Path to 9Dan, step by step.

[Kirby]

New Goals
1) Break even against 1kyus soon
2) Hit 1 Dan by next February (ish)
3) Hit 2 Dan by end of school year

I admire your ambition. I think I hit 1d on KGS for the first time around 2010, 6 years ago. I went back to 1k a few times, but 2d always seems impossible. A couple of times, I made it to 2d on KGS, but then after playing a single game as 2d, I always lose and go down to 1d (or sometimes back down to 1k).

So in my mind, there is simply a barrier there, and I don't have any sort of thought now that I will ever be 3d on KGS, for example.

But your attitude seems different (and appears to be working for you). You even mentioned that 1ks seemed impossible to you at one time - but now they don't. And you are aiming to hit 2d by the end of next school year. Judging from your progress, I think I could learn from your attitude.

Good luck. I hope that you continue to rise quickly.

[hl782]

Thanks Kirby. Maybe its just cuz i still have a goal of wanting to play my dad even in mind? His health has been deteriorating a bit recently - so its a motivating factor. Having this attitude and actually breaking it are different stories..but yeah i hope i can keep improving too.

[Kirby]

Thanks Kirby. Maybe its just cuz i still have a goal of wanting to play my dad even in mind? His health has been deteriorating a bit recently - so its a motivating factor. Having this attitude and actually breaking it are different stories..but yeah i hope i can keep improving too.

Good luck, and may your father's health improve!

[Knotwilg]

New Goals
1) Break even against 1kyus soon
2) Hit 1 Dan by next February (ish)
3) Hit 2 Dan by end of school year

I admire your ambition. I think I hit 1d on KGS for the first time around 2010, 6 years ago. I went back to 1k a few times, but 2d always seems impossible. A couple of times, I made it to 2d on KGS, but then after playing a single game as 2d, I always lose and go down to 1d (or sometimes back down to 1k).

So in my mind, there is simply a barrier there, and I don't have any sort of thought now that I will ever be 3d on KGS, for example.

But your attitude seems different (and appears to be working for you). You even mentioned that 1ks seemed impossible to you at one time - but now they don't. And you are aiming to hit 2d by the end of next school year. Judging from your progress, I think I could learn from your attitude.

Good luck. I hope that you continue to rise quickly.

Me too I struck a barrier at 1d-2d, about 15 years ago and it seems impossible to get past it even with renewed interest. In those days, the internet wasn't there. It took me a year to become 6k and another four years to 2d. For someone who made it to 1k in a year, it should be just a small bump on the road to 5d.

[Bill Spight]

in my mind, there is simply a barrier there,

All barriers are in your mind.

[Knotwilg]

This game has a perfect theme: sacrifice a few stones to gain influence and take the initiative

27: good start of a sacrifice; perhaps the variation would have been more severe but giving a strong group a bit of stones to swallow is simple and effective
69: small gain; offer the small gain as a bait and take sente to play the big move
71: heavy: the variation gives an idea how to sacrifice stones to gain influence and sente
85: heavy: the variation gives an idea how to sacrifice stones to gain influence and sente
(in between: very good shapes while defending & living; you fight well, but you fight too often!)
108: white's splitting attack is the consequence of too many weak groups
125: good trade offer (which White refuses)
131: good sacrifice of 3 stones to get influence & sente
147: sacrifice 3 stones to live with the big part

Full review (but not much more added)

[hl782]

Last game before I return to school.

a win vs a 1kyu. It's been a while.

[hl782]

Hello to everyone. It's been a very long time (roughly 3 years) since I've last posted on this journal.

I intended to continue on my go journey while attending school, but taking 20 credits per semester (for an early graduation), working remotely for an internship during the school year, and having a part-time job as a waiter at a restaurant made that virtually impossible.

On a more positive note, I graduated from Cornell with a degree in computer science in 2018, and I've been a full-time software engineer for a year. In addition, my dad's health turned around much for the better (he's started working again since 2017), and I now have more time to play again.

I've made some accounts on KGS and started throwing around stones to see where I am, and I think its safe to say that I'm anywhere around a 3-5 kyu. I am nowhere near polished as I was 3 years ago - but hopefully only way to continue from here is up.

Lastly, I realized a few years ago I may have angered a few people on here regarding my attitude for torrented books. I am still a believer that go is a dying art and that E-books (of rather expensive hardcopy versions) is one of the best ways to spread the knowledge of the game. However, I was wrong to suggest piracy (or at least be so open about it) on a public forum, where some individuals here are go authors themselves. I should have been a bit more careful, and cautious in trying to enforce my claims as 'correct' towards others. For that I apologize.

