Stuck at 2D

[tapir]

I'm not sure where the blitz advice comes from.

Maybe it is good advice for people with a lesser amount of bad habits, who don't have to struggle to get rid of them, but just need to improve by more games, more reading, more experience. I always have the feeling I have to altogether change my game to get stronger. I did this to reach EGF 1d, what I am now, and I feel I have to do this again to improve further. Many players who reached dan ranks are in love with their bad habits and are not willing to unlearn them.

[Tabemasu]

I recommend trying to play on Tygem or Wbaduk. The style is much different than KGS/IGS and it may give you some good experience. The lower dan ranks are weaker than KGS so I would set your rank 1 or 2 stones higher on these servers.

If you really want to get stronger I would recommend looking around for teachers, you can try many different ones until you find a teaching style you enjoy.

Also as a side note, a strong player once told me to get to 5-6d all you really need to do is get very good at tesuji and know a little about the opening.

Good luck!

[Knotwilg]

First: progress slows down, in any field for anyone. If you became 2d in 1y, then surely it cannot end here - it's different for someone who has held the same rank for years.

With fast progress the issue may be that you know only one way to progress. Myself I went from 2k to 2d by having a rival with whom I played long games and did intensive self review, eradicating the moves I recognized as problematic. I can't tell you how I moved beyond because I'm stuck there too. But I still believe I can make it as far as 4-5 dan if I would start playing and studying again.

What I can add to the many wise words in other posts is what I do when I feel no progress on the guitar, which is what I'm concentrating on the last years. After a period of study to improve technique, I replay old stuff. In the best of cases I have kept track of the tempo at which I could play it flawlessly. Most of the time I'm faster now.

You could review games from your past to "feel" progress.

[Bill Spight]

Hi,
it took me 1 year to reach EGF 2D (from 30K). I simply read a lot of books (like "Attack and Defense", "In the beginning", "Lessons in the fundamental of Go", "Tesuji", "The Endgame") and played a lot of games. I read a book, learned new things, improved. That was like 3 years ago. Since then I didn't improve at all, still 2D. I can't find any books that make me think "ah, learned something new, cool". Solving tsumego doesn't seem to imrove my game, too. Did a lot of those. Not looking at the solution, solve the next one after I'm sure I have it right. Didn't feel like I improved at all, not even my reading ability. From the book "Tesuji", for example, I improved a lot (maybe the best book I read so far). But reading more advanced tesuji books seem like a waste of time (dictionaries and problem books). Don't feel any improvement. Replaying professional games doesn't seem to help me. And playing games seems pointless, too. I didn't learn any new things I can apply, after all. Playing games feels different from playing them when I was learning new things. It's not like I stopped playing or reading for the last 3 years. I simply didn't improve. I can't find any books that teach me any more things. And I don't think I ever improved by solving problems. When solving problesm I apply what I already know, nothing new. Till I was 2D I never did any tsumego or replay professional games. Only read books and played games. It's not that I didn't play games, read books, solved life and death problems or replayed professional games in the last 3 years since it seemed pointless. Did it all, a lot, since I want to improve. But now I'm thinking of givin up. So I'm clueless on what to do. Any advice or book recommendation?
Thank you

Book recommendations? High level books in Chinese, Korean, or Japanese.

But it sounds like you have some blind spots. Find a teacher who can identify them and help you overcome them.