Krama wrote:I have a big problem.
You see, in the past let's say 6 months or maybe even more figured I can't play this game.
I believe you can play it. Maybe not like Gu Li and Lee Sedol, but you can play it well.
Let me explain, I enjoy go so much that I study professional games all the time.
I watch lectures, I look up joseki and I watch other people play.
I've found that it's better to simply replay pro games and let them be stored in your subconscious memory, rather than to understand every single reason for why X move was played at Y time in Z game. Also, pro lectures should serve only as a guide. It's up to you to interpret and apply what you see in them. Also remember that some highly sophisticated analysis goes into every move in a pro game and even an in-depth game commentary cannot cover it all; these pros have played many thousands of games and most of us don't have that much experience.
As well, in Go no one piece has any power. It is only the relationship between groups of pieces that has bearing on how a game develops.
But when it comes for me to play, I simply chicken out for some reason and I lose all motivation.
If the fear of losing is the source of your panic, then abolish the need to win. Simply play and observe what happens. If you lose a game, you can review and identify which errors or habits to weed out. It might take a few games for improvement to occur, but consistency is key. Also, avoid analyzing too much during play. Analyze a position only as much as you are able. With time and experience your analytical ability will become stronger and you will be able to read positions more deeply.
Lately I have tried doing tsumego but I just don't understand how people can do it.
. Tsumego are pieces of a game of Go. If you've replayed pro games on a regular basis, you will have some background information to help guide your guesses. If you are not able to get a tsumego right the first time, no need to worry. Tsumego are meant to help you cultivate the ability to read out a position. Soon enough you get it right, then go on to the next one.
It is so boring it's beyond my understanding. I can see doing this tsumego for maybe 5 minutes a day and even then I get frustrated easily when the problems are hard and I can't read it out. I simply feel dumb.
If you are not able to arrive at a solution within 60 seconds, then the tsumego is too difficult for you.
It will be more beneficial to do plenty of easy ones. Once you are able to get all of the tsumego in a set level right, then go on to the next set level up. Cumulatively you will build the reading ability to help you solve even the most difficult tsumego. Even
Igo Hatsuyoron and
Gengen gokyo are solvable if you have enough experience in Go (which is several years' worth).
I figured I like to "study" the game but not play it.
Why is that? Every time I open a go server full of enthusiasm to play, seconds later the feeling is gone and I simply don't want to play.
I believe the biggest problem comes from the following.
As I play someone I notice that I am getting ahead, and I notice that my opponent is making very bad local and whole board moves. However the opponent starts playing vulgar, bad and overplay moves and then sometimes it happens that I lose the whole game (which I am winning by let's say 30 points). This frustrates me and I simply lose my overall motivation to play the game.
Many are the online players that play to win and do anything - even bizarre experimentation - to win, so you have to deal effectively with whatever comes your way in these games. Overplays and bad moves can be easily punished - often by tenuki. It's better to play gote moves that serve your whole-board objective than to play sente moves that provide only local benefit. If you can make your opponent realise that his overplay simply led to you making additional territorial gains or an expansion of your moyo, then that's one more plus for you.
I would really like to play the game and enojoy playing but I just can't. I guess I like watching and studying other games since I don't get that feel of losing, the feeling of being stupid. If I am studying the pro game I first check who won, and then as I lay out the stones I always pick the winning side as the side I prefer.
I honestly feel like s*it, and I can't change anything about it (Since I am addicted to go I can't even remove it from my life).
Any comments?
There is a Japanese proverb that says
nanakorobi yaoki - fall down 7 times, get back up 8.
As in boxing and other combat sports, Go is not about winning or losing. Rather, it's about getting knocked down and getting back up. Go has taught me to persist despite constant setbacks. Of course I've lost games, but I simply replay my pro games and play actual games, plus do some tsumego. I find it easier on the mind and soul to concentrate on just improving my game, than to concentrate on winning and losing.
It's definitely nice to be on the winning side, but I prefer to find out why the winning side won and the losing side lost. I believe that replaying games without trying to study them is beneficial when striving to improve one's ability in the game.
For more on whether replaying games helps one get stronger, here is a thread exlopring that question.
http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/viewto ... 4&start=20
I don't consider myself qualified to give any extensive discourse beyond what I've written thus far. Hopefully, this Falun Dafa article on the game of Go will inspire you.
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles ... 4468p.html
Studying games feels easier because you're just following along, and not being put on the spot, maybe? That's how it is for me. Anyway, it's not an easy problem to solve, and you don't have to! You can just study if you like. 
