What to know at different levels

[jts]

This is a very interesting thread! I'm at about 12k now ... and so far my progress went more or less along the line the initial post describes - maybe with some small deviations.

Btw.: What exactly is meant by 'attention to fast play' ? Anyone can explain and/or point out an example?

I assume being able to recognize when you/your opponent is playing too fast, and slow things on down so that you can read out the situation.

[hyperpape]

I thought it meant avoiding slow moves. Plays that are territorially small, extend from groups that are already stable, don't affect life and death, or the influence of stones.

[Loons]

Hi loons,

Something that I've been noticing - really very emphatically - is that other people similar level to me have insanely different knowledge bases. And yet we maintain the same rank.

Interesting. Would it true to say that your opponents (presumably strong SDK or better) have the broad basics but the depth differs?

I would rather say the breadth of what we know seems different, especially evident from what mistakes we will and won't make; or, we all have different deeper and shallower patches of insight in our games. Presumably growing less patchy as we ascend in rank.

Person A may be good at B popular joseki family, person C has an excellent sense of timing and mid-game joseki for invading D common moyo configuration, person E tends to be a bit slack when fighting but generally has good positional judgement...

...Definitively, though, each of us must average out to our rank. And within a rank reading must be in the same ballpark (or handicap game things can and will happen).

[tezza]

Hi SoDesuNe,

Your remark:

In my opinion we only have a broad understanding of the basics when we enter Dan-level.

reminded me of magicwand's thoughts (viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1540):

in my opinion rank reflect the level of understanding of the game.
it will take time for them to gain deeper reading ability and that might be why they plateau.
for example: you can achieve 12 kyu by avoiding getting killed.
but for you to pass that level you have to understand what thickness and influence does.
once you understand thickness and influence you might be stucked at 1k.
once you understand the flow of the game you can pass 1k~1d level.
after that every dan level is a plateau for me.

Ah, someone just pointed me to one of your posts (http://lifein19x19.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=91) - presumably if we reverse-engineered the general themes (areas of knowledge) of the suggested books?:

I posted this a while ago on godiscussions.com and since here are no threads dealing with the eternal hunger for (Go-)Wisdom, I thought I repost it for general discussions.

Preface
Reading alone will not make you stronger, because new tactics and ideas need their time to enrich your play. Therefore it is very important to constantly play while reading a book. Try to use your new knowledge and practice it.
Side note: This is no sure way to become stronger. People learn in various ways. But these books may help you find new ideas and reasons.

Starters (30k -> 15/12k)

• Learn to play Go 1-5
• Opening Theory made easy
• Graded Go Problems 1-2
  
  Intermediate (12k -> 5k)
• Get Strong at Tesuji
• 1001 Life and Death Problems
• Graded Go Problems 3
• Tesuji (by James Davies)
• Attack and Defense

Optional:
- Invincible - The Games of Shusaku
- Secret Chronicles of Handicap Go
- Get strong at Invading
- Get strong at Attacking
- 38 Basic Joseki

Advanced (5k -> 1k)

• The Direction of Play
• Graded Go Problems 4
• 501 Tesuji Problems

Optional:
- Positional Judgement. High-Speed Game Analysis
- Making Good Shape
- Get Strong at the Endgame
- Elementary Go Series 6: Endgame

Dan-level

• Train like a Pro 1-2
• Graded Go Problems for Dan Players 1-3

Optional:
- The Master of Haengma
- Nie Weiping on Go - The Art of Positional Judgment
- Perceiving the Direction of Play
- Vital Points and Skillful Finesse for Sabaki

There is a order given in this list but it actually doesn't really matter, which book you read while being a starter, intermdiate or advanced player. Do what brings you the most fun.
You can read/solve all these books multiple times and it will be still beneficial. Actually you should read these books multiple times, because by becoming stronger, you'll find new things in them.
Also, I like to add that it can be interesting to replay (and memorize, if you like) professional games in the intermediate range. If you like to do so, I'd strongly recommend commented games, so that you know which moves are good or bad and why. My choices would be games by Shusaku (Book: Invincible), Go Seigen, Cho Chikun or by the early Lee Chang'ho. In my experience these games are pretty straight forward and 'easy to follow' at some level.
Disclaimer
Blue coloured titles are 'community approved'.

Thanks and cheers.

[Marcus]

Trying to figure out what we "need" to know for each level is not only difficult, but very personal. Everyone has their blind spots.

For instance, I seem to prove again and again that I know nothing about positional judgment ... yet I read well enough to keep my 2-3k KGS rating (at least, I think it's reading skill that keeps me from losing too many games; honestly, I don't know enough about this game to be sure).

One thing I've found, though, is that understanding certain shapes/tesuji/positions/invasions is very important for improving your level. Knowing how certain shapes or certain positions can end up can greatly reduce the amount of effort required to read out a situation. There are so many of these, though. Like Loons indicated, everyone has a different level of understanding across all these possible shapes. The more common a shape, the more important it is to understand it at a better depth.

[tezza]

Marcus,

Thanks. Your comments about shape reminded me of an instance where my opponent's 'cunning' placements caused one of my groups to form a convoluted shape. Trying to defend it just got me into trouble .

Cheers