My week in numbers (was "Tiny steps towards shodan")

[RBerenguel]

Currently a computer player still can out-think me, and yes, a computer can only teach me wrong ideas. But I don't play against it to improve in general, just to improve my reading and sense of direction (not learning from it, but punishing it). If he does silly things, I just ignore it and keep killing groups/getting territory.

[balistic]

Igowin is as accurate as a broken watch at predicting rank

Trust your real ranks, thats what they are for.

[RBerenguel]

Finished reviewing my mistakes in YCH's tesuji vol 1, these were 23 wrong problems out of 123 (18.7% wrong). I don't time how long problems take me, but usually I do between 15 and 20 in 15 minutes in my commute. Maybe timing them next time will be interesting.

Errors are mostly related to counting liberties (9):

* Don't realising some stones may be in shortage of liberties after a move
* Missing a liberty in counting
* Failing to protect approaches (basically defending approach hanes on the first)
* For some odd reason, making the enemy move twice when facing purely extend-and-count-problems (yes, that's odd)

The other problems were either misreads that I could solve easily this time (9), kos on the first and second line as defense for white (3) and a combination of the counting errors together with not following the simplest solution (2).

Now I'll follow David's suggestion in another thread and do YCH-Tesuji 1 again, flipping it around (so there's 3 tries ahead). This time I'll only count mistakes, I won't track which ones I failed. I have also a list of L&D problems I missed from YCHs Tsumego Vol 1, and likewise will look at my errors to see what was the cause.

My plan was to finish also book two in December, but with so many passes needed for each book, I'll probably settle for one book for month.

I also have 1001 L&D problems, and may be useful to change a little the types of problems if I feel tired of these.

[RBerenguel]

Turned YCH tesuji vol1 around clockwise, this time got 16 wrong, an improvement of 7 problems since my previous try in normal orientation. Meh

[RBerenguel]

Finished solving the turned around YCH Vol 1, Tesuji and Tsumego. Below a table of results. The timeline was Tesuji 0º Tsumego 0º Tesuji 90º Tsumego 90º. I'm about to start Tesuji 2 and turn around Tesuji 1. Turns are clockwise.

Code: Select all

| Orientation   |       0º       |      90º       |     180º   |     270º   |
| Book          | #wrong |     % | #wrong |     % | #wrong | % | #wrong | % |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|
| YCH Tesuji 1  |     23 | 18.70 |     16 | 13.01 |        |   |        |   |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|
| YCH Tsumego 1 |     25 | 20.33 |     10 |  8.13 |        |   |        |   |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|

[RBerenguel]

Played two games today, one rated and one free (to make the 4th game in the ASR this month...). In the ASR, 4 games 4 losses. But today's game was not that bad. I lost by around 10 points against a former 3k (currently [-]). Of course, I would have lost by 30 points if it wasn't for a silly yose mistake at the end. But I played some moves I think were not that bad, which is encouraging. I paste it at the end of this post. The review process was fun, since my opponent was Russian and spoke no English. Google Translate to the rescue

The other game, rated, finished very quick. My opponent thought a ladder I was starting (as a forcing move to connect a group-make eyes) worked... and it was not the case. Anyway, he resigned and I'm again 7k.

Here comes the ASR league game.

http://files.gokgs.com/games/2011/12/30/RBerenguel-wery.sgf

[RBerenguel]

New year, new things to explain!

1. I've set up (although it needs tweaking before starting) the Reddit Teaching Ladder. I'm sure it will be awesome with so many willing teachers.

2. I'm registered to the Reddit Challenge Ladder, created by programmar 3k. An awesome idea!

3. I'm still in the ASR League, I've already played (i.e. lost) 2 games in Delta this month. Let's beat the 4 games from last month!

4. I've enrolled in the Nordic Go Academy for January. Looks like a very interesting endeavor, I'll keep you updated.

As for the standard stuff, I'm in problem 105 in YCH Tesuji Vol 2. So far, 7 wrong answers (making this slightly less than 7% wrong). I'm also enjoying this book, since it's about linking with induced shortages of liberties, cutting and connecting (more or less the "amputate the cutting stones" in Davies' Tesuji, IIRC, a chapter I enjoyed a lot). A somewhat nasty side effect is seeing almost cut-able shapes in my games... Yesterday I won with 4 stones against a 3k, but failed too many of these almost-cuttings, even if I was just a move short. In my defense, I was in byo-yomi when most of these backfired. I also let a killable group live, although I killed it while I was in byo-yomi (my opponent was not). All in all, a game I enjoyed, even if it wasn't great. I paste it below.

http://files.gokgs.com/games/2012/1/2/Udan-RBerenguel.sgf

[RBerenguel]

Update in the YCH problem books, I just finished YCH Tesuji 2, first take

Code: Select all

| Orientation   |       0º       |      90º       |     180º   |     270º   |
| Book          | #wrong |     % | #wrong |     % | #wrong | % | #wrong | % |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|
| YCH Tesuji 1  |     23 | 18.70 |     16 | 13.01 |        |   |        |   |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|
| YCH Tsumego 1 |     25 | 20.33 |     10 |  8.13 |        |   |        |   |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|
| YCH Tesuji 2  |      7 |  5.69 |        |       |        |   |        |   |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|

[karaklis]

I guess this looks better:

Code: Select all

| Orientation   |       0º       |      90º       |     180º   |     270º   |
| Book          | #wrong |     % | #wrong |     % | #wrong | % | #wrong | % |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|
| YCH Tesuji 1  |     23 | 18.70 |     16 | 13.01 |        |   |        |   |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|
| YCH Tsumego 1 |     25 | 20.33 |     10 |  8.13 |        |   |        |   |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|
| YCH Tesuji 2  |      7 |  5.69 |        |       |        |   |        |   |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|

[RBerenguel]

Thanks Karaklis, forgot to add the "code" tag (previously I had done it ). It will look worse when I put the stats of YCH Tsumego 2... By problem 12 I had 6 wrong ones!! (I'm at 23rd with still 6 wrong, so it may even out, but...)

