Well here it is the night before the US Go Congress and it's finally sinking in that the next week will be very interesting. I just looked at the attendance list and out of 319 names on the list there are 23 DDK only 9 which are 15K or lower. Talking about feeling like a fish out of water, but at least I'll some company.

So the collection of thoughts for the upcoming week:

First face-to-face games, it's only been on-line up until now and then mostly turn based.

Finally dawns on me today that I have yet to count the end of a game since it's been done by the computer. Ummmm, this could be the first embarrassment.

Remembering to hit the clock after each move, actually this could be the first embarrassment.

Wondering if I should try to keep a record of my games...or just enjoy the moment.

Since I'm commuting to the Springs, realizing I'm going to miss the 9x9 tournament on Saturday night. Rats, wanted to do that one.

I'm going through the Congress booklet now trying to plan which events, presentations, etc., I'm going to try to attend. And still squeeze in as many self-paired games that I can. So in the end, what's a 54 year-old beginner hope to accomplish? To get totally immersed in Go, have fun, learn some, hopefully meet some L19 denizens, and have more fun.

I forgot who suggested this earlier, but I'll have my avatar and screen name on a visible tag.

Hope to see some of you in Colorado Springs!

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"Play confidently. Make the best of mistakes."
- Janice Kim, Learn to Play Go Vol. 1

i don't have any experience to go to a Congress, so cannot give you any advice.

But Good luck. And don't forget to write something here about it.

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长考出臭棋.

Basically, relax and don't forget to have fun! I guarantee you'll find enough exciting stuff going on to be worth the trip.

My first Congress, the first round I played in the U.S. Open ended early and my opponent and I left the playing hall still talking animatedly about the game. Maeda ambushed us just outside and asked if we wanted our game reviewed. Holy cow, a pro review of our 9 kyu game?! Of course!! So we replayed it as far as we could on a magnetic demo board they had set up and it was awesome. Other people coming out sat down to watch - we felt like heroes or something. It was awesome.

Playing face-to-face is so much more fun than playing online. Don't worry that you don't know yet how to count on a real board. There will be lots of nice people to show you.

If you like, you can record your games, but I can tell you from own experience that it detracts from the match. I have tried three times to fill the kifu during the game. It costs so much concentration: I mixed up the move numbers (because I forgot what was the last number), forgot to write down some moves, and of course lost all of the games. That's why I stopped recording. So better just enjoy

If you're capable of it, you could always play your game to the end and then record the kifu. Even if you don't remember all the way to the end this can still be a good quick way of reviewing your game. Plus, if you do this a couple of times, you will probably rapidly get better at it.

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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.

Day One down. Got to the campus about 4:00 and walked over to University Center then remembering that registration was in a different building. I guess I should have followed the blue signs that said "Conference Registration".

Got registered and got to meet with Sam Zimmerman (the TD for the Open) since I didn't have an official AGA rating yet. Told him I was brand new, never played face-to-face, been playing mostly on DGS, etc. He said we need to find someone to take you to the playing room and get a 19x19 game under your belt, how to use the clock, and general etiquette of over the board playing. About that time a couple of young ladies walked in, he explained what I needed and off we went. Didn't get to finish the game (the one I was playing was 5K) but we accomplished what we set out to do.

Sam was easy to work with and very helpful as was the two young ladies (who I can't remember their names now). I won't be there tomorrow due to a scheduling conflict but will be back on Monday full steam! The only hiccup today was in getting a bye for the Open tomorrow. When I checked the info after the opening ceremonies they had me down for a bye on Monday. Quick penciled in correction.

Looking forward to Monday now.

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"Play confidently. Make the best of mistakes."
- Janice Kim, Learn to Play Go Vol. 1

If you can find me in the crowd, I'm up for one or more self paired games.

James Schaefer - 8 kyu.

Monday started off with a dud. When I had left Saturday night I had noticed that they had me down for the wrong bye day (Monday instead of Sunday) and I made the correction on the form. Well the corrections didn't make it to the TD staff and I got paired for yesterday and ended up with the bye for today. Bummer. Got to vent a little (and politely) to one of the TD staff. Cleared up the misunderstanding. So I ended up with a teaching game this morning with a member of the Congress staff which was good.

Did have a couple of L19 sightings today which was very cool. Met with T Mark Hall and bought the GoGod cd and while Mark was showing me some things the program would do, up came daniel_the_smith.

After lunch I went to a lecture by Ryo Maeda (6P). At least I was able to follow the major ideas he was talking about. Now applying that knowledge is another story. And after that I did manage to get a self-pair game with a 12K with a 9 stone handicap. We played too long (I should have resigned after I lost one of my corners) but we were having a fun game. And he did show me how to do the counting and after seeing it I can't imagine why I thought it was so difficult.

So with the mix-up on my Open scheduling I now have a solid hold on last place!

_________________
"Play confidently. Make the best of mistakes."
- Janice Kim, Learn to Play Go Vol. 1

Wow, so nice to meet up ppl in real. So finally what rank did you register on? 20k?

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长考出臭棋.

Oh no, not going to get myself in that much trouble. Registered at 30K.

_________________
"Play confidently. Make the best of mistakes."
- Janice Kim, Learn to Play Go Vol. 1

Today was my first Open match, my opponent was a 25K and I had a 5 stone handicap. I wish I had tried to record this game if for no other reason to try to understand why my opponent resigned. The only reason I can think of was he was under time pressure and probably thought he couldn't accomplish what he needed to do with the remaining time. He did take a long time to think between moves. I do have a picture of the final board on my cell phone and will post it or at least an sgf of the board later. But it was a win and I no longer have a hold on last place (I think). Actually whatever little ego inflation I had after the win was quickly deflated in a self-pair match with a 17K and a 9 stone handicap. It was really ugly toward the end. He made some key moves in byo-yomi time that just dismantled me.

