I like most how you read the ladder out, while your opponent probably just approximated it somehow in the third game.

When taking handicap you are often not serious about the struggle to get ahead. (I guess reading the Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go could be tremendously helpful to you. It has a chapter devoted to that issue.)This special but very common case may be helpful as well. It occured several times in those three games only.

thanks for the tip i started Kage's book but i never finished it im glad you said something about it im going to look into it today

_________________
standing still means going backwards

today was kinda frustrating with no wins at all, i had to tell myself everybody goes through this stage to make myself feel better,
I'm going to self review my games and work on my weakness one at a time, do some more tsumego, and read tonight.
I have been going through books working out the diagrams on a real board i thinks its helps me understand better so I'm going to continue with that.

another thing that helped me was watching a live game i got to see what part of the game the players paused to think & how long they took to think about moves they made. It was exciting after the mid-game i would usually do something else those guys have 8 hours of time. I'm not gonna miss too much by playing a few games. it was fun trying to guess the next move though.

_________________
standing still means going backwards

You bet! =D

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go

so i did some eye opening self review last night and concluded i need immediate attention to these areas of my game:

my direction of play-- my moves were not coordinating globally
my attack & defense-- timing is off & playing in the wrong area of the board & fighting in general
my opening-- getting the short end of the stick to often

so today i went through:

elementary of go series: Vol. 1 in the beginning
and Vol. 5 attack and defense


I'm still going through lessons in fundamentals i take that book one part a day.
I'm not putting that book down until I'm 20 Kyu Wbaduk.

I like how he said amateurs play at the game and professionals labor at it
it gave me something to think about

_________________
standing still means going backwards

i won a game that gave me some confidence tonight
it was a big handicap with a 18 kyu but i got my groove back

the most fun game was with a 16 kyu i took 2 handicap & i lost but it was fun for me
after the game he said i did well so im pretty proud of my performance
i still have plenty to work on but i can tell im getting better at this
and that motivates me to keep going

[sgf-full](;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[Ngf2SgfService:3]ST[2]
RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.5]HA[2]AB[dp][pd]
PW[woonainwa]PB[1986]WR[16K*]BR[24K*]DT[2010-11-30]RE[W+Resign]PC[www.cyberoro.com]
;W[pp]
;B[oo]
;W[dd]
;B[po]
;W[op]
;B[ql]
;W[fq]
;B[dn]
;W[dr]
;B[ci]
;W[cq]
;B[fc]
;W[ef]
;B[ic]
;W[nc]
;B[qg]
;W[kc]
;B[oc]
;W[nd]
;B[qc]
;W[iq]
;B[cf]
;W[cc]
;B[ee]
;W[de]
;B[df]
;W[eb]
;B[fb]
;W[ec]
;B[fe]
;W[be]
;B[bf]
;W[ce]
;B[eg]
;W[jd]
;B[id]
;W[ie]
;B[he]
;W[if]
;B[hf]
;W[hg]
;B[gg]
;W[hh]
;B[je]
;W[ke]
;B[jf]
;W[ig]
;B[ld]
;W[kd]
;B[mc]
;W[nb]
;B[kb]
;W[le]
;B[me]
;W[md]
;B[mb]
;W[lc]
;B[lb]
;W[ne]
;B[ob]
;W[na]
;B[lp]
;W[mq]
;B[mp]
;W[nq]
;B[lq]
;W[lr]
;B[kr]
;W[ms]
;B[qp]
;W[qq]
;B[rp]
;W[rq]
;B[jc]
;W[mf]
;B[lh]
;W[kg]
;B[nh]
;W[no]
;B[np]
;W[oq]
;B[mm]
;W[in]
;B[jo]
;W[fn]
;B[ho]
;W[ik]
;B[gn]
;W[fm]
;B[fo]
;W[dl]
;B[bp]
;W[bq]
;B[cp]
;W[ki]
;B[im]
;W[ml]
;B[ll]
;W[mk]
;B[lk]
;W[pk]
;B[ok]
;W[oj]
;B[nl]
;W[nk]
;B[ol]
;W[lj]
;B[jh]
;W[kh]
;B[lf]
;W[kf]
;B[lg]
;W[qh]
;B[mj]
;W[nj]
;B[mi]
;W[pg]
;B[pi]
;W[pj]
;B[qi]
;W[lm]
;B[kj]
;W[li]
;B[km]
;W[ln]
;B[mn]
;W[kl]
;B[kk]
;W[jl]
;B[kn]
;W[oi]
;B[oh]
;W[ph]
;B[qk]
;W[qj]
;B[ri]
;W[rj]
;B[rh]
;W[og]
;B[ng]
;W[qf]
;B[of]
;W[pf]
)[/sgf-full]

