Time management

Knotwilg · Post by **Knotwilg** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 8:42 am

An underestimated part of (online) Go is time management. Like the opening, middle game and end game technniques, time management is something that needs exercise. It doesn't come all by itself, or rather, it does in the wrong way. Good time management is a feature of strong players. Have you seen blitz games by 7d amateurs? They usually consume the full overtime period. They also use most of their available overtime periods. And yet they rarely run out of time. Here are a few suggestions for good time management at the beginner and amateur level. I wrote them down as a subpage of my Sensei's Library home page.

http://senseis.xmp.net/?DieterVerhofsta ... Management

I welcome all feedback.

Bill Spight · Post by **Bill Spight** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:19 am

My preference for time management would look something like this:

Opening: 15 minutes for around 30 moves at an average of 30 sec/move. Includes time for two planning periods.

Middle Game: 20 minutes for around 60 moves at an average of 20 sec/move. Includes time for one planning period and one crucial play.

End Game: 2.5 minutes for around 30 plays at an average of 5 sec/move.

Some way of getting extra time for longer games.

Some flexibility.

I have not tried it, but something like Fischer timing with 20 min. main time and a 10 sec. increment sounds feasible. The flexibility of Fischer timing would allow the opponent to play a quick opening, as most people seem to like to do.

Knotwilg · Post by **Knotwilg** » Fri Apr 17, 2015 10:54 am

Bill Spight wrote:My preference for time management would look something like this:

Opening: 15 minutes for around 30 moves at an average of 30 sec/move. Includes time for two planning periods.

Middle Game: 20 minutes for around 60 moves at an average of 20 sec/move. Includes time for one planning period and one crucial play.

End Game: 2.5 minutes for around 30 plays at an average of 5 sec/move.

Some way of getting extra time for longer games.

Some flexibility.

I have not tried it, but something like Fischer timing with 20 min. main time and a 10 sec. increment sounds feasible. The flexibility of Fischer timing would allow the opponent to play a quick opening, as most people seem to like to do.

I'm sure that as you progress to the higher ranks, the need for and good use of thinking time will shift forward. Also, higher ranks on servers may imply more serious players who are not wasting your time or try to outlast you, coming closer to the kind of time settings that are appropriate in real life.

Thanks Bill.

Knotwilg · Post by **Knotwilg** » Sun Jul 19, 2015 4:35 pm

Here's a game where I tried to concentrate on time management and reading. Obviously one finds lots of reading mistake but overall the usage of the overtime periods was quite well executed according to the plan.

Kirby · Post by **Kirby** » Sun Sep 27, 2015 10:37 pm

I was going to make my own thread, but I found this one, which was quite similar to what I wanted to discuss.

My teacher pointed out (and I agree with him) that I spend too much time in the opening for some of the league games. Then, it gets into a crucial point in the middle game, I'm in byo-yomi, and have to play really quick, so I made a game-losing move. This has happened more than once.

I think it would be wise at my current level to adhere to Knotwilg's advice:

In the opening, don't consume any period. Play all opening moves within 25 seconds. The opening is fairly intuitive and doesn't require deep reading.

In practice, I have a hard time doing this, though. I am afraid of falling at a disadvantage, so I try to think of what the opponent might do, and how things will go (i.e. read).

To actually put this type of speed into practice, do you look at the clock and make sure you're on schedule? Does this distract from your reading?

Abyssinica · Post by **Abyssinica** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 6:00 am

If you use 2-5 seconds for every moveliie me except in life and death, you should be golden.

Bazoo · Post by **Bazoo** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 3:42 pm

I love the fact that Bill doesn't indicate his playing strength in his post.

Abyssinica · Post by **Abyssinica** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 4:13 pm

Bazoo wrote:I love the fact that Bill doesn't indicate his playing strength in his post.

http://senseis.xmp.net/?BillSpight

Knotwilg · Post by **Knotwilg** » Fri Oct 09, 2015 5:05 am

Kirby wrote:To actually put this type of speed into practice, do you look at the clock and make sure you're on schedule? Does this distract from your reading?

