At last, lost my 100th (rated) game!

[tezza]

Hi all,

I've just lost my 100th rated game per the Go saying "lose your first 100 games".

Err, now what?

I still play like a beginner.

Regards,
tezza

[emeraldemon]

post it!

[Joaz Banbeck]

...in the 'game analysis' sub-forum: viewforum.php?f=4

[EdLee]

Congrats. To your next 100.

[BobC]

Hi all,

I've just lost my 100th rated game per the Go saying "lose your first 100 games".

Err, now what?

I still play like a beginner.

Regards,
tezza

Usual mistake.. of course it's "100th" in number base 19. If you're working in decimal you need to lose 361 games....

[Hushfield]

As to the question of what next: you've developed a basic feel for the game and learned some basic shapes, you could start some sort of study program now, depending on your specific needs. As emeraldemon and Joaz pointed out, post the game in the game-analysis subforum, and you could ask what your areas of your game need the most work. Chances are, as with all of us, it's every part of your game, but some good places to start are working through a lot of go problems and playing some teaching games with players that are somewhat stronger than you are. They will be able to identify some areas that could use improvement. I don't know what your current rating is, but if you'd like that, we could play a teaching game on KGS. Just PM me on here or on KGS (where I'm conveniently called Hushfield as well). Also, if you've posted the game, put a link to that thread here, and we'll have a look.

At any rate, congratulations.

[jts]

Congrats on reaching 100. I agree that you should post a game for review. In fact, I took the liberty of looking at one of your games. Some suggestions (which, by the way, are very standard).

(i) You are very likely playing faster than you need to. If you spend 3-5 times more time on each move (reading ahead, deciding which possible outcomes are good for you and which are good for your opponent, etc.) you'll do much better.
(ii) The game I looked at has you invading the 3-3 point under a 4-4 stone on move 6. You then armpit-hit the other 4-4 stone on move 20. This is very unorthodox. Reading a few books might benefit you, either on the opening (e.g "In the Beginning") or on fundamentals (e.g. "Lessons on the Fundamentals of Go").
(iii) Have you started doing tsumego? You can find some here. If you think they're fun, it's easy to do a bunch of tsumego when you don't have time to play a game, and they'll improve your reading abilities.

[tezza]

Hi all,

@EdLee: Your ‘next 100’ statement made me laugh . Reminded me of the Zen saying: “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood, carry water”. So it’s back to chopping wood .

@BobC: I’m sure I’ll be able to lose 361 games .

@Hushfield:
1. Yes, time for me to look for areas to improve. My opening is weak. Usually lost on where to place the next stone (besides the corners) on a still open board. I may take up jts’s advice and try to read “In the beginning” and “Lessons on the fundamentals of Go” books.
2. My current rank on KGS is 12k but that’s way overstated - by 4-6 stones (on a 20 kyu scale). Much too high above my current DGS 24k. (My KGS rank had gone all the way to 10k, apparently because some opponents resigned despite being in clearly winning positions. Strange ).
3. I'm sure to take up your kind offer of a teaching game in the near future. Thanks for that .

@jts:
(i) You’re right. I’ve a tendency to play too quickly on “live” online games (despite reading JarrodCL’s post on this mistake ). No surprise I have a higher loss rate on "live" online compared to “turn-based”.
(ii) Re: unorthodox move. Agree, I need to buckle down to study .
(iii) Yes, I’ve done L&Ds. It certainly helped me against weaker players but stronger players don’t ever seem to fall into that trap .

Kudos to all the beginners
I like to say that I remain pleasantly surprised that new players continue to persevere through the beginner stage. Such a difficult game to learn (not helped by online sandbaggers ). In Chess, it not unusual for a beginner to know what his losing move was (e.g. “moving that pawn too far forward exposed my king’s side”). In Go, a beginner may be losing a game, but not know why. So, well done to you guys!

Cheers,
tezza

[Hushfield]

In the beginning is an excellent choice. I had a look at it when I was somewhere between 20k and 12k, and it helped me a lot. Also consider Otake, Hideo - Opening Theory Made Easy (2002), which complements and expands on the Ishigure book. Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go is my absolute favourite go book ever. However, the title is somewhat misleading. No not even that, we just misinterpret the title as the book being an ideal book to start reading after we've learned the rules and played some games. Its content is absolutely crucial: cutting (your opponents stones into smaller, weaker groups) and connecting (your own stones), the struggle to get ahead, etc. I started really getting something out of it once I was more of a single digit kyu player, as the way the book functions (for me) is as a constant reminder to return to the proper, fundamental move. The contents of the book will definitely make you stronger, but perhaps the book won't do much for you yet.

(iii) Yes, I’ve done L&Ds. It certainly helped me against weaker players but stronger players don’t ever seem to fall into that trap .

The goal of studying Life and Death problems is what Randy Pausch calls "learning by head fake". You're developing your reading ability, not really learning 'tricks' to kill your opponent. Being able to read deeper and more accurately will always help you, be it vs weaker or stronger opponents.

I’ve a tendency to play too quickly on “live” online games (despite reading JarrodCL’s post on this mistake ). No surprise I have a higher loss rate on "live" online compared to “turn-based”.

Barring blitz games, you'll notice that usually the stronger the players are, the more time they'll take for each move in a game with slower time settings. I used to think that stronger players could read much better and faster than weaker ones, but that's only true to a certain extent. Of at least equal influence is the fact that usually they're the only ones actually taking the time to think a move through and read out the continuation. So slow down, take your time to read, and you'll notice you have an edge over your opponent who suffers from the blitz disease.

I had a look at your KGS rank and it does seem to show some irregular jumps. However, the rank seems to be normalizing, so in the meantime, just take advantage of the opportunity of playing stronger opponents in even games. You'll lose more than half of your games, but they'll expose certain mistakes you make much faster than opponents around your level.

I've added you on KGS, just say when you've got the time for a game.

[tezza]

Hi Hushfield,

Thanks. Taking your advice - trying to slow down, take more time and manage my click-happy tendency.

Cheers
tezza

[Boyce]

Hey Tezza,

I'm in the same boat. I've lost my first one hundred games I'm quite sure as well . Right now I'm working on slowing down my game a good bit as well as trying to actually focus on reading ahead. I have a bad habit (probably from playing video games when I was younger) of reacting to every move almost instantaneously. Anyway, if you ever want someone around your same level to play against for practice I would be more than happy to play you whenever I'm online. My KGS name is Boyce. Feel free to add me the practice would probably be good for both of us .

Boyce

[tezza]

Hi Boyce,

Thanks for your kind offer. Hope to see you there on KGS. (Although I mostly access the site on weekends).

Cheers
tezza