because I can now replay the game while asking stronger players for specific help.

I've also been reflecting on my game as a whole. It sometimes seems to me that for every go player, there exists one of those charts that shows what specific skills a player is strong or weak at. Like the groove radar in ddr!


For me, my strengths for my level are definitely strategy and direction of play as I was talking about earlier. My weaknesses would be contact fighting and tesujis. My games usually go the way where I get off to a good start and enter the middle game well. Once the mid to late middlegame come around though, I often make stupid tactical mistakes that have bad consequences and my position will collapse, after which I'll struggle to make it all back in the end game. For this reason, it was recommended to me to go through some tesuji problems, which is just what I'm doing now.

Anyway, has anyone had similar experiences or advice?

_________________
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." -- Bruce Lee

Here's a game I played recently, a rematch against the same guy I played with two stones previously, except this time I won! I would appreciate any comments, and there are some comments of my own strewn through out. Also, this was a game I played in person and then recorded after I got home, and serves as a testament to the improvement of my memory, That being said, The last 50 moves of the record I don't really remember the order of, and I'm sure there are some mistakes anyway

_________________
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." -- Bruce Lee

Most obvious mistake I see is move 94. Push down at R15 and then cut at S14. White resigns.

I mean, the three stones can escape, but White won't want to run with them. It's just pain.

Haven't updated in a while, but my study routining is maintaining! Now that I'm back at school it's possible I
ll have less time to play, but I'll see what I can do. My routine consists of in person games once a week and few online games scattered throughout the week, in addition to some tsumego. Time will tell wether I'll be able to push out of 3k!

I also noticed that on my old account, I still don't have a ? next to my ranking, despite not playing on it for over two months! Just when will KGS let the past rest

_________________
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." -- Bruce Lee

I finally broke through to 2k! To be a fair, I had been winning a pretty high percentage of my games before, so it's only fair enough. I've won a few games since then, so I'm probably safe from sliding back ( I hope) I also managed to beat a shodan from my school club with 2 stones! I'm now going through 501 Tesuji problems, which I'm enjoying. After that I was considering Lee Chang Ho's Tesuji Problems, but his grouping by tesuji is a big turn off. So instead, I'm leaning towards "The Book to Increase Your Fighting Strength at Go" Volume 1, as I've heard good things. Shodan isn't so far away after all!

Anyone have memories of what helped them make that push to the last kyu rank?

_________________
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." -- Bruce Lee

Congratulations! It seems like you've been improving fairly quickly. Good to hear you've made so much progress. As I'm trying to follow your recent footsteps, has anything particular helped you gain your last few ranks?

_________________
Someday I want to be strong enough to earn KGS[-].

This is pretty general advice I guess, but what worked for me was just doing what I liked. I didn't force myself to do life and death problems which I hate just because everyone says to and instead tried to identify my specific weaknesses. Since my biggest problem is small scale fighting and the like, I chose tesuji problems as the cure. I thinking working on improving at remembering games was also a big help though. Perhaps most importantly though, I cornered stronger players into playing games with me as much as possible

_________________
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." -- Bruce Lee

Congratulations!

I, too, follow the advice of just doing what I like. Sadly, in the moment this has nothing to do with Go ^^ I think, I'm still solid 4k but my ability to read Life-and-Death situations has decreased rapidly.
We'll see when motivation comes back, maybe in November when I'm participating in a big tournament.

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go

Thank god finals week is almost over. I think my go study has been going pretty well lately. I've been winning a lot on kgs recently. To be fair, a bunch of those games have just been me beating up on the 3ks, but I guess the fact that I can consistently beat them bodes well. I'm slowly working through the first volume of "the book to increase your fighting strength at go" which I'm actually enjoying a lot. The types of tesuji problems they have seem more realistic than in other books.

My goal is definitely to hit 1k before the end of the year. After that, I'd really like to hit shodan before the end of the school year. We'll see!

_________________
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." -- Bruce Lee

So, it seems like I'm a pretty solid 1k on kgs. I've been going even against the other 1ks, and usually beat the 2ks. However, no 1ds will play me! If I start a game, I basically never get a stronger player to join, and I rarely can find shodans who have long enough time settings and will accept my challenges.

