Kirby's Study Journal

[ez4u]

Hi Bill,

1.5 eyes

Back to the basics question: 0.5 eyes means it's possible to get a real eye there with 2 moves ?

In Japanese 半眼 (half eye) means you have a shape where you can complete an eye with one more move, i.e. in gote. If you can force another eye in sente, you can come back and live by completing your gote eye. I think Bill's 0.5 means the same thing. His 1.5 shape is one move away from completing 2 eyes.

[Bill Spight]

Hi Bill,

1.5 eyes

Back to the basics question: 0.5 eyes means it's possible to get a real eye there with 2 moves ?

1.5 eyes: White can make 2 eyes in gote; Black can hold White to 1 eye in gote.

1.5 eyes + 0.5 eyes = 2 eyes

Example:

$$B Black mistake
$$ ------------------------------
$$ . . . O 1 3 4 . . . 2 O . . .
$$ . X . X O O O O O O O X . X .
$$ . . . X X X X X X X X X . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Black mistake
$$ ------------------------------
$$ . . . O 1 3 4 . . . 2 O . . .
$$ . X . X O O O O O O O X . X .
$$ . . . X X X X X X X X X . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

is a mistake, because after White has 2 eyes.

$$B 2 eyes
$$ ------------------------------
$$ . . . O . a O . b . O O . . .
$$ . X . X O O O O O O O X . X .
$$ . . . X X X X X X X X X . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B 2 eyes
$$ ------------------------------
$$ . . . O . a O . b . O O . . .
$$ . X . X O O O O O O O X . X .
$$ . . . X X X X X X X X X . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

White has 0.5 eyes at "a" plus 1.5 eyes at "b".

[EdLee]

Thanks, Dave, Bill.

[Kirby]

Still not at home, yet. So I played two more games on Tygem once my son went to bed. I don't plan to review them. They weren't as one sided as the other day, but still lower level than KGS 1d, I think.

Maybe I will start reviewing once I get to Tygem 4d. It says 3 wins to get to 4d, and 7 wins to jump up two and get to 5d:


Here are the games.




First guy was a little rude. The game was over, so I requested to count, and he refused in order to make me wait until his time ran out (something like 6 or 7 minutes left, plus the byo-yomi).

I noticed there is a new feature, at least on the Korean client, which allows you to indicate whether your opponent had good manners and you enjoyed playing against him. I like the idea, though, it seems to make the system a bit more complicated.

[Kirby]

To elaborate on the manner system that they seem to have added, here is a screenshot:



Basically, after the game, there's a dialog with the option to indicate that your opponent had good manners. If you have less than 30, you have the default icon by your name. At 30, you get the one with a "1", at 50 you get the one with a "2", etc., until you have over 700. At that point, you are a "Manner King" (with icon rainbow-colored and stamped with a "K").

It's an interesting idea, but:
1.) I haven't even played 30 games since they've introduced this feature.
2.) I'd rather identify people having bad manners than people having good manners - good manners should be the default behavior.
3.) Manner King? Seriously?

[Kirby]

Well, tonight didn't go as expected. Still away from home, so I planned to rank up my Tygem account today - if I can get to 4d, I can enter the 4d-8d server on the Korean client. With a winning streak of 9 games in a row, needing only 2 more wins to advance to Tygem 4d, I expected it to be a piece of cake.

Well, things didn't turn out as expected. Instead, of winning two games in a row to advance, I lost two games in a row.





I didn't review these games either... The plan was to play some quick games to win and rank up, and then start playing seriously on Tygem. But perhaps that plan is not feasible.

I seem immune to rank up on any go server, whether it's KGS, Tygem, or... well, those are the only servers I play on

Probably a bad idea to keep playing today, as I might get on tilt. Sometimes this game is very frustrating.

[Kirby]

In a sense, I suppose when I'm playing just to rank up without thinking much about the game, I'm not really playing go. Maybe exercising my instinct. But the game of go is a thinking game, so if I'm only exercising instinct, and don't put much thought into playing my best... Maybe that's not really playing go.

