How to celebrate new years as a SDK.

SinK · #1

The story so far: I learned to play go over the summer and have reached 15kyu on KGS.

The goal: 9kyu or better on KGS by midnight December 31st starting. This monday.

How? Well 2 simple sub goals:

Playing: 100 games with 15 minutes or longer on the clock by the deadline .

Puzzles: Work through "Graded Go Problems for Beginners" Vol 3-4 till I can get 80% of the answers in under 10sec also to be completed before the deadline.

A graph:

Chew Terr · #2

Good luck! You've made swift progress to 15k, and I hope it continues! Also, if you can solve Graded Go Problems for Beginners v3&4 in <10 seconds, you'll be ahead of me. =D

More seriously, I'd love to help you reach your goal. If you see me online, feel free to ask for a teaching game. Alternatively, if you post games here I'll try to review them for you.

dfan · #3

SinK wrote:

Puzzles: Work through "Graded Go Problems for Beginners" Vol 3-4 till I can get 80% of the answers in under 10sec also to be completed before the deadline.

I think you are setting your sights needlessly high here. By the time you can do 80% of just volume 3 of GGPB, at under 60 seconds per problem you should already be significantly better than 9k.

Marcus · #4

I am also usually willing to teach on KGS, if you see me online. Just ask.

Good luck to you! I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun in the process, too!

judicata · #5

Have fun.

Regarding games...don't kill yourself. Consider taking a break from playing for at least a day or two ocassionally. For me, at least, things tend to soak in.

Everyone is different--it is just an option to consider.

karaklis · #6

dfan wrote:

By the time you can do 80% of just volume 3 of GGPB, at under 60 seconds per problem you should already be significantly better than 9k.

True. I have done GGPB vol. 3 in August with a score of 85%, and I am 6-7k right now.

lorill · #7

ha. I'm 4k currently (and still climbing, I hope) and i only did the two first parts of vol3. And I find them hard :cry:

Joaz Banbeck · #8

Post your games in the 'game analysis' forum.

SinK · #9

Thanks for all the generous offers of teaching games and reviews I will be taking you guys up on that.

I guess I misunderstood what the book meant by the ranks on the covers. I'll see how I get along with Vol 3 and re-adjust my sights accordingly. For the moment I am going to try and finish the 321Go puzzles before I crack the books open (I think I have about 600 to go).

dfan · **#10**

SinK wrote:

I guess I misunderstood what the book meant by the ranks on the covers.

Oh yeah, the GGPB books are infamous for their terrible rank suggestions. Here's my latest guess for appropriate ranks, although you can probably find me contradicting myself elsewhere on this site

In this table, the first rank is what you should be when you start the book, the second rank is what you should be when you've mastered it.

I: 30k-15k
II: 15k-10k
III: 10k-6k
IV: 6k-2k

RazorBrain · **#11**

It is easy and perhaps natural to set goals for ourselves. But perhaps we set ones that do as much harm as good, meaning that when we reach for a goal and then begin slipping, we tend to give up easier.

Reaching SDK by new years is a worthy endeavor. But perhaps that is your desire and the goal should be 15-30 minutes of tsumego daily plus two games played and quick reviews of all your lost games.

I think your SDK desire will be only a matter of time with such goals set and reached daily and weekly.

Good luck!

SinK · **#12**

Here's a game: I had a free afternoon so I played 3 games but I'm only counting 2 since the second I wan't really thinking. This game was my best game in a while and has a nice mix of strategy and tactics.

[sgf-full]http://files.gokgs.com/games/2010/10/8/Vindiman-S1NK.sgf[/sgf-full]

350 puzzles to go on 321Go
2/100 games played

karaklis · **#13**

You'd better post a game where you lost and don't know why. Then the review will have much more value.

Chew Terr · **#14**

Losses do tend to have better review value, but I'll look through for a few things to point out:

7: A bit passive. There might be situations where you would get more from this move (like if the middle was very critical or if there were weak groups nearby or something), but in this case, it's better to hane aggressively at F3.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$ Position at move 7 $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O , X . 3 . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . 2 O 1 . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Something like this is standard, and works well with your other stones.

9: Good choice. This blocks your opponent's top corner's primary direction of play, and also extends well from your corner stone.
11: This is also quite good. This is bigger than your opponent's last play. Not only is the area you're playing in wider, the stones on both side are high (on the fourth line) so this region has more potential than the left side. This could also be on the fourth line if you wanted.
15: Since you can reasonably push into the bottom-left corner, I would be tempted to. However, that could become a heavy group, so perhaps it would be better to jump to D6/E7, threatening to reduce in the left also. That said, the move you played is also big. Since you're approaching a fairly strong corner, a two-space extension is stronger and safer.
21:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B Moves 21 to 30 $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . X . O . X . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . O . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . W a . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . O . 1 . . . , X . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O , X X . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . O . O . . O . X . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The move you made is an elephant jump. It presents the weak spot shown above. Elephant jumps can potentially be great moves in specific situations (jumping to a critical point, spoiling eyespace, and so on), however, it's better not to make one unless you have a specific plan. You're making tons of points up top (especially once you block the top right 3-3 invasion), so taking the knight's move at 'a' instead would do a lot to help you wall the left side off. Notably, white gets around to taking this point at 64.

