Because it's fun

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Sanity is for the weak.

In online games I seldomly count - often I can feel who is leading. In real life tournament games I will count when I have enough time available.

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Stay out of my territory! (W. White, aka Heisenberg)

You don't play Go to have fun, you play Go to win.

Speak for yourself. I play to have fun. If I win that is a nice bonus. The win at all costs attitude is what is bringing this country to its knees.

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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).

- Why is the word "fun" some kind of all-encompassing quality which redeems all faults and mistakes? A bad poker player keeps playing, because he occasionally wins money, even if he loses much more in the long run. There has to be something satisfying in the game. There has to be perception that choices matter and that the player feels he is good at what he's doing. Every successful game is built upon these elements.

Sometimes when I lose badly, I feel violated.

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FusekiLibrary, an opening library.
SGF converter tools: Wbaduk NGF to SGF | 440 go problems | Fuseki made easy | Tesuji made easy | Elementary training & Dan level testing | Dan Tutor Shortcut To Dan

Gah, sarcasm really doesn't translate over the Internet. More seriously though, I would find it impossible to have fun if I know I am clearly playing non-optimally.

Does there? You mean if you don't think you are very skilled at something you could never find it enjoyable? That's sad

- Yup. That's the way human mind works
Luckily most people understand it, so they give children exercises that are appropriate for their skills.
Those people who have no experience of foreigners, or social skills for that matter, tend to have attitudes full of negative prejudice.

- skill (noun)
an ability to do an activity or job well, especially because you have practised it

By definition most people are skilled in walking and talking. We've done them since we were toddlers. Estimating territory in a game of Go is something we picked up later. The more able you are in particular activity, the more you enjoy it. That's the view I hold. If you haven't jogged, go out and do it. Observe carefully your feelings.



- Sometimes one has to stop and ponder

Having progresss brings joyness!

Well actually I dont count exact numbers or as close as I can but, I do estimate after fights and what not. Im finally reading attack and defense and it said that a player should atleast estimate from time to time, so I thought it couldnt hurt.

Children find learning things enjoyable, because if they didn't, they wouldn't ever learn anything and would not be fit for life.

Adults don't have much reason to find learning enjoyable. If they do, it's a sign of infantilism

On the other hand it makes sense for an adult to derive joy from being strong or skilled at something.

So what we have here is a clash of wizened maturity represented by Toge with childish innocence represented by Helel et al. Both are right, they are simply at different stages of life

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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.

We're kyu players. By definition, we're playing non-optimally.

I enjoy the game if it's a mentally stimulating battle, even if I lose at the end. If it's the sort of game where I fall behind by a lot at the beginning, I find it much less enjoyable, even if I come back to win (as happened to me recently when my opponent missed a cutting point that caused him to lose a 30-point group).

Sometimes its fun not to count because you're too lazy and yet still win easily.

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TucsonGo.org - Play Go in Tucson
We meet twice a week, visit us!

I can, but .. Usually I don't bother to. Which is a problem sometimes. I've done risky invasions and stupid moves based on not knowing who leads and then when I count after the game I was ahead nicely and a defending move could've won the game. Working on it.. Just keep forgetting to.