pytta's pointed progress - a fresh start

Edit: I got a new job in november, so I decided to put Go improvement on hold. Started playing again in mid-march, and slowly starting to study go again.

I'm a Norwegian EGF 3 kyu, and 1k on KGS now (up from 2k).

Weaknesses:
The opening, joseki, direction of play, "family feuds" (Opening Theory Made Easy), positional judgement, counting, and easily distracted when playing in real life.

Strengths:
Middlegame fighting, finding the enemy's weaknesses, living, killing, and fighting spirit.


Simplifed study plan:

• Improve my opening by reading go theory, doing problems and looking at pro games.
• Solve go-problems on the bus to/from work
• Read the following go books:
  
  
  • Positional Judgement by Cho Chikun
  • Otake's Secrets of Strategy
  • Vital Points and Skillful Finesse for Sabaki
  • Opening Theory Made Easy
  • Reducing Territorial Frameworks
  • Changing one's conceptions

Reviews are awesome . I know you can post games here and there are people who will definitely review, and there is always the KGS teaching ladder. Go go!

If you're mainly playing blitz, I don't think it's wrong to assume that this is the reason for some of your weaknesses aswell as some of your stregths. You have assigned time for a ''slow'' game in your schedule, GOOD!. I can only suggest a couple of things. First thing is to not play excessively. Make the game/games count and make them valuable. If you don't take them atleast a little seriously, then the quality will be trashy and review will yield nothing but 'yeah that mistake was stupid, should have seen that during the game easily..'etc

Also, I firmly believe that if you memorize pro games and actually focus a little during the opening, you'll start to see a great improvement there. Most people seem to slip into previously seen patterns during the opening. They just plop stones down instead of thinking and formulating a game plan.

The other thing is this. I think a teacher won't be able to improve your level much. I reach this conclusion from the extremely slow, almost non-existent growth of people who previously employed teachers at rather low intervals (once per week, for example). What will boost your stregth tremendously is simply to eat alot of easy tsumego and tesuji and keep memorizing pro games. Read books if you like, but the main point is to do lots of tsumego and tesuji and review your serious games. Reviewing trash games isn't going to help much.

Just my opinion. I know alot of people will disagree with the teacher thing, but it just seems to me to be a waste of money because the progress people with teachers achieve is so slow compared to little old me eating my tesuji and tsumego every day. I imagine a teacher is more useful when you reach the mid-high dan level. Until then I think just working on your basics is the best and fastest way to achieve teh glory ^_^

Hope it helps

Thanks for the feedback.

The main idea behind getting a teacher is to help me identify the flaws I am unable to see myself, and to guide me towards fixing them.

For the time being I will not get a teacher.

I have stopped playing blitz for now, using the two slower time settings for auto match instead.

Studying:

Since my last post I memorized a game by Otake Hideo, went through 15+ pro games focusing on Takemiyas forming of moyos, read "Understanding Dan Level Play", "Takao's Astute Use of Brute Force", started on "Opening Theory Made Easy" and solved problems in 1001 L&D.

And played 3 slow games per day.


Wow, my opening really is lacking

Dear Zhoornal,

It has been an odd time since I last posted. Sleep issues so horrible you wouldn't believe.

Still in high spirits, solving go problems and playing online


I finished a bunch of go books:

• Get Strong at Tesuji
• Master Play - The Style of Lee Changho
• Master Play - The Attacking Styles of Kato Masao and Seo Bong Soo
• Understanding How to Play Go
• How Not to Play Go
• Graded Go Problems For Beginners, Volume 3

Yuan Zhou is an excellent writer and teacher of Go. Go out and buy all his books!

Started reading The Endgame and Get Up to Shodan. Also brushing up on my Java and Android to develop a better SGF viewer than is currently out there, that I've seen at least.

Solved a few of problems in 501 Tesuji Problems- I feel they are still a little over my level based on the first 10 problems. Finished Get Strong at Tesuji, and have mostly solved in 1001 life & death and randomly from other books in the Get Strong At-series.


I feel more confident playing on a real board now. Playing over pro games really helped. I am still winning with 4 handicap versus my 4 dan EGF go club buddy, and the 2 dan still doesn't want to give me any lower than 4 handicap. I haven't dropped a game to him since I came back to Go 2 months ago.

I am still easily distracted, my opening is horrible, and I lose games because I tend to get into local scuffles that affect the entire board in a bad way. I have gotten a little better at tenuki, and overall strategy, but so easy to get caught in the moment and just keep playing even though my groups are alive, or my opponent is alive.


Still SDK!

Question: How does one train away the horrible writing habit of "I" constantly?

Feedback wanted on the structure of this journal, if you like reading journals about go study - what do you want in them?

Just go ahead in the style you like. Feedback will come anyway (or not)

+1


xed_over will sometimes write his posts in the 3rd person.