SamT's Study Journal - A Beginner's Journey

[SamT]

Korean commercials are crreeeeeeepy weird to me.

Hi Sam, YouTube has some channel, JPCMHD, with Japanese TV ads, grouped by the week.

Example: 2014 Weeks 42 & 43

That's pretty great!

I'm sure they'd think the same thing of our ads. But very interesting to see, anyway

[SamT]

Played a quick game with Chuck again last night at 5 stones. I was not reading well, probably because of the melatonin i had taken 2 hrs before. He annihilated me quickly due to some nice tricks that if I had been able to read 2 or 3 more moves wouldn't've worked, but there were a couple of places where I learned something (I hope).

I am getting tired of handicap games. I feel like my opponent learns more than me in a handicap game, and it feels stiff and unnatural to play.

[SamT]

9x9 MFG Games
I'm getting better at 9x9.

76 9x9 games today.

I had to start at MFG 9 kyu and work my way up slowly; I am definitely out of practice, what skill I had was very rusty. Here is the last game; winning at 4 kyu with 2 stones is new for me, and it became fairly consistent today. But I feel like the computer is too predictable and too willing to let me control the game. You don't see it in this game, but in several others he happily takes atari bait and lets me walk right past him and take large swaths of the board.

When I am sure I won't have to walk away from the computer and stay away for a long period, and when I am more confident that my stupid mistakes are starting to fade, I will jump back online. Really, I'd like to get to where I'm beating MFG on 2 dan 9x9, even handicap. I know the strength is illusory, but it gives me some level of confidence that I'm not a total idiot.


Improvements/refinements welcome/highly sought after, but it's a 2 stone game. There's probably not much to say.

http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/download/file.php?id=5339

I seem to be backsliding in my reading skills. What I'd really like to see is a wide selection of problems ranked by the number of moves they take to solve; that feels like a logical way to climb a reading ladder.

Jump Level Up seems to do this. Book #2 requires a read-ahead of 3 moves on most problems. Disturbingly short, really.

[EdLee]

I'm sure they'd think the same thing of our ads.

Doubtful.

[SamT]

Thanksgiving Week -

We flew to Florida to be with relatives for the Thanksgiving holidays, and I got quite a bit of training in, though not as much as I intended:

1) Many hundreds of games against SmartGo Kifu, mostly 9x9. This was to work on my fighting. I started out terrible, got pretty good, then became AWFUL, then became better than ever by the end of the week.
a) I like playing the computer 9x9 because I can play out an entire game and then back up and figure out where I went wrong (usually direction of play) and figure out how to fix it, then play out the whole game again. Rinse and repeat if necessary. Can't do that with a human opponent.
b) I know the computer is terrible, but until I was better than it, there was no reason not to play it.
c) There is, however, no reason for me to play SmartGo Kifu on 11x11 or 13x13 boards. I walk all over it, no problems.

2) To complement #1, I focused on the capture race problems from Speed Baduk 4, 5, and 6, and Jump Level Up 2.

3) I completed Speed Baduk 4 entirely, and am halfway through Speed Baduk 5.

4) I drilled the Fuseki/Posok I have memorized from Baduk TV English

5) I played through 2 Choi Cheolhan games. I really like his games; always fun.

6) I taught 3 relatives how to play Go.


My understanding of capture races and fighting is definitely MUCH improved, but I still do not trust my 9x9 skills. Often times I am 5 moves in and it feels like I've lost already and there is no way to win. And I am usually right!

The board is so small that my knowledge of standard joseki/fuseki makes no difference, and my attention to liberties and territory counting is so imprecise/inexact, that I can and do make stupid errors.

[SamT]

Training notes:

Completed:
1) Speed Baduk 5 (today!)
2) "Tsumego" app on Android, level 1 to 100% complete (yesterday)
3) "Level up to 9 Kyu" on Baduk TV English, Episodes 1-6
4) A few of the free lectures over at Guo Juan's school. (I'm considering signing up if I ever burn through Baduk TV English, which is unlikely. Anyone had spectacular results over here?)

Any suggestions on Baduk Teachers?

I really am thinking about getting a teacher, but I have a couple of concerns:
1) I am afraid it will be an excuse for me to stop working so hard, which will in turn reduce my productivity and results
2) I want to learn in the Korean style, but I don't know any Korean pros that can teach in English (any referrals/reviews???)
3) Just because someone plays well doesn't mean they teach well; I would like my teacher not only to be a pro but also /good at teaching/.

Anyone have any suggestions or assistance?


Review: Speed Baduk 5

The good:
Learned a couple of new endgame tricks like: the 1 pt jump on first and second lines, when to counteratari against a block and squeeze, etc. As I am extremely weak on endgame, this is good.

Very good drills. Always learning more techniques on capture races, different styles of haengma (defensive, offensive, territorial).

