From 30k to Pro - The Dream

[MafDragun]

Yeah, calling it a dream is not the best of ideas, but I know I don't have enough time to put into this game to become a pro in it. I'd be quite glad to reach dan levels someday. One level at a time though!

So, as I said in my introduction thread, I'll be posting a game per week on here, because I want to play more and learn more. I already played over 100 games, against low level friends and computers, as well as some few games on the internet on KGS and OGS against other 30 kyus who beat on me as if they were much stronger players(Then again, either I fell on sandbaggers and geniuses everytime I played online, either I have more to learn about this game, guess which one is most likely )

Well then, here's a game against one of my friend, I'll be posting more during the coming weeks. I hope I can get your help analysing them, maybe someday I'll be doing it for somebody else!

NOTE:
-When there is a one or two move variations, it's a misclick on my part while recording the game.
-I play white, my friend black
-The score is white wins by 228.5 with a 0.5 komi

[EdLee]

Hi Maf,

Do you have any games where you took and received handicap stones ?
Or, even games ?

This game you posted is OK -- more useful to review it for your friend Adam than for you.

[MafDragun]

Yes, I should have one or two of those, I'll post one in a few minutes, thanks for commenting so quickly! As for it being more helpful for my friend, any tips you could notice I should give him?

[EdLee]

Hi Maf, for your friend Adam, if he hasn't finished 100 games yet,
may I suggest he does so ASAP.

[EdLee]

Hi Maf,

For your game v. WW:

kind of a bad habit, or blind spot. What are you trying to do ?
You want to start killing W with this hane ?

[MafDragun]

I was actually trying to take more side territory, but now that you mention it, I think that it would most likely have been better to expand towards the center and let white have the side :/ I haven't played many games as black with handicap stones.

As for my friend Adam, I'm trying to get him to play as many games as possible, but being beaten by 200 points of difference somewhat makes him want to play less, but I don't think it would be fair for him if I played less seriously, even less so considering I'm not good enough to help him with teaching games :S He says he won't give up yet, but we haven't played for two weeks.

[EdLee]

Hi Maf,

For , locally, if you just drop to S6,
that's better than your hane S7. Do you see how S6 relates to Q7 ?

Globally, the board is very open; Black has a few good options here.

Also, notice you had sente on -- you were free to play anywhere on the board -- it was your turn.

But when you connected with , whose turn was it ?
Who had sente after ?
You voluntarily gave away your sente to W, after and connect.

[MafDragun]

I must admit, I do not see how it relates to Q7, and I'd also like a bit of explanation as to why it would be better. Feel free to take your time though, I have to go to sleep, it's 22h43 here~

Thanks for your quick answers though! I'll be looking forward to more of your help in the future, as well as anybody else's of course.

Good games to you all!

[EdLee]

Hi Maf,

You have a weakness at Q7. W could, at some point, push at Q7.
You block at P7. Now you are left with two cuts.

Imagine these two cases:

• In the real game, after you connect with .
• Variation: instead of your hane S7 on , just drop to S6.

If W pushes at Q7, compare the two cases.

[Uberdude]

Can I suggest you play 9x9 games with Adam, giving him 5 handicap stones. Increase or decrease the handicap so he wins about half the games. There's little value continuing to play a 19x19 when you are 100 points behind and it can be rather disheartening.

[Bill Spight]

Can I suggest you play 9x9 games with Adam, giving him 5 handicap stones. Increase or decrease the handicap so he wins about half the games. There's little value continuing to play a 19x19 when you are 100 points behind and it can be rather disheartening.

One of the virtues of go is a sensitive handicapping system. such that it is possible for a weaker player to play a stronger player and win around half the time. The right handicap is good for learning, too, since the player faces a task that is neither too hard nor too easy.

Since both of you will be advancing rapidly, you might try changing the handicap after each game.

[MafDragun]

Hello all again today. I played a game just now with someone on KGS and asked him/her to review, but they left after discovering how they could use the analyze tool *shrug*

Since I have a few games in my game buffer(not many) I think I could post this one on here, since it's a pretty recent game. The opponent was 21k and I believe I'm still only 30k myself. I tried setting up some handicap stones, but I couldn't figure out how to make the game put these down so I played against my opponent without an handicap and lost by a 100 points.



At the very least, I figured out how to put more time on a game, it's simple, I just have to not make it an "Automatch" game, this way I have way more options.

As usual, feel free to comment, I'd love to have as many pointers as possible!

I'll trying to convince my friend to play on a smaller board. I've tried it against computer and noticed the patterns are completely different so I'll also be a bit out of my comfort zone, that could help him out.

Thanks EdLee for explaining your idea better. I may not quite be at a level where I can see that kind of thing in a game, but I'll try to remember it and take my time to read ahead a little more.

[EdLee]

Hi Maf,

To set or change the handicap stones, you do it in the same Setup window before you both agree on all other settings: time control, rule set, who takes Black/White, komi, etc.

If you agree on "Japanese" rules, as you did in this game,
then the software will place the handicap stones, if any, for you.

If you agree on "Chinese" rules, then the game will start with an empty board, and Black can freely put down the handicap stones before White starts.

the proper move, the basic shape here is extend up to Q13, not here.

W has this strange, bad habit, misunderstanding, similar to .
This move is very solid; in fact, too solid, very slow and small.

double hane at o2. W ataris P4, you connect o3.
White to play next. See if you can figure out the next few moves.
For both sides. Study what happens here after this.
This sequence is worth this game.

Terrible. Part of the excercise for is for you to figure out why this is terrible, and to find the correct local move for Black.

Did you check this ladder before you played ?
If yes, then very good.

Terrible. You should be so thrilled to play the correct move at P7,
removing the two W stones off the board, that your hand may be trembling.

For the question/exercise in post 9, what did you figure out ?
( Checking to see if you saw the differences. )

[xed_over]

I'll trying to convince my friend to play on a smaller board. I've tried it against computer and noticed the patterns are completely different so I'll also be a bit out of my comfort zone, that could help him out.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with continuing to play and learn on a full 19x19 board. Most of us did. But there are a lot of advantages to starting small. And a lot to be learned.
* The patterns are not all that different. Really. You're basicly skipping the standard openings to work on more important basic skills (see next point).
* The primary goal on these boards are learning some of the basics, namely, in this case, keeping your stones connected, while separating those of your opponent, and curing atari-blindness. Also quickly getting into basic life & death situations.
* games are shorter, so you can learn from your mistakes quicker, and quickly try to apply lessons learned in the next games.
* for players of vast skill difference, the smaller board is already a handicap (of sorts), so it doesn't require as many (if any) handicap stones to even out the game.