Life In 19x19

This will simply be a series of questions designed to get to know more about each player and their playing styles. It's something that I've been curious about. Sorry if it's a lame post, but I figure SOMEONE might enjoy it, and it's been awhile since I created a topic.

1. Do you prefer playing black or white. And why?
2. Do you have a favorite opening as black?
3. How did you learn your favorite opening?
4. What is your favorite language for Go?
5. What is your favorite Go term and what does it mean?
6. Do you prefer complex games or simple games?
7. Do you feel tsumego is critical to improving?
8. If you could become a professional in any country(the ones offering pro certification), which one would you choose and why?
9. Is Go your favorite hobby?
10. As a DDK, who helped your game improve the most if you can remember?
11. Is the journey more important than the end or the start? Basically, do you feel there is more value in gaining strength than simply having it?
12. Do you feel answering these questions helped you learn more about yourself and others? Explain.

I'm bored so...

1. White - I am the weakest non-(true)beginner in my club. I am always nearly always taking Black and rarely get the chance to take white. I've had one game in my life as white against someone within a stone of me strength wise over the board.

2. It varies according to my whim. Rotated komoku would be my most common opening. Followed by the Chinese. But really it's immaterial.

3. Sensei's Library, a few videos, really I didn't spend much time on this. Little point at my level.

4. I've no idea what this means. If you're talking about Korean vs Japanese vs Chinese terms, I'm most used to Japanese terms but don't have a preference.

5. Aji, precisely because no one I've met seems to be able to say what it means without appending some caveats to their definition.

6. Complex games are fun, I win more often when games are simple though. Probably because playing people my own strength or weaker is unusual for me because of where I live and playing mostly offline.

7. Yes. Though I know people who don't seem to need them.

8. None, I would have no interest in playing go professionally which I'm sure is a relief to Lee Sedol et al.

9. I probably prefer reading.

10. Bill and Ed put up with me making the same mistakes over and over again for which I'm very thankful. A few players in my area humoured me with game after game with 9 stones despite hating playing 9 stone games because they really wanted to see another player in the club they could play smaller handicaps with (as in, last club meeting there was 3 of us and that was a good meeting).

11. Nothing worth having was ever gotten easily.

12. No. I can't imagine a world where questions like these would do that for me. (No offence intended)

hailthorn011 wrote:This will simply be a series of questions designed to get to know more about each player and their playing styles. It's something that I've been curious about. Sorry if it's a lame post, but I figure SOMEONE might enjoy it, and it's been awhile since I created a topic.

1. Do you prefer playing black or white. And why?
2. Do you have a favorite opening as black?
3. How did you learn your favorite opening?
4. What is your favorite language for Go?
5. What is your favorite Go term and what does it mean?
6. Do you prefer complex games or simple games?
7. Do you feel tsumego is critical to improving?
8. If you could become a professional in any country(the ones offering pro certification), which one would you choose and why?
9. Is Go your favorite hobby?
10. As a DDK, who helped your game improve the most if you can remember?
11. Is the journey more important than the end or the start? Basically, do you feel there is more value in gaining strength than simply having it?
12. Do you feel answering these questions helped you learn more about yourself and others? Explain.

1. Black. I feel it lets me direct the game onto comfortable path more easily. Not sure if I win more with Black, though.

2. Ni-ren-sei

3. Not sure, was so long ago. Probably a leftover from the time I got to play a lot of handi games as Black. I also think its an all-purpose opening. When I feel particularly perverse, I love double san-san. But its a challenge, usually.

4. English.

5. San-san... its just so cute, and I like playing it. lol

6. I feel (my) games always have more complexity than I can comfortably grasp. So not sure how to answer. What are 'simple' games?

7. Depends on your level. As a beginner - yes. As a SDK - not so much anymore, although still useful... as a dan player - yes again. Its a generalization, of course. Your mileage might vary.

