Studying Go in China

Create a study plan, track your progress and hold yourself accountable.
User avatar
Hushfield
Lives in gote
Posts: 359
Joined: Sat Jun 05, 2010 3:17 pm
GD Posts: 11
KGS: Hushfield
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Has thanked: 72 times
Been thanked: 199 times

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by Hushfield »

I saw a 7p dance oppam gangnam style today.
User avatar
SoDesuNe
Gosei
Posts: 1810
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 1:57 am
Rank: KGS 1-dan
GD Posts: 0
Has thanked: 490 times
Been thanked: 365 times

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by SoDesuNe »

Hushfield wrote:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . . . . |
$$ | . a O . . . . . . . O X O X . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O O . . . . O . O X X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X c |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . O . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X e . O . . . . O . X . X . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . O X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


I'm bad with counting the values (never learnt it properly ^^), so here are just my estimates from biggest to smallest:

A - huge follow-ups.
D is Sente for White.
C is bigger for Black because of the Sente follow-up (and rescuing two stones).
B is bigger for White because of the Sente follow-up.

I don't know what E is. Did you mean the clamp for Black? Then I would guess it's second biggest after A.

If it's Black's turn, I'd like to play like this:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 1 O 2 . . . . . . O X O X . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O O . . . . O . O X X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X X O O 7 |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . O . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X 5 6 O . . . . O . X . X . . . . |
$$ | . . X O 3 4 . . . . . O X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
User avatar
Knotwilg
Oza
Posts: 2432
Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:53 am
Rank: KGS 2d OGS 1d Fox 4d
GD Posts: 0
KGS: Artevelde
OGS: Knotwilg
Online playing schedule: UTC 18:00 - 22:00
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Has thanked: 360 times
Been thanked: 1021 times
Contact:

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by Knotwilg »

I could write paragraphs on how awesome it is for you to be there and follow this program. Let me jump into the endgame problem for now.

a - 13- gote
b - 8+ gote
c - 14+ gote
d - 3 sente for White
e - 10- gote

the plus and minus signs account for all the endgame kos that are involved in the follow-ups.
Moves a and e also have some thickness value for the groups involved while c is a pure endgame move.

If this were purely about endgame, I would pick d or c for Black, which gives a 24-24 score. But with the extra thickness I'd go for a, especially because I think White is behind and may want to invade the left side before actually going into the endgame.
Uberdude
Judan
Posts: 6727
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 11:35 am
Rank: UK 4 dan
GD Posts: 0
KGS: Uberdude 4d
OGS: Uberdude 7d
Location: Cambridge, UK
Has thanked: 436 times
Been thanked: 3718 times

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by Uberdude »

e isn't the best local move is it?
User avatar
RBerenguel
Gosei
Posts: 1585
Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2011 11:44 am
Rank: KGS 5k
GD Posts: 0
KGS: RBerenguel
Tygem: rberenguel
Wbaduk: JohnKeats
Kaya handle: RBerenguel
Online playing schedule: KGS on Saturday I use to be online, but I can be if needed from 20-23 GMT+1
Location: Barcelona, Spain (GMT+1)
Has thanked: 576 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by RBerenguel »

Uberdude wrote:e isn't the best local move is it?


I've always thought the clamp was best, and recently learnt the attachment below the keima (at what would be F2) which can sometimes work better
Geek of all trades, master of none: the motto for my blog mostlymaths.net
Uberdude
Judan
Posts: 6727
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 11:35 am
Rank: UK 4 dan
GD Posts: 0
KGS: Uberdude 4d
OGS: Uberdude 7d
Location: Cambridge, UK
Has thanked: 436 times
Been thanked: 3718 times

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by Uberdude »

RBerenguel wrote:
Uberdude wrote:e isn't the best local move is it?


I've always thought the clamp was best, and recently learnt the attachment below the keima (at what would be F2) which can sometimes work better


I meant for white: for black of course e is rubbish and clamp is the move (or attach if it works like you said, not here). At the other places the label is on one or both players move in that area, e is neither's. In terms of edge yose e is inferior to e3, though it could gain a bit in the centre around f4 but if white tries to make those points black will likely gain more on the left side so it's harder to factor that into the size calculation. Similarly b has centre points effect too.
Uberdude
Judan
Posts: 6727
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 11:35 am
Rank: UK 4 dan
GD Posts: 0
KGS: Uberdude 4d
OGS: Uberdude 7d
Location: Cambridge, UK
Has thanked: 436 times
Been thanked: 3718 times

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by Uberdude »

work in progress...

c: 14 and 2/3 double gote (assuminh white can't block and ko).
d:
e: ar e3 is 12 double gote (assuming white can't block and ko)
Last edited by Uberdude on Mon Jul 07, 2014 7:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
andreyl
Dies in gote
Posts: 51
Joined: Wed Aug 28, 2013 10:31 am
GD Posts: 0
KGS: 2d
Tygem: 6d
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by andreyl »

Your journal is very interesting,please keep updating it :)
User avatar
Hushfield
Lives in gote
Posts: 359
Joined: Sat Jun 05, 2010 3:17 pm
GD Posts: 11
KGS: Hushfield
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Has thanked: 72 times
Been thanked: 199 times

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by Hushfield »

Today we went to another school. The kids there are stronger than in the school we first went to. I played a 3-stone game against a boy that played incredibly fast. No matter how complicated the position, he never took longer than a few seconds to put down a stone. Most of his moves were excellent, some were not, but I got sucked into the blitz-speed and played very poorly.



