back after 2years -- what changed for you afer a long break

[ephriam22]

I was out for 30 years and can hardly remember what my play was like back then, but I think it was probably at what is now a low ddk level although at the time I was ranked 11 kyu on IGS. Anyway life, work and children took over. Now that I'm playing again I find that I enjoy it more than before although my skill level hasn't improved that much. What I find both surprising and positively heartening is the immense growth of the go community and the valuable resources available to all levels. Fred

[Joaz Banbeck]

[*] Wise words for L19ers: still there! 2 years later i can remember some posts here...

Could someone post a link on those two explanations? I am unable to find them

Thank you

They - or similar posts - can be found here:
forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=667

[Bill Spight]

After languishing for a year and a half as a shodan in Hawaii, I moved to the mainland to a place where there were no go players. (No internet in those days.) I didn't quit the game entirely, playing over a pro game about once a month. After a little more than two years I moved back to Hawaii for a while and made 2 dan in a month. Six months later I made (weak) 3 dan. (In the previous month I had been winning all my games as 2 dan and losing all my games as 3 dan. )

I was puzzled by my rapid advancement in those months, but I was in my twenties and finally chalked it up to emotional maturity.

[Kirby]

emotional maturity... gotta get me some of that.

[Tapani]

Usually a break for about 6 months have been beneficial for me (tried it now once in go, but a few times in chess). I return to the game with new eyes, seeing the big picture better, and not being so focused on details.

My theory about why, goes something like this:

When we are having fun and learning things, the brain grows new connections. When knowledge is used again, the connections are strengthened and unused connections eventually disappear again.
By taking a longish break, many of the least used connections have gotten much weaker (or even disappeared) and only the more frequently used ones are left.
In this theory of mine, this is good. Since when we play, we are subjected to many 'patterns' on what is good and what is not. But since our game experiences are a bit random, many of the patterns are based on coincidences and are not significant patterns at all. Also some patterns that were relevant at one level when we learned the game, are not so relevant anymore. With a break many of these less observed patterns disappear, at least enough not to distract the stronger ones with noise. We can start learning new patterns again, more relevant to our current level.

Or something like that