Life In 19x19

Hey folks,
recently I let my go studies slide a little bit because of exams, stress etc.

Now I ve made up my mind and I plan to start improving again. My shorttime goal is to reach a 4:1 in the next tournament I'll attend as 1-dan (egf) probably at the end of June. In longer terms I plan to achieve egf 2-dan by the end of the year.

To start training I plan to assamble a weekly schedule for my training. Here is my plan so far:
-24 Tsumego each day (3 pages in my 300 L&D Problems for Dan-players, after that I have two chinese tsumego books for dan level filled with problems)
- 7 serious games each week
- master 2 new josekis each week

Do you have any tips/suggestions for my training menu? Any ideas what josekis are important to learn and in what order I should pick the josekis I'm going to study?

That's a nice training regimen. I'm not sure what you mean by "mastering" a joseki, though. I assume you mean mastering a particular joseki variation. I have a couple ideas, though being only 4k on KGS, they might not be useful for your studies ... just my two cents.

In terms of joseki study, I've always believed that the joseki to study at a given point should be related to the style of game you intend (or expect) to play. For me, this is largely dictated by the opening that I choose to play. Perhaps, as a stronger player, you are more flexible in your fuseki, but the same principle applies, I think.

In terms of which joseki to learn, I would suggest one "simpler" joseki variation and one "complicated" joseki variation. For instance, you could pick the following two variations to study for one week (if you don't know them already; also, if my "joseki" are wrong, I apologize ... I'm only learning these myself ):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c 3-4 High Approach, One Space Low Pincer Variation -Simple-
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 7 . . . . . .
$$ | . . 4 1 . . 5 . . .
$$ | . . . 6 . . . . . ,
$$ | . 8 . 2 . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 9 , . . . . . ,[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Magic Sword, Descent Variation, Part 1 -Complicated-
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 0 1 . 9 . . . .
$$ | . . . 8 . . 4 . . ,
$$ | . . . 2 5 7 . . . .
$$ | . . . . 6 . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . . ,[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm11 Magic Sword, Descent Variation, Part 2 -Complicated-
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . .
$$ | . . O X 1 X . . . .
$$ | . . . O . . O . . ,
$$ | . . . O X X 3 . . .
$$ | . . . . O 2 . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . X . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . . ,[/go]

I chose these two because they both begin with pincers that I am likely to see in my own games (well, the second one will show up only if I'm the White player ... it's a fun variation, but not many know it at my level).

Anyways, the reason I suggest one simple and one complicated is to allow yourself the opportunity to study some of the more complicated variations of certain joseki (Magic Sword, Taisha, Avalanche, etc.) but still continue to study joseki that allows you to simplify the game early on, if you find yourself in a position to do so.

I see too many players at my level who are studying the most complicated joseki they can find without considering the simple plays. Perhaps, at your level, that's no longer the case.

Either way, good luck with your studies! Above all, make sure you're having fun!

Hey, keep us posted with how your new regimen is working for you, too.

Just make sure those 7 serious games aren't handicap games where you're White. When I play on KGS (or used to anyways), I've found that I took games much, much more seriously if I was Black and there were a lot of observers (I think it's a bit pitiful when I see, at times, 100+ people watching my terrible play ). And oh, I find 30s byoyomi to be great for casual, but for serious games 40s is the sweet spot. I think 60s, which is somewhat popular, is a bit overrated and too slow.

Regarding joseki study, I would just stay away from avalanche and taisha variations and focus on the ones that attract you the most. Cho Seokbin's method for getting joseki in your head is to not only study them in the book, but to play them over and over again on a board (10x was his suggestion) and making sure you use them in your games, even if globally it may not be the best choice (think of long-term goals here.). Eventually it will just be engraved into your mind and you will never, ever forget it for a long time as long as you use it sparingly here and there.

Good luck .

don´t forget to replay professional games! the joseki you see in actual games are the one you really need, nobody is interested in what people played 200 years ago

Hey folks,
here is a short weekly update about my progress.

-24 Tsumego each day (3 pages in my 300 L&D Problems for Dan-players, after that I have two chinese tsumego books for dan level filled with problems)
- 7 serious games each week
- master 2 new josekis each week

This was my weekly menu, but to be honest I wasnt able to go through with it :/
After reading your comments I altered my plan and added "replaying a pro game every day", but although 24 tsumego each day doesnt sound very much I wasnt able to do them properly while replaying a pro game and playing a serious game every day. This simply consumed to much time (around 3-4 hours a day).
Therefore in the first 7 days (Monday - Sunday) I was only able to finish roughly 100 tsumegos.
I played many more games then 7 serious games per day, because I attended a small tourney on Sunday (45 min SD), I hope this compensates my lack of doing tsumego ^_^. My KGS rank increased a little bit after playing seriously. Before I was bouncing between 1d and 1k, now I'm comfortable in the 1d-ranks.

On the first glance learning 2 josekis seems pretty easy but after I started to bother with it I realised I was wrong. This seems to be the most stressful part of my complete learning program.

Last week I looked into Marcus suggestion:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c 3-4 First joseki
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 7 . . . . . .
$$ | . . 4 1 . . 5 . . .
$$ | . . . 6 . . . . . ,
$$ | . 8 . 2 . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 9 , . . . . . ,[/go]

Fortunately there is a discussion regarding this joseki going on in the german go-board so I was able to get some explanations on variations and some insights of what to do when the opponent makes a mistake in joseki. Well I still need to play it in some of my games to settle my new knowledge.