As for my studying, I'm mostly just playing even games, along with some games with stronger players and reviews by them. I haven't done tumego in a few weeks, is this a problem

Maybe I should start doing more problems to make the final push to 1d, but I just never feel like doing them! Maybe if I just sprinkle in a few...

My club games are also helpful, as sometimes I get handicap games with stronger players, and theres one player there who I guess is a friendly rival since although he was giving me stones for a while we're now evenly matched.

It can sometimes be hard to fit go in with school and everything else, but I will do my best

I think I'll post one of my games in here soon. I always feel embarrassed though

_________________
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." -- Bruce Lee

Here's a game I lost recently as black. Would appreciate any comments.


Some questions: Was I right to tenuki the top group at 29? MY attack with 45 just sort of fizzles out, what would be a better way of attacking? 115: Biggest on board? 117 is safe but feels a little flat, what would be more constructive? Right to end ko at 169?

_________________
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." -- Bruce Lee

Some thoughts.

[sgf-full](;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2]RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[6.50]TM[1800]OT[3x40 byo-yomi]PW[zzandoree]PB[Jedo]WR[1k]BR[1k]DT[2011-02-16]PC[The KGS Go Server at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.gokgs.com/">http://www.gokgs.com/</a><!-- m -->]RE[W+Resign];B[qe]BL[1797.762]C[Jedo [1k\]: hizzandoree [1k\]: hi];W[dd]WL[1778.22];B[pp]BL[1792.909];W[dp]WL[1742.094];B[fq]BL[1786.215];W[fp]WL[1661.909];B[gp]BL[1781.822];W[eq]WL[1660.195];B[fo]BL[1779.799];W[ep]WL[1659.3];B[go]BL[1768.475];W[gq]WL[1655.859];B[hq]BL[1763.732];W[fr]WL[1655.122]C[Can't tenuki yet. You have to finish with g2, because white's h2 is too big a sente to allow.];B[fc]BL[1754.015];W[hc]WL[1639.432];B[cc]BL[1740.268];W[dc]WL[1637.176];B[cd]BL[1737.045];W[de]WL[1636.332];B[db]BL[1735.493];W[eb]WL[1634.738];B[cb]BL[1733.986];W[ec]WL[1633.804];B[cf]BL[1733.207];W[hr]WL[1621.629];B[iq]BL[1729.531];W[qn]WL[1568.48];B[jc]BL[1706.371];W[eg]WL[1557.483];B[cg]BL[1688.498];W[nq]WL[1500.966];B[oo]BL[1677.88];W[qq]WL[1495.271];B[qp]BL[1660.35]C[Block is not joseki, but if you must block, block q3 because you have stones pincering on that side. (but it's still bad because j2 is open) Joseki when white double approaches and you don't have a pincer is a shoulder hit on one of the r6 or o3 stones.];W[pq]WL[1435.872];B[mp]BL[1655.663];W[op]WL[1412.823];B[np]BL[1635.644];W[oq]WL[1393.009];B[po]BL[1620.689];W[rp]WL[1389.967];B[ro]BL[1616.242];W[rq]WL[1388.711];B[fb]BL[1606.826];W[fa]WL[1358.87];B[ga]BL[1599.638];W[ea]WL[1355.67];B[hb]BL[1589.063];W[fd]WL[1330.071];B[ib]BL[1571.525];W[gd]WL[1323.227];B[gb]BL[1565.637];W[rn]WL[1301.907];B[qo]BL[1553.848];W[so]WL[1293.654];B[qk]BL[1526.579];W[no]WL[1269.679];B[pm]BL[1511.465];W[mo]WL[1211.615];B[lp]BL[1486.994];W[lo]WL[1191.795];B[pn]BL[1458.806]
