Can I become pro? Two questions.

[Calvin Clark]

It's odd how few people come to the forum asking how to become a professional Go promoter, organizer, journalist, or donor. Those are worthy challenges, too, with fewer age-related obstacles.

[Aureliano Buendía]

Here's an indirect way of assessing whether you are budding pro material.

Your turn.

$$c
$$ -------------------------------
$$ | . . . . O X X . 1 . . X X O .
$$ | . . . . O X X . . . . X X O .
$$ | . . . . O O O X X X X O O O .
$$ | . . . , . . . O O , O . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . .

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c
$$ -------------------------------
$$ | . . . . O X X . 1 . . X X O .
$$ | . . . . O X X . . . . X X O .
$$ | . . . . O O O X X X X O O O .
$$ | . . . , . . . O O , O . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . .[/go]

J19. I really can't see how White can kill if Black starts with J19. I tried variations, racked my brain until it threatened to join my lungs in the struggle for freedom, but I can't. So, this is it. I would play J19 in a tournament. I guess I'm no budding pro material after all. Sorry, Cho Chikun, I've failed you. Forgive me, o Haylee, muse of each and every one of us, for not being able to live up to your inspiration. I will do better next time!

[Vio]

Here's an indirect way of assessing whether you are budding pro material.

Your turn.

$$c
$$ -------------------------------
$$ | . . . . O X X . 1 . . X X O .
$$ | . . . . O X X . . . . X X O .
$$ | . . . . O O O X X X X O O O .
$$ | . . . , . . . O O , O . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . .

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c
$$ -------------------------------
$$ | . . . . O X X . 1 . . X X O .
$$ | . . . . O X X . . . . X X O .
$$ | . . . . O O O X X X X O O O .
$$ | . . . , . . . O O , O . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . .[/go]

J19. I really can't see how White can kill if Black starts with J19. I tried variations

No offense but by only looking? Because if a pro liked to show it in public it's essentially because this "under the stones" is a bit harder to read as others... And very tempting to use a demo tool...

[Aureliano Buendía]

No offense but by only looking? Because if a pro liked to show it in public it's essentially because this "under the stones" is a bit harder to read as others... And very tempting to use a demo tool...

None taken, and I wasn't trying to give any or show disrespect for the amount of effort that being able to solve that takes either. But I thought I was supposed to try and solve it in my mind only. I guess I'm out of the tournament for now, but I will try again when I am well-rested and well-fed, following any recommendations I get about how I should approach it other than only looking.

[Bill Spight]

Here's an indirect way of assessing whether you are budding pro material.

Your turn.

$$c
$$ -------------------------------
$$ | . . . . O X X . 1 . . X X O .
$$ | . . . . O X X . . . . X X O .
$$ | . . . . O O O X X X X O O O .
$$ | . . . , . . . O O , O . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . .

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c
$$ -------------------------------
$$ | . . . . O X X . 1 . . X X O .
$$ | . . . . O X X . . . . X X O .
$$ | . . . . O O O X X X X O O O .
$$ | . . . , . . . O O , O . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . .[/go]

J19. I really can't see how White can kill if Black starts with J19. I tried variations, racked my brain until it threatened to join my lungs in the struggle for freedom, but I can't. So, this is it. I would play J19 in a tournament. I guess I'm no budding pro material after all. Sorry, Cho Chikun, I've failed you. Forgive me, o Haylee, muse of each and every one of us, for not being able to live up to your inspiration. I will do better next time!

I actually meant for you to make the next move.

But you have decided on a possible solution. Showing just one move is not enough. Just because you don't see how White can prevent Black from making life does not mean that White cannot do it. Please show at least the main line of your solution. Best would be to add a variation or two to the SGF file. As you did with your first try.

[mhlepore]

A small-ish hint, if one wants it:

Was the decision of the problem's creator to leave the K16 liberty open a conscious one, or does it not matter?

[Vio]

It's odd how few people come to the forum asking how to become a professional Go promoter, organizer, journalist, or donor. Those are worthy challenges, too, with fewer age-related obstacles.

I leave all these jobs for low level professionals because I know they have hard time to get some money.

[Knotwilg]

In response to the OP, here's a question:

"Would you be willing to devote the next ten years of your life to playing and studying Go for at least 8 hours a day, preferably in an environment where you are surrounded by peers, because in isolation you may have to double the effort, without the certainty to become a pro, rather the likelihood being very low due to your circumstances?"

The odds are probably better for a 30 year old to become a professional go player than to become a professional football player, because the mind can be stretched a little more than the body, but not much better. On the other hand, the odds are probably a little worse than becoming a professional mathematician.

