Decided to take a break yesterday, so I didn't play a game. I had a pretty good streak of playing a game a day, but I felt OK with the break since it'll be good to get rest for tomorrow's tournament.

So today, I got up early to make a fancy breakfast for my family.

I'll go to work, and then after that, I'll head to the airport in Detroit and fly to LA. Registration is at 8am tomorrow morning for the Cotsen, first game at 10am.

There is the chance I'll suffer jet lag, however, going west is better than going east in this case, I think: I'll be tired tonight, but tomorrow's "10am" game will actually be 1pm on the East coast.

Anyway, we'll see what happens. To say bluntly, I don't think I'm ready for the tournament- I haven't studied enough.

But at this point, the best I can do is relax and focus during the game.

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

Good luck for the tournament. You said you don't feel prepared : what's tour AGA rank?

Thanks for saying good luck.

Officially, I am AGA 3d so I'll play at that rank. That's part of the problem. I only played one tournament as 3d and that was over a year ago. Then, I was 1-1.

I don't know how strong I am now compared to then. I guess I'll find out soon.

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

For some reason, they couldn't get us directly to LA. They are blaming the weather. So we stopped in Vegas to refuel.

Hoping to get to LA soon enough to get reasonable sleep tonight.

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

Made it!



I got in late last night so I'm a bit tired.

But, I'll try my best.

Since I'm playing at a higher rank than I'm used to, my goal is to avoid making too many big mistakes more than playing anything fancy.

Hope it works.

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

Here are some of the problems offered this year.

If you post answers, please don't post until Monday when the tournament is over (people get prizes for solving the puzzles).

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

I assume those are four life-and-death problems, with Black to move in each case?

Yep.

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

First game:
Lost by time. I was dead anyway. I think I missed some chances to live. But I didn't feel my opponent was unbeatable. So I am happy with entering as 3d.

No trophy now, but now I'll aim to win at least one.

Here is the sgf

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

I think it was a mistake to aim for ko on the left. After he took the ko, my shape wasn't good. I think I missed some chances to win.

Here, I'm not sure that ko was a good option:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$ Position at move 53
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O . O X X . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O O . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O X O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | B . X X . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . O . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . O . O X . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . X X X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think if I connect, my eyeshape isn't ideal, but white should answer, giving me time to get out:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$ Position at move 53
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O . O X X . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O O . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O X O O O 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 1 X X 3 4 . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . O . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . O . O X . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . X X X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Not totally clear to me, but i feel black can live.

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

Lost game #2, too. This one was pretty hard for me, because I misread something pretty early on in the opening.

Here is the game (approximately- I may have a couple moves in the wrong order from memory):

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

Here, in particular, I misread and bombed. I thought I could squeeze and connect, but clearly, that's not what happened.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$ Position at move 49
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . . X O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . X X . . . . . . . . . . X X O 2 3 . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . O 1 . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . O X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

In general, I don't know how to respond well to white's move here

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$ Position at move 49
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X X . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . O X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So maybe my knight's move was bad...

It was more painful to lose this game than the last.

That being said, somehow it feels better to lose as 3d than to play as 1d. Though, I do still like to win.

Hard to explain, I guess. Maybe I'm induced to try to produce a higher quality game?

I hope I win my next game.

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

Playing against Jay chan for the 3rd game. We have played 2 games in the past, and he won both. But they were even games.

Now, due to the rank, I have to give him 2 stones.

Sheesh.

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

Lost again. I didn't feel ahead at any point, but I did make a game of it.

At the end, I played a ko threat too quickly, which wasn't really a ko threat. Even if I win the ko, it's hard to say I'm winning, but maybe I have a chance.

But after the bogus threat, where do i get points???

Here is the game.

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

Went out with Jay and some other folks for dinner at the Cotsen at a Korean bbq joint.


While we were there, I had fun, and thought about the day. I ordered in Korean, and had mixed feelings: I'm pretty good at Korean and maybe it'd be worth studying more. On the other hand, Go is fun too, and I like the focus it brings. On the other hand, I'm losing all of my games.

Relative to the world population, I wonder if I'm better at go or Korean. I'm thinking Korean. Maybe I should focus my efforts on that more.

Not really sure. Maybe I'll feel differently if I win a game tomorrow.

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

Hi Kirby, AirBnB ?

The Cotsen Go tournament is a lot of fun. Just like at the US Go Congress, I can meet and chat with many people.

Some ways that the US Go Congress is better:
-People are in the main playing areas until late. It's 10pm now, and I want to mingle, but there's nobody to mingle with. It's a little lonely.

-At the Go Congress, there are a lot of folks my age. Here, I'm the old guy. Maybe this is just a product of me being old.


Ways Cotsen is better:
-Free food
-Free tournament
-Nice trophies
-Only away from family for a couple of days

So what to do now?

I guess I could do problems. I want to win a game tomorrow...

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

What about it? By the way, sorry I didn't see you today. I was hoping you'd attend

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness

Hi Kirby,

Just wondering if you're staying at a motel, a friend's, or AirBnB.

How was the food at the bbq ?
( The US Open time setting is nice; anything faster is blitz for me.
I think maybe one member of the Ventura club is attending;
originally, there might have been two people (not me) from our club,
but it ended up zero. )

Ah ok. I'm at the Park Plaza Lodge, which was just the hotel recommended on the FAQ of the cotsen site. I didn't put much thought into it.

The food was pretty good - had a lot of meat and soju

I agree about the time settings. At 40 minutes, I don't have time to think as deeply as I'd like. I prefer the us open time settings. In the first game, I technically ran out of time, though, I was dead anyway.

That being said, quick time settings are something I want to get better at. If I were solid 3d AGA, I should be able to win with quick thinking. I guess I'm not there yet.

_________________
it's be happy, not achieve happiness