The bad:
Nothing, really. Maybe I could wish for a teensey bit more instruction, but I wouldn't want to give up on the drills. Yes, not much is covered in each book, but that's because you are drilling and REALLY learning what IS covered. 166 pages of drills with an average of 4 drills per page (6 per page, every fourth page is a teaching page that introduces a new concept).

Minor complaint: This book is where Kim introduces the value of moves, but it doesn't really explain very well how to count that value. I had to resort to the answerbook to make sure my guesses were correct, and they weren't.

The weird:
I swear the capture race drills and hoidori in this book were EASIER than the last two books.


Review: "Becoming 9 kyu" 1-6 on Baduk TV English

The good:
This is a great introductory series, especially if you are trying to get a grip on The Opening ("Fuseki"/"Posok") or Joseki/Josok. The series starts out a little slow, with a lot of concepts you probably already know, but it does speed up as it progresses.

There is a strong emphasis on the most common joseki variations AND how to punish mistakes in them, and why they work in the first place.

Also covered: common tesujis, common life and death situations.

All in all, it's a good foundational course.

The bad:
The two or so episodes I found vaguely disappointing in that they had so much stuff I already knew. Still, it was a good review, and it's good to make sure you have the right basics/foundations.

The weird:
I find it strange that she covers the joseki, but doesn't cover the best situations/board positions to use them in. I would like some whole-game thinking behind the joseki, to help me judge when to deploy them to keep the game even or take the lead.

I know this is supposed to be a "high-level skill", but, really, if you aren't learning when to use a joseki, are you really learning the joseki at all? It's like having a gun but not knowing which end is which.

Perhaps this comes up more as the series progresses.

The ugly
Only 9 episodes of this wonderful 20-episode series are translated so far, but the GoGameGuru team are hard at work, I'm sure!

The rest of the episodes are available on "Baduk TV On Demand", in Korean, and, if you are good at reading Korean body language, you can learn from them. But you miss subtleties, of course.

[oren]

2) I want to learn in the Korean style, but I don't know any Korean pros that can teach in English (any referrals/reviews???)
3) Just because someone plays well doesn't mean they teach well; I would like my teacher not only to be a pro but also /good at teaching/.

Anyone have any suggestions or assistance?

Check out http://www.yunguseng.com . It's a great program.

[Kirby]

Check out http://www.yunguseng.com . It's a great program.

I am also a member of this program, and I think you would enjoy it. As you seem to enjoy baduktv, the primary instructor used to provide commentary on BadukTV. He is very knowledgable and patient.

[SamT]

Thanks everyone

Oh, and I played some games today. Against real, live people, even.

I feel a little guilty playing 19x19 on OGS since my rank is artificially low (since I primarily play 9x9 with it, which is my weakest board type, since my fighting skills are poor). But it's the only site I can get to from work.

Game 1
This was a fun fight against a very spirited 19k. He fights way better than me, and wins most of the conflicts on the board. He makes a critical mistake when he lets me connect under, and misses two chances to cut across to his friends and save his dragon. I feel like he lost the game more than I won it.

My biggest problem was that I kept making errors in my attacks, pushing him in the direction that hurt me most. I did this early on, and later in the game as well. The game should not have been this hard, had I been a little more careful.

The fighting was very complex for me, and I loved the challenge. I had so much fun that when he ran out of time (which he had set!) I paused the game so he could continue playing for another hour.

At least the fights I won were the important ones.

http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/download/file.php?id=5382

Game 2
This game was an early resign by my opponent. He did not follow good opening theory and made two joseki mistakes when I invaded the corner, which I punished him for. One of the punishments I learned just last night from "Becoming 9 Kyu"! Oh, and he failed to realize he was in a ladder, too.

http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/download/file.php?id=5383

Comments, improvements, and all help sought after, as always.

[SamT]

A couple more wins on OGS made me lazy, and I lost to Mark Smith last night. :/ I feel like if I am advancing in skill, I should race past him. But I have not, so I guess I /am/ not. In one way, it's demoralizing. In another, it makes me hungry to learn the Chinese Opening better so I can stop him.

I don't have a game record because I forgot my Ipad at home. However, I was able to recreate the opening from memory.

I opened very poorly as I am not used to playing AGAINST the Chinese. Also, it was my first game as white against Mark, and -- actually -- my first game as white without handicap on a real board (almost all my friends have to take 9-15 stones against me).

It blew me away when I realized the whole board was upside down. I was lost and had no idea what to do, and I was tempted to stand up and walk over to his side of the table just to get my bearings! Actually, I've only rarely played non-handicap white even on the computer, so I am not very experienced at it, and it shows.

When I played move 4, and he played 5, I immediately realize this was very very not good. I did manage to seal off some big moyos, but then I beat myself -- making several far-too-fancy moves aimed at creating snapbacks instead of just sealing my borders. Of course, he just walked right through.

