Life In 19x19

Kirby wrote:In some English go book, I recall the guy saying to compare relative sizes of territory in the middle game rather than getting a precise count. I haven't tried this, but maybe it's simpler?

Attack and Defense. It works well unless the game is close.

jeromie wrote:

Kirby wrote:In some English go book, I recall the guy saying to compare relative sizes of territory in the middle game rather than getting a precise count. I haven't tried this, but maybe it's simpler?

Attack and Defense. It works well unless the game is close.

I don't want to give the impression that I never make positional judgments, because I do. But because I don't get many chances to play long time-limit games, if I don't practice it offline somehow I get pretty rusty.

Oh, I understand. I'm getting a little bit better at counting quickly, but taking even three minutes to count the score is a luxury I can't always afford when playing with fast online time limits. I could look for games with longer time limits, but even if I could find longer games (not at all a certainty) the constraints of life often mean that it's a choice between a fast game or no game at all. One thing that could mitigate this would be to remember my count for different areas of the board and update the total incrementally, but I'm not good at that at the moment. Fortunately, this is something I can improve at with practice.

Okay, I lost my game this morning. I promised myself that if I did I would play an unusual opening next time. It may not be 4-9 but maybe. I have some ideas.

Calvin Clark wrote:Okay, I lost my game this morning. I promised myself that if I did I would play an unusual opening next time. It may not be 4-9 but maybe. I have some ideas.

Looking forward to the game record

I don't want to talk about Wednesday. Too many personal things to attend to. If there weren't I would have considered playing in the Die Hard.

While I lost to my opponent, there is the consolation that he said he saw this blog and it motivated him to attend his first Go Congress. In my mind, that's the best kind of loss and a pretty good result!

My game is in the Analysis forum.

Today's featured photo is my lunch. The Street Food selection today was Saag Paneer and Channa Masala with Basmati rice. As Go Congress fare, goes, not too shabby. (Honestly, I'm not one of those people who posts their food. Seriously, if I've met you at Go Congress you can friend me on Facebook and I don't think you'll see much food. Or politics.) But people are sometimes concerned about whether a food plan makes sense for Go Congress. It definitely depends on your preferences or restrictions, but I'm happy this year.



I didn't take other photos today. Maybe after I do my laundry I'll head back over to the Union and take some night shots.

I sat in on the AGF (American Go Foundation) board meeting. I am not a member of the board, but I am a regular donor, and once in a while I like to see how my money (and others' money) is being used. Also, I was trying find out ways to help out. I definitely think it's a worthwhile 501c3 and from what I can tell they are doing a lot of good and not arguing too much about stupid things. (There is a tiny bit of that, but it's inevitable in any group meeting and the important thing is they kept it under control.) I am glad I sat in because there are things I would not have been aware of otherwise. Anyone is welcome, BTW. Expect to hear some interesting things in the AGA e-Journal at some point. They are always looking for new ways to promote go such as funding the summer youth camps and providing equipment to teachers.

I attended Nick Sibicky's session in the Teacher Workshop, titled: "Super-Happy Fun Explosion Mega Hour." Disclaimer: I've watched a couple of his videos and find them kind of grating. They are not, say, my cup of tea, but to each his/her own. Nevertheless, I respect what he has done to promote go and wanted to hear about his experiences at the Seattle Go Center. He made some good points and I definitely agree that the most important thing is to keep people motivated and not worry so much about the specifics of what they learn. In particular, it was interesting to hear that game reviews are the least popular thing he did and had the lowest attendance. He also uses titles to his advantage, and I'm pretty sure the title of this talk was a parody of that point.

Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who doesn't dig Nick's style. (It obviously works for lots of people, so if he reads this I hope he doesn't take it as an insult!) It's a bit surprising to me that a bunch of people who make videos have a bit of an aggressive style (I also have a tough time watching dwyrin), but maybe it shouldn't be - you probably have to be bit of an extrovert to put yourself out there like that. And, as you said, he deserves a lot of credit for the work he's done to promote go.

My game this morning was interesting, but I lost it anyway.



At some point when I was far behind, I went to get some coffee. There were no paper cups, so I rather foolishly used a plastic one. This is the result:



I only burned myself a tiny bit, but of course this is undrinkable.

I attended Mathematical Go Endgame II with Howard Landman and Myungwan Kim 9p. I got a chance to ask Landman some questions before his talk. It was pretty well organized, and I think he will post his slide deck soon. I didn't know about 5/4 eyes before. I'm a bit busy, but I'll have to try the problems later.



I'm updating this blog entry white in the main playing room watching Yilun Yang 7p's live commentary of Round 8 of the master's tournament:

Before CC & dfan, I didn't know others share similar sentiments.
Thanks for the posts.

I won my last game, but I can't say it's a masterpiece. It is more like attacking style gone bad and I was forced to kill to win. See the game.

That leaves me at a 2-4 record. Every aspect of my game needs work, but I guess that is a general truth for almost all players. I would like to find a way to play more regularly.

I look forward to the banquet!

Calvin Clark wrote:I won my last game, but I can't say it's a masterpiece. It is more like attacking style gone bad and I was forced to kill to win. See the game.

That leaves me at a 2-4 record. Every aspect of my game needs work, but I guess that is a general truth for almost all players. I would like to find a way to play more regularly.

I look forward to the banquet!

Thanks for your great reporting of the week. It gave me some perspective of what it was like. I really enjoyed it.

Enjoy the banquet!

Kirby wrote:Enjoy the banquet!

Sorry you couldn't come this year! I think it was a great Congress.

Calvin Clark wrote:Sorry you couldn't come this year!

Yes, me too. It was a pretty depressing week. Your thread here, the live streams, and photos people posted on Facebook helped a bit. I appreciate it very much

By the way, I saw someone post something to the effect of a lecture on watching games online (with Kim Myungwan and Andrew Jackson). Did you happen to go to that? I'm kind of curious about how much they can really talk about with that topic. I'd assume you'd just... watch online - perhaps actively, trying to understand the reasons behind moves. Was there really a lecture like this?

Calvin Clark wrote:I think it was a great Congress.

Oh, and I'm glad it was a success

The banquet was pretty large, as is fitting for the best-attended U.S. Go Congress ever. (It's also the one with the most players in the Open.)



Usually, the last day of the Congress and for a few days after, I feel a sort of ennui. This year is no different. Partly, it's due to knowing that this has to end that I need to go back the real world. There are people I won't see until next year. I watched their lives in snapshots, which gives the illusion of time flying. Of course, any year, there will be some people who are not coming back, all with various excuses up to and including the final and inarguable one. None of us will be seeing Nakayama Noriyuki sensei or Yoshi or T Mark or Landon Brownell or any of many others who will be sorely missed.

Two years ago today I was not at Go Congress in New York, which was the first one I missed since I started going in 2004. I had a good excuse---it was the day my mother died. At least I got to visit her once more before and be there with my family.

Life invades in happier ways, too. It was a a Congress that I found out I was going to be father. (Imagine playing a 90-minute open game after getting that call!)