As Kirby said, aiming for pro may get you a little further than aiming for 1d, although I'm not convinced that aiming for anything will do the trick. Because the trick is the doing, not the dreaming.

However, dreaming in itself is one of the joys of being a human being. When my wife and I run out of conversation, we bring up the old question "what would we do if we won the lottery". It never gets old.

Then again, basing your decisions on unlikely dreams, is more likely to make you very unhappy. Which is why the original question is a wise one and the wisdom you get from this crowd is "don't try".

[Elom]

If you want to become a pro, you can do so today!

Most people who aim to become pro are thinking more towards the teaching pro range of strength (traditionally 1p to 5p).*
This helps maintain human knowledge of the game.

An insei is like an Apprentice Pro-- or Amateur Professional (an amateur at being a pro, a de facto pro who hasn't gained her pro qualification yet, etc...). So once you've used all your roots, perhaps you should join an insei program to:

--practice pro attitude
--fix bad habits a gain solid fundamentals
--develop a pro routine?

Enabling you to teach better. These also act as counterbalances to thinking about rank and winning.
In addition, you can train everyday by seeing everything you do through a 'go lens' and having go philosophy*
You want to learn fundamentals before to many bad habits kick in, so look at pro games to find patterns even as a beginner.*

A pro qualification is like a Phd* for teaching go as a professor. It just happens some are strong enough to play competitively .

If you want go around winning tournaments, then you're looking to be a * Professional Amateur (A pro at being an amateur). You can learn how you want, when you when, focus on having fun to counterbalance rank and winning.

Perhaps the counter balances in the pro method naturally leads to stronger players.

So, be a pro! Decide to be an apprentice pro today, and get some pro teaching if you can. At any point, you can revert to being a pro amateur-- perhaps when you think you've reached your strength cap, or want to take a break from intense study. It's the ying and yang of pro and amateur mode.

[jlt]

The odds are probably better for a 30 year old to become a professional go player than to become a professional football player, because the mind can be stretched a little more than the body, but not much better.

I am am wondering how much the mind really declines at 30 or 40 years old. If it's 5% or 10%, maybe it's much less problematic than in sports. If you run 10% slower then you are not competitive anymore, but if you learn 10% slower then you can still reach a high level in any intellectual domain.

So if someone has some information about the magnitude of the decline of cognitive functions, expressed as a percentage (10% ? 20% ? More ?) I would be interested.

[Kirby]

This "can I do X at age Y" type of discussion has been hashed out many times before. I might have had various opinions over the years, though, I'm typically optimistic.

Now, when I look at things, a single variable seems most important to me: passion.

Have passion for something, and look only at that. Then you won't have time for these types of questions.

[Bill Spight]

The odds are probably better for a 30 year old to become a professional go player than to become a professional football player, because the mind can be stretched a little more than the body, but not much better.

I am am wondering how much the mind really declines at 30 or 40 years old. If it's 5% or 10%, maybe it's much less problematic than in sports. If you run 10% slower then you are not competitive anymore, but if you learn 10% slower then you can still reach a high level in any intellectual domain.

So if someone has some information about the magnitude of the decline of cognitive functions, expressed as a percentage (10% ? 20% ? More ?) I would be interested.

First, although excellence at go or chess or bridge or poker requires various cognitive skills (different for each game) general cognitive functioning means little. They are specialized skills.

Second, there is some evidence that learning one of these games as a child makes a difference. Children learn differently from adults. They literally sculpt their brains.* While the brain remains plastic, adults mostly rely upon the structures they built as children.

I have not followed recent research, but for chess masters of the late 19th and early 20th century the threshold seemed to be around age 11. Masters who learned chess before age 11 got stronger, on average, and maintained their strength for a longer time.

As for IQ, which is not the same as general cognitive functioning, research in the mid 20th century indicated that most people peak in their 20s, with a slow decline. But some people continue to increase their IQ (fairly slowly) with no peak discovered by that research.

*Edit: As a sculptor chips away rock to create a sculpture, starting in the womb, unused or underused neurons die off at a rapid rate in children. We continue to lose neurons as adults, but not at that rate.

[Knotwilg]

This "can I do X at age Y" type of discussion has been hashed out many times before. I might have had various opinions over the years, though, I'm typically optimistic.

Now, when I look at things, a single variable seems most important to me: passion.

Have passion for something, and look only at that. Then you won't have time for these types of questions.

Amen to that. It reminds me of Harry Mulisch, a famous writer in Dutch speaking countries, who had someone coming up to him asking "what do I have to do to become a writer?" to which he replied: "I can't tell you. I just started writing because I had to do it. So, if you're not writing today, what's holding you back?"

[Noruego]

Your turn.

Seki????