- club1.jpg (71.63 KiB) Viewed 26195 times
- club2.jpg (62.24 KiB) Viewed 26195 times
Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
-
globulon
- Dies in gote
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Thu May 07, 2015 11:40 am
- Rank: Taiwan 2 kyu
- GD Posts: 0
- Location: Taipei, Taiwan
- Has thanked: 87 times
- Been thanked: 9 times
Re: Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
As to the club, it's very friendly. People were a bit reluctant to play me and had to be wrangled a bit by the club manager but when they did sit down they were very nice and focused on the game. There's also some wrangling every time about how many stones to give me. Since I've never really participated in club like this before I don't know, but somehow I imagine it will be easier when I am a known factor, but again it wasn't unpleasant.
Also, a few people speak enough English for a basic conversation. I was trying to use my Chinese some and that was accepted. I told them my Chinese name which sounds a lot like a Taiwanese pop star's name, so there were some jokes about that.
At times one or two people will break out in song.
There were several people studying at a board with a newspaper or magazine.
There was also a computer where people would play on the net I guess.
Also, the glassed off area is a classroom not a smoking area.
Behind me in the first picture is the desk, they also sell things like Weiqi Tian Di. I had tried to find this in the libraries and bookstores to no avail. They also have some books of various kinds.
I had 8 games. I think I went 2-6. My highlight was when I beat one of the older guys with 4 stones because I was able to kill a small corner group of his using bent four. Another game on 4 stones I came very close but a bit of carelessness cost me the game. I also had two games with kids, both of whom game me a handicap. I won one and lost the other. The last game was with a guy who is a weiqi teacher, he was quite nice and spoke a lot of English. It was entirely friendly but it was more of the order of a lesson where some of the moves were praised or criticized during the game. I think the idea was sort of that it was a bit of a trial run to see if I was interested in lessons but I don't know, I was happy for the teaching.
A note on scoring. They use Chinese or area scoring. The basic concept is pretty simple, but the process of actually counting a game on the board is quite a bit different. First you remove dead groups and stones. Secondly there is a phase that is basically the same as with Japanese style, here you are just trying to adjust things to make it easier to count, switching the places of stones without actually adding or removing any. Then what they do is they count the territory, but sometimes they will take stones off as well (since they are interchangeable) to make easier numbers. Also sometimes they will get a group of say 12 empty points and put two stones in it. The idea here is that since you are counting the territory first, and will count the stones later, for the territory count that area is an easy 10. One trick I saw the little girl use was to use the white stones to tally units of 10 of territory. Also, notice that they are only doing this for black. White isn't counted at all. Then when the territory has been counted, now you pick up all the white stones and put them away and start arranging the black stones in groups of 10 (two lines of 5 next to eachother, or 5 pairs in a row if you prefer). Now you take the territory count and then add the stone count.
Beware because if you are playing a handicap game, the rules are to deduct your handicap stones from your score at the end.
Oh, one other thing I almost forgot, I did ask about the Taiwan Qi Yuan but there was a strange thing that the head of the Haifong org was in the room sitting at one of the tables. When this was pointed out to me I'm not sure the intent was for me to let it go but they didn't seem too interested in the topic so I just dropped it.
Also, a few people speak enough English for a basic conversation. I was trying to use my Chinese some and that was accepted. I told them my Chinese name which sounds a lot like a Taiwanese pop star's name, so there were some jokes about that.
At times one or two people will break out in song.
There were several people studying at a board with a newspaper or magazine.
There was also a computer where people would play on the net I guess.
Also, the glassed off area is a classroom not a smoking area.
Behind me in the first picture is the desk, they also sell things like Weiqi Tian Di. I had tried to find this in the libraries and bookstores to no avail. They also have some books of various kinds.
I had 8 games. I think I went 2-6. My highlight was when I beat one of the older guys with 4 stones because I was able to kill a small corner group of his using bent four. Another game on 4 stones I came very close but a bit of carelessness cost me the game. I also had two games with kids, both of whom game me a handicap. I won one and lost the other. The last game was with a guy who is a weiqi teacher, he was quite nice and spoke a lot of English. It was entirely friendly but it was more of the order of a lesson where some of the moves were praised or criticized during the game. I think the idea was sort of that it was a bit of a trial run to see if I was interested in lessons but I don't know, I was happy for the teaching.
