A beginner's journal of little interest

[tomukaze]

Zokusuji. It's something that's not a tesuji. I think I've seen it translated as anti-suji.

俗　has the meaning anti!!?? I am not sure, check this link out：　
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi- ... dic.cgi?1E　
I think I would rather the word vulgar or common move

筋 seems to have many meanings, including muscle , but logical sequence of moves seems to be the most appropriate for go, http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi- ... dic.cgi?1F .

Also what I find interesting about the words borrowed from Japanese is their common meaning in the Japanese language, take 味（Aji）for example; this has the meaning taste, which I find to be a lovely way to describe the potential that some stones have on the board.

As for Sakata's definition of Zokusuji; I find it lacking...

With go terms you often find a tension between prescriptive and descriptive language. "Anti-suji" is on the prescriptive dimension, I think. OTOH, "zokusuji nagara" (despite being zokusuji) is descriptive.

This is interesting Bill, can you give another example of prescriptive vs descriptive words in go?

[Boidhre]

Myself and Tom again, B+12.5 though I got help with the life and death problem in the bottom left, I'd misread it.

http://lifein19x19.com/forum/download/file.php?id=2210

[Bill Spight]

Zokusuji. It's something that's not a tesuji. I think I've seen it translated as anti-suji.

俗　has the meaning anti!!?? I am not sure, check this link out：　
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi- ... dic.cgi?1E　
I think I would rather the word vulgar or common move

筋 seems to have many meanings, including muscle , but logical sequence of moves seems to be the most appropriate for go, http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi- ... dic.cgi?1F .

Also what I find interesting about the words borrowed from Japanese is their common meaning in the Japanese language, take 味（Aji）for example; this has the meaning taste, which I find to be a lovely way to describe the potential that some stones have on the board.

As for Sakata's definition of Zokusuji; I find it lacking...

With go terms you often find a tension between prescriptive and descriptive language. "Anti-suji" is on the prescriptive dimension, I think. OTOH, "zokusuji nagara" (despite being zokusuji) is descriptive.

This is interesting Bill, can you give another example of prescriptive vs descriptive words in go?

See http://senseis.xmp.net/?KikashiSenteDiscussion and the kikashi page. Joseki is mostly descriptive in informal English, mostly prescriptive in Japanese.

[Boidhre]

Current studying:

4/5ths of the way through Get Strong at Tesuji 1-2 star problems. Planning on restarting it as soon as I'm done.
1/3rd of the way through 1001 Life and Death Problems.
Intermediate Life and Death Problems on gochild, making a second pass through these. (gochild has been distracting me from my books

Considering buying:

Get Strong at Attacking and Get Strong at Invading to give me more variety in problems. Does anyone have an opinion on either of these for someone of my level?


Playing wise:

I'm having a lot of fun playing Tom. The games are hard for me. 2 stones seems to be a very reasonable handicap for us at the moment putting both of us out of our comfort zones I think. I'm not getting a lot of games in but the games I am getting in I'm putting a lot of effort into which I think is important. They also tend to be long games (2 hours ish) which is good for building concentration stamina.

[tomukaze]

Hi padraig, yes indeed we do have a lot of fun. I quite enjoy our games! As I said before and I'll say it again, you will be very dangerous (=proficient) soon as a go player.

[skydyr]

I purchased Get Strong at Attacking recently and find it more difficult going than the tesuji book There are much fewer problems, maybe 150 at most, and I haven't noticed any sets of easy ones as such. Haven't looked at Invading, but if I were to get another, I'm looking more at the opening right now.

[Boidhre]

Today: Played the local 2k in a simul (she also played Tom, it was just the three of us at the club today because of a change of venue mess up), it was a 6H game and I won comfortably due to an unfortunate blunder caused by a lapse in concentration due to trying to hold the yose of two games in her head at once (I felt really bad about this as it was a blunder she'd never make outside of a simul). I was leading by a bit minus the blunder. My only previous win had been at 9H during the summer so I was happy with this even though it was a simul.


Reading: I've returned to Speed Baduk, this time volume 10. I was trying volume 8 but the problems were too easy. 10 starts off quite interestingly with "Fighting Practice" where you're just presented with a section of the board and asked to find the best sequence, no hints given. Quite fun. I'm mixing it up between it, 1001 L&D and Get Strong at Tesuji. Generally having one with me wherever I go so I can fit a few problems in while I'm waiting around. I'd recommend the Speed Baduk series to people. I think I'm going to buy some more problem books next week. I haven't for months and I'd like some new reading material.


Health: I'm on 1000mg of Lithium now and had the shakes (tremor in the hands) while playing for the first time today. Quite annoying. I'm in the unusual position of having all the physical signs of depression, oversleeping, overeating, digestive problems, aches and pains, fatigue etc, without the mental ones (my cognition is unaffected as shown today). This is odd and something to talk to my doctors about. I hope it's not the prelude to a full blown depression, that would suck. But trying to be positively minded, so long as my cognition is unaffected I'm able to have an acceptable quality of life so I'm looking at it from this perspective.