(;W[rl]WL[1175.891]C[This is probably when you should go back to l4 and patch up. It's way too big to allow w to capture those three stones.]
(;B[rk]BL[1445.91];W[pl]WL[1124.199];B[ql]BL[1336.078];W[qm]WL[1116.481];B[ol]BL[1333.321];W[jd]WL[1062.824];B[pk]BL[1285.985];W[kc]WL[1058.455];B[kb]BL[1253.769];W[ic]WL[1054.881];B[lb]BL[1211.243];W[jb]WL[1052.981];B[ja]BL[1208.169];W[ia]WL[1016.784];B[jc]BL[1203.249];W[ce]WL[1014.498];B[be]BL[1200.517];W[jb]WL[1013.396];B[ha]BL[1193.49];W[jc]WL[991.747];B[lc]BL[1177.842];W[qd]WL[932.86];B[pd]BL[1155.268];W[re]WL[885.469];B[qc]BL[1094.905];W[rd]WL[883.194];B[qf]BL[1093.011];W[pc]WL[849.601];B[pb]BL[1048.112];W[oc]WL[840.378];B[qb]BL[1025.094]C[Feels like overplay];W[ob]WL[830.595];B[od]BL[1003.418];W[nd]WL[815.519];B[nc]BL[980.229];W[pe]WL[778.184];B[oe]BL[976.246];W[ne]WL[777.098];B[of]BL[952.037];W[mc]WL[775.128];B[nb]BL[949.903];W[mb]WL[774.266];B[oa]BL[948.268];W[ma]WL[773.002];B[md]BL[939.067];W[ld]WL[770.26];B[me]BL[932.776];W[ka]WL[732.913]C[but this is an ok result, i guess];B[le]BL[922.916];W[la]WL[726.632];B[cn]BL[906.579]C[This is a bit thin, white can play d6 to break through. Anyway, l4 is still the biggest place.];W[kp]WL[703.74];B[ck]BL[882.413];W[io]WL[671.815];B[kq]BL[844.488]
(;W[jo]WL[592.427]C[what is this nonsense];B[jp]BL[825.319];W[ko]WL[587.797];B[hp]BL[815.036];W[jr]WL[572.979];B[en]BL[764.297]C[see, you need to add a move. I think d5 would have been better.];W[ch]WL[493.597];B[dh]BL[751.508];W[di]WL[364.792];B[ci]BL[693.502];W[cj]WL[359.956];B[bh]BL[690.617];W[bi]WL[355.044];B[dj]BL[647.66];W[dm]WL[290.093];B[dn]BL[610.218];W[cm]WL[273.088];B[em]BL[592.485];W[ch]WL[267.792];B[ei]BL[565.545];W[dk]WL[265.104];B[ci]BL[548.497];W[bk]WL[199.494];B[bj]BL[492.603];W[el]WL[195.736];B[ek]BL[477.603];W[bn]WL[24.197];B[bo]BL[451.533];W[bm]WL[40]OW[3];B[cp]BL[395.053];W[cl]WL[40]OW[3];B[dl]BL[356.688];W[do]WL[40]OW[3];B[fl]BL[310.831];W[co]WL[40]OW[3];B[bp]BL[263.188];W[al]WL[40]OW[3];B[an]BL[247.26];W[ao]WL[40]OW[3]
(;B[ap]BL[237.477];W[cq]WL[40]OW[3];B[bq]BL[213.531];W[br]WL[40]OW[3];B[cr]BL[204.947];W[dr]WL[40]OW[3];B[cs]BL[160.659];W[ds]WL[40]OW[3];B[dq]BL[147.126];W[rg]WL[40]OW[3];B[ar]BL[36.725];W[rf]WL[40]OW[3];B[qg]BL[40]OB[3];W[qh]WL[40]OW[3];B[ri]BL[40]OB[3];W[rh]WL[40]OW[3];B[oh]BL[40]OB[3];W[oi]WL[40]OW[3]
(;B[pi]BL[40]OB[3];W[qi]WL[40]OW[3];B[rj]BL[40]OB[3];W[ph]WL[40]OW[3];B[pj]BL[40]OB[3];W[pg]WL[40]OW[3];B[pf]BL[40]OB[3];W[og]WL[40]OW[3];B[nh]BL[40]OB[3];W[ng]WL[40]OW[3]