8. Japan, by default. Don't really want to live in China (have spent enough time in communist countries in my life), and I feel Korean attitudes might not suit me very well. Also, because I think Japanese 'style', if not the strongest right now, is the best balanced, whetever this means. I am much too weak to judge that, its just a feeling I have. Still, I find that very appealing. Might be changing with the new generation of Japanese pros. However - there is not much chance this will ever happen, so I don't think about it too much.

9. Depends on season. I like to take long breaks from Go every now and then - and during these times other things are my favorite hobbies.

10. A friend.

11. The journey is much more important, I think. The goal is at the end of the rainbow - you will never reach it... and even if you do, it will just be a tease towards another goal. If you are fixated on the goal too much, one of two things will happen: (a) you will reach it and go do something else or (b) the goal will be ultimately unreachable and you 2will go through life frustrated. This is because Go is so deep you will never exhaust all the possibilities. So best to just enjoy it one day at the time rather than chase after some specific goal. But again - this is my opinion only, applicable to me, not some general rule.

12. Nope. I can be introspective, and so I have thought about issues like some of the above a lot in the past, even before I learned Go. Its nothing new to me.

Hope this helps.
Although not sure in what.
I am really curious where this is going.

1 Generally black, because I'm impatient. I'm getting more used to taking white, though.

2 No? It changes a lot based on my mood.

3 Not Applicable

4 I don't understand the question. I think about Go in English, if that's what you mean.

5 not sure

6 Depends on which one makes me win I tend to like more complicated games against stronger opponents, I think, and simpler ones against more evenly matched ones.

7 Yes, there is no strategy where there are no tactics.

8 Probably Japan because there's more go money there and I feel, correctly or not, that I have a better understanding of the culture.

9 It's my favorite 2 person board game. Whether it's my favourite hobby or not varies. I tend to try playing golf over go during the summer, for example.

10 I'm kind of weird, because I basically skipped the DDK ranks. I started playing about 10 years ago on KGS, and got to the mid 20ks or so, and then stopped after a few months. I played maybe once every couple years aside from a one month slightly more active stint after that until about a year and a half ago, though I did peek at sensei's library on occasion. When I started playing seriously again, I was 9 or 10k almost immediately. At the time, as I recall, KGS's ranks were much tougher, so perhaps I'd have been a DDK then in todays ranks, but I am not sure.

11 I don't think it matters, except as a personal choice of time allocation. Presumably, if you tenuki your go studies, you will gain something else in a different area over the same time. If one is satisfied with the level of one's game for the effort put in, great. If one wants to improve until then, do it. I certainly think that as one advances, one forgets what it took to get to where one is, so playing a beginner, or someone 9 stones weaker than you even, can put things in perspective.

12 No, because no one else has answered! Also, they're not terribly deep questions, so it doesn't lead to a lot of introspection. Still fun though.

hailthorn011 wrote:This will simply be a series of questions designed to get to know more about each player and their playing styles. It's something that I've been curious about. Sorry if it's a lame post, but I figure SOMEONE might enjoy it, and it's been awhile since I created a topic.

1. Do you prefer playing black or white. And why?
2. Do you have a favorite opening as black?
3. How did you learn your favorite opening?
4. What is your favorite language for Go?
5. What is your favorite Go term and what does it mean?
6. Do you prefer complex games or simple games?
7. Do you feel tsumego is critical to improving?
8. If you could become a professional in any country(the ones offering pro certification), which one would you choose and why?
9. Is Go your favorite hobby?
10. As a DDK, who helped your game improve the most if you can remember?
11. Is the journey more important than the end or the start? Basically, do you feel there is more value in gaining strength than simply having it?
12. Do you feel answering these questions helped you learn more about yourself and others? Explain.

1. White, because komi is large.
2. I like mini-chinese
3. I played it a lot of times
4. Chinese
5. Thickness, it means thickness
6. Complex
7. Yes
8. China, because I speak Chinese
9. Yes
10. I don't remember being DDK
11. Don't know
12. No

1. Do you prefer playing black or white. And why?

It doesn't matter.

2. Do you have a favorite opening as black?

Yes.

