Life In 19x19

We had one player in our club, who started when he was 69. He died when he 73 years old as 8 kyu.

I was first introduced to go when I was 29y old. I played my first 19x19 game when I was 30y old. 3 years later I had managed to get egf/kgs 2 dan rank. So dont worry about your age, if you want to learn you will.

When I was 30 kyu, I thought:

"Wow, 10 kyu is such an astonishing rank, I'd be satisfied to just take nine stones from those guys"

When I eventually became 20 kyu--

"My goodness! 1 dan is an incredible level! If I could get to 10 kyu, I wouldn't ask for more!"

Upon hitting 10 kyu:

"I-- Impossible! Those top pros must be born superhuman! 1 Dan is definitely something I can settle for, I'll never be able to be that strong so standing a chance with 9 stones is way enough for me!"

And then, I hear pro players (people who could beat me with their eyes closed... literally) saying that they're "not that strong" and "can barely understand Go".

Focus on the beauty of Go. Every time one climbs a level, a new appreciation for the game you could never have comprehended when you where, say, 20 kyu unfolds, so the stronger you become, the weaker you feel. So don't worry about being too old too start, because while reading and sharpness is a factor in Go, self-discipline, judgement, curing bad habits and just life-experience are general advantages you may have over most younger people that you could apply to the Go board. Treat every game like a lesson, rank would come naturally as the only way to ever feel strong at Go is to stay 30 kyu!.

Found out about the game at the age of 38. Took me about six years to get to 1 dan (despite the distractions of family/work), currently 2 dan.

quantumf wrote:Found out about the game at the age of 38. Took me about six years to get to 1 dan (despite the distractions of family/work), currently 2 dan.

Congratulations.

I'm 39 and just started playing on June 26. Anyone can start. And anyone can be good. It's (smart) effort in for results out.

Bonobo wrote:I had something in mind but didn’t know how to write it.
So… I’ll just leave it at this: I’m 57 now, and although I first encountered Go at age of six or seven, there were many too long pauses, and I only began taking Go a little more serious about six or seven years ago. And since I went from twenty-something to ~17k relatively fast (within a few months) I thought, at the time, that I could reach Shodan within a year or two

This rang true with me. I just got my first tentative 17 kyu rank on iGS, only 2 months in, and it's exciting, but... I have a job, a family, a paying non-job activity (writing), I also teach Kung Fu. Can I really fit the amount of effort necessary to improve in Go into my life for the long haul? It seems doubtful.

I may end up in your shoes, Bonobo. But I will continue to enjoy my advancement until the obsession cools, if it ever does.