Hello. I’m Shigeki. I learned go about 2 months ago and I really like it.

I’ve decided to start tracking my progress. I’ll be posting games weekly on Saturdays. I’m 20 kyu on KGS.

I look forward to seeing them. What made you interested in learning to play go?

I look for to playing as well.

What got me interested me was that I got bored of Chess, and I did some online searching for other board games and came across go, which I remembered from an anime I barely watched. I was attracted to it because it seemed quite similar to chess but way more subtle.

Indeed, lots of go+chess players here I think

Welcome to L19!

Welcome to Go and good luck!

PeterN

Hi shigeki,

Welcome. Indeed, when first-time bystanders see Go,
one popular question they ask is "Is it similar to chess ?"

Look forward to your discoveries.

To which I like to respond:
Yeah, like Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is similar to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

(Game #1) Anti-Joseki

At c14 would be better. Now, if white hane at e15, you can met him with e14 without worry. Also, it reach farther toward the side. The peep at b15 is nothing to worry about here. It also make an extension less urgent.

A double approach can be severe, so I can't say that answering was bad.

At O4.

Good move.

Terrible move. P8 instead. Verify for yourself that white can't cut.

It's actually somewhat playable. White will get a small corner, though, so it isn't good here, but if for example white had little prospects on the top, he might want to play there.

This let white live; If he play T18 he is alive. You can kill with T18 (as it makes miai of Q18 and T17).

Too far. Should be C11. White can invade at say C12.

Playing something in the corner (I'm thinking C4, maybe D2 or C3) would be bigger.

Urg.

Something like F15 seems better.

Doesn't looks terrible.

I don't think honte would describe D9, but as neither cuts are worrisome, it would certainly be better.

Doesn't really accomplish anything.

109 : H3 instead.

121 : Hane?

131 : premature.

Hi Shigeki,

Completely wrong: W reduces his own liberties, bumps his head against B, makes bad shape for W, makes good shape for B "hane at the head of two".

C14 tiger's mouth.

Locally upper left corner, the big move is not extend; the big local shared vital point is hane B18: it has to do with the stability of both B and W groups.

Taking a vacation in the middle of a battle.
Your feeling should be o4 or N4, whichever is more severe. Requires reading. If N4 kills, then it's better than o4.

Terrible.

Terrible.

Terrible.

Please see toothpaste .

After, through , W has no good local follow-up.

Good. Hane R7 also big.

You missed R7 hane. If you R7 hane, you would've made both local W groups suffer.

Sad. Jump to P8 or Q8, depending on which W group you want to pressure more.

You have no feeling about R7 hane. Neither does W.

Hane Q18.

T18.

Both of you don't understand the meaning of F4 --
"hane at the head of two enemy stones".

Review the basic shape problems so far: same mistakes again and again.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try to implement these things into my play (although invasions are sometimes a bit too risky for my passive style). I think I'll start watching stronger kyu games to try to internalize some of these ideas.

A couple quick things:

Your lessons from the game regarding not giving up sente and not attaching are not actually good things to take from this game.

Sente is certainly important and something to consider as you play. Just because a move is sente doesn't mean that it's good, however. Sometimes it's better to wait and see what you want to do in an area, and sometimes sente moves just help your opponent. In addition, sometimes a gote move is the biggest move on the board, and is what you should take, even though there are senteish moves available. Killing groups tends to be gote, for example.

Second, regarding attachments: attaching to strong stones is fine. Attaching to strong stones when your stones are weak is good. Attachments make both sides stronger, but if you're already strong, it doesn't make you double strong, just overconcentrated. When you want to attack stones, or a group, however, that's the time to stay away. You generally want to keep from touching them because the result will be to make them stronger, and you want to keep them weak. Now, if every stone had a little sign on it that told you if it was strong, weak, important, or junk, the game would be a lot easier. In the meanwhile, just considering it while you think about your move is good enough.

I think that was bad wording on my part. I was referring to sente in the endgame.



I see. So, attachments aren't bad, so maybe I need to chose attachment moves that have better follow-up.

It's the same at any phase of the game:
of course, we all want to keep sente as long as possible.
But so does our opponent. It takes two to tangle,
just as it takes two to play Go.
We cannot keep sente forever (in general),
and neither can our opponent.
We trade sente and gote back and forth with our opponent.
Any attachment can be good or bad,
just like any sente move can be good or bad --
it entirely depends on the local and global contexts.

Of course, it's nice for any move, not only attachments,
to have good follow-ups.

(Game #2) Overwhelmed



Other Thoughts

I've decided from now on only to play opponents who are within 2 kyu of my rank. Handicap is interesting but I feel as though a severe handicap is largely inaccurate in the 15-30 kyu range on KGS. Sometimes I feel that my victories are undeserved. My opponent sometimes plays quickly or aggressively or both (which should only make sense if they're stronger than me)...and other times, my opponent makes a simple mistake in an otherwise even game. Also, my rank seems a bit unstable and I still think of myself as a 25 kyu player (I've been stuck on the first few pages of GGPFB Vol. II for quite some time). In fact, I have yet to win a game against a 25 kyu opponent on WBaduk.

Patience is what I need. Patience to read out tsumego variations. Patience to remain calm in the midst of my opponent's speed/force intimidation. Patience to not resign prematurely. Patience with my improvement. I occasionally hear others talk about "shodan in a year". If this is a lifelong hobby, then I shouldn't be in a rush. So I've come up with a phrase: "Patience is a virtue. Complacence won't hurt you."

Well, white is using an interesting strategy here...

: Slow. Something like G15, attacking the three stones (seeing as he seems to want to save them) and building power to attack K17 would be better.

: This is not sente, and only give you enough space for one eye if your opponent ignore it. I like G14 instead.

: See comment for G14 would be better.

: Good.

: Bad. L16 or N16 would be the move here (you can also jump, but be aware that white can connect underneath)

: L16 would be better.

: connect.

: Instead, black R17, white R18, black S18, and white is dead.

: White should abandon three stone and take R17, living in the corner.

: Connect.

I had a feeling that through were bad moves. Don't know how I missed those connect moves. Thanks for the feedback. Your comments are quite straightforward and understandable.

Update

I didn’t play much go this week. However, I’ve started using spaced repetition with my tsumego practice and I like the idea so far. It feels like a system and I like systems.

I also bought “The Second Book of Go” and “Learn To Play Go Vol. 2”. I was initially reluctant to read books due to the practicality of passive comprehension but I have since changed my mind about it. I believe a few well-written books should have their place in my study regimen.

I’ve also considered saving up money for a goban. My rationale was that a physical board will force me to slow down when going over a position…and it would be a nice thing to have. Upon further thought, I realize that the haste I have experienced when using SGF clients on a computer is entirely artificial. A computer grants the privilege of speed that is simply abused. These programs can save you time but that saved time can easily be converted to wasted time if the person isn’t diligent. Above all else, these implements are just mediums by which to experience Go. The nature of the game doesn’t change, but rather your interaction with it does change, ergo, a change in behavior.

Anyways, I’ll post a game next week. That is all.

Good luck Shigeki. I hope you find a lot of joy in learning and playing go.
Reading some books probably can't hurt. Watch out though because buying go books can become something of an obsession...
There has been a handful of books that have given me some real insight into the game and a corresponding jump in my rating though.
And surely we can never have too many problem books! I'm actually running through graded go problems for beginners vol.2 again as I was feeling a bit burnt out on harder problems, its a really great set.

Yay, good luck with it! I'm really quite fond of the whole spaced repetition system : )

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My "guide" to become stronger in Go