Path to 9Dan, step by step.

[hl782]

Charles, OtakuViking, and skydyr, thank you very much for your comments! I'll take those seriously into consideration and try to apply them more in my games.

Today, I played no games on kgs, but I played a game with my dad. He said i improved in whole board recognition - which was a bit surprising, because I always thought that i tend to focus a lot on local situations in my games. Besides that, I did more L&D problems - I am currently recycling 1001 L&D Problems and scoring around 85-90% on my recycling so far (finished 400 problems ish). Recycling is always more enjoyable and less tedious - and I am baffled at how i managed to miss some of the problems i got wrong on my first time... haha



Also, In the book section of the forum, I see alot of recommendations/suggestions for good books. Although this suggestion isn't for everyone (It's written in Korean) - I highly recommend 2 book series - 1 is called Lee Chang Ho's Classic Baduk Series, and the other is Cho Hun Hyun's Real Games (실전) Baduk Series. Lee Chang Ho's series is 15 volumes, and Cho Hun Hyun's series is 25 volumes - Some are very hard to find now due to them being out of print but alot are still up for sale. In particular, I haven't found better introductory books on the Opening than Lee Chang Ho's 기초포석 (Intro Fuseki), and better books on Jeongseok than the 3 volumes in Cho Hun Hyun's series (with respect to collection of joseki, punishing overplays, showing strategic reasoning for each move, whole board thinking). Furthermore, Cho's series contains books specific to advanced topics, such as sacrificing stones, settling stones, probes, ko fights, etc. I wish someone could translate these books into English. Perhaps anyone with connections to Kiseido or Slate & Shell can refer them for me x)

[yoyoma]

What handicap are you on with your dad now?

[hl782]

What handicap are you on with your dad now?

Hi yoyoma - ever since i beat him with 15 stones we've been playing at 9 stones but I really havent come close to beating him since.



Attached is a game i played today - a win! I made a real mess of the bottom but besides that i think I outplayed him thoroughly - I took alot of the advice and tried to cut and attack and not play passively.

[Charles Matthews]

What handicap are you on with your dad now?

Hi yoyoma - ever since i beat him with 15 stones we've been playing at 9 stones but I really havent come close to beating him since.

You probably realise what good fortune that is.

In the game, at H15 is huge. White doesn't have well-developed formations, so invading/reducing is hardly necessary yet.

[hl782]

What handicap are you on with your dad now?

Hi yoyoma - ever since i beat him with 15 stones we've been playing at 9 stones but I really havent come close to beating him since.

You probably realise what good fortune that is.

haha most definitely yes - I am quite fortunate to have him around. It's sorta like having a 'sai' like hikaru did in HNG. If i get stuck or muddled in a game i tend to think 'How would my dad play in this situation?'

Here's another game I played today - 1 more win. I feel like I got a slight intuitive click on finding bigger moves in the opening and seeking out sente even if i suffer a little in the beginning. Any comments will be greatly appreciated!

[Elom]

Hi,

Hmm, white still isn't alive yet!

As white, I prefer e17 to attack the black stones, as the immediate area seems to allow white to do so, but I'm not 100% sure.

Actually, the invasion seems preferable to the slide, as white doesn't seem to be able to use the influence as well as one might assume at first glance. Yes, the immediate area is white's stronghold, but looking at the bigger picture, the strong black stones to the right could hurt a possibility for a moyou. And since black will leave with sente, black can fly a stone to the center area a few moves later to take the lead. This is why e17 seemed better than h17. But someone stronger probably needs to confirm this (I'm around 3kyu)

Ouch, white is hurt. d14 is usually a stronger move...

, , appears far too slow. The main focus in this game is probably the black thickness. Locally, h3 feels better than b2 in this situation. is probably also not urgent. The s5 area is also not settled.

Understandably, black doesn't want to follow white's plan, but is this the best move? Maybe C9 is an alternative... Think about your shape on move 69...

Yeah, but now the game seems nice for black after 79!
Is it possible for white to double hane?

is most likely an overplay, white sacrificing the four stones by playing one to the right seems a more feasible strategy. Your right about move 91, but black is still in the lead now, even if white plays first in the lower right.

very nice, white claims about 13 whole points.

S6 should be at s5.

N14 actually holds less aji than N12.

213-219, very nice, white slipped at 212.

Good luck!

[hl782]

Hmm, white still isn't alive yet!

As white, I prefer e17 to attack the black stones, as the immediate area seems to allow white to do so, but I'm not 100% sure.

