hyperpape wrote:I've finally signed up for the public beta, and I'm confused. I make no claims that it's anyone's fault but my own. I added one position to the queue and hit study.
...
In particular, move
doesn't seem forced, and I'm left wondering if I'm just supposed to guess in positions like this.
Looking at my question, I don't actually see any way the website is doing something wrong, but I just end up feeling confused. Am I using the website right? Do I need to change how I select joseki for study?
P.S. When you finish a variation, the position automatically shifts to the next one. I see why you do that, but it prevents you from looking at the completed joseki and thinking about the board position.
Thanks for trying it, I really appreciate the feedback. I definitely need to write some stuff explaining how it works!
For now, here's a few bullet points.
* When you add a joseki from the select page, it will try to split out major variations into separate groups for your queue. You'll start off studying the first position from each group. Every two days (if you continue using the system) it will add an additional position from each group.
* In each group, it adds sub variations so that you won't get 15 examples of the same joseki all in a row. It bases things off of frequency, which means if pros really like to play something complicated in the position, you'll get complicated tests. I'm considering adding something to rate joseki by simplicity and offer to teach them in that order, but that is still in the "thinking" stage.
* If you're not sure what you want to learn, put in a position with few stones (like the position you showed). If you want to learn something specific, put in the specific thing, it will tell you how many example "test" positions contain it.
* Test positions always come from a game in which a pro played into the position you entered. They may get to that position with a move order other than the one you specified.
* Test positions have two purposes: 1) The first time you see it, it's a "guess the next pro move" whole board problem. 2) The rest of the times you see it, it's also memory problem.
You always replay the joseki in the context of a whole board position where a pro actually played it, so you can learn when it is appropriate as well as what the moves are.
* You get three chances for each individual move, so don't be afraid to guess; the system will tell you what the move was after the third incorrect guess.
* If you make three wrong guesses for three separate moves, the system figures you don't know the joseki at all and will show you the rest of it. If this happens, you'll get a chance to try it again at some later point in the session.
* My usage seems to indicate that the above two points are enough to help you remember the joseki even in positions lacking external clues.
* After correctly getting through an entire joseki, it will ask you how easy it was. Your answer determines how soon you'll see it again (similar to Anki or SuperMemo, etcetera). When you see this screen, the left side will have two links, one to adjust the test (make it longer or shorter, and/or start earlier or later) and one to remove it entirely.
* The server collects (anonymous, of course) statistics on each joseki-- if enough people use the system, I will be able to both rate the average difficulty for each one and optimize the timing algorithm, so you'll learn the same amount but take fewer tests.
So, I hope that helps, please ask for clarification if something above needs it. Any confusion you may feel is entirely my own fault for not putting explanations anywhere!