im going to go through some chapters and do some problems before i lay down tonight.
back to the books

_________________
standing still means going backwards

You started this thread with an announcement of how many tsumego you will do. What is the ratio nowadays? Are you still doing tsumego daily? (Must not necessarily be very much.)

I suppose you don't mind comments on your game....

The hane at the head of two stones (i linked the sl page before) is awfully big. It takes liberties from your opponents stones it builds outside strength it makes you run ahead. So R8 should be on O4 or R4 instead.

K17, K12, M14, M13 don't achieve much (making some efficient moves instead would make you several stones stronger already). More importantly the last three moves look like played in a rush without stopping even a second to look at the whole board for the largest move, locally compare with a move like O10.

Thank you for reminding me to post my progress on my tsumego goals
lately I have been caught up in other areas of study like kages book and Vol. 5 attack and defense,
but to answer the question yes I still do problems daily
and I still haven't scored 95% on my 12 kyu problems. I’m almost there though

all i need to do is stop getting the easy ones wrong

The 6 of 7 step problems give me problems but
I'm great at life and death.

i get the what should black do problems wrong a lot i don't ever know what they mean
most of the time is cut the enemy or push ahead but i think that questions is just to general
also i need work on my pick the best move problem.

I’m currently 82% on the 12 kyu set

I know can do better but my mistakes were being lazy on some of the simple problems,
I think to much sometimes when the solution is really simple

I have the most trouble with half board problems because the board is bigger and it feels like they are so many options.

but I’m learning how to pick out groups that need attention because of it and Its helping me in real games.

Current ratios on problems from my iphone apps:

I’m 82% on smart go 12 kyu / 98 % on 15 kyu smartgo

igowin life- I max at level 52 and my average is 44

I got 54 out of 70 right today

It adjust to your level so if you get it right it picks a harder one and if you get it wrong
It picks a easier problem

I don’t know the kyu equivalent to the levels on many faces
But hard is dan and I’m on medium currently

Go grinder basic tsumego set I’m 78%

i rotate between apps daily so i don't memorize problems

10 kyu is still my go problems goal for the smartgo problem set.
we going to take a break from school soon
so i will have more time to do them.
i will definitely passed the 12 kyu set by DEC 12

so thats where I'm at on problems


books:
i finished going through in the beginning Vol. 1 now I'm reading though attack and defense and working out the diagrams on a actual board.
i will read my daily part of the Kage's book after my games tonight

- now its time for some serious games see ya

_________________
standing still means going backwards

today,

i did the basic tsumego set on the go grinder app i got 35 right and 8 wrong

i won 1 game and played 6

my opening was weaker than i liked it to be today so i have been review opening principals pre-game

i am still working on the attack and defense book in my games today i tried out the principles so i have been trying to use my thickness to my advantage

I'm about done for my games tonight and i will finish a chapter of lessons in fundamentals before i law down

i played some really exciting games today and met some strong people.

it seems like my regular opponents are ranking up faster than me so i gotta play smarter,
right now one of my online buddies is 18 Kyu and he was 21 kyu 2 weeks ago
i admire him but at the same time i want to pass him
so i going to invest more time into my game.