3. How did you learn your favorite opening?

Professional games.

4. What is your favorite language for Go?

I don't understand the question.

5. What is your favorite Go term and what does it mean?

"I resign." It means to concede that you have no way to win the game, therefore saving time to start a new game.

6. Do you prefer complex games or simple games?

All games are complex. Some games may look simple, but they are not simple.

7. Do you feel tsumego is critical to improving?

Yes.

8. If you could become a professional in any country(the ones offering pro certification), which one would you choose and why?

Korea. I think they have recently invested a lot in teaching and promoting the game.

9. Is Go your favorite hobby?

It's practically my only hobby.

10. As a DDK, who helped your game improve the most if you can remember?

Aside from books, I credit Cornel Burzo 6d and Mingjiu Jiang 7p as my main influences, and Yilun Yang 7p and Guo Juan 5p to a lesser extent. (Not because they are lesser, but I just had less interaction with them.) But I also learned a lot from everyone I played or listened to. A lot of the most painful and memorable lessons come from your opponents, after all. Truthfully, though, much of improvement is just one's own hard work and conditioning, which cannot be taught.

11. Is the journey more important than the end or the start? Basically, do you feel there is more value in gaining strength than simply having it?

Yes.

12. Do you feel answering these questions helped you learn more about yourself and others? Explain.

A little. It's good to reflect on how fortunate I've been.

1. Do you prefer playing black or white. And why?
Black. I feel a lot more in control, and the opening has become my strong suit recently.

2. Do you have a favorite opening as black?
I like to open on hoshi with a facing komoku. From there I have a lot of different responses depending on what my opponent chooses to play. It would be much too long to explain in this post.

3. How did you learn your favorite opening?
Going through pro games.

4. What is your favorite language for Go?
Japanese. It's my favorite language overall, even though I don't really know it at all.

5. What is your favorite Go term and what does it mean?
Miai. It means I always have an answer.

6. Do you prefer complex games or simple games?
Simple. I already think in complex terms, so the board has to be straightforward. I do my best to keep the game simple and favorable.

7. Do you feel tsumego is critical to improving?
Taking into account how incredibly slowly I've been improving over time? I'd say yes.

8. If you could become a professional in any country(the ones offering pro certification), which one would you choose and why?
Japan. Love the culture and the history.

9. Is Go your favorite hobby?
Oh yes. Video games dominate my time but Go dominates my thoughts.

10. As a DDK, who helped your game improve the most if you can remember?
Shusaku. Not the ghost, just the records.

11. Is the journey more important than the end or the start? Basically, do you feel there is more value in gaining strength than simply having it?
I don't think so. Learning more about Go is enjoyable, but what I really love is when I can play with a deeper understanding of what I'm doing. Go is a game and the better I get at games, the more dimensions open up, and it gets more and more incredibly fun.

So the end goal is to enjoy the games more. No amount of tsumego, lectures, books or any of the build-up will outweigh indirectly controlling my opponent's every move going towards victory.

12. Do you feel answering these questions helped you learn more about yourself and others? Explain.
Myself? No. I think about my own path in Go far too much to pass for a sane human being.

Others? Well now that I'm done I'm going to read theirs. The answer will most likely be 'yes'.

1. Do you prefer playing black or white. And why?

White, because I actually feel more in control when my opponent goes first. When black approaches the first corner the board is so unsettled that pretty much anything is viable. There's no move black can make to upset my plans, but he eventually loses sente and then white gets to mess up what he made. (I may be biased by the fact that I take white against weaker opponents and black against stronger.)

2. Do you have a favorite opening as black?

No

4. What is your favorite language for Go?

A go diagram.

5. What is your favorite Go term and what does it mean?

Miai - To me it means control.

6. Do you prefer complex games or simple games?

Probably simple because if it gets to complicated I start to feel like I'm guessing instead of planning.

7. Do you feel tsumego is critical to improving?

I've been stuck at the same rank for too long to answer this question.

