Life In 19x19

Hi everyone,

I'm quite new to go-- learned the rules a few years ago but didn't really start playing until recently-- but I'm completely fascinated now and I hope to make it a serious thing. I thought I'd join this forum as a way to stay motivated (and meet other go-minded people!).

I joined a club in my city so I mostly play there, since I have this irrational aversion to playing online. Hopefully I'll be able to get over that soon..

Anyway, I'm happy to be joining the community here and I'd appreciate any tips/study recommendations/etc. that you guys may have!

Welcome!

Welcome. Your choice of Kageyama's Fundamentals is a great start.

Welcome. Very engagingly written blog. The one piece of advice I would give you is, jump in, the water's fine! To wit, everyone on kgs is very nice, especially to beginners. In fact, the only time anyone will ever be cranky is when you trounce them.

Doing tsumego is a great idea. To answer your question about proper versus slow moves; it's all about the score. If you're trailing by 30 pts, you need to take ugly risks to restore the balance.

PS: Look at viewtopic.php?f=11&t=667

Welcome to the club. Hope you enjoy the stay!

And definitely take a look at Joaz's link. Some great stuff there.

Welcome! Good to see aother fellow Canadian, eh?

jts wrote:To answer your question about proper versus slow moves; it's all about the score. If you're trailing by 30 pts, you need to take ugly risks to restore the balance.

Ahhh that makes sense! But what if a game is still in the opening stages-- would it be best to play a proper move that makes your stones safe, or a thinner move that helps you develop more quickly? Or would that depend on the situation?

@ Joaz: That's really really helpful; thanks for the link!

@ Marcus: Haha yes, always pleased to meet another Canadian

Thanks to everyone for being so welcoming!

Becky wrote:Ahhh that makes sense! But what if a game is still in the opening stages-- would it be best to play a proper move that makes your stones safe, or a thinner move that helps you develop more quickly?

Well, already in the opening it's possible to be forced to take risks... But it's hard to talk about in the abstract! Safe can mean so many things. In your next game note wherever you thought you faced this dilemma, and then post the game for review.

Welcome, great to have another beginner around!

jts wrote:Well, already in the opening it's possible to be forced to take risks... But it's hard to talk about in the abstract! Safe can mean so many things. In your next game note wherever you thought you faced this dilemma, and then post the game for review.

Haha sorry, I know it was kind of a vague question. It's just that I did a "What's your playing style" quiz (http://style.baduk.org/) with Kageyama's principles fresh in my mind, so I chose a lot of "safe" moves like solid connections and protecting cutting points that looked dangerous. Then the quiz told me I was too passive, and that I should try to play more aggressively.

Thinking about this again, it probably goes back to your first point about seeing where the score stands and then playing accordingly. (Now if only I could learn to estimate the score accurately..)

I'll try to post the next game I encounter this issue!

@ Boidhre: Thanks, it'd be nice to have someone to share my beginner frustrations with