[tomukaze]

Some go etiquette to cheer you up! have a peek at November 2012 edition, go pages

http://theknightsatari.files.wordpress. ... -order.pdf

[Boidhre]

A game with someone on OGS:

http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/download/file.php?id=2227

What I'm mostly interested in is the general problems that can be seen in the game.

What I can see:

Following my opponent's lead too often. There were many times during the game where after playing a move I'd wished that I'd taken sente instead of gote.
Some slow moves, especially with respect to the centre group.


Has anyone else got insights for me? Am I playing too slowly/passively at the moment? Etc.

[Joaz Banbeck]

2+4: This is a bit passive. You start out with four high stones, and then play defensively on your next two moves. That negates much of your opening advantage. Make HIM play defensively.

6: Not consistent with 6. If you plan to attack, play 6 high at O4.

24: Wreck his shape with R1. Now, when you kill him, you have room for two eyes

52: You are using your high stones for territory. This compromises them.

[EdLee]

(;CA[utf-8]OT[1 days / move]GM[1]FF[4]AB[dd][pd][dp][pp]PL[W]AP[SmartGo:2.8.3.0]
SZ[19]RU[Japanese]DT[2012-10-31,2012-11-07]PB[Boidhre]PW[White]HA[4]RE[B+R]MULTIGOGM[0]
;W[qf];B[nc];W[qn];B[nq];W[pj];B[ql];W[on];B[ol];W[mn];B[ml];W[lq]
(;B[rp]C[See var.];W[ro];B[qp];W[nr];B[or];W[mr]
(;B[oj]LB[qh:a]C[You do NOT want to help W get stronger here -- you are aiming at (a) later. See var.]
;W[sp];B[sq];W[pr];B[os];W[rr];B[qr];W[qq];B[pq];W[qs];B[np];W[ps]
(;B[rs]C[?];W[ss];B[rq];W[oi];B[nj];W[lc];B[qe];W[pf];B[re];W[ni];B[mj];W[lo];B[qr]
C[?];W[cf];B[fc];W[hc];B[ce];W[df];B[be];W[fq];B[cn];W[cl];B[eq];W[fp];B[jc];W[cq]
;B[er];W[bo];B[co];W[bn];B[bp];W[cp];B[bq];W[cr];B[br];W[do];B[dn];W[eo];B[bm];W[cm]
;B[an];W[em];B[kl];W[fr];B[dr];W[cs];B[bs];W[il];B[jm];W[jj];B[lk];W[jb];B[ib];W[ic]
;B[kb];W[jd];B[kc];W[kd];B[hb];W[lb];B[ja];W[ed];B[ec];W[fd];B[ki];W[gc];B[gb];W[de]
;B[cd];W[jh];B[ji];W[ii];B[kj];W[kh];B[li];W[od];B[oc];W[pe];B[qd];W[qk];B[pk];W[ip]
;B[bg];W[bf];B[af];W[ch];B[bh];W[qj];B[rl];W[rf];B[ci];W[di];B[cg];W[dh];B[dg];W[eg]
;B[ef];W[ff];B[ee];W[fe];B[eh];W[fg];B[dj];W[ei];B[ej];W[fi];B[cj];W[fj];B[nd];W[ld]
;B[ne];W[rk];B[lf];W[ek];B[in];W[ho];B[hn];W[oa];B[ob];W[ma];B[pa];W[na];B[pb];W[pm]
;B[pl];C[Result\: B+R
]N[RESULT])
(;B[rq]))
(;B[no];W[nn];B[lp]C[Still this.]))
(;B[no];W[nn];B[lp]C[Fight! Split W! Get out!]))

[Boidhre]

Thank you Joaz and Ed.

[Bill Spight]

A few comments.