A note on scoring. They use Chinese or area scoring. The basic concept is pretty simple, but the process of actually counting a game on the board is quite a bit different. First you remove dead groups and stones. Secondly there is a phase that is basically the same as with Japanese style, here you are just trying to adjust things to make it easier to count, switching the places of stones without actually adding or removing any. Then what they do is they count the territory, but sometimes they will take stones off as well (since they are interchangeable) to make easier numbers. Also sometimes they will get a group of say 12 empty points and put two stones in it. The idea here is that since you are counting the territory first, and will count the stones later, for the territory count that area is an easy 10. One trick I saw the little girl use was to use the white stones to tally units of 10 of territory. Also, notice that they are only doing this for black. White isn't counted at all. Then when the territory has been counted, now you pick up all the white stones and put them away and start arranging the black stones in groups of 10 (two lines of 5 next to eachother, or 5 pairs in a row if you prefer). Now you take the territory count and then add the stone count.
Beware because if you are playing a handicap game, the rules are to deduct your handicap stones from your score at the end.
Edit a few nights later: Well, I apologize for spreading the evil virus of misinformation on the web. I was able to ask a couple of questions about it tonight and I had misunderstood how the handicap stones were handled.
It turns out it's a bit more confusing to understand this part than I realized. I played a 6 stone game and they told me that if I scored 184 on the board (territory plus stone), then I win (I had 182). I'm going to leave it there for the time being. As some one told me tonight I need to study more. Likely the resources are available if I read up on SL to understand this issue clearly.
Oh, one other thing I almost forgot, I did ask about the Taiwan Qi Yuan but there was a strange thing that the head of the Haifong org was in the room sitting at one of the tables. When this was pointed out to me I'm not sure the intent was for me to let it go but they didn't seem too interested in the topic so I just dropped it.
-
clemi
- Dies in gote
- Posts: 66
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:38 am
- GD Posts: 0
- KGS: clemi
- Location: Paris
- Has thanked: 51 times
- Been thanked: 35 times
Re: Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
I used to play there before leaving Taiwan two months ago. More information on this:
- if you are a student, it's 150NT instead of 170NT
- if you play there very often (some of the old grandpas are there everyday !), you can buy 30 tickets for 3000 NT (something like that)
- on thursdays at 7PM, there is commentaries of pro games by the owner (amateur TW 7D) for ~70NT
I'm a 2K KGS and used to play around 1D~2D level there.
PS: for weiqitiandi mag in taiwan, the simplest way is to buy it from the internet here (single or subscription).
- if you are a student, it's 150NT instead of 170NT
- if you play there very often (some of the old grandpas are there everyday !), you can buy 30 tickets for 3000 NT (something like that)
- on thursdays at 7PM, there is commentaries of pro games by the owner (amateur TW 7D) for ~70NT
I'm a 2K KGS and used to play around 1D~2D level there.
PS: for weiqitiandi mag in taiwan, the simplest way is to buy it from the internet here (single or subscription).
-
globulon
- Dies in gote
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Thu May 07, 2015 11:40 am
- Rank: Taiwan 2 kyu
- GD Posts: 0
- Location: Taipei, Taiwan
- Has thanked: 87 times
- Been thanked: 9 times
Re: Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
I got to go to Min Sheng Park yesterday.
I arrived at 6:30 and found two players playing a game under a small pavilion in the eastern part of the park. I just sat and watched and was able to get a 9 stone game with one guy which I was able to win. Because recently I had lost a group to one of those endgame moves that fills the outside liberty and thus makes and attack inside possible I was more conscious of this and responded appropriately to maintain the life of my group, which he was quite happy about. I was able to keep his groups separated and a sizable one died. Near the very end, I made a tactical blunder near my lower left corner. Nothing died but I lost some stones and basically the corner flipped hands. He pointed out after the game that this was quite big.
After the game he told me that people usually come after dinner time so I should go get something to eat and come back after 8 or 9 pm. I did this, getting back about 9:45pm. There were several players gathered around in the pavilion. One weiqi game going on and some guys just hanging out and chatting around an empty chess board. I just came up and started watching the game. I think I was a bit on the timid side and they were too. When one of the games ended and it looked like they would play again, I picked up a board that was on the seat for the table behind me and put the board on the table and suddenly the ice was completely broken and we were all chatting happily. Most of the players were smoking, but to me it makes a huge difference that it is outdoors, so I don't mind it at all.