This last problem was due to several of my OGS wins (by massive snapback). You can't purposefully create them against a player of similar skill, and they are so easy to block, and if they are blocked, then you've given up several points just to set it up -- bah. I'm very disappointed in myself, but I just couldn't turn the "snapback engine" in my head off. I tried to set up 5, and he spotted all of them and stopped all but one, and that one he could connect to get out of. I did get a nice connect and die to work elsewhere tho.

That said, the challenge of trying to set up all of these massive snapbacks/connect and dies/etc was very entertaining, and it kept me enjoying the game despite knowing I only had a slim chance to win.

This game was really an object lesson on something I need to learn in ALL my fields of endeavor:

"Don't be so dang fancy!"

(Note: I wish I could remember more of it, to show you guys all the dumb snapbacks I bent over backwards to try and make, leaving my own borders wide open in the process, but this is as much as I can dig out of my head).

http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/download/file.php?id=5393

[often]

I feel like if I am advancing in skill, I should race past him.

Not necessarily.

Also, Mark is consistently playing on KGS. While I think the knowledge you're gaining through doing problems and playing the computer is commendable, you need to have real world experience.

A person can practice as much as he want, but he might not do well against a seasoned player who has been out there playing.

[SamT]

So I have been playing more and training less over the past few days, which is a good thing, right?

I've played several against the computer on KGS, and several against real people on OGS. I've even played against some real people on Wbaduk and Tygem.

(I'm frustrated by Tygem because I can't figure out how to get my kifu off it!!! Help??)

Overcoming Online Playing Anxiety
I still have a strange dread whenever I try to start a 19x19 against a real person on either IGS or KGS, but at least that is now just a localized problem and doesn't really affect me anywhere else. I know this dread makes no sense, that it can't even really be entirely rank-related, because on IGS I'm only 18 kyu!

I think it is more "cereal box-top" derived than to do with actual "rank". IGS was where I first hit 18 kyu, and KGS is where I first hit 9 kyu. The fear that freezes me seems to come from the idea of losing that "first", as if I would somehow have that war medal stripped from me. I know it doesn't make sense; I explained that already. But at least I am emotionally free to play against real people on the other servers for now. And hopefully the anxiety on IGS and KGS will pass with time.

Still Training Too
I'm still training, of course, just less. I am about halfway through Speed Baduk 6, and:

1) I finally learned what a Loose Ladder is!
2) I finally learned some basic techniques to increase liberties in a capturing race!

I know that it's probably horrifying to hear that I didn't know any of these things (and I still don't, they are still very counter-intuitive to me and need some more drilling!), but them's the dice.

I am rapidly closing in on 6 months in the game, but I still have glaring gaps in my knowledge and skills.

Losing Streak
Sadly, I am playing worse than ever.

I'm in a losing streak against anyone anywhere near my level. This may be due to the fact I have been focusing more on blitz games, and in blitz my bad habit of playing my own game and completely ignoring what my opponent is doing comes strongly to the front. Also, I have been focused far too much on the local situation, and I am not tenuki-ing enough.

My fighting is dramatically improved, but still weak compared to others of my level (near the end of games I almost always lose one large group because I've lost track of the liberties), and now I seem to have lost my whole-board sense and my opening skills. Or, more accurately, perhaps I simply do not possess these skills -- YET -- under a tight time limit, and under pressure.

It's an endless circle, improve one skill a little, lose another entirely, around and around.

Knotwilg: I know this is putting myself in a sub-optimal situation and hoping for optimal results, but really I am hoping that somehow this will make my reading faster. And, really, I am just trying to get used to PLAYING again. Playing 19x19 daily of any sort is better than where I was. I will worry about setting myself up for success a little more when I am confident I can play regularly without anxiety.

Game
For sacrifice upon the review altar, today, the worst game I've had in recent memory. At the end, I try a lot of things to try and break into his moyo, and none of them work.

http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/download/file.php?id=5404

I wanted to put my Wbaduk game up for review where I lost to a 24kyu, but I do not have a way to access it from this computer. The wbaduk game had a bigger time limit, and I played much more strongly. My opponent was not a /real/ 24 kyu, I believe, but I feel like if I had been just TINY bit better, I could have won.

[cyndane]

Your Tygem games are all saved on your local disk under TygemGlobal/Games. They will be in .GIB format, but you can use a GIB2SGF converter to get them into the nice SGF format.

[SamT]

Your Tygem games are all saved on your local disk under TygemGlobal/Games. They will be in .GIB format, but you can use a GIB2SGF converter to get them into the nice SGF format.

I guess I will need to learn more about my IPad OS to get the games off. I've been exclusively Windows too long. Nice to know they aren't lost forever.

EDIT: I realized that I had forgotten to type the words "Thank you", though. I was thinking them. So, I'm back with an edit: "Thank you!"

[often]

i think you might need to stop playing the computer