This study journal will focus on my efforts to improve my understanding of go and through that improve myself. Problems I am working on, pros I am studying, and books I am reading will be summarized in the first topic of this journal. Other musings about go and its relation to life will fill the other pages. I look forward to people's comments and insights on my journey and hope that I can inspire others to improve also.




Goals

Short Term:
-Be able to play online games with a clear mind
-Reach Shodan
-Recreate 100 moves

Long Term:
-Improve myself and others through the study of go
-Being able to recreate a full game at will


Study

Tsumego:
Get Strong at Tesuji (Completed)
Mastering the Basics: Tesuji; 20 during the week, 40 during the weekend
Cho Chi-Kun's L&D Encyclopedia Vol. 2; sporadically

Game Study:
Yi Chang-Ho 1996; 3 games a week
Recreation count - 66

Books:
Elementary Go Series 1-5 (completed)
Opening Theory Made Easy (completed)
Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go(completed)
Direction of Play (completed)
The Chinese Opening (completed)



Games:
Playing two games a day on the weekend when time allows

Hi everyone, my name is Subotai and I'm interested in better understanding go and life in general. I see go as an art, meditation, sport, and a mirror into one's self. Its multitude of aspects make it fascinating. I was introduced to go when I was a child by my grandfather who gave me a little go set for a present since I was playing chess at the time. Though I enjoyed the game from the start I had no one to play with and put it off until I entered college where my interest resurfaced. I played on KGS for awhile but got discouraged from not having anyone to play in person. When I moved to China I decided to get back in the game and I have been on and off ever since.

Now it is time for me to change this. I really want go to become a stable part of my life. I hope this journal presents me with an opportunity to help me stay focused on go giving me a place to write out my plan and thoughts about my journey.

Hey, good luck with your plan : )

Since Shodan is your short term goal, I would recommend focussing on Tesuji problems (Get Strong at Tesuji, YCH Tesuji series, Go/Segeo Tesuji Dictionary) because I came to believe that this is one of the quickest ways to become stronger (to Shodan at least).
I also wouldn't aim at recreating a full game. In my opinion around 150 to 160 moves is sufficient to include the important aspects in almost every game - unless you want to study the endgame =D The hard part about recreating a game is by the way not so much the number of moves but the seperation of different games you might have in your head.

If you like you can visit my page over at Sensei's Library (see signature), where I talked a bit more about the way I grew stronger.


post scriptum: You can also post your lost games here, when I have the time, I gladly go over them!

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My "guide" to become stronger in Go

I look at every game as if it were a story. I think it is important to know the stories of pros because those are the players we mold our playing to. So in order to fully appreciate the game I will try to learn the beginning, middle, and the end.

My Go:

I think your go style says a lot about who you are as a person. I like smooth flowing games without crazy fights though I won't back down from a fight if circumstances call for it. Therefore I study the games of pros like Yi Ch'ang-ho, Takagawa Shukaku and Honinbo Shuei who have mastered the flow of the game. I also like 2010 Kong Jie for his sturdy textbook style.

I am thinker and don't like blitz games but at the same time I don't need games with 1 hour time limits. My games run usually around 20 minutes normal time for both sides. I do often get rushed by the clock at the end though which has caused me to lose a number of games.

I find a lot of players around my level to be very territorial and aggressive. They will try to lock down one area and then continuously invade. I don't like this style of play and it is often frustrating. I know when they make wrong moves or hamete but I haven't gotten to a point where I know how to punish them properly.

I also tend to play a territorial game but I also try to be flexible. Flexibility is one of the harder concepts in go to grasp for beginning players. When set out a territory we want to plant our feet in that side of the board and not budge but often that can be very disadvantageous. Our moyos need to bend and flex across the board. Go is a dance and you don't dance by standing still.

The opening really appeals to me, it is the part of the game where the flow is most easily seen. Recently I have been playing mainly to openings: Chinese and Orthodox. Both are robust and flexible.

I am sure my style will change with time but I am sure I will always try to play a gentle flowing game for that is how I try to live my life.

An interesting idea though I feel your style will at first be more influenced simply by what you've learnt how to pull off already or by having something beaten out of you. One of my very first games online I tried to take the centre because it looked bigger, thee 2 or 3k giving me the teaching game let me have the centre, all 10 points or so of it. I instantly became a VERY territorial player and it's only recently that I've stopped dreading having to take influence instead of territory if my opponent invades.

Got to agree on the time limits, I like 20-25 minutes main time as well.

