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

bakekoq · Post by **bakekoq** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 8:04 pm

3 second per move? wowh, that's blitz go. even faster than blitz go using 10sec/move. lol.

SoDesuNe · Post by **SoDesuNe** » Sat Jun 16, 2012 1:20 am

illluck wrote:Two quick comments. In the first game, move 96 can net, opponent still has the push and cut to top, but at least you capture the stones.

Yeah, you are right. I did not think this through in my review. At first sight I thought the cutting-Aji was just too big. But Black has still to worry about 'a'. So White is relatively safe and even gained with this sequence.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wc Position at move 95 $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . O X . . . . . . . . . . . O X . O . | $$ | . O X . X . . . . 5 4 3 . . O X X X . | $$ | . O O X . . . . X 7 O 2 O O . O X . . | $$ | O . O X . X . . 9 6 O X X . . O . X . | $$ | . O X X . . . . . O X O X . . . . . . | $$ | . X O X . . . . 0 8 X O X . . . X . . | $$ | . X O X . . . . . 1 . O X . a X . . . | $$ | . X O . . . . . . . . O O X X O O . . | $$ | . O O . . . . . . . . X X O O . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . O X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | O X X X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . | $$ | O O O X . . . . . . X . . X . . O . . | $$ | . O X O X . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

hailthorn011 · Post by **hailthorn011** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 2:30 pm

Araban wrote:I took a look at one of your games. You had 30 minutes of main time, let's take a look at how your time was spent:

Move # Time Remaining
1 29:57
3 29:55
5 29:52
7 29:50
9 29:47
11 29:46
13 29:44
15 29:42
17 29:41
19 29:39
21 29:38
23 29:37
25 29:34
27 29:30
29 29:28
31 29:24
33 29:20
35 29:18
37 29:17
39 29:16
41 29:14
43 29:13
45 29:10
47 29:08
49 29:06
51 29:01

26 moves in 2 minutes, and by the end of the game, you made 150 moves in 9 minutes (3.6s/mv)...that's not just playing fast, you're not even thinking so it's not even worth reviewing. Same for the other games you played that day (109 moves in 10 minutes or 5.9s/mv, 102 moves in 5 minutes or 2.9s/mv, 68 moves in 10 minutes or 8.8s/mv).

You're right. My fast play is definitely undermining my play. So that very well could be the majority of my problem. No, it definitely is. I'll keep this in mind in my next few games.

Regardless, thank you SoDesuNe for looking over games. My effort has not been up to par lately. So from here on, I'll try to take my time in the games when necessary (obviously if a joseki sequence is known, I likely don't need to think for 2+ minites, but then again, I guess it wouldn't hurt.)

This is a game I played the day before yesterday. It was another loss, but it's one I don't feel bad about. It was a fun game. And yes, I missed that capture at the end. Those are the things I need to look out for. I probably didn't use enough time either, but it was an enjoyable game nonetheless. This game was a Canadian Go League match, by the way.

Jayy · Post by **Jayy** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 5:55 pm

You played well that game and it was fairly close most of the time.(Your middle game was much better.)

Here are a few of the things I noticed afterwards.

Your choice of follow up for the joseki in lower right seemed a lot better for me when you consider the board situation.

Move 39 seemed a little slack on my part.

Moves 45-64 were much better for you, I gained little and all I did was fortify your group.

Moves 73-77 Bad sequence for me, ended in gote.

Move119 Bad choice

Move 138 Seems small and not necessary

Move 152 not necessary

I think you followed me too much in the endgame which let me get a safe lead.
I for some reason didn't notice F5 as well I guess it was nerves.

I would me delighted if someone stronger could give their comments on this game.

Loons · Post by **Loons** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:43 pm

hailthorn011 wrote:Well, despite my studies, I'm still dropping games left and right whether I play fast or slow. I've played 5 games today and won once because it was against an idiotbot. I'm keeping a positive attitude, but I will admit, this month has been really bad. 7-17.

And despite reviewing my losses and having stronger players review those losses, I feel like I'm heading backwards. At this point, I think it's a realistic possibility that I could fall back to 8k if I keep playing. 1p? Ha, yeah right. I've tried taking a break before and that only seemed to cause me to play even worse than I was before.

This is probably the worst rut I've ever been in. I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel this time. And it's not like I've really learned anything recently.
...
And I really want to stick to this goal, but it's looking like more of a foolish dream than a goal as each day goes on.

I'm also feeling down about my go very similarly.
Earlier today, I was looking through an old book of mine, CS Lewis's Screwtape Letters and came across my favourite quote. (To me, the religious overtones are simply artistic).

The Screwtape Letters wrote:The Enemy allows this disappointment to occur at the threshold of every human endeavour. It occurs when the boy who has been enchanted in the nursery by Stories from the Odyssey buckles down to really learning Greek. It occurs when lovers have got married and begin the real task of learning to live together. In every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing.