Actually, the invasion seems preferable to the slide, as white doesn't seem to be able to use the influence as well as one might assume at first glance. Yes, the immediate area is white's stronghold, but looking at the bigger picture, the strong black stones to the right could hurt a possibility for a moyou. And since black will leave with sente, black can fly a stone to the center area a few moves later to take the lead. This is why e17 seemed better than h17. But someone stronger probably needs to confirm this (I'm around 3kyu)

Ouch, white is hurt. d14 is usually a stronger move...

, , appears far too slow. The main focus in this game is probably the black thickness. Locally, h3 feels better than b2 in this situation. is probably also not urgent. The s5 area is also not settled.

Understandably, black doesn't want to follow white's plan, but is this the best move? Maybe C9 is an alternative... Think about your shape on move 69...

Yeah, but now the game seems nice for black after 79!
Is it possible for white to double hane?

is most likely an overplay, white sacrificing the four stones by playing one to the right seems a more feasible strategy. Your right about move 91, but black is still in the lead now, even if white plays first in the lower right.

very nice, white claims about 13 whole points.

S6 should be at s5.

N14 actually holds less aji than N12.

213-219, very nice, white slipped at 212.

Good luck!

Thanks for the review! As for the upper left where I invaded at 3-3, i actually regretted it immediately. I think it would have been best for me to play the lower knights move like the standard joseki. it would have also been a possibility to attack that white gruop to the left as well if i played c-12 afterwards (placement at b-16 looks like it could leave white without a base). The 3-3 just gave him too much thickness that white didnt take advantage of!

[hl782]

2 more games, 2 more wins - with reviews added (thanks to Justin Teng for reviewing them with me afterwards)





On another note, more progress with 1001 LD Problems - still maintaining a sold 88-90% accuracy (of the ones i missed on my first runthrough) through 650 problems.

Today I also looked back at some of my old games from 15k when i started go about 3 months ago. Even though I go through slumps, and sometimes feel like I'm not making any progress - I've definitely improved. I think after I am done with 1001 LD & Get Strong at Tesuji, I'll finish 501 Tesuji Problems, Making Good Shape, and Lee Chang Ho Tesuji/LD Series Vol 3&4. Should be there in a few months, and I figure I'll be around 3-5k by then. From then on, I'll start jacking up my go studies a bit - Segoe/Seigen Tesuji Dictionary, Segoe LD Dictionary, Shuko's Tesuji Dictionary, and maybe Gokyo Shumyo. I feel myself getting stronger, and I have no intentions of stopping anytime soon.

[hl782]

2 more games, 2 more Ws - The 1st game was a very easy win but i really messed up the endgame. The 2nd game i shoulda lost for sure but white never sealed the deal and i managed to come back!

[Charles Matthews]

Here's another game I played today - 1 more win. I feel like I got a slight intuitive click on finding bigger moves in the opening and seeking out sente even if i suffer a little in the beginning. Any comments will be greatly appreciated!

You looked the stronger player. The lower right is a puzzle.

goes at H9: keep up the pressure on White's shape.

Black 105: test the water in the lower right now. Even if White lives small, you will become more solid.

Black 111 is poor style.

Black 145 at Q7, natch. Black 147 at T9 still kills.

Black 149: now you win ...

[hl782]

3 more games - 2 wins, 1 loss - with some comments by me. I really shouldn't have blown the one loss away - my endgame is garbage.

[Knotwilg]

Hi

Game 2:

at this stage of the game, it is better to surround first, then kill eyes. Now White can break through the lines and separate your stones.

an elementary reading mistake. The variations at were pointless, the real mistake happened a move earlier. How to avoid this in the future? Any idea where this kind of mistake comes from?

[Charles Matthews]

Game 2:

Play at C16. This is an interesting idea: if White builds a vertical wall, it will be wasted, so you prevent the horizontal wall.

Game 3:

at H7 is a good idea, right now. The clamp at B6 might be, later. Your plan to break in here wasn't bad: stick to it.

- seems you still need to take on board the 123 principle. Just play "3",

Some strange plays in this game. At Black 217 did you look at C16? Seems White can't resist.

[hl782]

7kyu! lol how does kgs rankings work didnt even expect this...

So I achieved my goal of 7kyu about a month earlier than I expected - I hope to hit or get near about 6k by the end of the summer!

[Knotwilg]

7kyu! lol how does kgs rankings work didnt even expect this...

So I achieved my goal of 7kyu about a month earlier than I expected - I hope to hit or get near about 6k by the end of the summer!

Beware of getting too motivated by arbitrary successes. Soon you'll encounter arbitrary drawbacks. It's natural to be driven by rank but try to find other measurable signs of progress so that your motivation does not become dependent on something as variable as the KGS ranking algorithm.

Still, congratulations with the overall improvement.