Greetings from Oxford

[NimbyDagda]

Just thought I would say hi and introduce myself a bit.

I have technically been playing go since December 2006, but due to my own embarassment with my slow play in the whole period I have probably only played about 20-25 games. Most of the people at my local go group are much stronger than me, and although they all happily play me and don't seem to complain I still feel bad about taking up their time when they could be playing more interesting games against better players.

So I have decided to start playing some more internet games where I might find people who are closer to my strength. Although I have found that having a [?] makes it hard to get games but I am sure I will sort that out at some point.

Having said that I don't play much, I do study a lot and have a bit of a hobby collecting go books so I am not ridiculously bad for someone who has played only a few games. In slow games I am something like a 12 kyu, in fast games something like a 20 kyu and am hoping that playing a lot more will start to narrow that gap so that I can play well whilst still not boring my opponent half to death.

Anyway, that turned a bit waffly so will just finish by saying I have really enjoyed reading the forums over the last few days and seen some really interesting posts and I hope I can contribute to this forum at least a little

--Ash

[deja]

Welcome to L19, Ash. I know where you're coming from – you're not alone. There's a lot of collective wisdom and good will here, so don't be reluctant to ask for advice. If you ever want to play a game give me a shout.

[Chew Terr]

Howdy, and welcome! You remind me of a friend of mine, mostly in how you speak (type). Let us know how your new regime of playing more games goes, and if you see me online (Chew on KGS) I'd gladly give you a friendly teaching game.

[GoCat]

Greetings. I hear some similarities to myself: not a lot of games, and a hobby of collecting Go books (and magazines).

As for playing slow games, you can totally indulge yourself by playing on turn based servers. That's where I play most of my games. I prefer OGS (http://www.online-go.com), but DGS is also very popular (http://www.dragongoserver.net). Feel free to hit me up (GoCat) on OGS sometime.

[karaklis]

As for playing slow games, you can totally indulge yourself by playing on turn based servers.

Playing slow realtime games on KGS and turn based games on OGS/KGS is quite different. As a slow realtime player I had played 9-10 months on OGS and DGS, and - to put it mildly - it didn't help me to improve at all. The difference is that on a realtime server the game is finished after a session, and if you like, you can forget about the match and take a break as long as you like.

@NimbyDagda
Welcome to the club

To get easily rid of the [?] you can use the automatch function. After a few matches the [?] will be gone. I am a big fan of automatch.

As for improving to above 10 kyu, I'd recommend learning lots of life&death and tesuji problems. Have you already tried this?

[Stefany93]

Welcome pal

[NimbyDagda]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

[CnP]

Hi, welcome. I remember I spent most of my first year playing Go reading books and just playing the computer. Then I got fed up and decided to make sure I played a game at least every other day on KGS. Go is about playing Go and you can't wait until you're Shodan to start playing Kageyama has something to say along the same lines I seem to remember.

[NimbyDagda]

Go is about playing Go and you can't wait until you're Shodan to start playing

Absolutely, which is why I am starting playing on KGS to try and get more games in. I still haven't lost my first 50 games yet