All in all, good game. You had a strong opening and got a lot of kills. Your opponent played a lot of passive moves, so it's harder to point out mistakes of yours. For the moment, keep an eye on that monkey jump, remember the 3-4 hane at 7, and try to repeat the things I complimented in similar situations. I look forwards to seeing your next game!

Suji · **#15**

Okay, I think this means that I'm going to have to improve with you to actually give you a challenge in the Malkovitch game. :lol:

I'm going to have to write one of these as well.

Chew Terr · **#16**

Suji wrote:

Okay, I think this means that I'm going to have to improve with you to actually give you a challenge in the Malkovitch game. :lol:

I'm going to have to write one of these as well.

Can't wait to see it! It's always fun to see other people's study plans, look over their games, and all that jazz.

Suji · **#17**

Chew Terr wrote:

Suji wrote:

Okay, I think this means that I'm going to have to improve with you to actually give you a challenge in the Malkovitch game. :lol:

I'm going to have to write one of these as well.

Can't wait to see it! It's always fun to see other people's study plans, look over their games, and all that jazz.

Yes, I'm going to follow SinK's progress and compare to my own.

SinK · **#18**

Just sneaked into the bottom of 14k. Gonna try and make it stick.

About 190 321Go problems left.

5/100 games played.

SinK · **#19**

7/100 games played. While I still have a few free days I'm gonna try and get as many games as I feel I can play without it turning into a chore. 100 may well be a rather low number to aim for but I think it'll probably drop pretty sharply once lectures start in earnest.

Here's a lost game.

[sgf-full]http://files.gokgs.com/games/2010/10/10/okkuro-S1NK.sgf[/sgf-full]

During a particularly tactical part of the game I was distracted by a certain L19x19 member who accosted me with the question "Are you Turkish?". I blame my loss in part to the confusion that caused within my decidedly English head.

I made a few awful errors early on and I have a few questions about the opening where I made some plays that seemed unusual to me when I played them but I'll see what a general review has to say before I ask them.

Chew Terr · **#20**

6: At this point, C11 would serve as a great extension/pincer. Playing elsewhere lets your opponent play around C11/C10, threatening your stones instead.
8: While I really like the idea of this move, it might be best to get out at E5 first. That way, you can't get shut into the corner.
22: A good plan to get out, well executed.
24: Because your group is safe, your opponent's move only threatens a reduction. This is, of course, a big deal, but playing around L3 to reduce your opponent's thickness is probably bigger.
32: Should be low. If it is, not only does it undercut white's hopes of eyespace, it removes white's capacity for attaching underneath.
36: This move is big, and I like it. However, S16 is looking like a LOT of points, in addition to cutting off white's dreams of eyespace in this direction. After this block, white would have to run. If white tried to jump the other way or attach underneath Q12, only one eye seems likely. In chasing this group, you would likely have gotten more moves around J17 than you got by playing it directly.
44: You don't have to play so passively. This new white stone is a weak group near another weak(ish) white group. Split them at N15 and fight. Your stones are strong beyond assault, so you seem likely to benefit.
52: Good forcing move. It lets you expand in sente in the direction you wanted to go. Make sure you're willing to capture if given the chance (letting white take Q12 potentially), but in this case, that'd be just fine. You'd have huge strength facing your top left.
54: The prior move was good because it was sente. This followup is bad because it gives that away. You did gain on top, but it'd be better to use your sente to respond to the original threat (the attachment at R12) with good shape at R11. The good thing is, this defense might also be in sente, so you might get to go back to the move you wanted, anyways.
78: Not big on this cut. The white group above can link to safety at any time (albeit in gote), and the group below, if forced to run, pressures your right-side group, as you see soon. Additionally, this cutting stone looks like it's all alone in enemy framework-space.
82: This is very nearly an excellent application of the nose tesuji... nearly. I'm exhausted so my reading is shallow, but I think white just has to omany liberties and cuts to be caught. Since it doesn't work, Q7 is the safer option. Definitely good fighting spirit though. If you think it might work, it's worth trying. Worst comes to worst, you can only lose. =D
90: Trying too hard to kill something that can't be killed. Your prior moves are fine, because they force white down, increase your moyo, and shrink white's. Since you can't kill the stone, I'd either: (1) take L7 because it's sente and does a bit more of the same, (2) take R3 to stabilize your stones, or (3) take Q6 (sente) and then O3 to start a big fight. Actually, Q6 first seems reasonable for any of these options (worth burning a ko threat to make a more stable shape). After that, you can probably take option (1) in sente, followed by: (2) if you think you're winning) or (3) if you think you're behind.
96: Defending the group on the right may be higher priority, but if not that, I prefer N5 followed by L5. It leaves peeps, but not cuts, which come back to bite you soon.
110: Nice squeeze. Good tactical view, regardles of larger stuff.
124: Passive. You do need to do something down here, or else O2 kills your stones, but taking O2 yourself negates the threat while buying you more space. Additionally, either you're stones get free to move that way, or your opponent tries to block but creates cutting points.
130: This kills your group. If you're atari'ed here, you can always connect, but you need a second eye. H2 or J2 work fine.

Good game, overall. A lot of good tactical ideas. You seem like you could become a capable fighter, if you keep refining them. Look forwards to seeing more!

How to celebrate new years as a SDK.

Who is online