8. If you could become a professional in any country(the ones offering pro certification), which one would you choose and why?

Japan - I know some Japanese, I know next to nothing about korea, and what I know about China makes me not want to live there.

9. Is Go your favorite hobby?

No, playing the double bass is, but I'm trying to turn that in to a career so maybe it doesn't count as a hobby anymore.

10. As a DDK, who helped your game improve the most if you can remember?

Me.

11. Is the journey more important than the end or the start? Basically, do you feel there is more value in gaining strength than simply having it?

hard to say. The better I get the more I enjoy it, and I didn't really enjoy the beginner ranks at all, but the fact that the way I view the game keeps changing is what really keeps it interesting. I might prefer to spend ten years working my way up to 5 dan than spend ten years as a 5 dan, but it would be even better to spend ten years working my way up from 5 dan.

12. Do you feel answering these questions helped you learn more about yourself and others? Explain.

It's been interesting to read other peoples answers but I don't really feel I've learned much. Perhaps if people start discussing them I'll change my mind though.

hailthorn011 wrote:This will simply be a series of questions designed to get to know more about each player and their playing styles. It's something that I've been curious about. Sorry if it's a lame post, but I figure SOMEONE might enjoy it, and it's been awhile since I created a topic.

1. Do you prefer playing black or white. And why?

Slight preference for Black. I like speedy development.

2. Do you have a favorite opening as black?

No.

3. How did you learn your favorite opening?

No favorite opening, but I was strongly influenced by Go Seigen and Takagawa.

4. What is your favorite language for Go?

Nearly all of my go books are in Japanese. Today I think I would learn Korean for dan level books. (English for most other books.)

5. What is your favorite Go term and what does it mean?

Light. If you understand lightness, you are probably a dan player.

6. Do you prefer complex games or simple games?

Simple games give my opponents less of a chance to catch up.

7. Do you feel tsumego is critical to improving?

No, although it is hard to reach dan level without knowing some life and death. I reached 4 kyu without doing tsumego, but then I reached 4 kyu with hardly any book learning.

There are many go skills. I recommend studying all aspects of the game.

8. If you could become a professional in any country(the ones offering pro certification), which one would you choose and why?

Japan. I used to live there.

9. Is Go your favorite hobby?

Yes.

10. As a DDK, who helped your game improve the most if you can remember?

The 5 kyu friend I played with once a week, sometimes more often.

11. Is the journey more important than the end or the start?

The journey is everything.

Basically, do you feel there is more value in gaining strength than simply having it?

Don't worry, be happy.

12. Do you feel answering these questions helped you learn more about yourself and others? Explain.

No.

hailthorn011 wrote:This will simply be a series of questions designed to get to know more about each player and their playing styles. It's something that I've been curious about. Sorry if it's a lame post, but I figure SOMEONE might enjoy it, and it's been awhile since I created a topic.

1. Do you prefer playing black or white. And why?
2. Do you have a favorite opening as black?
3. How did you learn your favorite opening?
4. What is your favorite language for Go?
5. What is your favorite Go term and what does it mean?
6. Do you prefer complex games or simple games?
7. Do you feel tsumego is critical to improving?
8. If you could become a professional in any country(the ones offering pro certification), which one would you choose and why?
9. Is Go your favorite hobby?
10. As a DDK, who helped your game improve the most if you can remember?
11. Is the journey more important than the end or the start? Basically, do you feel there is more value in gaining strength than simply having it?
12. Do you feel answering these questions helped you learn more about yourself and others? Explain.

1. No preference either way. However I have very different ideas on the opening depending on what color I'm playing. I'll cover black in #2 but as white, I don't like to disrupt blacks plans. I take a 4-4 that allows for a cross fuseki for and if it is a parallel opening I take my other 4-4. It's interesting to deal with blacks plans after he has had some time to get them set up.
2 and 3.

As black I like an inverted kobayashi I saw in A Dictionary of Modern Fuseki The Korean Style. There are a lot of fun lines that stem from it, mainly because it is very easy for white to end up with a wall but nothing to attack.

