The Start Of A New Journey (Plan To Become Pro)

[Kirby]

I personlly don't think this is a good Idea, you should learn to solve problems, not memorize their solutions.

Ditto. Also, 10-20 problems a day is not that many; consider doing around 50 IMO. If they're taking too long (this is more than 3 minutes for me, maybe 30 seconds for sdk), they're too hard, and you should do easier ones. My 2c

Well, if you break study up into

1) Fuseki

2) Joseki

3) Whole game

4) End game

5) Sabaki and Shinogi

6) Tesuji

7) Tsumego

then 10 - 20 tsumego promblems per day is a lot.

That "Whole game" one always gets me drained!

[hailthorn011]

Whole game ones can be perplexing because it's not like you've played the game yourself, so you have to search for the problem area.

[tchan001]

That "Whole game" one always gets me drained!

Especially when you start with an empty board.

[hailthorn011]

Well, today didn't turn out so well. I've had internet connection issues for the majority of it! So I wasn't able to play any. So, that was frustrating. I spent some time solving problems, but that was about it, so I'm just going to consider today my recharge day instead of tomorrow (which was originally planned to be the relax day). But oh well. No problem.

The good part is, I devised a decent way of reviewing my games when I'm reviewing alone. I'll go through my moves and ask myself at each point, "this was good, but is there a better move available?" Or "this move was terrible, is there a better move available?"

This is a common tactic, I'm sure. So win or lose, I'll be doing this. So for a 30 minute game, I'll spend 1 hour reviewing it. And then play my next game. Then I'll relate the second game to my first game and see if I played better. Hopefully the answer is yes, I played better. And then I'll review again for an hour. After that, I'll play the third game. And have another hour for review.

Obviously I'm not going to binge play and review like this back to back. That would be hard to accomplish since I do have things I have to do. But that will be my strategy for improving my play.

For pro game study, I've decided to study the games of two of my favorite Korean professionals: Lee Changho and Lee Sedol. I'm not at the rank to where I can truly comprehend EVERY move, but I'll try my best on this front.


Also, I've changed my primary directive for the time being. I'm going to aim for 1 Dan and focus intensively on that goal. I believe that is the next big frontier for me anyway now that I have reached SDK.

However, the challenge I am proposing to myself is to reach this rank on every possible server that I play on: KGS, Wbaduk, Tygem, and Kaya.

Thinking about it, I'm not setting a deadline to reach this rank. But I'll be working hard to accomplish it. After all, I know the task of reaching 1 Dan is really hard, and a lot give up on it.

And that about sums up my day. I will not put another entry into this journal until Wednesday. or if I rank up. Whichever comes first. of course, if someone says something, I'll try to respond.

Also, I found this pic to be highly amusing:

Note: If you haven't seen the Avengers, you probably don't want to look. It's not a major event or anything, but it's one of those things you'd rather not know about.

[SoDesuNe]

I would set short-term goals. It doesn't have to be something like ranking-up by Monday but like solving all the problems in this book in the next week. Just something you check afterwards. I always found that to be a pleasant feeling ; )

Good luck!

[Bill Spight]

The good part is, I devised a decent way of reviewing my games when I'm reviewing alone. I'll go through my moves and ask myself at each point, "this was good, but is there a better move available?" Or "this move was terrible, is there a better move available?"

May I suggest coming up with 3 - 5 alternative moves that look good, and then choosing among them and your actual move. I. e., a two step process. How often do players not even see the best move!

[hailthorn011]

The good part is, I devised a decent way of reviewing my games when I'm reviewing alone. I'll go through my moves and ask myself at each point, "this was good, but is there a better move available?" Or "this move was terrible, is there a better move available?"

May I suggest coming up with 3 - 5 alternative moves that look good, and then choosing among them and your actual move. I. e., a two step process. How often do players not even see the best move!

I already do that in game. But the problem is, I burn 5-7 minutes per move doing that a lot of the time, so I don't think it's feasible for me to do this every move. Of course I do it when it's required, but I can't always do it with a 30 minute time restraint. Afterward, however, I'm free to spend as much time as I'd like.

The funny thing is, I jumped from the extreme of not using enough of my time to often using too much of my time.

[bakekoq]

Fighting!!!! That's what U called a spirit.
I really want to, but there aren't any job for becoming go player in my country.even my country still don't believe in go for my community can reach world's level.

So,I play go half heartedly and also I need to make some money out of go for helping my family. but, in the future I would like it to be a pro player from my country if my country already realize go can be more popular than chess..

[hailthorn011]

Well, this weekend didn't turn out so good for playing time. That being said, it WAS a holiday weekend, so that had a large part to do with it. However, my pace has fallen off dramatically. I'm hoping to change that tonight and get in a few good games, and review them afterward.

Then I'll study some tsumego. And hopefully tomorrow, I can finish chapter 1 of Attack And Defense (finally), and review it.

I feel confident that I can reach 5k possibly by the end of the week if I pick up the pace some. And yes, I know I said I wouldn't update until Wednesday, but oh well.

