Seems to be (at least) four questions in there.
- How do you know the info is correct.
For example, there is NO proverb that says you must always extend from thickness.
So if somebody told you that, then (a) they didn't know what they were talking about and
(b) you have successfully retained a wrong piece of info.
(By the way, have you figured out how you got that wrong idea to begin with? )
- How do you know the reviewer is any good. How do you know anyone is a good teacher in any field, in general.
- How do you know you understand something.
- What do you do about your trance in a game.

The most useful lesson I've ever had. Guo Juan was doing a workshop here and taught us not to push from behind as well as other topics. We then play some games to get reviewed later. During the review from my game she said I had to push from behind more.

That's when I realized following proverbs blindly is bad.

To me it makes sense because when I extend from thickness. If I am invaded or pincered, I only have to play from one side.

I don't ALWAYS extend.
For example in one game I had thickness but I was undercut so I felt uneasy about make an extension from there.

I'm not sure where i heard it. It must have been awhile ago.

Uhhh the trance is more just, I'm not actively thinking about what I just learned... Like I get too sucked up in the game. I suppose I develop a sort of tunnel vision. I love that part of the game that I just get, I don't know the word for it, Consumed? Enveloped?

I suppose this is just for me, but I need a way to make sure I'm actively trying to apply what I've learned and not let it drown to the back of my mind.



hahah but even still it should be like the last option right? You only do it when no other move seems to be properly serving the same purpose.

Let this stand by itself and you know a lot more about Go than you might expect ; )

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go

Haha well of course that's the easy part.
The hard part is when there are no apparent good moves, how can you play to create more good moves.

two losses

Destroying my own groups
Examples of extending from thickness being wrong.




attacking before defending.
Trying to juggle too many groups.

two wins

many split attacks
my opponent trying to juggle too many groups


thickness I couldn't extend from
and I wasn't sure how to use
Using large knight to start a fight.

hmmm i suppose i'm not fully aware of how i play :]

Game bumped me to 3kyu

cross fuseki
lots of fighting
Missed killing opponent's group
Opponent missed killing mine


Alright I think I'm about 2-3kyu

I think there are three paths I have to 1dan

1. Opening. I know everyone says this is their weakness, but previous reviews and current reviews in this thread tell me I'm doing the opening wrong. I'm being too slow and small instead of finding big points.
2. Being aware of Big points and respecting which moves are more important
3. Being aware of potential. When I see groups I now see weak and strong but I do not see where they will grow or how they can grow until I'm actually making the move.
4. Awareness of what my opponent's good moves are. Right now I only think of what my good moves are but I suppose I should also think what my opponent is thinking.
5. Reading the book Tesuji. I skimmed it but never gave it the time it deserved.

Each of these things I believe can raise me a stone in strength, so 1dan is not an intangible goal.

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ta da!!
the shape!
the tiger mouth would have looked very awkward

So I suppose this move is better when you can't make a second tiger mouth?
And it moves a little faster outwards.


Idk i'll see if i can find other examples.

The diagonal seems like it actually is just a substitute when the one point jump doesn't work.
it's just too slow to be an every purpose move.
Also it's good when you don't want to commit in one direction (example commit to attacking only one group.)

Don't think too much about shape, and believe more of your self-reading. Blind faith in shape does make bad habits.

_________________
Amsterdam, soon.

Played a few quick games.
lost 3 won 1

the one i won was through luck because he didn't read

two I lost I got lazy and didn't read, but it was looking bad anyways

one I lost for the same reason but i think i was going to win that one.

seems all a 4kyu needs to promote is not get lazy in the middle of a game.

This happened in game.

I didn't notice it at the time but the bulge point gave me broken keima.

I would have liked the sealed in version a lot better.





I'm mad because I notice a lot of things I could have done when I'm reviewing a game.
I suppose that means I'm being too thoughtless when I play. I spend a lot of time thinking but I'm not thinking about things that matter...

this game had a lot of examples of http://senseis.xmp.net/?OneTwoThree

two times I did it right
two times I did it wrong like in this example with the bulge point.
I forced W to play the move he wanted to play.

A couple of my kyu-ish comments : )

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go

Hey SoDesuNe. I disagree with a few of your comments.

you say white can live in the corner but if white plays there black captures O3 and i think thats good for black.


Also, I don't think was toothpaste. Even if white played at Q6 that's more herding white through a narrow area where I can push him around.

I like your O8 but I wanted to keep white weak and running. though it's funny you should mention invading at J4 because I ended up building the influence to do exactly that!

I'd post the game but it's dumb lol.

: Giving Atari at o3 is very thick shape, it's true and White will have a hard time making anything out his wall but following this, I feel first playing Q10 ( ) and then defending the corner with P3 ( ) to finally give up the corner and the side is inconsistent. It feels to me that all those move are not working together.
If you deny White the corner first, your Q10 works effectively as a pincer to White's stone and the initiative is still all yours.

: The first idea to attack a group should be to surround it so that is has to find small life. If White just lives there on the side in Gote, you have a very good game (just regarding the bottom part of the board). White's wall is ineffective but with your wall you can now jump in at J4 and attack. For me this is a clear goal.
Running out as White, might not be good, true - he could again weaken his wall and his bottom group -, but it is also not so clear for me what Black achieves. Furthermore Black's corner isn't settled, too.
This could be very well a stylistic choice but I like the plain surrounding and connecting to Q10 to jump in at J4 ; )

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go

As far as being inconsistant, I didn't see the kick as "defending the corner" it was more for making white overconcentrated in the event he responds by extending up.

The side wasn't abandoned because the top corner was my 4-4 stone (Didn't think it would be relevant lol)

But I can see the merits of wanting to use it as a pincer stone, I just wanted to ensure his two groups were seperated.

As far as surrounding instead of squeezing out and attacking.
That is a good point. I think I used to play that way. I don't know why I stopped making it my priority.

I will be sure to try sealing in a group and showing how that game goes :]

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posting a win to feel better about myself
Lost like 7 games before this one. So something's wrong.
I wish I could blame that I was trying new joseki but I'm not.

So lately it's been passive play and no real improvements.
Who would have thought improvement would have required actively working to improve.

I miss the days when I could just read a post and get a stone stronger. :sigh:

Bill's post about looking at the number of stones in an area was a new perspective.
The idea of trying to go into a game with joseki in mind didn't really work out.

Stress from school has caused me to feel guilty about playing go.
That doesn't stop me from playing though. hehe.

Anyways here's the game. It was very frustrating.
My opponent was undercutting me everywhere and crawling on the second line. I knew that should have been a good exchange for me, but I knew if i made a mistake my opponent would live in the center and I would have traded territory for nothing.

Wasn't sure if and should have been closer.
was my one move to make myself safe, I think I played it on the wrong side.
was my plan to push black to the left and try to build up the bottom but I'm unsure if it was right