I was quickly paired with a bystander who was quite strong. He gave me 9 stones, and I managed to play well, winning handily. He told me my rank was a good deal too low and that I am actually stronger. By this times the manager of the club came by. It seems that this actually a real club in a formal sense, not just guys hanging out in the park. They have the use of the tables which have drawers for the boards and stones. They also have a bathroom in the basement of the parking garage to the NE corner of the park. This guy was super nice and spoke with me a good bit in English. Next I played the same guy but we played at 6 stones. This one I lost by 2 points. I took 6 stones, so the idea is I have to score 184 on the board (territory and stones together). I thought I was winning, but because I am aware that my positional sense is not good, and I could see his main area was quite big, it didn't surprise to find that he had edged me out.
On this note, I would say this has been my main study project lately. I have read through Dr. Straw's lectures on counting, and I have watched the Guo Juan lecture series on counting. I also got a copy of the Lee Chang Ho book that John Fairbairn recommended but haven't had time to work with it. This will be time consuming of course. My Chinese level is such that I can work through this kind of thing, where there are a lot of diagrams, not very much text, and many of the words are repeated. But even so, it is still a project. However, my idea here is of course that I am practicing the go-players much lauded virtue of efficiency and practicing my Chinese and my go at the same time. I am hoping to spend some time with it in the near future when I will be traveling for long stretches. However, I think for me the idea that makes the most sense is to start practicing some of the techniques, maybe not so much in my own games right away but in other games. When I get the counting skill up to speed I hope to incorporate it into my game. However, I am a person who often makes such plans and rarely accomplishes them. So, let's see what happens.
So, at the end of the evening, we just chatted a bit more, they told me the weekend usually has more players. Then he walked me over to the bus stop, which I appreciated.
I arrived at 6:30 and found two players playing a game under a small pavilion in the eastern part of the park. I just sat and watched and was able to get a 9 stone game with one guy which I was able to win. Because recently I had lost a group to one of those endgame moves that fills the outside liberty and thus makes and attack inside possible I was more conscious of this and responded appropriately to maintain the life of my group, which he was quite happy about. I was able to keep his groups separated and a sizable one died. Near the very end, I made a tactical blunder near my lower left corner. Nothing died but I lost some stones and basically the corner flipped hands. He pointed out after the game that this was quite big.
After the game he told me that people usually come after dinner time so I should go get something to eat and come back after 8 or 9 pm. I did this, getting back about 9:45pm. There were several players gathered around in the pavilion. One weiqi game going on and some guys just hanging out and chatting around an empty chess board. I just came up and started watching the game. I think I was a bit on the timid side and they were too. When one of the games ended and it looked like they would play again, I picked up a board that was on the seat for the table behind me and put the board on the table and suddenly the ice was completely broken and we were all chatting happily. Most of the players were smoking, but to me it makes a huge difference that it is outdoors, so I don't mind it at all.
I was quickly paired with a bystander who was quite strong. He gave me 9 stones, and I managed to play well, winning handily. He told me my rank was a good deal too low and that I am actually stronger. By this times the manager of the club came by. It seems that this actually a real club in a formal sense, not just guys hanging out in the park. They have the use of the tables which have drawers for the boards and stones. They also have a bathroom in the basement of the parking garage to the NE corner of the park. This guy was super nice and spoke with me a good bit in English. Next I played the same guy but we played at 6 stones. This one I lost by 2 points. I took 6 stones, so the idea is I have to score 184 on the board (territory and stones together). I thought I was winning, but because I am aware that my positional sense is not good, and I could see his main area was quite big, it didn't surprise to find that he had edged me out.
On this note, I would say this has been my main study project lately. I have read through Dr. Straw's lectures on counting, and I have watched the Guo Juan lecture series on counting. I also got a copy of the Lee Chang Ho book that John Fairbairn recommended but haven't had time to work with it. This will be time consuming of course. My Chinese level is such that I can work through this kind of thing, where there are a lot of diagrams, not very much text, and many of the words are repeated. But even so, it is still a project. However, my idea here is of course that I am practicing the go-players much lauded virtue of efficiency and practicing my Chinese and my go at the same time. I am hoping to spend some time with it in the near future when I will be traveling for long stretches. However, I think for me the idea that makes the most sense is to start practicing some of the techniques, maybe not so much in my own games right away but in other games. When I get the counting skill up to speed I hope to incorporate it into my game. However, I am a person who often makes such plans and rarely accomplishes them. So, let's see what happens.
So, at the end of the evening, we just chatted a bit more, they told me the weekend usually has more players. Then he walked me over to the bus stop, which I appreciated.