I really need to start trying to record my games so I can figure out what happened. My opponent in the self-pair was using his iPad to record our game today.

Additionally, went to Ryo Maeda's lecture series. The fun part is at the end when there were two door prizes to be given away and it's not Go related to determine the winner. It's an audience against instructor in a game of rock, paper, scissors. After that I attended the Kyu game analysis session to see the comments of the pros while they reviewed the opening moves of several games today. Any little piece of information I can soak up can only help in the long run.

Tomorrow is the free day for trips, etc. I'll probably still go down for a little while to see if I can catch some self-pair or teaching games.

_________________
"Play confidently. Make the best of mistakes."
- Janice Kim, Learn to Play Go Vol. 1

I want to say that I find your posts in this thread interesting, psk31. I'm not at go congress, but I can feel like I'm there a little bit. I feel like you are enjoying your time at Congress - I'm not sure if it's the case or not, but it's the feeling I get when I read your posts.

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be immersed

Maeda's a really nice guy, after his lectures he wanders around the main hall for an hour, walking up to random tables and reviewing games.

Thanks Kirby, I am enjoying my time there. Learning lots, getting some face-to-face games which I never get to do, and just soaking in the environment. I just wished there were more beginners there in the 30K-20K range, as far as I know there are only about 3 or 4 of us in that band. Trying to get reasonable self-pair games have been a challenge since the maximum handicap is 9 stones and no reverse komi.

No report from today, since it was a free day I decided to stay home and get some house chores done and get GoGod loaded on the laptop. Will be back at it tomorrow!

_________________
"Play confidently. Make the best of mistakes."
- Janice Kim, Learn to Play Go Vol. 1

If you do end up recording any games, I don't mind reviewing one or two for you.

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Someday I want to be strong enough to earn KGS[-].

Hi psk31,

I hope you won't mind if I hijack your thread for just a moment... It turns out you can get really nice photos of the main playing hall from upstairs near the children's room.

ok you have made me want something.

i want to go next year XD

as im new to the concept of us go congress, how much is it usually.

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The unoffical Corndog Of Lifein19x19.
Please,Do not microwave for more then 60 second's as screaming will acure.

@Psk31: I'll review one or two of your games if you wish. I'll be wearing a t-shirt with
<-- this logo on it tommorrow. I'm probably the tallest guy in the room.

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Help make L19 more organized. Make an index: https://lifein19x19.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5207

Today I had the pleasure of playing Marjorie "Su Co" Hey, who was honored at this year's Congress as Teacher of the Year. A very nice lady. Unfortunately I threw away all of the advice I have been receiving on my high handicap thread in the Beginners section and let the game get out of hand really quick. Still had the 9 stone handicap but I let her dictate the game from her first move. She played quickly and I fell in the trap of trying to answer her immediately (later a player told me to sit on my hands the next time that happened).

Unfortunately, letting her dictate the pace led to a lot of sloppy play on my part, way too many captures too fast (11 in the first 30 minutes). By contrast in my self-pair game on Tuesday the first capture didn't happen until around the 80th move. In no time I had lost three corners and while I still had a large area on the right side to work with I resigned early, catching her by surprise. But I had already lost the game and I wanted a chance to go over the game with her while the opening moves were still fresh in my mind. So we adjourned to the room upstairs that overlooks the main floor and went over the game.

Later went to Ryo Maeda's lecture and this one was getting over my head a lot quicker than the previous ones. But any little bit of info I can take away is good. Actually in this one, he showed some moves that even had the Dan players in the audience going "Ohhhh".

Spent more money at the vendor's room, at last today Kiseido and Yutopian showed up with all of their books and some equipment. So far the Congress book purchases have been The Go Consultants, How Not to Play Go, The Nihon-Kin Handbook of Handicap Go, and Get Strong at Handicap Go. And of course GoGod earlier this week. I have now banned myself from the vendor's room. Outside of Congress I have ordered Janice Kim's first three volumes of her Learn to Play Go series. Enough material to get me through the rest of the year. In case your wondering, I already have Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go and In the Beginning.

This afternoon I got to review my Tuesday self-pair game with my opponent of that day. He had recorded the game on his iPad. That was very helpful. Some SDK players stopped by and gave us their opinions as well.

Chew - thanks for the offer, so far I only have the sgf of my self-pair game. I thought it would come as an attachment but the email is the text of the sgf.

rubin427 - you were probably standing right next to me when you took that picture. Marjorie and I were sitting at the table going over our game.

Pogo - start saving now. Since I was commuting I only had to come up with the $325 registration. I'm not sure what the full cost of the housing package was.

Joaz - I'll keep a look out for you tomorrow. I have my avatar picture on my name tag.

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"Play confidently. Make the best of mistakes."
- Janice Kim, Learn to Play Go Vol. 1

Thanks for posting all of this information here psk31. Like Kirby said, it's almost like I'm there!

And now I'm oh so jealous.
I've never been to a Go Congress, and this just makes me want to go that much more.

This is what I get for considering going, and then deciding not to. Probably the closest the Congress is going to be to me in quite some time. The one consolation is the fact that I probably would have flown anyway, so how big a difference is it for travel expenses?

Make sure and keep up the updates! I love to hear them.

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KGS: schultz [?].