I wish I had known what "connected" really meant. I always felt like either it's not as binary as experienced players made it out to be, or the goban is always so full of cutting points that "connecting to protect a cut" is a hopelessly advanced topic because a beginner can never figure out when it's important.

Actually, because someone told me this, I delayed learning for about 6 years. Still, I like the post because the person in question wasn't convincing enough.

In the beginning and sometime still now I had the feeling that in go everything can be solved by knowing a certain pattern. Every problem can be solved by knowing a certain pattern and a way to handle it. For example: (white hane -> black extend) Howhever soon after starting to play on tygem I realised that in go (almost) everything is possible and there is no need to limit your mind in any sense.

Reading and Counting is all that is required to get a good result.

If i knew this from the beginning I would be where I'm now (not far :p) by no time instead of by almost a year ...

I still have no clue if this is true. After reading so many books and doing so many problems where one move is considered as correct and (all) others are considered as 'mistakes', I feel like there is only one style: solid. If my opponent attacks like a madman, I will just play the calm and 'correct' moves and beat him that way.

On the other hand, these crazy or 'different' styles also have their merits. And we all distinguish different styles in professional play, from Takemiya's Cosmic Go, to Seigen's light play and Lee Sedol's fighting prowess.

It seems that in close fighting there might be correct and incorrect moves, but because of the global effects of every move a local loss could be a global win and the other way around.

Go is so mysterious and difficult. /

Really, this is enough to be low dan.

The evaluation of thickness and influence will lead to higher dan, but even pros cannot do this perfectly. I think this is why most pros have territorial style: thick(but slow)-territorial, fast(but thin)-territorial, fighting-territorial.

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Amsterdam, soon.

Richard Bozulich once told me that, as part of his market research before starting Ishi Press, he had found out that in the fall of 1967, 100,000 go sets had been sold in the Eastern U. S. At that time the membership of the AGA was somewhere around 600, as I heard.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

Well then, you'd think they could just start manufacturing boards that didn't immediately fall apart....

I was more curious about the contrast between ~100,000 and ~600.

But losing streaks hurt so so much. ]:

I need to stop avoiding looking at games i lose. Even if the mistakes are dumb and obvious...

I sometimes think that, if I'd known when I was a beginner what I know now about the game (including how far I've come and how far I still have to go), I never would have started playing.

Had I known how much it would hurt losing some games, I would never have played.

Had I known that go would teach my humility and make me a better person, I'd have taken it more seriously.

Focus more on making your opponents stones work against themselves

Focus less on covering territory focus more on keeping opponents groups weak

idk if it's the switch from igs to kgs but i feel much stronger now haha.