(;B[mg]BL[40]OB[3];W[mh]WL[40]OW[3];B[ni]BL[40]OB[3];W[mi]WL[40]OW[3];B[nj]BL[40]OB[3];W[lg]WL[40]OW[3];B[mf]BL[40]OB[3];W[nf]WL[40]OW[3];B[kf]BL[40]OB[3];W[jg]WL[40]OW[3];B[jf]BL[40]OB[3];W[if]WL[40]OW[3];B[kg]BL[40]OB[2];W[kh]WL[40]OW[3];B[jh]BL[40]OB[2];W[ig]WL[40]OW[3];B[ki]BL[40]OB[2];W[lh]WL[40]OW[3];B[mj]BL[40]OB[2];W[ke]WL[40]OW[3];B[jq]BL[40]OB[2];W[cq]WL[40]OW[3];B[bs]BL[40]OB[2];W[lq]WL[40]OW[3];B[lr]BL[40]OB[2];W[mr]WL[40]OW[3];B[sl]BL[40]OB[2];W[lj]WL[40]OW[3];B[li]BL[40]OB[2];W[lf]WL[40]OW[3];B[rm]BL[40]OB[2];W[ij]WL[40]OW[3];B[ik]BL[40]OB[2];W[jk]WL[40]OW[3];B[hj]BL[40]OB[2];W[jj]WL[40]OW[3];B[il]BL[40]OB[2];W[hi]WL[40]OW[3];B[lk]BL[40]OB[2];W[jl]WL[40]OW[3];B[kj]BL[40]OB[2];W[gj]WL[40]OW[3];B[hk]BL[40]OB[2];W[gk]WL[40]OW[3];B[gi]BL[40]OB[2];W[hm]WL[40]OW[3];B[hh]BL[40]OB[1];W[ii]WL[40]OW[3];B[sn]BL[40]OB[1];W[fi]WL[40]OW[3];B[fj]BL[40]OB[1];W[gh]WL[40]OW[3];B[kr]BL[40]OB[1];W[rc]WL[40]OW[3];B[ir]BL[40]OB[1];W[eh]WL[40]OW[3];B[hs]BL[40]OB[1];W[gr]WL[40]OW[3];B[ji]BL[40]OB[1];W[ll]WL[40]OW[3];B[ih]BL[40]OB[1];W[hg]WL[40]OW[3];B[df]BL[40]OB[1];W[kk]WL[40]OW[3];B[lj]BL[40]OB[1];W[nl]WL[40]OW[3];B[ef]BL[40]OB[1];W[ff]WL[40]OW[3];B[ee]BL[40]OB[1];W[ed]WL[40]OW[3];B[fe]BL[40]OB[1];W[ge]WL[40]OW[3];B[mm]BL[40]OB[1];W[nm]WL[40]OW[3];B[ml]BL[40]OB[1];W[lm]WL[40]OW[3];B[mn]BL[40]OB[1];W[nn]WL[40]OW[3];B[sp]BL[40]OB[1];W[ln]WL[40]OW[3];B[mk]BL[40]OB[1];W[nk]WL[40]OW[3];B[oj]BL[40]OB[1];W[fk]WL[40]OW[3];B[sq]BL[40]OB[1];W[sr]WL[40]OW[3];B[so]BL[40]OB[1];W[rb]WL[40]OW[3];B[rr]BL[40]OB[1];W[qr]WL[40]OW[3];B[ss]BL[40]OB[1];W[ej]WL[40]OW[3];B[fg]BL[40]OB[1];W[gf]WL[40]OW[3];B[fj]BL[40]OB[1];W[gl]WL[40]OW[3];B[gm]BL[40]OB[1];W[ej]WL[40]OW[3];B[mq]BL[40]OB[1];W[lq]WL[40]OW[3];B[hn]BL[40]OB[1];W[in]WL[40]OW[3];B[ra]BL[40]OB[1];W[di]WL[40]OW[3];B[im]BL[40]OB[1];W[jm]WL[40]OW[3];B[ei]BL[40]OB[1];W[bd]WL[40]OW[3];B[bc]BL[40]OB[1];W[di]WL[40]OW[3];B[hl]BL[40]OB[1];W[hm]WL[40]OW[3];B[ei]BL[40]OB[1];W[bf]WL[40]OW[3];B[ad]BL[40]OB[1];W[di]WL[40]OW[3];B[hl]BL[40]OB[1];W[im]WL[40]OW[3];B[ei]BL[40]OB[1];W[fm]WL[40]OW[3];B[fn]BL[40]OB[1];W[di]WL[40]OW[3];B[gs]BL[40]OB[1];W[fs]WL[40]OW[3];B[is]BL[40]OB[1];W[qa]WL[40]OW[3];B[pa]BL[40]OB[1];W[ei]WL[40]OW[3];B[ms]BL[40]OB[1];W[dg]WL[40]OW[3];B[ch]BL[40]OB[1];W[ns]WL[40]OW[3];B[ls]BL[40]OB[1];W[ho]WL[40]OW[3];B[da]BL[40]OB[1];W[gn]WL[40]OW[3];B[lp]BL[40]OB[1];W[fm]WL[40]OW[3];B[mq]BL[40]OB[1];W[el]WL[40]OW[3]C[Jedo [1k\]: thankszzandoree [1k\]: ty])
(;B[nf]C[n13 looks like a move you play when you go on tilt. keep focused, white is still in trouble and black has plenty of points.]))
(;B[ni]C[think this works.]
(;W[nh];B[ph])
(;W[pg];B[pf];W[nh];B[og];W[qi];B[rj];W[nj];B[pi])))
(;B[cr]C[why not just here?]))
(;W[jp]))
(;B[kp]))
(;W[kp]C[man, this would suck for black.]))[/sgf-full]