(;ST[2]CA[ISO8859-1]GM[1]AP[GOWrite:2.2.21]SZ[19]FF[4]PM[0]RU[Japanese]GN[ ]OT[1 days / move]CP[Creative Commons\: Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported]RE[B+R]PB[Boidhre]HA[4]PL[W]FG[259:]AB[dd][dp][pp][pd]DT[2012-10-31,2012-11-07]PW[White]
;W[qf]
;B[nc]
;W[qn]
;B[nq]
;W[pj]
(
;C[*** A bit aggressive. See variation.]B[ql]
;W[on]
;C[*** Good. Keep White separated.]B[ol]
;W[mn]
;B[ml]
;W[lq]
;B[rp]
;W[ro]
(
;C[*** See variation.]B[qp]
;W[nr]
(
;B[or]
;W[mr]
(
;C[*** See variations.]B[oj]
;W[sp]
;B[sq]
;W[pr]
;B[os]
;W[rr]
;B[qr]
;W[qq]
;B[pq]
;W[qs]
(
;C[*** See variations.]B[np]
;W[ps]
(
;C[*** See variation.]B[rs]
;W[ss]
;B[rq]
;W[oi]
;B[nj]
;W[lc]
(
;C[*** Strengthens White. See variation.]B[qe]
;W[pf]
;B[re]
;W[ni]
(
;C[*** Unnecessary. See variations.]B[mj]
;C[*** Good!]W[lo]
(
;C[*** No rush. See variations..]B[qr]
;W[cf]
;B[fc]
;W[hc]
(
;C[*** Strengthens White. See variation.]B[ce]
;W[df]
;B[be]
;W[fq]
(
;C[*** See variation.]B[cn]
;W[cl]
(
;C[*** Strengethens White. Bad because it creates a White framework. See variation.]B[eq]
;W[fp]
(
;C[*** See variation.]B[jc]
;W[cq]
;C[*** Good.]B[er]
;W[bo]
;B[co]
;W[bn]
;B[bp]
;W[cp]
;B[bq]
;W[cr]
;B[br]
;W[do]
;B[dn]
;W[eo]
;B[bm]
;W[cm]
;B[an]
;W[em]
(
;C[*** See variation. End of comments.]B[kl]
;W[fr]
;B[dr]
;W[cs]
;B[bs]
;W[il]
;B[jm]
;W[jj]
;B[lk]
;W[jb]
;B[ib]
;W[ic]
;B[kb]
;W[jd]
;B[kc]
;W[kd]
;B[hb]
;W[lb]
;B[ja]
;W[ed]
;B[ec]
;W[fd]
;B[ki]
;W[gc]
;B[gb]
;W[de]
;B[cd]
;W[jh]
;B[ji]
;W[ii]
;B[kj]
;W[kh]
;B[li]
;W[od]
;B[oc]
;W[pe]
;B[qd]
;W[qk]
;B[pk]
;W[ip]
;B[bg]
;W[bf]
;B[af]
;W[ch]
;B[bh]
;W[qj]
;B[rl]
;W[rf]
;B[ci]
;W[di]
;B[cg]
;W[dh]
;B[dg]
;W[eg]
;B[ef]
;W[ff]
;B[ee]
;W[fe]
;B[eh]
;W[fg]
;B[dj]
;W[ei]
;B[ej]
;W[fi]
;B[cj]
;W[fj]
;B[nd]
;W[ld]
;B[ne]
;W[rk]
;B[lf]
;W[ek]
;B[in]
;W[ho]
;B[hn]
;W[oa]
;B[ob]
;W[ma]
;B[pa]
;W[na]
;B[pb]
;W[pm]
;B[pl]
;N[RESULT]C[Result\: B+R
]
)
(
;C[*** Big.]B[gr]
)

)
(
;C[*** Big if White plays here.]B[di]
)

)
(
;C[*** Looks both ways.]B[en]
)

)
(
;C[*** A good play for White.]B[fo]
)

)
(
;B[bd]
)

)
(
;B[gq]
)

(
;B[ic]
)

(
;B[qh]
)

(
;C[*** Later threat to connect.]B[rm]
)

)
(
;B[qh]
;W[pi]
;B[rf]
)

(
;C[*** Divide and conquer.]B[lp]
)

)
(
;B[ne]
)

)
(
;B[lp]
)

)
(
;B[no]
(
;W[rq]
;B[so]
;W[sr]
(
;B[rn]
;W[ps]
;B[pi]
)
(
;B[ps]
;W[sp]
;B[nn]
;W[sn]
;B[rm]
)

)
(
;W[nn]
;C[*** Every White group is weak.]B[lp]
)

)

(
;B[so]
)

)
(
;B[no]
;W[nn]
;C[*** Keep Whte separated. As Ed points out, this was available earlier.]B[lp]
)

(
;B[ph]
;W[qh]
;B[pi]
;W[qi]
;B[oj]
)

(
;B[qh]
;W[ph]
;B[qi]
;W[pi]
;B[qj]
)

)
(
;B[mr]
(
;W[mq]
;B[or]
;W[np]
;B[oq]
)
(
;W[oq]
;B[or]
;W[np]
;B[mq]
(
;W[mp]
;B[lr]
)
(
;W[op]
;B[pr]
;W[mp]
;B[lr]
)

)

)

)
(
;C[*** Easy life.]B[qq]
)

)
(
;C[*** This may look a bit passive, but it makes territory and also threatens to invade the right side.]B[rp]
)

)

[Boidhre]

Thank you Bill.

[Boidhre]

So I've got a cough, mild pleurisy* and a mild fever. But mild fevers make me slightly manic and very productive so:

I reread "How not to Play Go" by Yuan Zhou. It's embarrassing how much of this book was forgotten by me. Especially the core points of finding big moves, not following one's opponent, paying attention to the whole board and trying to avoid slow moves. While these things have been improving in my play in the six months since I read the book, there hasn't been a conscious quashing of these bad habits going on. This book benefited from a reread, it was as much of an eye opener for me today as it was six months previously, probably because I'm better placed to at least partially get his points today. If anything I think I did not understand the game well enough to fully benefit from the book previous to this, not that I understand it now or anything silly like that.

I think I'll get a few more of his books, I like his style as a writer.


*Since I pneumonia ten years ago I always seem to get a bout of mild pleurisy with any chest cold or flu. It's annoying.