Nonetheless, somewhat annoying to be frozen at a rank.

Maybe I should order some business cards: Brian Kirby, Permanent KGS 1d, Tygem 3d

[Kirby]

Well, I bit the bullet, and played a couple of more games. Fortunately, I won them, and advanced to 4d on Tygem. So now I can enter that server.

So from now on, I'll aim for more serious games on Tygem, now that I ranked up. I'll start reviewing again, too.

Here are the games.

[dhu163]

I attach a shallow review, mostly of the fighting in one of your games several posts back

[skydyr]

In a sense, I suppose when I'm playing just to rank up without thinking much about the game, I'm not really playing go. Maybe exercising my instinct. But the game of go is a thinking game, so if I'm only exercising instinct, and don't put much thought into playing my best... Maybe that's not really playing go.

Nonetheless, somewhat annoying to be frozen at a rank.

Maybe I should order some business cards: Brian Kirby, Permanent KGS 1d, Tygem 3d

I wouldn't be at all surprised if you think on some level that the next rank is in the bag and then proceed to phone it in for the next few games. I don't have any great solutions to present, unfortunately.

[Kirby]

Thanks, dhu163. You pointed out some nice variations. I liked the one where he could have killed me.

@skydyr: I agree I play poorly when I think about ranking up. Like I said, though, I played a couple more games and already ranked up.

I will try to play more seriously, now. Especially if I can get my opponents to accept games longer than 10 minutes, plus byo-yomi, which seems popular. Free account on the Korean Tygem client must pay T-points to do auto-match request, so I tend to be flexible with game settings, so that we can play the game. Manual game requests are free, but time consuming, I guess.

[dhu163]

This is the review of the next game tygem game along. The key points are in the early middle game, though I have lots of comments throughout

[Kirby]

I played another game on KGS today. My opponent felt stronger than me. He made a terrific result in the bottom right, turning my area of influence into a measly 6 points. I felt he is good at using aji, and playing lightly with his stones. I have a hard time playing this way, and play very heavy. I'd like to learn from him, but I'm not sure I view go the same way he does right now... I'll keep thinking about that.

Anyway, here is the game and review.



He resigned for some reason, but I think he was clearly winning - maybe he didn't like that I was thinking so long.

Anyway, I won't do the fancy diagrams, even though readers probably like them. I have setup an organized schedule for myself these days, and I don't have enough time to invest in the diagrams for now.

[Kirby]

Been feeling a bit down lately, so I haven't played in awhile. But I decided to play another game on KGS.

I did automatch, and had a 3-stone handicap game against KGS 3k. The game is pretty short:



I didn't review that deeply, because there aren't that many parts of the game to review.

Perhaps affecting me more psychologically this game, after this win, I moved up to KGS 2d, again. Whenever that happens, I go on a losing streak, often going back to 1k. I don't think I've ever won a game *as* KGS 2d. So maybe I'll take a bit of a break and study a little bit more and try to play really seriously for the next rated game I play on KGS. It'd be nice to win as KGS 2d at least once in my life

[Kirby]

I logged on to KGS today, and much to my dismay, my rank was once again 1d (though I didn't play any games). Despite the fact that there are no game records to distinguish between my 2d account from yesterday and my 1d account from today, I must say that I felt a little disappointed.

The disappointment didn't last long, however, because in a matter of minutes, my account changed to 2d, again - without my having played any games. I must be on the borderline between 1d and 2d right now, so the games that other people play affect my ranking.

Clearly, from a logical standpoint, I should feel no different about myself whether the account says "2d" or "1d". I didn't play any games between now and yesterday, so I certainly can't have any difference in feeling about my gameplay. Nonetheless, the feeling is there. When my account says "2d" next to it, something inside of me feels a bit happier. When it says "1d", I feel a little bit more sad.

Indeed, this seems rather petty. Since I was feeling a bit introspective, I began to ponder other areas of my life.

