Road to KGS 9d

[LokBuddha]

Yeah, however unrealistic it may be, if I aim for something, why not aim for the highest possible for an amateur.

Current: KGS 3d
Estimate time per day available: 3 hours+ (I work 10 hours a day)
Study Plan

1. Stop playing
-That's right. How can I fill the cup if it is not empty. Not playing get rid of my old thought/perception, and bad habit of the game. Plus I've been playing enough (at least 3000 games online). More time to study. Will start playing again when I complete items 2 and 3. In this way, I can comeback and reborn.

2. Do Tsumego repeatedly everyday
- Currently doing Weiqi Life and Death Set, 1000 Weiqi Problems, and Lee Changho 12 volumes
- Not looking at answer
- Do them repeatedly
- So far I've completed partially these 3 collections a couple of times. I might have to look at answer to check on problems I'm not sure about, or still being hardcore and still solve them again and again

3. Memorize Pro Games
- Currently memorizing a set of 87 Shuei games, his later years.
- Complete 7 of them, and repeatly replay them over 10 times for each of them from memory.
- This is to see new ideas, flow and shape. Memorize is just a way for me to absorb the game. So far no trouble at all to memorize at my level. Also, memorize the entire game helps me see the whole mechanics of the game, seeing all the stones working together, black and white.

[SoDesuNe]

Good luck! =)

I'm also solving Yi Ch'ang-Ho's Tsumego and Tesuji series right now and plan to do 1000 Weiqi Problems after that.

[EdLee]

Good luck! Please let us know your progress (or any obstacles, etc.).

[daal]

1. Stop playing

Impossible!

[Koosh]

I hope you can give us your thoughts as you improve little by little! It's of particular interest to me since I am bordering on your rank and want to break into the 5-7d category myself.

So far, your ideas are in line with what I've been told (but haven't tested). All except #1, which daal poked fun at above.

See this thread for pro advice on the topic.
http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6494

If I were in your shoes, I'd do 80%-20%

[LokBuddha]

So far

1. I re-solved the first 4 sections of 1000 Weiqi problems 4 times. Interestingly, everytime I redo them, I still have to check and think rather than memorize and recall the solution.

2.Memorize pro games, I only done the first 7 games, and keep replaying them again and again. I understand the flow, and the objective of each battles within each games.

Overall, I haven't progressed much since Spring allergy is horrible. I am so tired to come to work, let alone studying Go.

Yea, and I do have the urge to play Go, but I did restrain myself

[EdLee]

1. I re-solved the first 4 sections of 1000 Weiqi problems 4 times.

So nice.

[LokBuddha]

Not doing any studying lately. Too lazy, unmotivated. I've got too many Go books maybe 200+ or 500+ depending on how you count them. I have many tsumego set waiting to be absorbed. I read something about Go Seigen Golden Era, I am tempted to replay his peak games. Maybe I just going to replay and memorize him casually for a change of pace.

Current progress on my original plan
1. 1000 Weiqi Problems. I have to do section 5-6 tomorrow. 7-8, then 9-10 in the next 2 days. That's that. No more lazing around.

I went to my local go club and played a game. I lost a good game due to overly aggressive!!! I notice my reading skill becoming better. I know the objective, then the candidate moves, and I can read about 13 moves accurately. Most importantly is the candidate moves, I can see them clearly. But overall, the game was decided by a giant life and death position, which shouldn't have been. So doing more tsumego really increase my strength.

My take:
1. Tsumego training of not looking at answer is like the shaolin monk training, conditioning their body endurance, movement, strength..etc..
2. Actual game reading: This is important, winning and losing doesn't matter, what count is the reading of real game. Gaining some real experience. But this must be serious, or else it will have negative effect on your strength (blizt trash game online, non-serious opponent)

So revising

1. Play 1 face to face serious game per week
2. Tsumego, not looking answer (Go strength)
3. Memorize Pro games.
4. Read my gigantic book collection (increase my Go knowledge)

[LokBuddha]

almost done with part 1 1000 weiqi tsumego and fooling around with section 2 here and there. There are some really frustrating ones I can't solve completely, tempted to look up answer. For now, I am leaving this collection and redoing Cho tsumego collection.

Also currently reading Nihon Kiin Tesuji Encyclopedia casually. I'll let you guys know about this one since this is massive and seem to be very good. No frustration nor hardcore tsumego, so I should be more likely to read through all of them. (I print out a separate complete check list numbering from 1 to 2000 something and make note on which one I completely understand so I can test my memory next time I try to solve them myself.

I break item 1 and play on KGS. I regain my rank to solid 3d again. It seems like KGS ranking drift alot of people down. Some guys I know used to be 2-3 dan now are just 1d and continuing on the decline. I keep the ranking, so which mean I'm not staying still, but slowly improving to fight back the KGS current ( I don't want to be washed away by this rank drift!!)

