What barriers to improving should I expect?

[Ahwahnee]

I've looked at the rank graphs and game rosters of some of my opponents. Some of them have hovered at their current ranks for month ... even years.

I can't help but wonder if I might plateau as some of my opponents have. I would imagine that even a leisure player with a desire to improve would still gradually show some progress over several months of thoughtful play, game reviews, honestly doing problems (no peeking at the answers until you're 100% certain you got it right) and all that sort of interesting study.

But I also thought I read somewhere that there are certain rank-related barriers where a lot of players do plateau. Are these real? If they are, what makes one break through? What makes one languish?

Sorry about all the questions today. I think I'm just in some befuddled state of mind.

[fwiffo]

Plateaus are normal, common and probably unavoidable. Most things involving learning/improvement have plateaus. Weightlifters, for instance, talk about plateaus all the time.

Plateaus are usually caused by a gap in knowledge. The gap in knowledge causes you to make mistakes. The first step in overcoming a plateau is to 1) identify the mistakes, then 2) correct the gap in knowledge that's causing the mistakes, then 3) integrating the new knowledge into your game.

Of course, most people will reach a point where they don't have the time, desire or ability to invest in improving their game any further. As you get stronger, improvement becomes progressively harder, and each piece of knowledge provides a smaller marginal benefit.

[LovroKlc]

I think it will be like this: you will improve for 2-3 stones almost instantly(1-2 weeks) then you will have a pause for some time and than repeat the process(when stronger less improvement). This pauses are times when you are getting new ideas and getting used to them, and these big leaps are when you understand them.

[Bill Spight]

But I also thought I read somewhere that there are certain rank-related barriers where a lot of players do plateau. Are these real?

People have plateaus from time to time. But rank-related barriers are only real if you believe that they are.

[xed_over]

But rank-related barriers are only real if you believe that they are.

there is no spoon

[Joaz Banbeck]

Barriers? Let's see....

Stupidity, old age, lack of experience, greed, miscalculation, bad drugs, lack of sleep, and being hung over. That covers the majority, I think.

But, seriously...

...I also thought I read somewhere that there are certain rank-related barriers where a lot of players do plateau. Are these real?

No. The concept of rank-related barriers is complete drivel. The idea might have had some currency in a different culture and a different time, when every student in some lockstep Asian school had go knowledge drilled into his head by rote.
But now, the manner of learning is so varied, and the sequence in which people learn things is so varied, that there is no such thing as some concept that everyone has to learn at a certain rank. There may be some concepts that lots of people have trouble learning, but they are at varying ranks when they do.

[ketchup]

I will say Ego. There are some people who are very set on getting the highest possible rank. Some of them get very far, others not so much, but most do hit a barrier when they burn themselves out because they don't SEE themselves improving as fast as they think they should.

One more thing, comparison is such a bad idea. It's natural for a lot of us, but it's such a bad idea in this type of game.

If you keep the goal that you want to get stronger, and then takes steps to do so(tsumego, books, study, games, reviews, etc), then it will happen quite naturally. I think especially in this game, the amount of time and effort you put in, will be shown naturally in your playing strength.


This is so nicely said:

But now, the manner of learning is so varied, and the sequence in which people learn things is so varied, that there is no such thing as some concept that everyone has to learn at a certain rank. There may be some concepts that lots of peole have trouble learning, but they are at varying ranks when they do.

[Stefany93]

I've looked at the rank graphs and game rosters of some of my opponents. Some of them have hovered at their current ranks for month ... even years.

I can't help but wonder if I might plateau as some of my opponents have. I would imagine that even a leisure player with a desire to improve would still gradually show some progress over several months of thoughtful play, game reviews, honestly doing problems (no peeking at the answers until you're 100% certain you got it right) and all that sort of interesting study.

But I also thought I read somewhere that there are certain rank-related barriers where a lot of players do plateau. Are these real? If they are, what makes one break through? What makes one languish?

Sorry about all the questions today. I think I'm just in some befuddled state of mind.

Wow you are 9k believe me you have nothing to worry about - I am stuck on 18k for 6 months - and if you have the desire to improve, you will, no matter what happen - even if WW 3 comes!

[Aphelion]

I've looked at the rank graphs and game rosters of some of my opponents. Some of them have hovered at their current ranks for month ... even years.

I can't help but wonder if I might plateau as some of my opponents have. I would imagine that even a leisure player with a desire to improve would still gradually show some progress over several months of thoughtful play, game reviews, honestly doing problems (no peeking at the answers until you're 100% certain you got it right) and all that sort of interesting study.

But I also thought I read somewhere that there are certain rank-related barriers where a lot of players do plateau. Are these real? If they are, what makes one break through? What makes one languish?

Sorry about all the questions today. I think I'm just in some befuddled state of mind.

Wow you are 9k believe me you have nothing to worry about - I am stuck on 18k for 6 months - and if you have the desire to improve, you will, no matter what happen - even if WW 3 comes!

How are you studying the game? Are you playing lots of games and reviewing them with a stronger player? In my experience, having a stronger player (should be at least stronger than 10k, ideally stronger than 5k) give you pointers can dramatically shorten your learning curve. This is especially true of players in the 20k - 12k range.

[CarlJung]

Wow you are 9k believe me you have nothing to worry about - I am stuck on 18k for 6 months - and if you have the desire to improve, you will, no matter what happen - even if WW 3 comes!

The biggest mistake I did a few years ago was playing slow games (30 min main time) and no tsumego. Once I fixed that I improved a few stones fairly fast.

[Stefany93]

Thank you guys, but I do all the stuff you said like studying, reviewing, reading books, and doing A LOT of tsumego. I have found out that my biggest mistake is that I have been studying and playing go every evening and that just keeps my level low - that is why i decided to have a little rest and lets see if it would give a good result

[Magicwand]

Stefany:

at your age and rank i suggest you to review professional games with comments.
i dont want you to learn wrong ideas from kyu level players.(sorry if i offended many)
just memorizing professional games will help you improve and will open your eyes in opening part of the game.

[EricBackus]

there is no spoon

However, there is a Santa Claus.

[Exologist]

Hmm... I started with long games and no tsumego (well I did a few here and there but not much), and I've improved very rapidly. It is different for different people. What I did was read books written by pros about the basics. I'm good at absorbing knowledge from books, so that's what I do. I also like to review my own games immediately after finishing them: if I lost, see what my mistakes were and what I could've played differently, and if I won, what my opponent could've done to destroy me. Doing the latter is very humbling.

Either way progress always seems to be a trade off between life & death/running/reading and whole-board perspective. You'll often master the life and death (and other tactics) for your level but still not improve very much until you switch over to improving your global perspective.

Plateaus do exist, but you cannot expect them at any certain rank. If you're at a plateau, I suggest you review whether it is time to switch over to emphasis on strategy or tactics. What good is tactics if your opponent can grab the biggest stuff on the entire board before you? And what good is strategy if you can't keep your stones strong? I suppose it is also possible to gradually increase in skill in strategy and tactics simultaneously.

[Aphelion]

Stefany:

at your age and rank i suggest you to review professional games with comments.
i dont want you to learn wrong ideas from kyu level players.(sorry if i offended many)
just memorizing professional games will help you improve and will open your eyes in opening part of the game.

Its interesting, because a lot of people tell me I shouldn't review professional games until I am high dan. They say you won't have the reading to understand them if you review it early..