Group Study Session

[Kirby]

Kim Myungwan 9p has noted on various occasions reasons that modern professionals have become so strong. Here are some reasons that he points out:

1. Reading. The focus on reading, doing tons of go problems, etc., is amazing. Players aiming to become pro can read incredibly well.
2. Internet. The Internet has given the means for professional players to play thousands of games against one another online. Through this, they've gained incredible game experience, which wasn't feasible prior to the popularity of the Internet and go servers.
3. Group study. While there have historically been groups of players and schools for group study (e.g. the Kitani Dojo), in recent years, group study has become much more predominant compared to the past. Before, individual study was very common, and players didn't want to share tricks and secrets with one another. Now, large groups of professionals research openings, etc., to a much greater degree.

My intention in this thread is not to evaluate Myungwan's statements. Whether or not you agree with these reasons for the strength of modern go, I believe that this idea of "group study" is worth pursuing. While I haven't been a university student since 2009, I'm still part of university distribution lists for research paper study groups - students read research papers, then meet together to discuss their thoughts. Students can obviously study research papers independently, but this methodology of group study appears to have some merit.

Proposal
In that light, I would like to start up some sort of study group here on L19. It seems a bit difficult to study go problems as a group, so how about going through a go book together? The format would be:

1. Select a book for "group study".
2. Agree upon a reading schedule (e.g. 1 chapter per week).
3. At the end of the week (or throughout the week), we can discuss topics from the book, ideas we have, what we agree or disagree with, and related topics from other sources.

I'd like to start with one of the following books:

1. Relentless: Lee Sedol vs. Gu Li
2. Perceiving the Direction of Play
3. Catching the Scent of Victory
4. The Way of Creating a Thick and Strong Game
5. Invincible
6. Counting Liberties and Winning Capturing Races
7. Shuko: The Only Move
8. Commented Games by Lee Sedol: Volume 1 or 2

All of these books have been out for some time, and some of these books are available through SmartGo Books. Is anyone interested in joining me for this group study? Let's first get a group of people interested in participating, and then we can decide on the specific book we'll study as a group.

If we can get at least a few people to participate, we could get started!

[jeromie]

I think this would be fun! I'd be happy to participate. Even though I'm not as strong as you, I think I'm capable of making some useful contributions of we're using a book as a framework for the discussion.

[swannod]

Sounds like fun!

[Kirby]

Great! If you guys are interested, then we have 3 participants so far. Let's wait for another day to see if anyone else would like to join, and then we can decide as a group which book we'd like to get started on.

We can use this thread as a place to take notes and share thoughts as we go.

[Majordomo]

I'd love to join, though like jeromie said, I'm not that strong either but I know how to read (books) - and while I have Relentless I guess if we end on another book will just be an excuse to buy it (yey, more Go books heh).

[sparky314]

I'd also like to join, at least until December. Not sure what's going to happen after December yet.

[studying]

I've been looking for an excuse to buy Relentless, and this would be a great one. Regardless of the chosen book, I'd love to try to participate.

[Koosh]

I'm not sure if I can keep up on account of my other classwork, but I'd be interested in joining.

[Kirby]

Glad to see some interest in a group study session! Since there seems to be significant interest already, I don't see a reason to hold off on allowing group members to express their interest in a book to start out with.

I've added a poll to this thread - if you are interested in participating, please vote on the book you'd like to start with.

I've set the poll time limit to 2 days, so please make a selection by then. When the poll closes this weekend, we can lay out a schedule and get started.

[swannod]

Glad to see some interest in a group study session! Since there seems to be significant interest already, I don't see a reason to hold off on allowing group members to express their interest in a book to start out with.

I've added a poll to this thread - if you are interested in participating, please vote on the book you'd like to start with.

I've set the poll time limit to 2 days, so please make a selection by then. When the poll closes this weekend, we can lay out a schedule and get started.

Well it sounds like a lot of people have Relentless now so maybe that's not a bad starting point. I'll put my vote in for that.

[dfan]

Sounds great. I am still eagerly waiting for the PDF of Relentless to be released (I guess a pirate version was floating around a few months ago, but they still haven't released it for sale), so I don't know if I'll join in if you choose that. Actually, because it seems like such a good book, I'm not sure how good it is as a subject for good group study, because everything in it (at least in the sample game I played) is explained so thoroughly, it might leave less room for us to explore and discuss.

At the other end of the spectrum there's going through pro games and trying to analyze them. There we would be totally on our own, which has both pros (ha ha) and cons.

Just some thoughts, not trying to put down the idea. Even if it just induced people to commit to going through a book seriously, that would be a good thing.

[Plinkur]

Just another lowly SDK here, but I'll hope that enthusiasm will compensate for my lack of strength.

[Kirby]

Sounds great. I am still eagerly waiting for the PDF of Relentless to be released (I guess a pirate version was floating around a few months ago, but they still haven't released it for sale), so I don't know if I'll join in if you choose that. Actually, because it seems like such a good book, I'm not sure how good it is as a subject for good group study, because everything in it (at least in the sample game I played) is explained so thoroughly, it might leave less room for us to explore and discuss.

I hear your concerns. I'd still like to allow the vote to decide the book we'll study, however, because I'd like to start off with a book that most participants enjoy. If it doesn't match your preferences this time, maybe we can select another book if the study group ends up getting some momentum.

I can understand your concern regarding the depth of the commentary in Relentless. If we do end up starting with this book, I would say that variations that you don't quite follow, agree with the commentary, or perhaps that you simply found to be cool, would be good points for discussion.

If nothing else, maybe this organized group study is a good way to maintain motivation for finishing the book if it's more difficult to do so on your own

[jeromie]

If we go with Relentless (which looks likely), I think one of the interesting points of discussion will be how to use the concepts in our own games. It's one thing to understand why a move was good with assistance from a commentary; it's quite another to apply that knowledge!

I will be happy to have some accountability for getting through the book, too.

[Bill Spight]

Great idea, Kirby! More power to you all!