The second joseki was probably a joseki that most players at my level already know, but to be honest I hadnt played it in an actual game. This changed this weekend, I was able to play the joseki in two of my four games in the tournament. My opponent played different variations but luckily I was familiar with both ('a' & 'b') and both of my opponents made a mistake which gave me a very good start in the game.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Second joseki
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . X . . . .
$$ | . O . X . . . . . ,
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . O a . . . . . .
$$ | . . 1 2 . . . . . .
$$ | . . 3 b . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . . ,[/go]

I made up my mind for the next weeks to focus more on simple josekis. Before learning all the hamete-super-great-monster-joseki stuff I think widening my basic-knowledge is more important, because I need to be able to chose in different whole-board positions a joseki which works great with the surrounding.
Additionaly I got the second 'graded go problems for dan-players', the book is about Tesuji. After reading the first lines I dont know if the book will be super helpful or a waste of time... time will tell, I guess.

Do you have some recommendations what progames I should study? Or some basic-joseki stuff?

Regarding that first joseki, there is a joseki variation that's similar - I mention it because the article written by Sorin is very nice and could shed some new insight: http://www.361points.com/articles/27/1/

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 5 . . . . . .
$$ | . . 4 1 . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . ,
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . . ,[/go]

Araban wrote:Regarding that first joseki, there is a joseki variation that's similar - I mention it because the article written by Sorin is very nice and could shed some new insight: http://www.361points.com/articles/27/1/

$$c
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 5 . . . . . .
$$ | . . 4 1 . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . ,
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . . ,

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 5 . . . . . .
$$ | . . 4 1 . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . ,
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . . ,[/go]

Whoah ... awesome. More new ideas for me to try out. Thanks, Araban.

This talk about joseki and variations reminds me that a position came up in a recent game of mine, and I had no clue how to deal with it. I'm White.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Joseki ... or mistake?
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . X . . . . . .
$$ | . 3 . b . . . . . X
$$ | . . a 2 . . . . . .
$$ | . . 1 5 6 . . . . .
$$ | . . . . c . . . . .
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . . ,[/go]

Normally, I see a from the Black player. I figured if he didn't play it, I should play it myself. He followed up with b. I'm wondering if there was a better way to play this, maybe play c instead?

I think white C ist a must, in fact - if I remember correctly - this is one of the newer variations of this joseki! Playing a for black is oldfashioned ^^

Edit: is there anybody out there who feels it very hard to play as focused and sharp on the internet as in reallife, too (does this sentence make any sense,my english feels kinda dumb today ~~) ?

Jonas wrote:I think white C ist a must, in fact - if I remember correctly - this is one of the newer variations of this joseki! Playing a for black is oldfashioned ^^

Neat, I'll have to take a look at that.

While tsumego is decreasing because of a very imporant exam coming up, I try to replay 4 progames each week. I learned a very nice and basic joseki from yoda the last week:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . a b . . . . .
$$ | . . 2 3 . X . . . .
$$ | . . 4 O . . . . . ,
$$ | . 8 . . 1 . . . . .
$$ | . 6 5 . . . . . . .
$$ | . 7 9 . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . . ,[/go]

Continueing with the normal a-b exchange. The joseki looks so easy yet I didnt knew it :X

To enhance my positional judgement I'm reading Nie Weipings book. The binding is very Yutopian like (crappy²), but the content of the book is excelent. I'm very pleased that my efforts seem to pay off, I ascended from 3-dan to 4-dan on cyberoro.

Hey, great and congrats to your 4-Dan!


Funny, you're quite opposite to me when it comes down what to choose to study under decreasing spare time. I'd never drop Tsumego, since this is the easiest part for me. To replay a pro-game, I need to make room for at least one hour. Tsumegos fit in everywhere: Bus-ride, university... And I can pause it without fearing to lose the context.


post scriptum: Thanks for the Joseki. Didn't know it and it's pretty useful ^^

Well replaying a pro games also involves much reading

I think the "thing" that makes me 1dan and f.e. not 2dan is not my readingability. Frankly spoken I think my reading is quiet good, but I lack to use it. When playing a game on cyberoro or kgs I never read as deep as I can, when I read something it is always something like "can I capture this stone", "is this cut save?". I think I need to get rid of this limited use and use my reading in the complete game. And then the most problematic part: Measure if what I've read is good or bad for me! I think this is the biggest thing that differs a mid-dan to a high-dan, the positional judgement. I believe in order to improve this, replaying progames is essential (and it is very much fun ^_^).

Jonas wrote:While tsumego is decreasing because of a very imporant exam coming up, I try to replay 4 progames each week. I learned a very nice and basic joseki from yoda the last week:

$$W
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . a b . . . . .
$$ | . . 2 3 . X . . . .
$$ | . . 4 O . . . . . ,
$$ | . 8 . . 1 . . . . .
$$ | . 6 5 . . . . . . .
$$ | . 7 9 . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . . ,

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . a b . . . . .
$$ | . . 2 3 . X . . . .
$$ | . . 4 O . . . . . ,
$$ | . 8 . . 1 . . . . .
$$ | . 6 5 . . . . . . .
$$ | . 7 9 . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . . ,[/go]

Continueing with the normal a-b exchange. The joseki looks so easy yet I didnt knew it :X

If you have it, check problem 128 in Making good shape. You'll find it familiar

Meanwhile I've dropped my Go studies last week to concentrate fully on my final apprenticeship-exam on wednesday, hopefully everything will turn out okay, wish me luck