The Quest for Less Bad

RegularPerson · Post by **RegularPerson** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 12:18 am

Hey!

I've been playing Go for about a 1.5 years. I love to play online and in person. I mostly play on OGS and a Go club in Minnesota. I'm currently 15kyu on OGS. I have a teacher that sends me a lesson once a month. I've had 3 so far. I feel they've helped me improve.
My study goals are to:
-do tsumego every day
-play at least 1 quick game against GnuGo on my phone with sub-goals:
-check groups every turn - I missed some really obvious ataris this week.
-look at the whole board and ask 'Where's the biggest or most urgent move?' every turn even when there's an urgent situation in one spot
-review that game when it's over no matter how terrible it was
-review one of my lessons every day
-post a game in this journal every week

I started this year as 19kyu on OGS and now I'm 15kyu. I'm pretty proud of that, but I'm wondering how soon I can get to 9kyu. Most of the players >=9kyu I've met know a LOT more than me, so I know it'll be a challenge, but Go is awesome so I'm going to try!

EdLee · Post by **EdLee** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 12:53 am

Enjoy.

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 12:56 am

I prefer playing correspondence go via DGS on my phone than playing an AI. To each their own though.

Enjoy the journey.

daal · Post by **daal** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 4:58 am

Aside from the fact that your study plan doesn't include games against people, I think it sounds pretty good. As to how fast and how far you might improve, this depends on some personal factors such as your age, your knack for the game and your personality (Are you patient? Easily frustrated? Ambitious? Can you take losses in stride? etc.)

I think it's important to recognize that while improving is fun, if one's enjoyment of the game is dependent on it, then there is a dead end ahead. If your main reason for wanting to improve is to know more about the ins and outs of the game, then you are on a good path.

jeromie · Post by **jeromie** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:19 am

Welcome! Based on your reply to Ed in your recommendation for Kaz's go school, we're in very similar life stages. I think Go is a great hobby for someone with a family. There are so many possible avenues for study that it's easy to find one or more that are enjoyable for you and fit in your schedule.

Keep having fun with the game!

RegularPerson · Post by **RegularPerson** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 9:10 am

daal wrote:Aside from the fact that your study plan doesn't include games against people, I think it sounds pretty good. As to how fast and how far you might improve, this depends on some personal factors such as your age, your knack for the game and your personality (Are you patient? Easily frustrated? Ambitious? Can you take losses in stride? etc.)

I think it's important to recognize that while improving is fun, if one's enjoyment of the game is dependent on it, then there is a dead end ahead. If your main reason for wanting to improve is to know more about the ins and outs of the game, then you are on a good path.

The reason I didn't include games against people is because that's the end goal of study. I play online most days of the week and I play in person once or twice a week. Though some people have given me helpful teaching games, those haven't always been available though I would like more. Your comment about depending on progress for enjoyment is very true, though the more I learn, the more beauty I see in each game, and I feel my ignorance occludes the depth and nuance of the game.

Good to meet you!

RegularPerson · Post by **RegularPerson** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 9:11 am

Boidhre wrote:I prefer playing correspondence go via DGS on my phone than playing an AI. To each their own though.

Enjoy the journey.

I want to try that. What client do you use for DGS? Are you using an Android phone or an iPhone?

RegularPerson · Post by **RegularPerson** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 9:13 am

jeromie wrote:Welcome! Based on your reply to Ed in your recommendation for Kaz's go school, we're in very similar life stages. I think Go is a great hobby for someone with a family. There are so many possible avenues for study that it's easy to find one or more that are enjoyable for you and fit in your schedule.

Keep having fun with the game!

I know!! I love to do problems or play a quick game on my phone when I have a spare moment. Thanks!

RegularPerson · Post by **RegularPerson** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 10:29 pm

I won a game in person against my regular opponent even after goofing up a big ko fight. I still won by 3.5 points. Have to be careful, though, because last time, I won by about 20. Now to go through a lesson and do a few tsumego before bed.