Running
In middle and high school, I ran cross-country. If you're not familiar, this basically amounts to training for and competing in 5-kilometer footraces. Frankly speaking, I hated running. Some people talk about some sort of pleasure they get from it. But for me, it is tiring. It is not enjoyable - my legs hurt, I get tired, and I even threw up once from the pain in my stomach. Why did I do it then? It's been some time since I ran, but if I remember accurately, the biggest motivation was my coach. Somehow, I felt some sort of obligation or responsibility to him, I suppose. Maybe that's not a wise decision. Was there, then, any pleasure that I got from running? Thinking back, I think the greatest pleasure I had was that of accomplishment. For example, finishing a race or completing a workout felt great. Because, well, I had accomplished something and it was over.

College Study
I have a few degrees from college and graduate school in the areas of computer science and mathematics. I didn't have a computer until I was in high school, but I've always been somewhat fond of math - so it makes sense that I pursued these areas. Why did I enjoy math? Thinking back, maybe it's not always the case that I enjoyed math. I enjoyed math when it made sense to me. This happened pretty often throughout high school and into early college. But I recall having some confusion in my Differential Equations course. At that point in my life, I wasn't that into studying, so the material got harder and I didn't learn much more about that course. It wasn't that fun. So I suppose I enjoyed math when I accomplished something - maybe I felt that I had proven my knowledge or something like that.

Language Study
I lived in Sendai, Japan for the 2004/2005 school year. I had never studied a foreign language before, and frankly, I wasn't that interested in studying Japanese at the time. There were some required language courses, but I participated somewhat casually. It wasn't until I met my wife that I came to appreciate some value in studying. I aimed to get into the same Japanese class as her, and studied Japanese harder than I've studied anything else in my life to this date. Did I enjoy studying Japanese? Looking back, I have some positive feelings. It felt good to start to understand grammar, learn kanji, and to be able to understand what people were saying. I suppose I felt some pride, especially since I started learning quickly. But if I drill down to the exact moment that I may have been studying a particular new word or kanji character - was that fun? Not really. It was somewhat boring and tiring. Boring and tiring while I was doing it, but I had a fun feeling later - maybe out of pride? Maybe out of accomplishment? Maybe I just felt good about myself or the new knowledge that I had acquired.

Go Study
This is a go study journal, so of course, it seems natural to come around to my go study. Do I feel good about studying go? For example, do I enjoy doing tsumego? I would say that I enjoy solving tsumego, especially if I've given the problem some effort. But I don't particularly enjoy the state of not knowing the answer. Prior to coming up with a solution, I feel some amount of discomfort: Will I be able to solve the problem? This sequence doesn't work for me. Have I considered all possibilities? Something's not quite right.

These types of thoughts are someone uncomfortable. But once I've "cracked" the problem, that definitely feels good. Perhaps, the more difficult it's been to obtain the solution, the more pleasure I achieve from overcoming it.

Playing Go
What about actually playing go? Certainly, I enjoy the feeling of winning the game. In fact, even before the game is over, once I "know I've won", I feel some sort of pride or happy feeling. Perhaps if I were to think the same way as CrazyStone does, my internal measure of my chances of winning the game are directly related to the feeling of relief and/or happiness. If I am very confident in my position and in the win, I feel good. If I feel less confident, or if I feel I am losing, I feel bad.

Consumption
A bit of a sharp contrast to the topics I've brought up so far, but suddenly, consumption - specifically eating and drinking - comes to mind. Occasionally, I'll drink a bit, or maybe eat some unhealthy "comfort food" if I've been feeling particularly stressful, or if I'd like to let off some steam. Do I feel good when I do this? Certainly! Maybe having some drinks and pizza is unhealthy, but at the moment I'm eating, along with the anticipation leading up to it, I feel great. It's very relaxing... But in contrast to the other topics I've brought up so far, the feeling from the next day is often not so good. I sometimes feel regret. It was nice to eat that pizza or drink that drink, and I certainly enjoyed it in the moment. But the next day, I feel bad about the consequences - extra calories, wasted time that could have been better spent doing something else. Perhaps this example is the opposite of the others...

