Life In 19x19

In case you missed it, please see my announcement in the "Trading Post" section here. You won't often get such an easy opportunity to acquire some of these books in the UK and Europe, especially.

Thanks,

Tami

Hi everybody,

I gave up playing go three years ago and have no intention of resuming. However, I did accumulate many books suitable for players of all levels, both in English and Japanese, that I would now like to sell. As P&P is expensive, I would prefer to sell them off in groups of 5, 10, 15 etc ...

While I'll be trying to play often enough to maintain my level, and very much enjoyed the summer spent on brushing on my go, I feel the need to focus with renewed intent on my main goal, which is to become better established as a composer. So, I won't be posting as frequently here as I was, but I ...

I missed all the fun the other day when this discussion heated up again.

My conclusion is that anyone, really, can have a style and in two different ways:

1) No matter what, you're subconsciously going to have a bias to certain ways of dealing with situations when there is no clear-cut solution (i ...

In mathematics, there is no style.
I hope I'm bringing my point across.

Well, heaven forfend that go should ever be reduced to mere mathematics in our lifetimes.

Math is poetry.

Written in mathlish, OC.

Yeah...maybe I could have phrased myself a bit better. I mean, without mathematics ...

Couldn't there be situations in a game, possibly frequently, where different moves can be called "best"? In such a situation a thick move and a territorial move both could be equally "best". Then your style would be determined by what you choose to play.

It could, but I think it's rarer than ...

So Style must be used with with a reference point for correct moves. And I agree with Knotwilg in that the most practical bar for us humans is around 7 dan EGF or pro level. But even from a pro perspective, everyone has some sort of personality they apply to the game with their limited ...

I wanted to add - turning to chess again as the example - what should we make of, say, Mikhail Tal? Should we admire his creativity and ingenuity any less because even moderately strong players (not to mention AI) can find flaws in his moves post hoc ? I suppose go's equivalent is Lee Sedol.

And, I ...

On the other hand, I hold a more extreme position than knotwilg in that if there is a single move correct and several similar, and different pros choose different moves, then they don't have a style but are just wrong, even if the only way of knowing is employing Alpha-Zero 10.0 on a Quantum ...

Even though I'm quoted in the OP as saying even lowly kyu players can have a style, I must change my vote
I now start to see the other arguments as true. And the main difference between the two "sides" is probably the definition of the word 'style'.

For me, the solution is probably this:

- If ...

I am a pitifully weak poker player, but every now and then I find myself playing newbies, and my mind boggles. They fold strong hands, and they go all-in with weak ones. Then they do the opposite. How can this be any kind of "style"?? Its just crazy, inconsistent! Its like playing in crazy-town ...

I'm totally up for an extension to Knotwilg's experiment. Maybe I was just a bit lucky; although I think one giveaway was that I thought I recognised some of Knotwilg's moves from having met them before in Attack and Defence ! (A fine book.)

Could I have some volunteers please? I want you to send ...

That's why I used WGM as an example - I think I even read over Francis's doctoral thesis many years ago. (To other readers, Francis is a British 5d in go.)

I understand John's point. But I think nowadays most people don't observe such niceties when they use the word "style". Language changes all the time.

For sure, I get that the go style of a pro is much more refined than that of any amateur. And it's plain to see that any amateur's imitation of a ...

The rest of us (amateurs) just drive. If we all tried to drive with different "styles," mayhem would ensue. But some people do drive differently from others. However, in normal language I don't think you would use the word "style" if you criticised (or even praised) someone else's driving. You ...