The second game I played was 2 stones. I tried to focus on playing as slow as I had to again, and it went much better this time. He played some very questionable moves, which was enough to get ahead enough for some blunders in reading didn't make me lose outright. I got sente at the start of the endgame, retained it for the most part, and won by 5,5 points.

Last edited by Hushfield on Mon Jul 07, 2014 7:56 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Hushfield
Lives in gote
Posts: 359
Joined: Sat Jun 05, 2010 3:17 pm
GD Posts: 11
KGS: Hushfield
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Has thanked: 72 times
Been thanked: 199 times

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by Hushfield »

Sorry for the double post, the endgame solutions weren't displaying correctly in the other post. Below you can find the answers for the endgame problems:

General rules for calculating:
Everything here is done by Chinese scoring (I plan to do a little write-up on that later, it's pretty handy for counting games played on an actual board, as you only need to count one side). If you follow different rules for calculating endgame, that might be just as fine, this is just the way Yan Laoshi taught us.

To calculate the value of an endgame move, you need to take into account both the way the board looks after the initial move, as well as with the plausible followups, but only those that are sente. Than you take a look at the end result if white gets the move, count the score for black and white. Afterwards you do the same if black gets the move. Compare the values for both positions, and add the difference in black's scores to the difference in white's scores.


Area A
If white gets the move: White 13 territory; Black: 3 territory
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O ? ? ? ? . . . O X O X . . . . . |
$$ | O X X O O ? ? . . O . O X X . X . . . |
$$ | X X ? X . . O . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | ? ? X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . |[/go]


If black gets the move, something "special" happens. Because the black move is already gote, and capturing the white stone is another gote move, you have to divide its value by half. Because you may get it, but your opponent might play there first.

White: 2 territory; Black: 9 territory and 2 points for captured stone

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | ? ? X X X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | ? X P X O O O . . . O X O X . . . . . |
$$ | ? X X O O ? ? . . O . O X X . X . . . |
$$ | ? ? ? X . . O . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | ? ? X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . |[/go]


OR

9 for white; 7 for black
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . ? ? ? ? . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | ? X O O ? ? ? . . . O X O X . . . . . |
$$ | ? X X O O ? ? . . O . O X X . X . . . |
$$ | ? ? ? X . . O . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | ? ? X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . |[/go]

White difference 7, black difference 4, so a combined total of 11, which should be divided by two because the followup is gote (see above): hence 5,5 points

So in total: you compare the values of the white first variation, and the black first variation where white blocks (4 difference for white, and 4 for black, so a total of 8 points) and add the 5,5 for the possibility of the black play there later. The value of the move is therefore 13,5 points in gote (for both white and black)

Area B
If white gets the move: White: 6 territory + 2 points for captured stone; Black 5 territory
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . ? ? ? O O O . ? ? . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . ? ? O Z O X X ? ? . . |
$$ | . X X O O . . . ? O . O X X . X ? . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$[/go]


If black gets the move: White 5 territory, Black 8 territory + 2 points for captured stone.
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . ? ? . X X ? ? ? ? . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . ? ? O X P X ? ? ? . . |
$$ | . X X O O . . . ? O . O X X . X ? . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$[/go]

White difference: 3 points, Black difference 5 points. Total of 8 points in gote.

Area C
If white gets the move: white: 10 territory and 4 points for captured stones; Black: 5 points.
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O ? ? ? |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , ? ? ? |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O ? ? ? |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O ? |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O Z Z O |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . O . , . . . . . , X ? ? |
$$ | . . X e . O . . . . O . X . X . ? ? ? |[/go]


If black gets the move: White: 5 points; Black 6 points and 4 points for captured stones.
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O ? ? ? |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , ? O O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O ? O X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X X |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X X P P X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . X X ? |
$$ | . . . X . . . O . , . . . . . , X ? ? |
$$ | . . X e . O . . . . O . X . X . ? ? ? |[/go]

White difference: 9 points, Black difference 5 points. Total of 14 points in gote for white and 14 points gote for black.

Area D
If white gets the move: White: 7 territory, Black: 6 territory
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ | . . . X . . . O . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . . ? ? O X X ? X ? . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . ? O ? O X X ? ? . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . ? ? ? O O X ? ? . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


If Black gets the move: White: 6 territory, Black: 8 territory
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ | . . . X . . . O . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . . ? ? O X X ? X ? . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . ? ? O O X ? ? ? . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . ? ? O X X ? ? ? . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

White difference: 1 point, Black difference 2 points. Total of 3 points in sente for white, 3 points in reverse sente for black.