I think I'm going to give Shuei up, I don't like his style. I'm replaying another classical guy from Edo period which is more suitable for my own style. I think I will also just memorize a game to absorb it and move on, but not repeat memorize and replay it. This way, I can play through more games.

[logan]

Which Edo player are you studying?

Sorry, I don't play online much. What's ranking drift?

Nihon Kiin Tesuji Encyclopedia has 2000+ problems single book? Sounds like very good deal. I have 2012 Pocket Tesuji Encylopedia, but it has only 115 problems or so -- much is just tesuji categorization explanations.

[LokBuddha]

I'm studying Yasui Chitoku. Yes, this one I got from my friend, but I think other english tesuji sources are also comparable to this one. I've only read 100/2500 of them, but I flipped through it, there are some very interesting tesuji I have never seen.

About rank drift, it seems like even you don't play or even playing with good winning rate, your rank graph still going down.... KGS relative ranking is like that. I don't know much about the calculation involved, but on the surface, players I know used to be 3d a couple of year ago is going down to just 1d and they play very consistently.

[logan]

Cool, Chitoku & Genjo perhaps are the greatest rivalry & friendship in go history. They played each other for over 30-years, both advanced to the top of the go world together, they had a nearly even match record, and although both were at Meijin strength neither applied for the position out of deep mutual respect. Their relationship even had a significant impact on the events between Inoue Gennan Inseki & Honinbo Jowa. Chitoku & Genjo are also classed as two of the Four Geniuses -- those who ought to have been Meijins but were unable to. I've heard Chitoku's style as described as shibui.

[LokBuddha]

I like Chitoku because his games are instructive. You can see reduction techniques a lot in his game, and he tenuki to take points, which mean you can learn a lot of real tsumego in his game. His style of Go in my own word is step by step, no rush, no unreasonable moves.

When I play Chitoku collection, which I only replay like 10 (too tired after work), I get to see Genjo too! So Genjo style is contrast of Chitoku so there are a lot of thickness lesson to be learned!!!

[LokBuddha]

Long time no update.
I have improved from 2d-3d kgs to 3d-4d kgs, 5d wbaduk to borderline 7d wbaduk.
It is not just the rank, but I do feel like I know more than before, and some of the concept and perception are now changed

My study method does not change much, but more focus and narrow, and even more "easier" relax kind of activity instead of what you would consider "study" "no pain no gain" kind of thing.

I still do the following

1. Cho Elementary: I do this over and over again, when I feel like doing some easy straightforward problems to feel some accomplishment.
2. Cho Intermediate: I recently just went through this 2 times, now on my 3rd, some problems are painful, is it Ko or not???
3. Memorize Pro Game: Before I tried to memorize collection of a particular pro, and that didn't work out so well. Now I pick games that has commentary. I am reading 1971 Honinbo Tournament but I memorize it first like the back of my hand, then start reading the book. This way, I already have questions, and expectation when reading the analysis, so the result should be much more efficient and faster. No more painful, a lot of effort reading-analyzing-replaying on the board for a commented game. I fly through the discussion very fast!!!
4. I still advocate not playing games. I did play games of course to test my skill, but up to the point I don't feel like testing anymore or I feel like I hit a wall and went back to studying item 1-3.

The future plan:
1. Item 1-2: Do 10 times or more, each time still reading full sequence and treat each problem like first time seeing it.
2. Memorize Pro game at a rate of 1 game/3 days. Yea that is very slow, but my stamina goes like this: Move 1-100 is one session, the next sessions are increment of 50 moves, I really get tired with just one sessions of memorizing.


What I have in mind right now after the future plan:
1. The next logical set of tsumego would be the Cho Advanced, but I think it is going to be very painful from some previous attempt at it, so I keep putting it off and redoing the first 2 set again and again.
2. Memorized Commented game: at the set rate, assuming I only go with it 50% a year taking into account of work stress, life stress, plain laziness, or some random depression, meaning around 150 days of memorizing pro game, then 150/3=50 games per year. That's very good I think. So Next set should be the John Fairbairn Go seigen series, and the Lee Sedol series, Those have very detail comments.

What Do you guys think? Thanks for reading

[SoDesuNe]

Which player do yo prefer?

I got Final Summit from John Fairbairn and it is a very good book. The ten games against Takagawa are commentated very well and it also features all 7 of their 3-game-matches with far less commentary though. It comes with an extensive biography of the players as well.

I don't know the Yi Sedol books but I heard they are equally good.

Maybe you should ask yourself if you want to replay modern players with today's opening theory and Josekis or if you don't care for that. It might also be useful to ask, if you like to replay the aggressive games of Yi Sedol when you seem to like Chitoku's style.

Good luck =)