Marcus · Post by **Marcus** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 1:12 pm

Play me.

I don't have much else to offer except a willing punching bag at the (2k? 3k?) level. Might be a bit to weak for you, though. :mrgreen:

Ellyster · Post by **Ellyster** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:08 pm

Go for it... is good to aim for imposible things, that's the only way to make them possible :lol:

(and if not, you at least get some fun in the way and a high level at the end).

I kind have a similar goal (become strong enough to do 7-9d KGS -> Insei strengh -> take the Nihon ki-in pro exam) of course is almost certain that I have no time (I'm 24, so even worse for me ;-)

) but is a no-sense to plan that ahead as the age limits are constantly changeing (26-30 years old), and who knows if Europe will have pros sometime soon.

hailthorn011 · Post by **hailthorn011** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:10 pm

Marcus wrote:Play me.

I don't have much else to offer except a willing punching bag at the (2k? 3k?) level. Might be a bit to weak for you, though.

Sure, I'd be willing to.

I'm sure you'd have some insight that could prove beneficial.

hailthorn011 · Post by **hailthorn011** » Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:40 pm

I'm surprised. I think my latest break has helped my game. Or my last few opponents haven't played very well. Or maybe a combination of both.

I've still got a long way to go, and if history has taught me anything, I should enjoy this success while it lasts, because it probably won't stick around for too long. And yes, I know this game was played very fast, but this isn't the case with most of my games.

I feel if my opponent had slowed down, he probably could have played better.

Regardless, since returning from my break (which was forced due to lack of internet) I am 3-1 with my only loss coming against a 1 Dan. But I want to post that game, too. So...here they both are.

I feel like my game against the 1 Dan was decent enough, I guess.

Yukontodd · Post by **Yukontodd** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 12:55 am

I read through your journal here during spare moments; I've found it pretty inspirational. I hope I get to play you in the CGA league sometime before you rocket off into the sky where I hear the pros live.

I wonder if setting short term goals too short might be less than helpful. If you strive to make 5 kyu by next week, that's just a number, which you get by winning games more than losing them. So to make 5 kyu, you must win and not lose. Your play can become stale, lifeless, fearful.

We want to play against people slightly higher than our ranks in order to learn better, but in order to raise our rank, we can just chug along beating people at lower levels than us and never challenging ourselves. Now, I know you're not doing that. In fact, it seems you're recruiting folks to help make you stronger. This will have the immediate effect of lowering your rank ... although your play will get stronger!

Keep your eye on the prize! It isn't the next rank, or even dan for you. It's pro level. To do that, first get strong. Your rank will follow, but you will be a very strong 5k, or a very strong shodan, until you get into the higher levels where you can no longer be pulled up higher from above.

Best of luck. I hope you make it!

xed_over · Post by **xed_over** » Sun Aug 19, 2012 11:35 pm

Yukontodd wrote:I wonder if setting short term goals too short might be less than helpful.

I agree with YukonTodd here. Don't focus on rank, rank is just a number. Focus on becoming stronger. And don't worry about losses. You can lose every game from here on out, yet still get stronger (you may have to think about that one for a moment, but its actually true). That's why ranks/ratings are meaningless.

But back to the short term goal setting... I'm reminded of my days as a double-digit kyu and how I wanted to break that 10 kyu barrier to become a single-digit kyu player. It never happened. At least not like I envisioned it. I was never a 10kyu. I skipped right past it. Went from 12kyu to 8kyu in a couple of months and rarely played any games.

To be fair, I think there was a small rating shift on KGS during that period, which just made everything a bit anti-climatic for me. But there was some legitimate improvement during that same period for me as well.

I had just returned from a Go Congress (guess I played a lot of games there), and it was like, all of a sudden, my opponents who I've played regularly were making silly mistakes. In the middle of my games, I'm thinking to my self, "why are they playing this way? they know better than that, don't they?"

Of course, I haven't had a jump like that since, but I haven't really been trying either.

My point is... stop measuring (of course, you have to measure at some point to know if you're improving -- but don't focus on it). Sure, set smaller goals as stepping stones to higher goals, but don't focus on the smaller ones... keep aiming for the larger goals.

I was at the pro finals a few weeks ago (not as a player). The oldest players there... Jing Yang, Edward Kim, Sooil Kim. Each 2 to 3 times your age.

Another young player, fairly low in the initial ranking, surprised most everyone by getting into the top 6 before being knocked out.

Here's an intermediate goal I'd like to see you set for yourself... I'd like to see you in the strong players room in the US Open.

There was someone in there this year who got to say "I told you so" to one of his naysayers from the year before.

Life In 19x19

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psychology

Re: Psychology