competition breeds excellence

_________________
standing still means going backwards

yesterday, i did my tsumego i only did 20 of the , 12 kyu problems and i scored 100 percent i still have 125 problems to do so im doing 30 more today, i fugre if i take my time i should pass this level of problems.

i played 4 games yesterday and lost them all but im not taking it to hard
i realize it comes with experience & i been making friends on wbaduk and i understand one reason why the double dight kyus are so strong.
for example last year i thought atari came before nintendo while on the other side of the map they grow up in and around a go culture
so of course the beginners are stronger they have been watching go tv, pro games, tv shows, anime, so when they start to
walk the path of go they are more familiar with the flow of the stones and the strategic aspects of the game.

_________________
standing still means going backwards

Yes, additionally a lot of them are just sandbaggers ; ) I heard that the ranks between 5-30k on WBaduk are flooded by sandbaggers.

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go

I did my 30 12 kyu problems yesterday I got 8 wrong.

Im almost done with lessons in fundamentals I'm on life and death now
I'm still going through attack and defense it's really good I started planning my attacks out better although in real games I find myself defending more than I attack. I been going through this site a lot latley I seen some things I can do get stronger I been thinking about joining the asr league I like the reviews after every game idea and maybe trying out a maklovich game.

_________________
standing still means going backwards

Yeah it's always a few sandbaggers on Wbaduk sometimes you see double digit kyu players go undefeated for 30 games thats just amazing but I guess some people just don't care how they win. But that's not the way to improve at anything.

_________________
standing still means going backwards

I have no idea how the problems that you are doing look like, I just want to emphasize once more it is about reading (not learning) them. How long do you take per problem? If it sometimes feels like guessing the solution rather than reading them out (a bad habit of mine as well) try to slow down a bit e.g. by laying them out on a real board (still solve them in mind as far as possible). It changes the dynamic of problem solving quite a bit.

the easy ones are less than 30 seconds but the problems that 3 or 4 steps and variations it takes at least 10 mins after about 20 mins i start guessing so i can go to the next problem.

i do go problems on my iphone the majority of the time. but thats a good idea to work them out on a real board.

I get the problems from smartgo they are categorized by kyu level otherwise i get them from other go problem apps on my iphone i.e go grinder & igowin life.

i don't usually solve problems on the computer but i like the idea to post some of the problems that give me trouble i will figure out how to post diagrams and try that today.
so that way u can see what they look like.

i haven't did any problems yet but i plan on doing 30 of them after the football game.

_________________
standing still means going backwards

i played 7 games today and won 2 now its off to go problems on a actual board,
this game was out of control i kept finding ways to kill this big heavy group

[sgf-full](;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[Ngf2SgfService:3]ST[2]
RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[6.5]
PW[1986]PB[w0021]WR[24K*]BR[24K*]DT[2010-12-05]RE[W+Resign]PC[www.cyberoro.com]
;B[qd]
;W[dp]
;B[pq]
;W[dd]
;B[ic]
;W[cj]
;B[qk]
;W[qo]
;B[qp]
;W[np]
;B[po]
;W[jp]
;B[gq]
;W[eq]
;B[go]
;W[hp]
;B[gp]
;W[cn]
;B[mq]
;W[nq]
;B[lp]
;W[no]
;B[ln]
;W[ko]
;B[lo]
;W[mm]
;B[kn]
;W[mk]
;B[dg]
;W[in]
;B[io]
;W[jo]
;B[ip]
;W[iq]
;B[ho]
;W[jn]
;B[hq]
;W[ir]
;B[hr]
;W[mr]
;B[lr]
;W[nr]
;B[jq]
;W[kq]
;B[jr]
;W[lq]
;B[mp]
;W[kr]
;B[is]
;W[jl]
;B[kl]
;W[kk]
;B[ll]
;W[lm]
;B[km]
;W[ml]
;B[jm]
;W[im]
;B[lk]
;W[ik]
;B[lj]
;W[kj]
;B[kp]
;W[ls]
;B[hl]
;W[il]
;B[ki]
;W[li]
;B[jj]
;W[jk]
;B[mi]
;W[lh]
;B[mj]
;W[ji]
;B[kh]
;W[lg]
;B[jh]
;W[ii]
;B[jf]
;W[oi]
;B[nh]
;W[ok]
;B[oh]
;W[ni]
;B[mh]
;W[pi]
;B[oj]
;W[pj]
;B[nj]
;W[ph]
;B[nk]
;W[om]
;B[nm]
;W[mn]
;B[nn]
;W[nl]
;B[on]
;W[mo]
;B[pm]
;W[pl]
;B[ol]
;W[pk]
;B[ql]
;W[og]
)[/sgf-full]