-
globulon
- Dies in gote
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Thu May 07, 2015 11:40 am
- Rank: Taiwan 2 kyu
- GD Posts: 0
- Location: Taipei, Taiwan
- Has thanked: 87 times
- Been thanked: 9 times
Re: Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
We will be traveling soon, and next week the wife will be very busy with work stuff, so last night I grabbed a chance to go out again back to the park. Again, a couple of the same guys. No one really wanted to play me, so I was just watching the game that was going on. A bit later the manager came down to the park. (I'm a bit worried that the only reason he came out was because I was there.) Anyway, he very nicely gave me a four stone game. I tried an aggressive opening strategy like I do in the 6 stone games, like this:
I feel like I remember Kageyama saying in "Kage's Secret Chronicle" and other authors as well, that amateurs will play too timidly in a handicap games and so lose the value of the handicap stones instead of keeping white on the defensive and controlling the game. This may have been excessive here. Probably I should have shown him more respect in the opening and built up power before attacking. In this game though what happened is that basically we started fighting on the right. I was able to live very, very small in the upper right. Then he approached the lower right along the right side and I tried a two space pincer to keep him under pressure but giving myself some room. But then he played against my two weak groups, the one created from the pincer stone and the one on the upper side. I tried to pressure his lower right approach stone group but it was my group that started to get surrounded. I decided to make territory on the lower edge even though I knew that right side group was weak, because I thought, if I just let him keep jumping in and fighting I will end up with no territory. I knew I was taking a risk, decided to gamble, but of course my right side group died. I played on though until my upper group died too.
In the second game, I took black in an even game. I played 3 stars but I did what I believe is called ippoji. I think he led me down the garden path so to speak. He created a weak group in the middle and let me chase it toward the right side. I was making very thick walls surrounding a huge area on the upper side. At some point I tried to go back and make a definitive solidifying move in the upper right corner. He invaded. I of course spent all my time trying to kill eyes and not let any stray stones get caught. But then the result was basically two groups tangled together. So a kind of capturing race, but he had one eye and I had none. They pointed out that I had definitely wasted a move inside his group. I knew this even as I played it but somehow I still imagined that I was somehow making the situation easier for myself. No one chose to weigh in on whether the group should have lived or died or not. To me the key point was that on the right side although I had some power in that area I wasn't strong enough and so I ended up having to make a choice between two evils. Either I can keep my center group connected out, or I can keep him cut apart. I couldn't have both. Maybe if I had taken that wasted move inside the group and played it on the right side it might have made a difference but hard to say without having a game record to review.
Anyway, we spent a good long while just sitting in the park in the cool nighttime. They were telling me about the club, and we talked a bit about playing on the net vs real life. Also a bit about Mah Jhong. Very pleasant.
So, I will definitely go back this Saturday during the day and take my boys to the park to run around, or maybe play a few games. (They generally much prefer western chess and have only played go a couple of times.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Went back on Saturday. Not as many players as I expected, but there were enough for me to get 5 games with 3 players.
The first game was 4 stones, I think I was getting demolished at the beginning, but then I started staging a comeback. I felt a good number of things went my way. Still, I lost, and I wouldn't really describe it as a close game, but it was fun for me. The second game was also a 4 stone game. Basically, what happened was I had a pretty small group in the center of the board that got captured. The problem was that it was pretty important. He had a big long twisted group. I looked at it a couple of times, but it seemed to me alive already. At one point I made what I saw as a nice endgame incursion to steal a small area from him. This was actually more threatening to him than I realized. I don't think I could actually kill it at any time, but what he explained to me is that if this small center group lives, then he has to worry about this group and make some kind of defensive or eye making move. I definitely didn't intend to give up the group, I just got caught up in other stuff. I played on for a bit and then he explained the situation to me, so I resigned (much like the game at the other club).
Another thing I sometimes worry about is this etiquette line between, experimenting and trying something out when I don't see a direct refutation of something, and doing what could be called "playing for tricks" or something like that. I just mean sometimes, things look weak to me, but they aren't. If I see something that seems to create some complications in an area I will try it out, but I worry sometimes that this just seen as wasting time or hoping for a mistake. It's not a crucial issue or anything but something I think about more when I am playing against strong players giving me a handicap because there is a balance between the educational value of it and the sort of distaste I know some players feel for this kind of thing.