4. English. I like reading theory books. However, for this reason this will probably change to Korean in a year or so when I feel more comfortable with the language.

5.뒷맛(dwitmat[not sure how to romanicize it sorry]):Korean phrase for aji. Literal meaning is aftertaste I believe.

6. Simple games. I tend to win in spite of my reading so complications are problematic. This is a recent realization though, and I'm trying to improve my midgame sense by playing more chaotically.

7. Tsumego=reading strength=winning. So yes, tsumego are very critical. I enjoy doing them for their own sake as well.

8. U.S. Now that we have a profesional system I feel like I should represent. However, Korea might be smarter from a fiscal viewpoint. Working as a commentator or teaching at a company if I didn't do well in the tournament scene.

9. Go is basically my only hobby. I play video games some, but only when I know my real life friends are on.

10. I pretty much dragged myself up through the DDK range on books and tsumego. I didn't discover L19x19 or Battosai until I was on the tail end of DDKdom. However Batt and EdLee(broken shape!!!!) were very helpful between 12k-8k.

11. Yes. I've made two really great friends through playing Go. They're awesome people and I wouldn't have met one of them were it not for Go.

12. No, while some things on the list are recent reflections, I knew them already. And I don't think I've learned much beyond fun trivia from anyone else. Playing the double base sounds hard.

1. Do you prefer playing black or white. And why?
>>>Black, no particular reason.

2. Do you have a favorite opening as black?
>>>Not really. I tend to open on hoshi a lot.

3. How did you learn your favorite opening?
>>>N/A

4. What is your favorite language for Go?
>>>English, with Japanese terminology thrown in.

5. What is your favorite Go term and what does it mean?
>>>Shimari. It means "enclosure", in particular the 34-53 enclosure. But the word itself sounds much sexier than that.

6. Do you prefer complex games or simple games?
>>>Is Go ever simple?

7. Do you feel tsumego is critical to improving?
>>>Yes.

8. If you could become a professional in any country(the ones offering pro certification), which one would you choose and why?
>>>South Korea, because that would imply that I was very, very strong indeed.

9. Is Go your favorite hobby?
>>>Yup.

10. As a DDK, who helped your game improve the most if you can remember?
>>>Kageyama. Reading his book helped a lot. Although, I am still a DDK and probably always will be.

11. Is the journey more important than the end or the start? Basically, do you feel there is more value in gaining strength than simply having it?
>>>It's not the having. It's the getting.

12. Do you feel answering these questions helped you learn more about yourself and others? Explain.
>>>Meh.

5. What is your favorite Go term and what does it mean?

Sabaki. Like lots of Japanese terms, I like how it sounds, but I still haven't figured out what it means.

9. Is Go your favorite hobby?

Favorite is not the word I would use. My other hobbies don't make me angry with myself.

Sabaki. Like lots of Japanese terms, I like how it sounds, but I still haven't figured out what it means.

I think you are one of a multitude, and I pin the blame on the word 'light', which has spread obscurity. Western players seem to have latched onto the idea of sabaki meaning a 'making a light shape' but that is a red herring.

Otake Hideo says this (after saying sabaki is the prime skill for playing fast go):

Sabaki is written in characters as 捌き. It is the noun form of sabaku but, being a technical term, in recent times it has usually been written in katakana.

The verb sabaku means basically 'to settle something skilfully' or 'to resolve something that is in disorder'. In go, too, therefore, the interpretation is similarly 'to handle groups skilfully when they are in a close fight'.

A Japanese dictionary of technical terms in go also says (of the noun sabaki): Handling groups skilfully so that they do not stagnate.

Note that there is no direct reference in these definitions to 'light' or 'sacrifice'. In fact, not everyone in Japan agrees that sabaki is a techncial term anyway, simply because the basic idea is obvious from the everyday vernacular.

But most go players do sense a technical aspect to the word, so the question is: what are they sensing?