Area E
Uberdude: you're right about move e, I just didn't want to give away the correct move there, as it's the only one that isn't completely obvious. Well, it is, if you know the shape, but might not be the first time you see it.

If white gets the move: White: 7 territory; Black: 2 territory;
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . O . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . O . X . X . . . . |
$$ | ? X X O O ? ? ? . . . O X . . . . . . |
$$ | ? X O O ? ? ? ? . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


If black gets the move: White: 0 territory; Black:5 territory and 2 points for captured stone.
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . O . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . O . X . X . . . . |
$$ | ? ? X P X O O O . . . O X . . . . . . |
$$ | ? ? ? X X X X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

White difference 7 points, Black difference 5 points. Total of 12 points in gote for white, 12 points in gote for black.
Uberdude
Judan
Posts: 6727
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 11:35 am
Rank: UK 4 dan
GD Posts: 0
KGS: Uberdude 4d
OGS: Uberdude 7d
Location: Cambridge, UK
Has thanked: 436 times
Been thanked: 3718 times

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by Uberdude »

For d in terms of edge yose it is better (by 2 points and awful aji for white afterwards) for black to descend rather than hane and retain the option of wedging into the kosumi afterwards. However, black loses a little in the n4 area this way, possibly 2 points, possibly zero as in yose terms white n5 is possible so it's complicated to say which is better.
User avatar
Knotwilg
Oza
Posts: 2432
Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:53 am
Rank: KGS 2d OGS 1d Fox 4d
GD Posts: 0
KGS: Artevelde
OGS: Knotwilg
Online playing schedule: UTC 18:00 - 22:00
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Has thanked: 360 times
Been thanked: 1021 times
Contact:

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by Knotwilg »

Indeed I missed 2 points in E.

I think the program looks very good:
- you get to study L&D, for real, not as a lip service, and for days, not just the first day after you made the vow
- you get to study the endgame, of which the abstination is another reason for weak players staying weak
- you play a lot of games and every game is reviewed by a pro !!!
- and that pro focuses on the things that make a difference, not on fancy ideas

In the unforgiving eyes of professionals, we 15 kyus and 2 dans approximately make the same mistakes:
- our moves are not severe; we are often happy with making a move that looks okayish proish
- we lose our focus, stamina and discipline and make outright blunders

The root of this is obviously our poor reading ability and our sloth in improving on it. We probably think a lot *about* the game. We should think more during the game.

Enjoy, Hushfield!
Bill Spight
Honinbo
Posts: 10905
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 1:24 pm
Has thanked: 3651 times
Been thanked: 3373 times

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by Bill Spight »

Quick note:

The answer for endgame C is a mistake.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . . . . |
$$ | . a O . . . . . . . O X O X . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O O . . . . O . O X X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O . . , . . . . . , X . y |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X z |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 O 8 |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O v O u . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . 6 |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . 4 5 |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O 3 |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X 7 |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X X O O 1 |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . O . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X e . O . . . . O . X . X . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . O X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


:w2: tenuki.

After :b7: White does not make a solid connection, but descends at 8. Later "z" is a Black sente.

----

Also, Uberdude is right that in region "d" the move for Black is the descent. :)

----

Edit: Oops! I see that if Black plays first at "z", White has to answer at "v". OTOH, either player is likely to play at "v" first, anyway. An alternative to :w8: is "u", which avoids that question. :)
Last edited by Bill Spight on Mon Jul 07, 2014 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.
User avatar
Hushfield
Lives in gote
Posts: 359
Joined: Sat Jun 05, 2010 3:17 pm
GD Posts: 11
KGS: Hushfield
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Has thanked: 72 times
Been thanked: 199 times

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by Hushfield »

Knotwilg: I think you're spot on about the program. There are two other dan-level students here at the moment, and they constantly get told to do more problems. Like, literally every game review. The last thing I heard translated from Yan Laoshi was even: "Like this, it doesn't matter how many games you play. You should improve your reading first. Do more problems."

Uberdude: I did exercise D first, and may indeed have fumbled it a bit. Writing the whole post took me over 2 hours, and it served as a great review of the calculating lesson. I'll check again with Yan Laoshi on what the best moves for both sides are. The value is 3 points though, of that I'm sure.

Bill: an important thing I should have mentioned the board is not "one whole board", but just the 5 local positions. There is no relation between c and the position above that. I see now I should have stated that clearly before.
Bill Spight
Honinbo
Posts: 10905
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 1:24 pm
Has thanked: 3651 times
Been thanked: 3373 times

Re: Studying Go in China

Post by Bill Spight »

Problem A.



Problem B.



Problem C.



Problem D.



Problem E.



Notice how special those 5 point sente are. I think that the position that I showed before is more typical of real game positions. :)

Edit: Thanks to Uberdude's eagle eye, I see that I composed problem A too hastily. It looks like I did the same with problem E. Watch this space. :)

Edit 2: Problem A revised. I moved some White stones from the third line to the fourth.

Edit 3: Problem E revised by raising some White stones.
Last edited by Bill Spight on Tue Jul 08, 2014 5:22 am, edited 4 times in total.
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.
Post Reply