And answers to the questions: I don't like the tenuki, I think black should respond on the bottom right. 45 could be f16, then w will connect under and you can h16. (that's a variation that works when you have k17) 114- l4 is bigger. 117 could be high. You were right to end the ko at 169 but didn't defend properly.

I'd play 45 at F15 - double threat to cut through the knight's move or separate the single stone from the wall.

I was just rereading through your journal and remembered how much I liked this way of thinking of things. As a side note, I was thinking how cool it would be to have a program that could search search through a library of games and identify aspects. For example, the number of invasions, contact plays, large kills, abnormal fuseki plays, et cetera, and display it in a graph, potentially just like the groove radar. While invading often doesn't necessarily tell you whether you're good or bad at them, it seems like an interesting (if likely useful) bit of flavor. Lacking a program to do it for me, I should start analyzing my own weaknesses and consider ways to improve at them. I've already identified that I like playing fast a bit too much, and end up with too many thin shapes. I'm trying to get a SLIGHTLY more solid style as a result. I wonder what other weaknesses I can find...

How has this been going? Have you managed to improve any of the specific areas you identified as weaknesses when you posted this previously?

_________________
Someday I want to be strong enough to earn KGS[-].

I think I have been making slow but sure improvements.

I hardly do any tsumego, just a handful a week. I am playing/reviewing/getting my games reviewed a lot though, which is a lot more fun for me anyway. I had a nice run at the NJ Open, winning all games. TBH though, I was sorta underranked

Here's a hearbreaker I lost to a 2d on kgs today. If only I didn't have to give him komi! I lost my lead at the end, damn his endgame...

W+1.5

_________________
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." -- Bruce Lee

hope it helps:

move 21: finish the sequence with atari.

move 27 ???
capturing one stone was fine.

move 35: C7 better?

move 53: R3 better?

move 61: Q8 better?

_________________
"The more we think we know about
The greater the unknown"
Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson

So I just came out a slump of unprecendented proportions. I lost something like 15 of 20 games and bombed my ratings down. It was pretty frustrating to go from playing well with shodans to having such a terrible win percentage with 1ks. Still don't know what that was about, but I took a break for a few days and now seem to be doing better, although it will take my rating a little while to recover

I do think I come out of my slump slightly improved though, so on with the games!

_________________
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." -- Bruce Lee

Happened to me a lot, I'd win a streak of 6-10 games and then lose a ton. Keep on truckin'.

Hey guys. I continue to be a sold 1K, but can't quite seem to breakthrough to shodan. Luckily I've been getting a lot of games from some very strong players in person, which I think has been very helpful. I also should probably bite the bullet and hit the tsumego books again

I will be away from the forums for a while though, because in two days I'm actually going to China! The Chinese Ing Foundation has organized a trip for American college go players. We have to pay to fly in and out, but room and board are provided. It's only ten days, so it's not some kind of go cram session, more of a combination of sight seeing and friendly matches with chinese college students. I'll be flying in to Shangai, and then heading over to Beijing. I'm psyched

Maybe this will be what I need to step up my play!

_________________
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." -- Bruce Lee

Wow, what an awesome opportunity. Congratulations!