Hit 7k KGS for the first time today, woo. Now at 13k Tygem but haven't been playing there at all over the last couple of weeks.

In the mail a couple of days ago I got "Get Strong at the Endgame" which appears to be too hard for me at this stage, but I also received "200 Endgame Problems" seems much more accessible. I'm approaching that much like I do GS @ Tesuji- that is, spend a reasonable amount of time trying to find the answer, then trying to understand why my answer is wrong by looking at the answer given .

I still feel like it's very important to be able to recognise the shapes in which tesuji (endgame tesuji and others) appear, even if you can't read out all possible variations. Endgame tesuji are particularly interesting as sente is such an important consideration there. Once I've worked through "200 Endgame Problems" it might be time to look at the Get Strong book.

Also bought "Step Up To a Higher Level", a problem book with 144 problems in it that I bought because it's supposedly for 7-8k players and it was only ten dollars. The sensei's page on the book mentions that the problems are quite easy- which they were, especially if you read the hints. I worked through the whole book in about an hour and a half, and didn't get too many wrong. I'd say it's about the level of GGPB vol.2, some of it probably being a bit easier than that, and some being a little bit harder, depending on any 'blind spots' you may have. The format is similar to the GGPB series of books, in that it gives problems in sections e.g. opening, life and death, endgame etc. There were a handful of "shape" problems included in there too, which I really enjoy (there are some similar problems in GS @ Tesuji) and they are seemingly under-represented in English problems books. I could be wrong there, maybe in Japanese/Chinese/Korean books the large majority of available books are L&D too rather than other types of problems.

Overall I'd recommended the book, the problems seem to me to be of a good quality, and if you can pick it up cheap like I did then it'd be worth it. I'll go back through and solve it again sometime, maybe upside down and not reading the hints. I think working through a fairly large number of easy problems over an hour or so can be very enjoyable and beneficial at times, especially if you're a bit burnt out on solving just a couple of harder problems.


So now my current study plan is;

- 9-18 l&d problems from 1001 L&D (currently on my first run through of 3- move problems)
- about a dozen of the 1 star problems from GS @ tesuji, once I run out of 1 star problems I'll move on to 2 star
- 2-4 Endgame problems from 200 Endgame Problems.
- Something I forgot to mention, watching lectures from Guo Juans internetgoschool.com site. Planning on watching a lecture every two weeks or so, and re-watching it in the intervening week. Watched two so far, from the 'step by step' course. Most of the information I knew, some was new, but I feel that overall the lectures are helpful, so I'll stick with it for a little while and see how it goes.

Just a few late night random thoughts I wanted to jot down in my journal.

Study is going reasonably well. Struggling with endgame problems but I'm just going to keep running over and over them until the patterns are burnt into my brain. Not worried about just remembering the answers as I thinks it's more about recognising the shape, and then being able to read out if the remembered move is correct.

I've almost finished my first run through of the 3 move problems from 1001 L&D, which means with my two runs through of the 1 move problems plus what I've completed now I've almost solved around 1000 L&D problems since getting that book, disregarding having completed Step Up to a Higher Level and occasional problems from the GGPB series. Once I finish the 3 move problems I'm going to go back to GGPB vol. 3, and give that a run. I think my reading is strong enough and with what I've learnt from my first run through of GS@ Tesuji it should be at about the right difficulty now. Then maybe back through the 3 move problems, on to the 5 move problems or possibly buy GGPB vol. 4!

Starting to realise how much work will have to go into improving now- can I expect that if it's taken me several months and roughly 1000 problems and 50-60-odd games to improve from 8-7k that it'll take even more than that to improve 7-6? Perhaps double the time, 2000 problems and 100-odd games? Who knows. I think maybe improvement comes in spurts but powered by consistent effort. So, I'll continue my daily regime of problems, and will play (and review) as many games as I can manage. For this month I've played 14 ranked games, and a couple of other serious unranked games. I don't think this is too bad, and much better than my previous month at about a game a week.

Still playing, studying.
Not so much time for playing lately as I've been working a lot.
Still solving problems everyday.. except a couple of days I missed because I worked back to back shifts and double shifts. I've finished the 3 move problems from 1001 L&D and now I've gone back to GGPB vol.3. Doing a couple of pages a day, so about a dozen problems, unless I'm feeling keen then I'll do 2 dozen.

A few games on KGS, including a couple against stronger players in the ASR League. I think this is incredibly useful. A few on Tygem, mostly when I'm feeling a bit too tired to play a really 'serious' game on KGS. My Tygem rank is still 13k, I've had a couple of losses at that rank, too, but feel that I'll make it to 12k within 5 more games. Both my KGS accounts are sitting at 7k now, and I feel pretty confident with my rank there.