It also doesn't help that when I did have playing time, I was distracted by the Honinbo title game. I'm glad to see Iyama Yuta at 2-0. I'm pretty sure he's going to defeat Keigo and take the title.

But now that game 2 is over, I can focus on my own studies.

So, my first minor goal is to reach 5k by Sunday. I've already detailed my POA, so I'm not going to go over that again.

Also, I probably won't compete in the Tygem Pro Online Prelim. I will definitely watch it though!

And that is where I stand at this given moment.

[hailthorn011]

Sometimes you get to that point where you wonder if what you're doing is really worth it after all.

I haven't honestly kept up with the study goals I've set for myself, and recently, I can't seem to find the right moves. I'm playing too fast again. In essence, I'm reverting back to where I was before I thought of the brilliant idea of stating I want to become pro (inject sarcasm for full effect).

I see the moves with my eyes, but my stones seem clueless. I fail at essential mass captures that should succeed based on how the game proceeded and end up losing my own huge groups. I lose games because of poor end game mistakes.

Oh, by the way, I'm playing like a Kyu player. Not that I could play like anything else at the moment, but I'm spiraling backwards. I don't feel the inspiration, the invigoration I felt just days ago.

Maybe it's because I'm trying too hard. I haven't played games for the fun of it in awhile. The past two days I've focused too hard on getting to 5k. My arrogance is rewarding me with losses. This isn't how I want to play. I don't want to sit there and gaze dumbly at the board after the myriad of errors I commit.

It's a shame because for awhile I literally saw a spark. I could feel a difference in my game. I know I'm playing a lot better now than I was 7 days ago. But now I've reached that fork. I've become too goal oriented. I'm going through the motions like it's all routine rather than playing with passion. (Laugh all you want.)

I've just gotten this block. And, I don't care about the losses as much as why they're happening. I've let my minor jump in strength cloud my judgement, and it's turning me into a poor player.

I don't want to take a break, but maybe that's best. Maybe I literally have set my sights far too high. I'm sitting here floundering along trying to reach a level that thousands try and fail to each and every year while giving the game far more dedication than I have ever allowed myself to.

And I know this is probably one of those self-tests. It's something I will eventually overcome and laugh about later. I guess this is why athletes tend to have sports psychologists so they can discuss things like this.

These are trials and tribulations any Go player striving to get better probably eventually faces. Probably something any player of any game faces. But the sad part about it all is, I know deep down I should win a lot of the games I've lost recently. But I'm just not putting forth the effort I need to in the recent days. You can cock your eyebrow and call it a cocky thing to say, but it's just the truth.

Maybe a few days off would really be a good thing, but I can't even do that because I've signed up for the Tygem Pro Prelim. I decided to do it. And I've still got 10 games to play before the deadline.

Sorry for going off on a rampage. I just needed to get my thoughts down. Maybe get some advice on how to deal with this. What do you do when you lose that spark of inspiration? As a writer, I often endured long periods where the words just refuse to come. Or they come, and they don't flow. They don't "sing" shall I say?

Maybe a day or two away from the game would be beneficial. It would still give me time to get in those 10 games (albeit really pushing it) and maybe then I would rediscover the passion.

Oh well. I'm going to finish here. I'm writing way too much, but I've calmed myself down considerably as I've reflected on why I'm facing this wall. Fortunately for me, it's one that can be torn down quite easily if I really put forth the effort.

Have a nice day, folks.

[Boidhre]

A lot of my friends at the club have hit a wall around the 5k mark. It seems very common. I wouldn't beat yourself up about rather I'd just focus on ways to get over it. Easier said than done obviously.

[ilFuria]

This happened to me some time ago, before I started considering ranking just a useful way to find more-or-less equal games and started playing not for fun nor for rank but just to play at my best.
The solution? Take a break. At least of a week. Focus on something else. Then come back and start playing again. If you feel the same another week of pause is ok.

[SoDesuNe]

Taking a break in the sense of cancelling all Go activities for a couple of weeks is the easy way and very convenient since you don't depend on reaching pro level. If it's ought to be fun and it's not, it's okay to tend to other matters which are more rewarding.

On the other hand, if you want to become stronger and your main goal is not to have fun but to be strong, then quitting Go for a couple of weeks may ease your mind but it's also a waste of time considering your goal. You don't become stronger while not studying Go.
Now, you might feel you play worse than before and there are certainly a couple of reasons for this, but playing bad is not always a sign of failing at the game. Identify your mistakes, analyze your mistakes and don't repeat them!

Go is a game with a lot of "buts". Hane at the head of two stones is generally good, but if your opponent cross-cuts you, it also depends on the surrounding position. An empty triangle is in quite a few situations the best move. Studying Go is mostly about learning all those "buts" and this might confuse you.
Studying Tesuji makes you wonder if you can't play a more efficient move dealing with the situation and in the end the normal move would be just fine. Solving a lot of Life&Death-problems might lead to a too localized focus. Now with all these underlying thoughts about where to put the next move, it's okay to get baffled.
Important is, again, to review your own games. Watch out for things you studied lately and try to figure out if the moves played went according to you studies; and if not, why not? On a higher level, if your moves followed the theory perfectly and you still lost the game, a deeper assessment of the whole-board-situation may be needed. Perhaps a whole different strategy was called for?