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 3:54 am

RegularPerson wrote:
Boidhre wrote:I prefer playing correspondence go via DGS on my phone than playing an AI. To each their own though.

Enjoy the journey.

I want to try that. What client do you use for DGS? Are you using an Android phone or an iPhone?

anDGS on my Android phone. Dragon Go Client on the iPad, works for iPhones too. There are other options too I think.

RegularPerson · Post by **RegularPerson** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 12:56 pm

Welp, I've been doing tsumego, losing games against GNU-Go but not always reviewing them, and for the most part, reviewing a lesson every day. Could do better on reviewing the lessons and reviewing the games I lose. Here's an unranked game on OGS that I played. Any review would be appreciated. I tried to watch for the biggest moves but I feel I could have done a better job at that. I'll try to post a GNU-Go game in the near future since the computer seems to have a better grasp on life and death than I do. Bye!

RegularPerson · Post by **RegularPerson** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 5:17 pm

I wound up winning this one on time, but boy was it a bad game for me. Any comments are appreciated.

EdLee · Post by **EdLee** » Sun Apr 03, 2016 9:26 pm

Hi RS,

Your game v. William:

:b9:

In general ⁽¹⁾, early in the game,
you better have a very good reason for playing on the 2nd line.
What was yours, here ?
C14 is simple & good, makes good shape for you.

:b11:

Standard (beginner) bad habit.
Just connect is better in this case.

:w12:

Standard (beginner) bad habit.
He forces your bad move :b11:

into a good move.
Just fix the cut, with G17, a tiger's mouth, is much better.

Notice the similarity with both bad moves :b11:

and

,
and the respective fix ( just fix the weakness directly ).

:b13:

Thanks to

, your bad :b11:

has become a good move.

I just noticed all 3 of you made the same mistakes.
I skip to your game v. Mark here,
to point out the same mistakes:

Mark's :w12:

is the same bad habit as your :b11:

above.
Your :b13:

is the same bad habit as William's :w12:

.
Here, you have 2 cuts (R17, Q15) --
so fix both directly with one move: just connect at Q15.

Mark's :w14:

Exactly like your game with William.
Thanks to your bad :b13:

, Mark's

has become a good move.

__________
⁽¹⁾ Whenever you see "in general", "usually", "generally", etc. in Go,
it usually⁽¹⁾ means there are infinite exceptions, traps, and pitfalls. Generally speaking. ⁽¹⁾

EdLee · Post by **EdLee** » Sun Apr 03, 2016 9:54 pm

Hi RS,

Continuing with your game v. William:

:w26:

Confused. You have two groups here: Q4 and R8.
Which group is weaker ?

You play from your stronger group to hurt your weaker group.

:b27:

If he plays S12, your R8 group is under a lot of stress.

:w28:

He gives you a chance.
Even if you play S13 now, your R8 group is still not out of the woods.

( Both of you are not aware of the status of your R8 group. )

:b37:

He doesn't know the joseki move. Jump to C6.

:w38:

Too slow, over concentrated.
He missed joseki move ( jump to C6 ).
You're happy to stay ahead of him: just extend to D6.

:b39:

Big. So painful for you.

You missed the local, shared vital point: D6.

:b47:

Bad shape. On the side, B7 is better shape for Black.
However, there's no cut at C6 right now.
So B can jump out (e.g. F8).

:w48:

Connect may be a bit greedy.
Black would hane at E9.

:b49:

He doesn't understand.
Also, bad shape as :b47:

.

Greedy, reckless. B counter ataris at M3.

:b71:

Sigh.

Q15 is better. RS, why is Q15 better for Black ?

RegularPerson · Post by **RegularPerson** » Mon Apr 04, 2016 12:12 am

Thanks, EdLee. Much appreciated. I read your comments and looked through the game. I'll try to review them again tomorrow.

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