Do you judge people by their rank?

Kirby · Post by **Kirby** » Thu May 27, 2010 9:23 am

Do you prefer to listen to people that have a higher rank? Only when it comes to go? All the time?

tj86430 · Post by **tj86430** » Thu May 27, 2010 9:32 am

I chose the first option, but it really should read "when it comes go advice" or something similar. Of course I put more weight if a 9dan tells me what is the correct play than if it is 15 kyu. On other go-related matters (like equipment, organizing a tournament, etc ) rank may have some significance, but not so much. On non-go matters of course not, how could a go rank affect someones credibility in other areas of life?

Phelan · Post by **Phelan** » Thu May 27, 2010 9:35 am

I voted other. Depends on what they're talking about. Depends if they're talking about teaching Go, Go history, endgame peculiarities, rules oddities, etc. All of those subjects have people who are pretty knowledgeable about them, even though they're not the strongest in rank.

On problems or analysis, yep, then I trust rank more than anything else, although I usually prefer entertaining/clear persons.

freegame · Post by **freegame** » Thu May 27, 2010 9:41 am

I also voted other. same reason as Phelan

rubin427 · Post by **rubin427** » Thu May 27, 2010 9:55 am

I think the wording of the question is a little loaded, so I'll try to be precise in my answer. Suppose I've just met strangers A, B, and C. If I find that person A plays go seriously, I'd be more inclined to like that person irregardless of rank (even 30k is fine). If I find that person B is "strong at go" (hmm, maybe 3 Dan+) I am more inclined to respect or look up to that person. If I find that person C knows vaguely about Go, but has no interest in it... Well, I'd feel basically neutral towards that person.

Maybe it's a subtle prejudice, but it's certainly there.

Kirby · Post by **Kirby** » Thu May 27, 2010 10:10 am

rubin427 wrote:I think the wording of the question is a little loaded, so I'll try to be precise in my answer. Suppose I've just met strangers A, B, and C. If I find that person A plays go seriously, I'd be more inclined to like that person irregardless of rank (even 30k is fine). If I find that person B is "strong at go" (hmm, maybe 3 Dan+) I am more inclined to respect or look up to that person. If I find that person C knows vaguely about Go, but has no interest in it... Well, I'd feel basically neutral towards that person.

Maybe it's a subtle prejudice, but it's certainly there.

Perhaps the question is worded poorly. The reason is probably that I am surprised that people put so much weight on rank or strength, or whatever you want to call it. I cannot say that I am completely objective, but it is something that I want to aim for.

If a 9d tells me that a particular move is bad, I have a hard time trusting him, unless I can see the reason for myself. If I don't see the reason myself, I'm inclined to think that he is wrong... I'm not sure why. I thought that more people would share this mentality.

Maybe others do, but I've just worded the poll poorly.

tj86430 · Post by **tj86430** » Thu May 27, 2010 10:26 am

Kirby wrote:If a 9d tells me that a particular move is bad, I have a hard time trusting him, unless I can see the reason for myself. If I don't see the reason myself, I'm inclined to think that he is wrong... I'm not sure why. I thought that more people would share this mentality.

If a 9d tells me that a particular move is bad, I have no problem trusting him. If I can't see the reason myself, I will ask him.

Elesthor · Post by **Elesthor** » Thu May 27, 2010 11:02 am

I think i would pay more attention to a high-dan player which tell that a shape is bad than a lower player. But, if this D-player is just telling that a move is good or not, with any kind of explanation, i would prefer to listen the other one (if he can explain what he is trying to explain, of course).

Violence · Post by **Violence** » Thu May 27, 2010 11:09 am

Often times, if I ask Mingjiu for a game review, he just says that this move is bad, or that move needs study. Usually he gives me a sequence and explanation, but sometimes he doesn't. The times he doesn't, it's an indication for me to go back and study the game on my own and read out for myself why something works or doesn't work.

palapiku · Post by **palapiku** » Thu May 27, 2010 11:46 am

Elesthor wrote:I think i would pay more attention to a high-dan player which tell that a shape is bad than a lower player. But, if this D-player is just telling that a move is good or not, with any kind of explanation, i would prefer to listen the other one (if he can explain what he is trying to explain, of course).

What if the high dan says the move is bad but doesn't explain why, and the weaker player says that the move is good, and explains why?

Dusk Eagle · Post by **Dusk Eagle** » Thu May 27, 2010 12:21 pm

I only judge people's comments by their ranks when it comes to them saying something about a right/wrong move or way to think about Go. If the topic is not related to improving one's play at Go, then I do not.

xed_over · Post by **xed_over** » Thu May 27, 2010 12:55 pm

Dusk Eagle wrote:I only judge people's comments by their ranks when it comes to them saying something about a right/wrong move or way to think about Go. If the topic is not related to improving one's play at Go, then I do not.

someone (a dan player) once had dismissed unfairly a comment by me (a kyu player). Some time later I was rather proud to have been able to hold my own in a conversation with that same player using one of my anonymous unranked accounts.

I've also been the victim of being judged by my kyu rank and not allowed to do game recording, and was later able to prove myself superior to a few high dan players in this field as well.

While its true that kyu players know less about go than dan players, one should not always dismiss them straight out. Sometimes they'll surprise you and stronger players do make mistakes from time to time. Heck, even pros can strongly disagree with each other on "right" or "wrong" plays, so we ought to give each other just a tiny bit more slack.

Website · Post by **Chew Terr** » Thu May 27, 2010 1:01 pm

I'll put it this way: if I see a post saying 'X move seems to never be good', I definitely check to see the rank of the person posted it. If nothing else, it tells me how many grains of salt to accept the information with. Sure, I'd want to see why, but all other things equal, I assume the higher rank knows more. Because they do (if not regarding all subjects, at least the majority). And with regards to non-board specific information, I'd say that I tend more to judge people by experience. For example, when asking advice about what to bring to a tournament, I'd trust Goddess (who's been to a decent number, from what I understand) over, say, Blinigo Bleiqi, who may have never been to one. So yeah, I tend to trust whoever's most expert at any given issue.

And I admit, I do tend to give a bit of extra respect to dan+ ranked players, because I know that (typically) it takes a WHOLE lot of work to get there, which lower ranked players may or may not have put in.

Loons · Post by **Loons** » Thu May 27, 2010 1:42 pm

I agree with Freegame, Phelan and company - when it comes to their skill at go, I judge people by rank. I wouldn't assume anything else about them.

Man, howabout those 15ks in KGS kibitz who prefix their comments with HIGH DAN PLAYERS RESPOND ONLY

Dusk Eagle · Post by **Dusk Eagle** » Thu May 27, 2010 3:04 pm

xed_over: Although I wouldn't trust a beginner with game recording, I think that after a certain threshold (somewhere in the DDK range) your rank will no longer affect your ability to record a game properly. However, when a player makes a comment that I find odd or just plain wrong, I definitely consider their rank in relation to my own. If they're weaker, I do tend to assume they're wrong. If they're stronger, I still tend not to believe them immediately if I believe something different, but I find out pretty soon that they are correct.

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