[Bill Spight]

May I suggest that if you want to spread go knowledge, it is necessary to have go knowledge in a well presented form to spread. That is a sine qua non, isn't it? Without support, who is going to create those books, articles, or other presentations? Why not buy a bunch of go books and send them to people or donate them to libraries?

[hl782]

I understand my opinion will be unpopular/controversial. This will be the last reply I give towards the subject.

Bill, I believe you are correct and incorrect. Although it is necessary for go knowledge to be in a well presented form, I don't think that alone justifies the $25-50 prices that most books are out there.

1) The game of go constantly changes over time (this was accelerated through the development of AlphaGo), and the materials in theory books will become outdated. The ones that stand the test of time are the collections of life and death problems, and most of those are already well beyond the copyright date (70 years after death of author in Japan, 50 years in Korea and China).

2) There is a ton of available go content (ignoring the piracy) in the public due to the development of the internet. Youtube lectures, game records, mobile apps, and much more. It doesn't make much sense (at least to me) from a financial, and educational perspective for any player to buy a book, unless they just really want the book. It also doesn't make much sense for the authors and publishers to hold up high prices.

3) For financial support, I believe a donation of money to Go Associations would be a better for spreading information of the game as that money would be put into youth tournaments, more public events, and building of better infrastructure. As I mentioned above, go is a dying art. The money should be used to spread awareness in the best way as possible. The best thing that happened to go in the past 50 years was the AlphaGo vs Lee Sedol matches for this reason.

To wrap this up, I'm not endorsing piracy in any way. From a legal perspective, intentionally torrenting books that are still within copyright is wrong - that's what I did a few years ago, and I apologize for that. However, there is plenty of go material beyond copyright dates that can be easily downloaded for free, which I don't think should be condemned. In addition, people who aren't aware of copyright laws may end up downloading available content for their own reasons (perhaps they couldn't afford it, or the book is out of print), without being aware. To those, I'm not going to point fingers at them and say that they should delete it and buy a hardcopy. I'd rather hope that they make the most of those resources, become better players, and contribute to the go community elsewhere. We're a very small niche community, that's getting smaller and smaller every year, and any spread of the news is good in my eyes.

Some may agree with me, some may disagree with me - but hopefully we can respect each others views and move forward from here. I'm looking forward to filling my journal up with more go content and progress from here on out

[Bill Spight]

3) For financial support, I believe a donation of money to Go Associations would be a better for spreading information of the game as that money would be put into youth tournaments, more public events, and building of better infrastructure.

To wrap this up, I'm not endorsing piracy in any way. From a legal perspective, intentionally torrenting books that are still within copyright is wrong - that's what I did a few years ago, and I apologize for that.

With respect, an apology is not enough. You need to back it up with action.

[hl782]

Here is a game I played today against a KGS2K. I've had lots of random W/L vs people of all ranks, but this is probably the best one.

[Hades12]

3) For financial support, I believe a donation of money to Go Associations would be a better for spreading information of the game as that money would be put into youth tournaments, more public events, and building of better infrastructure.

To wrap this up, I'm not endorsing piracy in any way. From a legal perspective, intentionally torrenting books that are still within copyright is wrong - that's what I did a few years ago, and I apologize for that.

With respect, an apology is not enough. You need to back it up with action.

His actions could be not torrenting books anymore. The idea that he needs to make reparations is a personal belief. Not all people follow the same moral code. I think he is on a better path now, but again that is only my personal belief. As a college student, graduating from an Ivy League school, at this moment he probably doesn't have the finances to make reparations. I hope in the future he will do something when he is able, but that is on him.

[Hades12]

I think your last game was very decisive. You had a calm level of play. Keep it up and you will be back to shodan.

[Bill Spight]

3) For financial support, I believe a donation of money to Go Associations would be a better for spreading information of the game as that money would be put into youth tournaments, more public events, and building of better infrastructure.

To wrap this up, I'm not endorsing piracy in any way. From a legal perspective, intentionally torrenting books that are still within copyright is wrong - that's what I did a few years ago, and I apologize for that.

With respect, an apology is not enough. You need to back it up with action.

His actions could be not torrenting books anymore.

That's inaction.

The idea that he needs to make reparations is a personal belief. Not all people follow the same moral code.

It is not a question of a moral code. He believes his past actions were wrong. It is a question of what is good for him, as well as others, and for go. As a practical matter, an apology is not enough. Talk is cheap. The apology needs to be backed up with action.