---

I've been rambling for quite awhile now. But I think I'm starting to observe a pattern.

In various areas of my life, there are many "Type 1" (T1) activities (making up this categorization on the fly) that are:

1. Unenjoyable in the moment that I am doing them; yet,
2. Bring me satisfaction upon accomplishing them.

In contrast, some "Type 2" (T2) activities that I am not proud of bring me:

1. Satisfaction in the moment that I am doing them; yet,
2. Bring me disappointment or regret after I've done them.

So where does this bring me? Well, if I spend 100% of my time on T1 activities, I will:

1. Never be enjoyed in the present moment. Learning new things, exercising, and general self-improvement are somewhat painful activities.
2. Enjoy satisfaction in the accomplishment: When I look back at what I've done, I will have a sense of pride in what I've accomplished. I will feel happy about my past (even if the present will be difficult ).

In contrast, if I spend 100% of my time on T2 activities, I will:

1. Enjoy the present moment. It's relaxing to consume, relax, and not study.
2. Feel regret and disappointment of my lack of accomplishments: When I look back at what I've done, I'll feel bad about it.

Somehow, it strikes me that it must be valuable to strike a balance between T1 and T2 activities. But what should that balance be?

It's difficult to establish a basis for a balance without quantifying what my happiness is in any of these activities. Generally speaking, however, perhaps I can roughly hypothesize that T1 activities give me pleasure when I am thinking about the past (but not the present), whereas T2 activities give me pleasure when I am thinking about the present (but not the past).

A silly, but perhaps unwise solution would be: Engage only in T2 activities, and don't think about the past. After all, this would give me pleasure in the current situation, and if I can find a way to eliminate any regret or negativity that I'll think in the future, the net effect would be positive. Furthermore, studies have shown a "fading affect bias" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fading_affect_bias), or FAB, where:

...
information regarding negative emotions tends to be forgotten more quickly than that associated with pleasant emotions.

So basically, while engaging in a T2 activity may bring about guilt or bad memories, because of FAB, perhaps this feeling would be temporary and the benefit I'd get from the immediate pleasure would result in an overall net positive.

Somehow, this doesn't seem right, though. For example, if I enjoy a bit of pizza in the moment, that's great. But if I eat 2 large pizzas in one sitting, it will be hard to overlook the discomfort I'd feel in the future.

So perhaps there is more to the T1 activity than meets the eye. T1 activities are generally wiser in that the future consequences - independent of your memory - are positive.

In all of this rambling, I suppose I've come to a rather obvious observation: T1 activities increase the likelihood that I will be in a "good situation" later in life, regardless of my recollection. Additionally, from what I have read about the FAB, perhaps I don't recall some of the negative feelings I had in the past when I engaged in T2 activities.

This argument is starting to tip the scales toward T1 activities.

1. I'll be in "better situations" in the future, resulting in more happiness.
2. I'm perhaps already biased toward ignoring some of the negative aspects of T2 activities that I've already engaged in. Accordingly, T1 activities are likely even a better choice than I feel intuitively.

The downside is still, of course: the present sucks. It's hard work engaging in T1 activities, even though they will put me in a better situation later, bring me happiness, a sense of accomplishment, etc.

...

I don't know of a solution to that downside. But perhaps it is best to strive for T1 activities as much as possible, and fall back to T2 activities when I lack the energy or motivation. In other words, T1 activities should be the goal, even when they are difficult...

So back to the original discussion... My rank is hovering between 1d and 2d right now, but instead of indulging in whatever feelings that brings me, the best course of action is to keep engaging in T1 activities, even if they are difficult and/or boring. This will lead me to a greater result in the future, something to look back on and be proud of, etc.

Practically speaking, I should stop typing so much here, and start doing some go problems.