Yes I do. After a while it becomes subconscious. But if you interrupt your training, like I did (again), then bad habits resurface when playing the occasional game. It can be my age too that prevents me from curing any habit from the ever growing past.

Anyway, when you apply it as a prime goal in your regime, it is definitely possible to shift the time consumption to the stages where it matters at your current level.

kyulearner · Post by **kyulearner** » Wed Mar 09, 2022 9:02 am

I am making a quick advance in rank due to this.
At the beginning of the year, my teacher suggested that I take time (at least 20 seconds) before each move and,
a. double check for any mistakes/blunders, and
b. check to see whether you can tenuki.

Other suggestion were,
c. go through two elementary problem books (one on tesuji and one on tsumego. difficulty ranging from level 3 from Graded Go Problems for Kyu Players Volume 1 to level 2 from Graded Go Problems for Kyu Players Volume 2) every day before you play.

Although I have not been patient enought to wait 20 seconds for every move, I am taking more time and putting more of the thoughts and of the reading (not playing a move after reading 3 moves or even 1 move) into every move. I mostly end up just taking time and playing an obvious move or my first instinct, but there are a few moves in a game that I have found my first instinct to be a mistake or that there are bigger moves elsewhere.
As a result, I started off the year as 1k on fox (with a previous record high of 1d), reached 2d within a month and on March, reached 3d. It feels strange to me too, and I myself cannot explain why, but my teacher says I am making better moves.
No new studies. And my rank on KGS, where I play in my old blitzy way, is not improving.

RobertJasiek · Post by **RobertJasiek** » Wed Mar 09, 2022 9:37 am

kyulearner wrote: a. double check for any mistakes/blunders, and
b. check to see whether you can tenuki.

Very good indeed.

cannot explain why, but my teacher says I am making better moves.

Don't you understand why the moves are better or why you are able to make better moves now?

my rank on KGS, where I play in my old blitzy way, is not improving.

Blitz can be one explanation, the KGS rating system can be another. It used to be necessary to win 68%, then 85%, now somewhat less again. Anyway, increasing one's KGS rank is insanely hard and need not represent your real world development.

CDavis7M · Post by **CDavis7M** » Wed Mar 09, 2022 9:59 am

I'm glad that this got resurrected because it's something I've noticed that I need to work on. Currently I'm taking time to read out the variations and see whether I have weaknesses and whether I can tenuki. The problem is that I'm doing that on my opponent's turn after playing.

kvasir · Post by **kvasir** » Wed Mar 09, 2022 10:17 am

kyulearner wrote:Other suggestion were,
c. go through two elementary problem books (one on tesuji and one on tsumego. difficulty ranging from level 3 from Graded Go Problems for Kyu Players Volume 1 to level 2 from Graded Go Problems for Kyu Players Volume 2) every day before you play.

The effect of this activity can't be underestimated. Did you do this also?

kyulearner · Post by **kyulearner** » Fri Apr 08, 2022 4:27 pm

This is an update to my post on 10 March.
My rank on Fox (where I take my time with each move) has been bouncing between 2d and 3d (from 1k-1d last year), while my rank on KGS (where I play in my usual blitzy way as comparison/control) is still at 2k with 30wins and 41 losses from January to March(better results as 3k though). And I would have to conclude that taking time yielded a 2 stone benefit for me.

Robert, thank you for your comments. The impression from my side while I was improving was that the opponent was not as strong even though they were a higher rank, but looking at my 1k game in hindsight, I was making a few slow/vulgar etc. moves in a game and that probably led me to lose half of my 1k games. Also, I have counted my KGS wins and losses and it still shows my non-improvement on my blitzy games.
CDavis7M, I use a timer which vibrates my smartphone every 20 seconds. Although I still have not broken free from my blitzy habits, the vibration repeatedly reminds me to take time.
kvasir, yes I do solve two elementary tesuji and tsumego books (approx 10 min/book) everyday before I play. However, it seems the effort does not show up in my blitzy game, but I am in my 50s, and younger players might be different.
Lastly, I would like to ask Knotwilg to excuse me for spoiling your topic with kyu level time management discussion. But I am surprised that after years of studying and being stuck at the same level, it was my lazyness during a game that held me low.

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