this was a intense game...

[sgf-full](;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[Ngf2SgfService:3]ST[2]
RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.5]HA[2]AB[dp][pd]
PW[vivie]PB[1986]WR[22K*]BR[24K*]DT[2010-12-05]RE[B+Resign]PC[www.cyberoro.com]
;W[pp]
;B[cc]
;W[cf]
;B[fd]
;W[ci]
;B[cm]
;W[ck]
;B[kc]
;W[nc]
;B[pc]
;W[ne]
;B[qf]
;W[qm]
;B[md]
;W[nd]
;B[pi]
;W[ng]
;B[jq]
;W[mq]
;B[gq]
;W[el]
;B[mf]
;W[nf]
;B[kg]
;W[ni]
;B[ok]
;W[mk]
;B[nj]
;W[mj]
;B[mi]
;W[mh]
;B[li]
;W[me]
;B[ld]
;W[lf]
;B[kf]
;W[ln]
;B[oh]
;W[nk]
;B[oj]
;W[nh]
;B[nb]
;W[ob]
;B[mb]
;W[oc]
;B[pb]
;W[pe]
;B[qe]
;W[pf]
;B[le]
;W[lg]
;B[og]
;W[oi]
;B[of]
;W[oe]
;B[ph]
;W[pj]
;B[pk]
;W[qj]
;B[qk]
;W[qi]
;B[qg]
;W[qh]
;B[pg]
;W[rk]
;B[rj]
;W[ri]
;B[rl]
;W[sj]
;B[om]
;W[ol]
;B[pl]
;W[nl]
;B[pm]
;W[qn]
;B[nm]
;W[mm]
;B[no]
;W[np]
;B[po]
;W[qo]
;B[oo]
;W[op]
;B[mo]
;W[lo]
;B[ql]
;W[rm]
;B[oa]
;W[sl]
;B[lh]
;W[mg]
;B[mc]
;W[pn]
;B[od]
;W[on]
;B[mf]
;W[nn]
;B[cq]
)[/sgf-full]

_________________
standing still means going backwards

doing problems on a actual board is easier for my than the iphone app, i got 3 wrong and 27 right on my 12 kyu smartgo set
and i did some igowin life problems also and got 4 wrong and completed 18 right im level 52 on igowin life.

i was going to post the most difficult problems i encountered but the ones i got wrong i immediately knew the answer to.
if its not that spot then its this spot and i usually am right.

i spent about 10 min at the most on each problem, i cant wait to pass this level and do some new problems, i got basic tsumego set on the go grinder app on the list for today

_________________
standing still means going backwards

Your wins show the improved reading, congratulations. Though for review lost games are usually more enlightening

When you get a problem wrong, and see the correct solution then go back and figure out why your first try does not work or is inferior in another way. It is not about the solution anyway, but about the reading practice.

well i got finals this week thursday & friday so i need to write papers and study for tests but after this week i can get ready for the holidays, i will still play games and do tsumego just not as much but after my school stuff i can focus on ranking up. I'm tired of being 24 kyu seriously

_________________
standing still means going backwards

its official i got one year left of CSU before graduate school and right now I'm looking good to get another scholarship with my 3.8 GPA, now its back to my love GO!

_________________
standing still means going backwards