[RBerenguel]

Well, 6k already. It took me less than I thought, but of course, the less games you play the easier it gets to get a higher rank, provided you win. Since I also play on the ASR, free games, I don't need to play that much rated to keep ideas warm.

I'm trying to get to grips with my latest acquisition: Segoe's Tesuji Dictionary. I can do C level problems, or at least, figure out how they should work, even if I miss a variation. But... What do I do with A and B problems? Just skip them? Try the Bs and check answers? Suggestions welcome.

I also attach below my last game, got me from 7k to 6k. Won as black. I didn't play a nice fuseki, since I got two weak groups, something I should stop doing, I know. And at some moment in the game I was like "okay, screw this: kill me or lose". My opponent lost, but it wasn't because of my excellence of play, just the average of mistakes from one and other part was in my favour. Comments welcome, as usual

http://files.gokgs.com/games/2012/1/5/hdhx-RBerenguel.sgf

[RBerenguel]

Finished the second volume of Chang-Ho's tsumego. I absolutely suck at tsumego... In the first book I didn't realise but... I got 44 (!!!!!!) wrong from 123 problems. Time to get back to the first and do it several times. Also 1001 problems, before reviewing tsumego 2.

[RBerenguel]

Code: Select all

| Orientation   |       0º       |      90º       |     180º   |     270º   |
| Book          | #wrong |     % | #wrong |     % | #wrong | % | #wrong | % |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|
| YCH Tesuji 1  |     23 | 18.70 |     16 | 13.01 |        |   |        |   |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|
| YCH Tsumego 1 |     25 | 20.33 |     10 |  8.13 |        |   |        |   |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|
| YCH Tesuji 2  |      7 |  5.69 |        |       |        |   |        |   |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|
| YCH Tsumego 2 |     44 | 35.7 7|        |       |        |   |        |   |
|---------------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+---+--------+---|

I've turned Tsumego 1 180° now, got 2 wrong from the first 10. I don't know what's up with this!

[RBerenguel]

Had turned around Tsumego 1. Not bad, not good. Have to improve. Tomorrow, Tesuji 1.

Code: Select all

| Orientation   |        0º       |      90º       |     180º      |     270º   |

| Book          | #wrong |      % | #wrong |     % | #wrong |    % | #wrong | % |
|---------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+---|
| YCH Tesuji  1 |     23 |  18.70 |     16 | 13.01 |        |      |        |   |
|---------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+---|
| YCH Tsumego 1 |     25 |  20.33 |     10 |  8.13 |     12 | 9.76 |        |   |
|---------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+---|
| YCH Tesuji  2 |      7 |   5.69 |        |       |        |      |        |   |
|---------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+---|
| YCH Tsumego 2 |     44 | 35.7 7 |        |       |        |      |        |   |
|---------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+--------+------+--------+---|

I'm quoting below a comment by David (originally here), just in case I forget why I'm doing so many problems and why you should too.

Do one book at a time, starting at the beginning, until you can solve each problem in a few seconds. Then turn the book upside down (then sideways etc...) and do it again - it will be a bit slower at first because you're making your brain remember the technique rather than the problem. Once the book feels easy, do the same thing with the the next one and work through the tesuji series in the same way (at the same time is good). If volume one proves to be too hard, start with an easier book and work up to Lee's books. I'd be very surprised if you're not dan level by the time you finish going through volume four of Lee's life and death in this way.

No matter how much some people want to deny it, the truth is that the opening really doesn't matter and your middle game strategy doesn't even have to be that good (and endgame never happens) if you can just kill lots of groups and live everywhere. This is totally achievable, even at the low dan level. But this isn't a magic bullet, it takes time, consistency and hard work acquire the skill. You can easily build a well balanced game on these strong foundations later.

The important difference between these problems and the ones you'll get from tasuki (and other places online) is that the Lee Changho books have very high quality solutions (some of the best I've seen for the most part (excluding a small number of editorial mistakes which exist in most Go books). I know some people have other views about this, but I can't stress enough how important it is to have good quality solutions. If you value your time at all, you want to learn the strongest way to kill, the most ironclad way to prevent ko and the most efficient and profitable way to live the first time round. Those 'small' advantages in technique are what allow you to overpower your opponents and become a stronger player. For most amateurs they're enough to decide many games. Imagine if you could've prevented that ko, or pulled a ko out of thin air in your last game. Imagine if you knew how to play to minimise ko threats, while your opponent let them pile up like a bad debt.

If you learn from problem sets that have weak solutions you'll only learn to play weak moves. You'll spend more time unlearning all that later. Even worse is the school of thought that tells everyone that you don't need solutions. That's partially true when you already have a comprehensive understanding of shape and are strong enough to read a problem out completely. When I do easier problems I often don't need the solutions anymore. However, when I do hard ones, I still get some problems wrong, no matter how hard I try. When I get them wrong, I usually learn a new tesuji or something else to watch out for by looking at the solution. It finds the weaknesses in my reading and fixes them. If I didn't look at the solution I'd continue in the naive belief that I'd solved the problem and would keep using my inferior moves.

[speedchase]

Hey RB nice to see your improving. what time are you on, I'd like a match with you.