A funny thing is that I'm noticing that the higher my rank goes, the weaker any certain ranks seems. I remember being a DDK and thinking, gee, when I make it to SDK I'll feel so strong. Then when I made it, I thought, gee, when I make it to 8k I'll feel so strong. It just continues. 7k 12 months ago would have seemed like such a huge achievement, now that I'm there I'm thinking, gee, when I make it into the high SDK ranks... Still this isn't to say that I'm not proud of my achievements. It can be quite motivating, as I improve I enjoy the game more, or appreciate it more, and look forward to getting stronger, or seeing things more deeply, rather than just 'feeling' stronger.

I think it's a classic case of "the more you know, the more you realise how much you don't know." Before, when talking to my friends who are more or less complete beginners, I'd talk more in terms of 'definite' things. Oh, you can't do that... this or that thing is always bad... You should always... Now, I kind of shrug my shoulders and say, 'Well, I'd do this, but it's probably not the best'.

Well, my love of go books also continues, but I don't really feel like I need anything to help me continue to get stronger. So I might buy a few books purely for enjoyment. Maybe the Lee Changho Masterplay book to play through a few games and/or 'The go companion' for some lighter go related reading. Actually for a while now I've been thinking about buying 'Invincible' but I might save that as a reward for myself when I make it to 5k.

Humility is a key quality for a go player ^^

I've been pretty committed to studying and playing lately, despite work continuing to be very busy. Now I'm doing 20 tesuji problems a day, from those Chinese Lee Changho books that a lot of people recommend. I'm trying to get through 1 tesuji book a week, then I'll do 1 L&D book etc.. if the L&D books get too hard too quickly I'll go back through the 1001 L&D 3-move problems in the intervening weeks. Then planning to run back through all the tesuji problems up-side down, side ways etc., and move on to the 5 move problems in 1001 L&D. I'll see where it takes me.

Playing has been going fairly well, I've still been playing in the ASR League and I think I'll continue to do so. Getting even games against stronger players is great. Outside of the league I had a very narrow loss to another 7k, 4.5 points, and got a couple of great reviews here on L19 on that game. I think my play has taken a bit of a jump lately and I hope I can continue my recent form.

Playing on Tygem more than KGS, and I've just had a streak of 7 wins, averaging about 40 points. That takes me to 11k. I'm really looking forward to being SDK there. The games are always quite exciting, it seems that still the players are more aggressive than on KGS and often big groups die which is a thrill.

Watched a couple of lectures on internetgoschool.com, and I really like these. I'm going through the 'step by step course' and although at this stage it's fairly 'basic' stuff I find it's easier to absorb the information this way than to read books- actually seeing the variations/examples played out while being explained seems to help a lot. I've always struggled with kifu-like diagrams for variations unless I play them out on a board.

Considering trying out John Fairbairns idea outlined here; http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=8674&start=20
of playing through games at a fairly rapid pace and trying to cultivate a state of 'no mind'. Seems like it would take little time to do daily, and that it could be quite a relaxing (meditative even) way of 'studying'. I think I'll pick just one player and start going through their games. Lee Changho maybe? If I enjoy it, I'll stick with it for a while, and who knows what kind of effect it will have on my playing

Been a while since I posted.

Still studying, still playing. Not feeling like I'm improving much through.

Study is still from the Lee Changho books. I've finished the first two tesuji books with varying degrees of accuracy. The 3rd book is significantly harder than the previous two, perhaps this is an indication of an area of weakness for me. It seems the book deals mostly with problems to do with connecting a weak group to another group. I should probably look at the relevant sections from the Davies tesuji book to see if that helps. For the moment I'm just going to work through the first of the tsumego books, 20 a day, most days. Then I'll either come back to the 3rd tesuji book or move on to the 4th book.

Playing games. I had a harsh run of losses on KGS, I think 4 on one day after a hard day of work. So, one of my accounts has dropped to 8k, now bordering on 7k. Not a big deal, really. Haven't played any league games at all this month, I think I just got unlucky with the group I was put as they don't seem to be online at the same time as I am.

Still playing on Tygem too, @ 11k, Almost got demoted to 12k but just hanging on for the moment. Still playing there more than KGS.

Started a couple of games on DGS for the first time. I found out that this is the only server I can play on at work. It's a different experience to playing real time. Reading plays less of a part, as you can play out variations at your own leisure, using something like eidogo or the KGS client to keep track of different variations and then make decisions on the better results. So, possibly good for practising evaluation of the board. Good for taking the time to try and get the most of endgame. Usually now I'm playing 20min +byo-yomi games on tygem and by endgame I'm running out of time and it's hard to make good decisions.

On that note I haven't done any endgame problems for ages despite having bought both '200 endgame problems' and 'get strong at the endgame'. In fact I never did more than quickly open GS @ the endgame. For some reason I just found them harder to stick at than tesuji/tsumego.

Haven't watched any of my Guo Juan lectures recently. Might get a chance to watch one tomorrow.

That's about all for now!

