Okay, before I ask, I'll go ahead and say I know this might not be too intelligent of a question, but it's something I've been wondering for some time now (i.e. since I began playing). Is it possible to get better by playing yourself? I've wondered if it's possible to gain some insight to your play, however insignificant. I know you probably learn more from playing other people, but I was just wondering if it's possible to improve some just by playing games against yourself.

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Slava Ukraini!

I hate playing myself, the colour I'm aiming to win with always loses!

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19/02/2011: this grumpy person takes a voluntary holiday from L19.

The funny thing about that is that that's how it usually works when I play myself, too.

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Slava Ukraini!

I don't know if I call it "playing myself", but I sometimes explore variations. I guess this is, in a way, playing yourself.

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be immersed

Wasn't there another long thread already discussing this? Or was that on GD?

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

If you play a lot of 9h games against yourself, you'll improve 9 stones very rapidly!

Really? I had no idea. I guess I'll have to try that.

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Slava Ukraini!

I do it but it is only to understand joseki and logical pla better. Bobby Fischer played himself all the time in chess.

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“I’m here to play go and chew bubble gum, and I’m all out of gum”- misquoted duke nukem

Another man, a man weaker than I, might make puns here on how "playing with yourself" is both healthy and pleasant indeed! But, as a man of great moral integrity, I will of course shy away from any such futile attempts at humour...

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My name is Gijs, from Utrecht, NL.

When in doubt, play the most aggressive move

No one used that phrase, you are punning with yourself.

At least he did not use a**.

Ha ha, I did set myself up for that, didn't I?

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Slava Ukraini!

I think reviewing games from stronger players would be more helpful than playing games against yourself. I find that even as a SDK that reviewing pro games yields insights. I find that I have to be patient and not get frustrated if a move completely baffles me. I just move on.

I don't spend a lot of time doing this myself, but when I have reviewed pro games, I tend to play them out on a goban with perhaps SmartGo running the game record on my laptop or iPhone. Actually putting the stones on the board and allowing myself to stare and ask "why" has been both enjoyable and insightful.

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RazorBrain


- Another One Bites the Dust
- BOOK REVIEW: How Not To Play Go
- Finally, a DGS Client for the iPhone

I can play a certain number of moves against myself, but eventually I'm not able to move anymore as I get stuck in a situation where I keep having to think for both sides, and I'm unable to find optimal moves for both players, and the whole game quickly spirals into a mess if I do play anything out.

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We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are.
Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness.
We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before,
No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.