I'd like to know more how you consider orthodox fuseki to be flexible, I use it almost exclusively as B and I view it as pretty rigid, though an opponent can still force you into doing something different.

PeterN

I view Orthodox as flexible because you have claimed one corner for influence and one for territory therefore you can choose to emphasize one aspect or the other according to how you want to play.

Playing online still makes my heart thump like a race horse. I don't understand why I get so nervous. I am not nervous when I play face to face and in general I am not that nervous of a person. I think it really affects my playing. I am so worried about losing that I can't play as comfortably as I can.

I just lost a heart wrenching match. I thought I was up by quite a bit. I had made some solid territory and reduced me opponent well and my end game was strong. Yet in the end I find out I somehow lost by 0.5 points.................

Next game, next game! =)

I was the same, it started to Go away as I just got used to playing online frequently.

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My "guide" to become stronger in Go

I can only repeat what SoDesuNe writes: Play another one as quickly as possible! I also know this problem only too well (unfortunately this problem hits me online as well as offline in tournaments ), but you have to confront it or it will never go away. The best way to cure your nervousness is getting into a playing routine. Playing on a regular basis helps a lot and the nervousness will eventually get better and perhaps, after some time, it might disapear altogether.
Another effective way to tackle this problem is to think about what makes you nervous about playing online: Is it fear of losing? Not being able to see your oponent's face? Or something different? I for my part have difficulties to decide for games on KGS. I always check the other players games and rating graph and it costs a lot of time and I eventually will not play at all because "I couldn't find a game.". Nonsense, of course... My solution was to simply use automatch most of the time and it is a lot easier for me now. Maybe there is a simple solution for your problem, too!

Also remember to play the stones, not the oponent! And the stones are always the same on the virtual and the physical board, just the representation is a bit different. Still, it is the same game.

Good luck!

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Subotai, I've had the same feeling for the almost 10 years I've been playing (on and off) go. It has recently gone... I just grew confident that I could trust my moves (I think this is the biggest part that made it go away) and win or lose didn't matter that much as long as I learnt why (this eased almost all pressures I had: I can lose 20 games as long as I know where I got it wrong and don't do it again... or often, at least).

Now I don't remember where I got the quote or who it was, but a very famous actor, after 40 years working still threw up before each filming session (I'd try to remember where I got it and update this reply.)

Edit: Henry Fonda, as mentioned in Steven Pressfield's Do the work. Probably also mentioned in his The war of art.

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Geek of all trades, master of none: the motto for my blog mostlymaths.net

Horribly late reply time!

I can understand what you mean, I just view it as emphasizing that you really want whatever side you've played it on, essentially aiming for Sanrensei+ (yeah, I have no idea if it has a proper name after you play the extension in between). Thinking about it more the only opening I'd probably call flexible is dual 4-4 points, prefferably diagonally opposite.

PeterN

You might have suspected that Subotai is not my real name. So who is the real Subotai?

Subotai was the primary military strategist and general of Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan. He directed more than twenty campaigns in which he conquered thirty-two nations and won sixty-five pitched battles, during which he conquered or overran more territory than any other commander in history. He gained victory by means of imaginative and sophisticated strategies and routinely coordinated movements of armies that were hundreds of kilometers away from each other. He is also remembered for devising the campaign that destroyed the armies of Hungary and Poland within two days of each other, by forces over five hundred kilometers apart. (Wikipedia)

Go is a game of deep strategy and insight, and we as go players are all generals commanding our troops on a 19x19 board. To me Subotai represents the pinnacle of strategy, his go like tactics are an inspiration.

For those interested in learning more about the fascinating history of the Mongolian Empire I recommend two books:

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World; A great book on the overall history of Genghis Khan and his empire
http://www.amazon.com/Genghis-Khan-Making-Modern-World/dp/0609809644/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1384403339&sr=8-2&keywords=genghis+khan

Genghis Khan's Greatest General: Subotai the Valiant; This is more specifically about the military history of the empire and the feats of Subotai
http://www.amazon.com/Genghis-Khans-Greatest-General-Subotai/dp/0806137347/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384403549&sr=8-1&keywords=subotai

Good news to report:

I am back to 3k kgs. It seems that my consistent studying is paying off

This week 1001 L&D problems arrived in the mail. I will be starting the book on Friday. I have really enjoyed doing 501 Opening problems. Though I don't always agree with their answers I think I have a better understanding of the opening now.

Furthermore I have been feeling more calm playing online games recently which is great.