So, maybe this is the time to be honest with yourself: Being a professional Go player is not fun in the first place, it's work. Your livelihood will depend solely on your ability to win games. It's okay to have a slump once in a while, but doubting every second week that the followed path might be wrong for you will get you nowhere.

There is some sense in the question: Where do you see yourself in five years?

[hailthorn011]

Taking a break in the sense of cancelling all Go activities for a couple of weeks is the easy way and very convenient since you don't depend on reaching pro level. If it's ought to be fun and it's not, it's okay to tend to other matters which are more rewarding.

On the other hand, if you want to become stronger and your main goal is not to have fun but to be strong, then quitting Go for a couple of weeks may ease your mind but it's also a waste of time considering your goal. You don't become stronger while not studying Go.
Now, you might feel you play worse than before and there are certainly a couple of reasons for this, but playing bad is not always a sign of failing at the game. Identify your mistakes, analyze your mistakes and don't repeat them!

Go is a game with a lot of "buts". Hane at the head of two stones is generally good, but if your opponent cross-cuts you, it also depends on the surrounding position. An empty triangle is in quite a few situations the best move. Studying Go is mostly about learning all those "buts" and this might confuse you.
Studying Tesuji makes you wonder if you can't play a more efficient move dealing with the situation and in the end the normal move would be just fine. Solving a lot of Life&Death-problems might lead to a too localized focus. Now with all these underlying thoughts about where to put the next move, it's okay to get baffled.
Important is, again, to review your own games. Watch out for things you studied lately and try to figure out if the moves played went according to you studies; and if not, why not? On a higher level, if your moves followed the theory perfectly and you still lost the game, a deeper assessment of the whole-board-situation may be needed. Perhaps a whole different strategy was called for?

So, maybe this is the time to be honest with yourself: Being a professional Go player is not fun in the first place, it's work. Your livelihood will depend solely on your ability to win games. It's okay to have a slump once in a while, but doubting every second week that the followed path might be wrong for you will get you nowhere.

There is some sense in the question: Where do you see yourself in five years?

You make valid points. I won't argue here. Slumps are part of the game and part of the learning process, and I'll have to learn from them.

However, I still wish to attain the pro status. Taking a break definitely won't help there. It was just highly frustrating to see so many needless losses pile up when they could very well have been wins. They all came down to simple mistakes.

I'll just have to handle the self-doubt in stride from now on rather than attempting to run away. I've played enough for today though. Tomorrow is another day. I suppose it doesn't help that I've been operating on very, very little sleep the past few days. As a matter of fact, I'm in the midst of pulling an all nighter to readjust my sleeping schedule, so that really could have contributed to the losses.

[SuprunP]

Hmm... this is most interesting if slightly discouraging.

Do you feel absolutely knackered, completely tired out, totally depleted of strength and energy, extremely fatigued or utterly clapped-out? Do you feel like you're having a 'foggy head' or a 'cotton wool head' (which is one of the symptoms of extreme fatigue) and that if you try to really concentrate on something your head begins to reel and you literally can't think? If this is not the case then what you need the least is a break. Instead, consider changing the attitude a bit.

I'm going to bring out my own experience now, for which I do apologise.
I've got only one ultimate goal and it is, as I've already written elsewhere, to achieve native-like competence in the language I've been learning for some time now. On the other hand, I must admit, I do have short-time goals. One day -- one short-time goal. This one, never-changing, universal short-time goal could be summed up as follows: "Do as much as you can!" or, as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it more elegantly "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely...".
When I finish my day and my short-time goal is accomplished I feel an enormously great sense of relief and satisfaction (should I even call it felicity?) which really propels me and makes me sure that the next day will be if not better, then by no means worse.
Let's look then at someone who says to himself "I will accomplish this or that in 10 days." and fails to do so. Most likely he will feel that those 10 days of really hard work were, to put it gently, of no avail. Then he says to himself "OK, I'll give myself another 10 days." and still fails to comply with the demands he imposed on himself.
20 days, two unaccomplished goals (quite a lot of time spent, achieved nothing), hence the following feeling: "Sometimes you get to that point where you wonder if what you're doing is really worth it after all."
Whereas I would have 20 days and 20 (19 or 18, it depends) accomplished goals.
Can you feel the difference?

I'll get my coat and hat.

If it's ought to be fun and it's not

"This finding shows that the activity of painting as such is not inherently motivating but rather the act of producing art that satisfies the artists' subjective criteria for quality.
[...]
We claim that deliberate practice requires effort and is not inherently enjoyable. Individuals are motivated to practice because practice improves performance. In addition, engaging in deliberate practice generates no immediate monetary rewards and generates costs associated with access to teachers and training environments. Thus, an understanding of the long-term consequences of deliberate practice is important."
The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance
K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Th. Krampe, and Clemens Tesch-Romer

I do advise you to read this article (if my memory serves me right there was a link here to the web-site from which this document could be downloaded, but I can't find it now...)