Do you count?

[Exologist]

Sure do. Although I can't do it in moderately fast paced games, cause it takes a little bit of time. Hehe, sometimes if I want to count and its fast-paced, I'll start counting and continue while moves are being played if my opponent is playing something definitely sente. If you're talking about endgame value, I count all the time for that.

[Bill Spight]

Honinbo Jowa advised assessing the position (which includes counting, but is not the same) at move 30, move 50, and move 100.

[Dusk Eagle]

Those are rather arbitrary numbers, and the spacing is weird as well. I prefer to constantly be analyzing the overall position, but take a closer, more thorough look when there isn't a superactive area on the board. That way I can decide what I need to do from that point on.

[Marcus]

I count ... but I count very badly. For instance, I was just surprised in a recent game where I thought I had counted correctly and was down 15 at the end ... I won by 9.5 ...

[Nikolas73]

DrStraw, I downloaded your counting lessons years ago and still look them up every now and then. They have been very helpful to me, thanks for doing that (can be found here for those who don't know: http://senseis.xmp.net/?SteveFawthrop%2FCounting ).

I (try to) count 4-10 times per game depending on time remaining and how close the score is (If I have a 20 or 30 point lead with 5 minutes remaining, I won't count as often as I would when behind 5 points with 15 minutes remaining).

When I really don't have time to count, I use a quick strategy I recall reading about either somewhere else on this forum (eh, maybe on KGS): comparing areas. For example, Black's top-right corner and White's bottom-right corner are about the same size, but White has a bigger area on the left side, therefore White is winning... and count more closely when I have time (opponent's turn usually).

[Dusk Eagle]

I count ... but I count very badly. For instance, I was just surprised in a recent game where I thought I had counted correctly and was down 15 at the end ... I won by 9.5 ...

When I first started counting, it always ended up like that. However, I found that with just a bit of experience that I quickly improved my accuracy. Hopefully you'll be able to too.

[Nikolas73]

I count ... but I count very badly. For instance, I was just surprised in a recent game where I thought I had counted correctly and was down 15 at the end ... I won by 9.5 ...

When I first started counting, it always ended up like that. However, I found that with just a bit of experience that I quickly improved my accuracy. Hopefully you'll be able to too.

It feels very rewarding the first time you count that you are ahead by half a point, and shortly after win by that much .

[Suji]

I don't count. I should, though. My intuition seems to be hit and miss so I need something reliable.

[quantumf]

It feels very rewarding the first time you count that you are ahead by half a point, and shortly after win by that much .

I recall a recent game that was very close, and I really wanted to defend a position full of bad aji, but given how close it was, I was reluctant. So I counted (not for the first time), determined I was up by 2.5, played the gote safety move, and duly won by 1.5 points.

[hoohoo]

Well i pretty much never count. In the endgame i can pretty much count the territory everything pretty quickly but since i cant evaluate the value of the moves i cant see what i gain from it.

During more serious games i sometimes do some rough counting and alot of gutfeeling assesments in the middlegame.

[Jonas]

Hmmm well I think my problem is that I start counting to late. When the game is almost finished or only 2-3 points-endgamemoves are available, it is to late to count, because you cant change the outcome anyways.

I need to count more in the middlegame and I need to let my counting-result slip in my judgement.

[emeraldemon]

In Golden Opportunities by Rin Kaiho (which I recommend), he has this to say:

Go is a contest over the size of territories. Therfore, at some stage - at least twice - it is necessary to assess the respective territories by counting them. As to when, you should count once in the middle game and once before starting the endgame. The first time it is sufficient to know something like "the game is close", or "I seem to be winning", or "I seem to be losing". The second time you should count rather more accurately.

The result will be that, if the game is close, you can aim at sente endgame plays; if you seem to be ahead, you can play solidly. And if you seem to be behind, there is only one answer: to play meltdown moves [shobute].

I try to do this, but I often forget to. Actually I usually only think to count when I see a shobute, and I want to decide if it's worth playing!

[wossname]

i only count in real life games (i usually have an ocean of time available to me, since i am a fast player, so at some point i usually count) or online when i think i am losing or have a chance at losing

[LovroKlc]

i only count in real life games (i usually have an ocean of time available to me, since i am a fast player, so at some point i usually count) or online when i think i am losing or have a chance at losing

How do you know you are losing if you do not count?

[Redundant]

i only count in real life games (i usually have an ocean of time available to me, since i am a fast player, so at some point i usually count) or online when i think i am losing or have a chance at losing

How do you know you are losing if you do not count?

You don't need to count to have an estimate of the position.