Haven't updated for quite a while,
but still playing, and studying. But not so much as before lately.
I've got a few games running on DGS, and have played maybe 10 games on KGS (since my last update) and maybe 5 on Tygem.
Unfortunately I haven't been consistent with my L&D or tesuji problems. Although when I did a few problems a couple of days ago for some reason I found them easier than usual. A similar finding with playing games- I played a game last night and felt quite relaxed, rather than stressed like normal.

I think having had a break and not taking things quite so seriously might have had a good effect, i.e. I'm enjoying it more rather than thinking, "I must get better". I was going to say that I don't feel like my hobby should feel like hard work- but that's not entirely accurate. I guess it's when hard work stops being enjoyable that I have a problem.
So, if that means taking breaks from doing problems every day/playing every day to make sure that I continue to enjoy this game, that's fine. No doubt at some stage I'll be right back into it, and improvement is sure to come, too. Actually, after my win last night I hit a very shaky 6k for the first time on KGS!

I think the Yi Ch'ang-Ho series might be too hard for your level, except YCH Tesuji vol. 4.

Did you finish 1001 Life-and-Death Problems? How many problems did you get right and how long did it take you to solve the book?
Are you already confident in solving Graded Go Problems for Beginners vol. 3?
How about Get Strong at Tesuji? With the exception of the four star problems, I think this book is also easier than the YCH series.

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go

I think a lot/most of the YCH tesuji 1,2 and 4 were within my grasp. The first of the tsumego books was easy enough, too. Vol. 3 (Of tesuji) was way over my head. Haven't gotten to the others.

But as I say, I haven't been very good with doing problems over the last month or so!

I'm still working on 1001 L&D, going back through the 3 move problems for a second time. I'm not recording accuracy, although it doesn't seem like a bad idea. I'd hazard a guess and say I'd get 80-90% right (of the 3-move problems). When I was solving them every day I was doing 9 a day... taking from 15 mins to half an hour, depending on how focused I was.

GGB vol. 3 seems harder than 1001 to me (at least, up to the stage up at 1001.) I especially struggle with the middle game problems in the early part of the book and interestingly these seem similar to the problems in YCH 3, with which I really struggled- as in, I couldn't even come up with intelligent guesses for many problems.

I haven't run through GS@ Tesuji for a while. Definitely the 1 & 2 star problems are easy enough. I think some of the 3 star problems were easy enough, too. It's been too long for me to recall accurately.
I think the problems in GS @ Tesuji were quite different to a lot of the YCH tesuji problems, in that the YCH problems have a more concrete outcome than the GS problems.. hmm. I'm having trouble explaining what I mean ... cut's/throw ins etc. leading to kills, connections (in YCH) rather than thickness or good shape (in GS).

Edit- Just had a quick go at some problems. Did worse on 1001 than when I was doing them every day, got 3/9 wrong. YCH Tesuji 1 is easy enough, I got 1/10 wrong. GS @ Tesuji I had a look at a random selection of problems and it's as I remember- the problems with capture as the objective are easy enough, the ones about shape or thickness are tough (i.e. I got them wrong) as I haven't been doing these types of problems recently.

For me the last douzen problems of GGPfB vol. 3 seem quite as difficult as the first YCH books. The 5-moves problems from 1001 Life-and-Death problems are easier then that in my opinion. But it's been quite awhile since I last solved them ^^



I know what you mean =) It's true Get Strong at Tesuji has a very different style of presenting problems but I found I learnt more from this book than from any other problem book.

Regarding solving problem books: I try to go through every problem book I have at least three times and aim for a score of 95% correctly solved problems or higher. Since this can get quite boring, I prepare a cycle of four or more books and repeat this one three times. With this I can easily check how I am "progressing" - objectively -, even when I lose a lot.

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go

Months since I last posted!

Actually this is because not much has been happening with me as far as go is concerned.
For whatever reason I stopped playing regularly, stopped visiting this forum, stopped solving problems consistently.

So, as a general update, over the last couple of months I've finished a couple of DGS games, played maybe 4-5 real time games on either KGS or Tygem, and occasionally have solved a few problems from 1001 L&D or some online source.

Actually I don't feel like my game has suffered all that much. The last game I played on KGS I beat a 7k fairly comfortably, bringing my rank to 6k?
I played a fast game on Tygem a few nights ago, too, an exciting game where I built massive influence and used that to chase a large group, which I very nearly killed, and ended up willing by 20 points or so. I think there I'm sitting on 10k with 3 wins 2 losses.

Thinking now that the madness of christmas is over I might start trying to stick to my previous study regime of problems. Going to go for a page of 1001 every day and 20 problems from YCH. Not worrying about reading books much at the moment. Not setting myself a particular number of games to play. I think I have 4 games running on DGS so i'll play moves in them when they come up. I guess will try to fit in a game a week on one of the real time servers, or whenever I feel like it. Fast games, slow games, whatever games. I need to remember to just enjoy playing, rather than only enjoy improving.