The first step is to recognise when you are in a situation where one of your groups is in danger: and either it is in the thick of things, or it is stranded somewhere and about to be gobbled up. The second step is to decide whether to do something about it. That is, to decide to 'cope' (my recommendation for the word that should first come to mind in English). Since you are, by definition, in a position of some discomfiture, you can easily reason that this coping needs a modicum of skill. The third step is then to implement your coping tactic or strategy (to achieve/make sabaki as western go players often say) by using tactics. These are usually standard techniques. This last stage is where the technical aspects appear.

Otake gives a first syllabus ('not comprehensive', he says) for mastering sabaki techniques. In order, he suggests mastering:

- atenobi (i.e. in a crosscut, atari then extend away)
- the right direction when there are multiple ataris
- two-step hanes
- ladders (creating and dodging)
- settling shapes (including sacrificial cuts)
- the hazama jump
- crawling thrice on the third line (instead of twice)
- squeeze plays

He also stresses having a specific goal in mind when choosing and applying techniques. Examples include:

- miai
- dodging trick plays
- taking josekis down paths the opponent doesn't want
- trapping the opponent
- avoiding being sealed in
- making a light group

What is to be noted in this list is that 'light' and 'sacrifice' play very minor roles, and note also the absence of 'contact plays'. Many weaker players think that making sabaki starts with a contact play. In fact the contact play may be the very play that causes problems in the first place. There is also no specific reference to the centre or to running away - sabaki can be achieved on the edge or in the corner, and it can be expressed by living or repairing a defect there.

There is more that can be said about the technical aspects - for example, in the situation where you need to cope, there is often more than one itch to scratch, and in this case, since time is of the essence, you may need to compromise a little and play lightly to keep sente. Also, more applications can be added, e.g. shinogi. But studying the basic techniques so that you can implement the three steps above will not only give you a reliable foundation to solving difficulties on the go board, it will also (Otake claims) help you do especially well in fast games.

hailthorn011,
2. Yes.
3. A teacher suggested I try it a few years ago.
4. English, with some Japanese terms.
5. Pro move. I've accepted that in my lifetime I'll never understand its full meaning.
8. Not your question, but here's my first hand experience when I introduced someone as a Go pro to another person:
(all happened on multiple occasions, in each country):
- in China: (general feeling toward the pro) "Oh, smart."
- in the US: * blank stare *
- in Japan: * gasp! *
In terms of prestige, my feeling is Go has a very high status in Japan (relative to China and the US).
For the very top pros, I believe the money is still the best in Japan. For non-top pros, I don't know.
12. Yes, interesting questions, thanks.

1. Do you prefer playing black or white. And why?
2. Do you have a favorite opening as black?
3. How did you learn your favorite opening?
4. What is your favorite language for Go?
5. What is your favorite Go term and what does it mean?
6. Do you prefer complex games or simple games?
7. Do you feel tsumego is critical to improving?
8. If you could become a professional in any country(the ones offering pro certification), which one would you choose and why?
9. Is Go your favorite hobby?
10. As a DDK, who helped your game improve the most if you can remember?
11. Is the journey more important than the end or the start? Basically, do you feel there is more value in gaining strength than simply having it?
12. Do you feel answering these questions helped you learn more about yourself and others? Explain.

1. Friendly games I play as white but in tournaments black is my preference.
2. The new variations of mini-chinese openings, even without the approach stone.
3. Following the recent professional games (WBaduk, Igo Kisen, Go4Go.net).
4. Japanese and Finnish.
5. Haengma. I don't exactly know what it means, but it might explain what's missing in my games.
6. Complex games are fascinating but in tournaments simple games (quickly resolved) sometimes give time to breath.
7. I hate tsumego and do it only as a necessity.
8. Japan would have been my choice a long time ago.
9. Go is my everyday hobby, nothing competes with that.
10. In the beginning, I learned everything from the English go books and Go World magazine.
11. It is important to get recognition for one's progress, but the things you learn are more valuable.
12. Not much, but this is fun.

Cheers,
Vesa