After that I played against a guy much closer to my level. There was some debate, but the guy who seemed to be kind of arranging things for me, (the second player above), suggested I take 2 stones but suggested it had to do with the differences of our style (that my next opponent would be very aggressive and he didn't know how I would handle it). The first game ended fairly quickly, I played a 3-3 point for my free corner due to what was said before. He tried to pressure me but I got a good result and a decent sized group of his died on the bottom side. Since this didn't seem to have anything to do with the handicap stones, I suggested we play even for the next game.
This game was a prime example of an issue that has plagued my go here in Taiwan since I started playing again. In a good number of the games I play against players close to my level I will kill a medium sized group, and still lose the game. Now, I don't think these players are letting me kill the group on purpose in order to distract me from the big picture. But I think it's more of a psychological issue. I will kill the group, then I get into this mentality where I feel I am winning for sure. I'm not counting the board and coming to an objective estimate. I just feel "Oh, I'm winning so I should play conservatively and just bring it home." But this doesn't really work. So with this second game, I played my 3 stars, and when he approached on the outside I played the knight's move covering move on both top and bottom and some further moves to build a big moyo from the right side into the center. It was substantial. But then on the other side of the board, I also felt I played well killing a non-negligible group on the left side, and taking the upper left corner. On the other hand, he ended up with a big territory ranging from the lower left corner out into the center of the board as well as some along top and bottom of the board. I really felt quite certain I had won this game, and was quite surprised to find out I had lost it by a sizeable amount (maybe 15pts).
So this is why I feel I need to study positional assessment. I think I am losing games that I really should win because I am shifting into low gear when I don't actually have the kind of lead I think I do. I'm not sure, but I think I could have played to harm is large central area at least some. If I had done that it might have flipped the result.
The last game was awful for me. I took black again. This time, instead of letting me build a moyo, he played to break up my right side and start fighting. We did a fair bit of fighting and I just seemed to get a pretty awful result everywhere, and we didn't get too deep into the game before I had resign. Honestly, I feel I need to study fighting a lot too, and I bought a copy of Jasiek's "Fighting Fundamentals". I've just browsed it a bit, but it looks like it is pretty much exactly what I was hoping for, but it will have to wait a bit. I think the counting project has priority right now.
So, again, a major reinforcement to me of the idea that I need to learn to count the board.
As I said above I will be traveling for awhile so this thread will definitely be on hiatus for awhile, though I will still be able to post on L19x19.
I feel like I remember Kageyama saying in "Kage's Secret Chronicle" and other authors as well, that amateurs will play too timidly in a handicap games and so lose the value of the handicap stones instead of keeping white on the defensive and controlling the game. This may have been excessive here. Probably I should have shown him more respect in the opening and built up power before attacking. In this game though what happened is that basically we started fighting on the right. I was able to live very, very small in the upper right. Then he approached the lower right along the right side and I tried a two space pincer to keep him under pressure but giving myself some room. But then he played against my two weak groups, the one created from the pincer stone and the one on the upper side. I tried to pressure his lower right approach stone group but it was my group that started to get surrounded. I decided to make territory on the lower edge even though I knew that right side group was weak, because I thought, if I just let him keep jumping in and fighting I will end up with no territory. I knew I was taking a risk, decided to gamble, but of course my right side group died. I played on though until my upper group died too.
In the second game, I took black in an even game. I played 3 stars but I did what I believe is called ippoji. I think he led me down the garden path so to speak. He created a weak group in the middle and let me chase it toward the right side. I was making very thick walls surrounding a huge area on the upper side. At some point I tried to go back and make a definitive solidifying move in the upper right corner. He invaded. I of course spent all my time trying to kill eyes and not let any stray stones get caught. But then the result was basically two groups tangled together. So a kind of capturing race, but he had one eye and I had none. They pointed out that I had definitely wasted a move inside his group. I knew this even as I played it but somehow I still imagined that I was somehow making the situation easier for myself. No one chose to weigh in on whether the group should have lived or died or not. To me the key point was that on the right side although I had some power in that area I wasn't strong enough and so I ended up having to make a choice between two evils. Either I can keep my center group connected out, or I can keep him cut apart. I couldn't have both. Maybe if I had taken that wasted move inside the group and played it on the right side it might have made a difference but hard to say without having a game record to review.
Anyway, we spent a good long while just sitting in the park in the cool nighttime. They were telling me about the club, and we talked a bit about playing on the net vs real life. Also a bit about Mah Jhong. Very pleasant.
