Hi,

feeling tired after being beaten over and over by a beginner bot, I started to watch games on OGS.

I decided to watch the highest kyus available (9k), but now I'm wondering if this is a good idea?

I thought I might maybe understand a move of kyu players, while dan games will be too complex for me.

But, kyus are more likely to make mistakes, so maybe I should watch the best players to learn??

Advice??

Thanks!

Speaking for myself, I always gravitated to professional play, just as I did with bridge and chess. But you can also learn a lot from watching players who are 5 stones better than you, even if they make a lot of mistakes.

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

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

I would say that you would learn the most by looking at the games of players 3-5 stones better than you are.

Yes they will be making mistakes. But they will not be making the sort of mistakes you are trying to learn not to make. And while they may not be making the best moves, you are likely to be able to understand the reasons behind the moves that they make.

The problem with looking at games of players FAR stronger than you are is that in most cases you will not be able to understand the reasons. This is not to aay that you shouldn't even want to look at the games of high level pros. But you would want such games very well commented.

Agree with Bill. Professional play will calibrate your understanding of certain aspects of the game (flow, timing, direction, shape, sente) and shape your aesthetic judgment in a way the raw, mistake-ridden play of 9 kyus (or hell, low dans) will not. Even though you will have little idea what's going on underneath the surface during the fighting, what the life and death of any of the complex situations that arise is, etc., there's still good reason to shape your judgment by watching pro games.

You can certainly gain something from watching people 5 stones stronger than you though, that sounds like a good rule of thumb (unless you're like 25k or something--then let's stretch it to 10 stones stronger than you). That said, I'd also recommend games around 5-7k. You will see a lot of tesujis played out, sometimes ladders, nets, etc.--things that with some reading wouldn't actually get played but players in that range are often just learning proper tactics. Seeing decent players playing moves you'd likely think are fine get tricked or get killed will help you understand why certain things are bad.

Watch what you enjoy watching.

If you are a beginner, watching 9k games for a few months won't hurt. They make mistakes, but fewer than you.
You might be interested in some kyu game reviews, you will find a few on Nick Sibicky's channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/nicksibicky/videos

One thing I liked about Takagawa's Go Reader (in Japanese) was that he regularly took examples from 4 kyu vs. 4 kyu games. How do you learn from watching play or studying games how to deal with certain errors if the players are too good to make them?

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

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

On gokobitz, games of DDK and SDK players are frequently uploaded to be commented on by peers and some lower dan players. I suppose you can look up some games of your level (or a bit better) and learn from the tips that are posted.