Yi Ch'ang-ho:



He is one of my favorite players. Nick named the "Stone-Buddha" for his passive playing and expression during matches. During the 90s Yi created a storm in the professional go scene dominating everyone and taking title after title with his amazing calculations and wicked yose. The Yi of the 90s avoided large messy fights and often gave the opponent what they wanted through miai and reduction tactics. I have played through probably 50 of his games so far and he always amazes me with his insightful and powerful moves. He will often either completely outplay his opponent in the first 150 moves forcing them to resign or will slowly strangle his adversary to win by a small margin. In the 2000's players began to figure out his style and that was when people like Lee Sedol with his calculating power and aggressive style really started to give Yi problems. Despite Yi having to change his style to deal with the younger generation he is still playing well.

I study players by the year and for Yi I have chosen 95,96,97 as they are his most successful years. I hope to learn from his games the ability to make the stones flow well and also how to make devastating reductions so that I can play a more peaceful game.

The game I studied today is a perfect example of Yi's style. Yi and Ma both played an amazing game but Yi was able to hold on and nab the victory.

The Rules of Go:

Many of us are enchanted by the flow of stones on the goban. Governed by a few simple rules go has been obsessed over for thousands of years. It is hard to define what go really is, a game, art, sport, mental exercise? I think go exceeds all of these labels and represents our closest attempt at creating a life. When two competent players go at it on the goban a symphony is created one of ups and downs full of tension and harmony. A story of the human spirit unravels, our ability to adapt and survive, grow and thrive. After watching a good game we should honestly applause as before our eyes an epic has been told, both players forging it with a part of their souls.

Go is able to accomplish this because its rules are in harmony with nature. Simple rules within a large terrain allowing for infinite possibilities. Through go's simplicity comes its complexity.

Go's rules are as follows:
1. Black places one stone first, and then white, repeat.
2. Players can only play a stone on the intersections of the board.
3. When a stone or group of stones is absent of liberties it is removed from the board, these stones are given to the player who captured them and constitute one point.
4. When a Ko is created the next player is not allowed to recapture the stone until the following turn.
5. When a player has made all of the moves they want to they say "pass" and their turn ends, when both players consecutively pass the game ends.
6. At the end of the game enemy stones without life are removed as prisoners and the player that controls the most intersection points wins.

The game is not perfect as komi is necessary to create a more balanced game and there are different ways to interpret the score and slight variations in rules. Yet, these six basic laws govern all of go's complexity and beauty. All other happenings on the board are just consequences of the rules and form the nature of the game.

Go is amazing and I hope we can all continue to enjoy it.

"The board has to be square, for it signifies the Earth, and its right angles signify uprightness. The pieces of the two sides are yellow and black; this difference signifies the Yin and the Yang -- scattered in groups all over the board, they represent the heavenly bodies. These significances being manifest, it is up to the players to make the moves, and this is connected with kingship. Following what the rules permit, both opponents are subject to them -- this is the rigor of the Tao".
Pan Ku, 1st century historian

Progress Report:

The past two weeks I have been busy with preparing for and taking finals so I haven't played much go. I have been keeping to tsumego, over half way through l&d, and replaying games. I have about a three week break coming up so I should be playing everyday and hopefully I can study a pro game everyday too.

Moyoaji who recently had got to 3k suggested that he wants to try to get to 1 dan by March. I wonder if I can do that too. I do feel like I am improving with my training regimen but that is still quite a jump. All I can do is keep working hard and do my best, I'll see you at 1d moyoaji

Holiday greetings to all!

While being on break from medical school go has been getting a lot of attention recently. I have been playing games online everyday and seem to be calmer too. I have also been going over one professional game a day. Tsumego wise I am almost done with L&D and will be starting the third installment of the mastering the basics series, making good shape.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays.

Merry Christmas!

This week has been a somewhat frustrating one when it comes to go. I have been straddling the 3/4k line on kgs. It is annoying seeing your rank go down because then all you think about is returning to your original rank, such a mindset can affect your playing.

I have been reading making good shape which has been interesting. Adding the concept of shape into your game helps to make sense of some confusing fights and especially during invasions.

I am almost done with Lee Chang-ho's 1996 season and I am excited to start studying Takagawa Kaku's style.

I wish you all happy holidays!

My First posted game:

This is a game that I played this morning and it gave me a heart attack. Those deep deep invasions is where I freak out because I have to make sure that I can quell their attacks lest I lose the game. My opponent made a lot of over plays which I was able to successfully take advantage of but they still gave me panic attacks.

But I survived and earned a solid win. Comments are always appreciated.