Tips for reviewing my own games

Kap · Post by **Kap** » Mon May 02, 2016 2:11 pm

Hi all,

I've picked up Go in the wake of the match between Lee Sedol and AlphaGo and have played some dozen games online since then. Initially I wouldn't give my finished games much thought but over the last couple days I experienced a growing desire to review my games on a real goban.

However, unless it's a life and death situation I can try to read out I don't seem to be getting as much out of reviewing as I had hoped (other than a tired arm from placing hundreds of stones in relatively quick succession :lol:

).

Any tips on how I should go about reviewing my own games? Is there a list of questions I should ask myself before/after every move? Should I go over the game multiple times focusing on a different aspect each time? If so, what aspects?

Any and all help is much appreciated.

- Kap

EdLee · Post by **EdLee** » Mon May 02, 2016 2:26 pm

Hi Kap,

One question you can try is find the game losing move.
It's not always possible, of course.
Sometimes, we need a higher level person to help us.
But you can try.

Bill Spight · Post by **Bill Spight** » Mon May 02, 2016 2:28 pm

Reviewing your own games can be a challenge, because it is hard to see your own blind spots. However, you will see some bad moves and problematic ones yourself, especially at your level. For one thing, you are making a lot of bad moves.

For another, you are advancing rapidly.

Tip #1) Try to find the losing move.

Tip #2) Play variations on the board. (Edit: OIC that you are doing that. Playing variations on a computer is less taxing on your arm. You can also save the variations for later reference.

)

Tip #3) Play against stronger players, preferably at least 5 stones stronger. Even if they do not offer a review, they will punish many of your mistakes.

Good luck!

xed_over · Post by **xed_over** » Mon May 02, 2016 3:03 pm

Yeah, its not necessary to review every move.
Looks for you're most common or frequent mistake. Focus on correcting that in your next game(s).
Then start looking for your next most frequent mistake, and so on

As Ed says, looking for you losing move can be fun. Especially in close games. (lost by 0.5 points): "Surely I could found one point some where!?"

Kap · Post by **Kap** » Mon May 02, 2016 4:01 pm

Thank you for your responses. I will definitely try to identify the losing move from now on (for both me and my opponent in the case of a win).

@EdLee I can definitely see that pondering as a beginner has diminishing returns. Thanks for pointing it out. My most recent serious game is

@Bill I will try to play stronger opponents more often. So far I have focussed on getting even games. The benefits are evident but I'm a little afraid I might become frustrated rather quickly. Only one way to find out.

@xed_over Identifying this most frequent mistake is easier said than done ;-)

. Also 0.5 point games are close to being a myth for us beginners. Usually some group dies off and the point difference jumps up, leading to large discrepancies even after close games.

- Kap

Bill Spight · Post by **Bill Spight** » Mon May 02, 2016 4:23 pm

Kap wrote:@Bill I will try to play stronger opponents more often. So far I have focussed on getting even games. The benefits are evident but I'm a little afraid I might become frustrated rather quickly. Only one way to find out.

Take a proper handicap, so that you win about half the time. That is not so frustrating.

EdLee · Post by **EdLee** » Mon May 02, 2016 5:24 pm

Hi Kap,

Before :b23:

, you played well.

:b23:

This feels a bit cramped. ( Either G3 or G4 seems better. )

:b25:

Similar problems as :b23:

,

-- slow.

Wrong shape: you let W atari for free for no good reason.
Just M14.

:w42:

At least M13.

:b53:

Can take more; J9.

:b55:

You probably didn't read what if W ataris twice at D18, E18,
then ataris B18 ?

:b61:

H17.

Find a better move and sequence.

Bill Spight · Post by **Bill Spight** » Mon May 02, 2016 8:33 pm

A couple of comments.

Main focus: Faint heart ne'er won fair lady.

Kap · Post by **Kap** » Tue May 03, 2016 12:08 am

Thank you very much for your time and effort!

Would you say that my biggest problem right now is timid play? Not making bigger jumps for fear of being cut, not challenging white's group as Bill showed, being too busy protecting my cutting point to notice :b77:

at H17 capturing the 2 white stones (and thus the whole group? I don't see a way for white to live after H17), etc.

@EdLee You are right, I was oblivious to the sequence you showed starting from :b55:

, thank you.

- Kap

EdLee · Post by **EdLee** » Tue May 03, 2016 12:10 am

Kap wrote:being too busy protecting my cutting point to notice Black 77 at H17 capturing the 2 white stones (and thus the whole group?

Hi Kap,

Liberties. Awareness of liberties. Seeing ataris is part of it.

Basics. Knowledge of the basics: basic shapes, basic tesujis, basic life-and-death, basic contact fights, etc.

If you have the time and access to basic Go problems, start doing them as soon as you can,
and as often as you can afford to.

EdLee · Post by **EdLee** » Tue May 03, 2016 12:23 am

Hi Kap,

Regarding your question about your 'biggest' problem(s),
these are some of the areas that most of us (amateurs) are working on,
regardless of our levels:

Kap · Post by **Kap** » Tue May 03, 2016 1:18 am

Thank you again for your time.

It's healthy to never assume the existence of a one-size-fit-all solution for anything ;-)

If one existed in the context of Go then surely this game wouldn't be as attractive a hobby/object of study.

I'm currently working through The Second Book of Go to improve my grasp on the basics and solving problems from the Graded Go Problems for Beginners series when at home and if time permits. I have bound the elementary problems of Cho Chikun's Encyclopedia into an A6 booklet for train rides/downtimes at the job.

I thought of self-reviewing as a nice addition to my study regimen and am certainly not expecting it to fix all my problems

- Kap

EdLee · Post by **EdLee** » Tue May 03, 2016 1:40 am

Hi Kap,

Those are good books. Good that you're studying them.

Bill Spight · Post by **Bill Spight** » Tue May 03, 2016 1:53 am

Kap wrote:Would you say that my biggest problem right now is timid play? Not making bigger jumps for fear of being cut, not challenging white's group as Bill showed, being too busy protecting my cutting point to notice at H17 capturing the 2 white stones (and thus the whole group? I don't see a way for white to live after H17), etc.

I didn't see play that I would call timid.

But you could have been more enterprising. Consider :b25:

. I trust that now you see that it would have been better at :b27:

, approaching the White stone in the corner while extending Black's position on the bottom side. :b25:

is not timid, but it is unenterprising. In the center :b85:

threatens the cut at H-09, but in the end you never make that cut. Can White live if you cut at H-09? That is for him to prove.

daal · Post by **daal** » Tue May 03, 2016 2:32 am

One way of focusing on just a few mistakes is to review your games backwards. (Considerably easier on a computer). By starting at the end of the game, it's often clear what went wrong for you (I let that territory get too big, I let these stones get captured, etc.) and then you can move back through the game until you get to the spot where that event began and think about what you might have done differently.

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