In GoQuest.

I even got a "certificate of achivement[sic]."


I've played 1699 games of 9x9 blitz go on GoQuest, so it actually took me quite a while!

It's probably those 9x9 boards I sent you which push you over the hump.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

Could be... they arrived last Thursday. Thanks!

Newbie question: Is playing on anything smaller than a 19x19 board smart and effective for overall play/rank advancement?


Thanks.

Like many things in Go, it depends.

On the one hand, there's a lot to learn from playing on small boards. A lot of the skills that are necessary to play well are transferable to 19x19 play. You must read out sequences, the value of sente becomes apparent, sacrifices are a viable tactic, counting can influence your decisions, etc. Tactical development in particular tends to transfer well, so playing on small boards can certainly help to develop your fighting skills if that's where you are weak.

On the other hand, there are some things that you can't learn on a small board. Strategic considerations in the opening are very different. Large scale sacrifices become less viable. The different areas of the board tend to run together quickly, so understanding how influence in one area can impact a different part of the board is more difficult. If strategic issues are your primary stumbling block, small boards might not help you.

The other thing that you have to be careful about is the habits you pick up while playing on a small board. When I have recently played many games on GoQuest (which only offers blitz), I can get lazy in my reading on 19x19. Overall I think I've learned a lot by playing many 9x9 games, but if I'm not careful bad habits can damage my progress. Of course, the same thing can be said about playing while in a bad mood / tired / etc., so it's not just the small board that can introduce bad habits.

I never played on a board smaller than 19x19 until I was a dan player and using the small board to give lessons. But looking back, I think that I would have benefited from playing on the 9x9 on the way up. And even now!

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The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

Short answer: good for tactics, not much for strategy.

Ja, but tactical confidence definitely informs one's strategy, particularly during that awkward SDK phase when you're strong enough to recognise the correct move, strategically, but actually play something sub-optimal because you can't conceptualise how to pull off the right line or direction.

This. This is precisely how I feel about playing Go at the moment. It's like knowing the theorem for something but being unable to prove it when asked.

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Confucius in the Analects says "even playing go is better than eating chips in front of tv all day." -- kivi