So, I will definitely go back this Saturday during the day and take my boys to the park to run around, or maybe play a few games. (They generally much prefer western chess and have only played go a couple of times.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Went back on Saturday. Not as many players as I expected, but there were enough for me to get 5 games with 3 players.
The first game was 4 stones, I think I was getting demolished at the beginning, but then I started staging a comeback. I felt a good number of things went my way. Still, I lost, and I wouldn't really describe it as a close game, but it was fun for me. The second game was also a 4 stone game. Basically, what happened was I had a pretty small group in the center of the board that got captured. The problem was that it was pretty important. He had a big long twisted group. I looked at it a couple of times, but it seemed to me alive already. At one point I made what I saw as a nice endgame incursion to steal a small area from him. This was actually more threatening to him than I realized. I don't think I could actually kill it at any time, but what he explained to me is that if this small center group lives, then he has to worry about this group and make some kind of defensive or eye making move. I definitely didn't intend to give up the group, I just got caught up in other stuff. I played on for a bit and then he explained the situation to me, so I resigned (much like the game at the other club).
Another thing I sometimes worry about is this etiquette line between, experimenting and trying something out when I don't see a direct refutation of something, and doing what could be called "playing for tricks" or something like that. I just mean sometimes, things look weak to me, but they aren't. If I see something that seems to create some complications in an area I will try it out, but I worry sometimes that this just seen as wasting time or hoping for a mistake. It's not a crucial issue or anything but something I think about more when I am playing against strong players giving me a handicap because there is a balance between the educational value of it and the sort of distaste I know some players feel for this kind of thing.
After that I played against a guy much closer to my level. There was some debate, but the guy who seemed to be kind of arranging things for me, (the second player above), suggested I take 2 stones but suggested it had to do with the differences of our style (that my next opponent would be very aggressive and he didn't know how I would handle it). The first game ended fairly quickly, I played a 3-3 point for my free corner due to what was said before. He tried to pressure me but I got a good result and a decent sized group of his died on the bottom side. Since this didn't seem to have anything to do with the handicap stones, I suggested we play even for the next game.
This game was a prime example of an issue that has plagued my go here in Taiwan since I started playing again. In a good number of the games I play against players close to my level I will kill a medium sized group, and still lose the game. Now, I don't think these players are letting me kill the group on purpose in order to distract me from the big picture. But I think it's more of a psychological issue. I will kill the group, then I get into this mentality where I feel I am winning for sure. I'm not counting the board and coming to an objective estimate. I just feel "Oh, I'm winning so I should play conservatively and just bring it home." But this doesn't really work. So with this second game, I played my 3 stars, and when he approached on the outside I played the knight's move covering move on both top and bottom and some further moves to build a big moyo from the right side into the center. It was substantial. But then on the other side of the board, I also felt I played well killing a non-negligible group on the left side, and taking the upper left corner. On the other hand, he ended up with a big territory ranging from the lower left corner out into the center of the board as well as some along top and bottom of the board. I really felt quite certain I had won this game, and was quite surprised to find out I had lost it by a sizeable amount (maybe 15pts).
So this is why I feel I need to study positional assessment. I think I am losing games that I really should win because I am shifting into low gear when I don't actually have the kind of lead I think I do. I'm not sure, but I think I could have played to harm is large central area at least some. If I had done that it might have flipped the result.
The last game was awful for me. I took black again. This time, instead of letting me build a moyo, he played to break up my right side and start fighting. We did a fair bit of fighting and I just seemed to get a pretty awful result everywhere, and we didn't get too deep into the game before I had resign. Honestly, I feel I need to study fighting a lot too, and I bought a copy of Jasiek's "Fighting Fundamentals". I've just browsed it a bit, but it looks like it is pretty much exactly what I was hoping for, but it will have to wait a bit. I think the counting project has priority right now.
So, again, a major reinforcement to me of the idea that I need to learn to count the board.
As I said above I will be traveling for awhile so this thread will definitely be on hiatus for awhile, though I will still be able to post on L19x19.
-
kivi
- Lives with ko
- Posts: 159
- Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:14 am
- Rank: EGF 3d
- GD Posts: 0
- Has thanked: 5 times
- Been thanked: 36 times
Re: Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
Hi globulon.
I just came back from Minsheng park. Played a game after dinner, which was fun. To my surprise many of the guys speak good English.
I will re-visit every now and then. Thank you for writing about it
I just came back from Minsheng park. Played a game after dinner, which was fun. To my surprise many of the guys speak good English.
I will re-visit every now and then. Thank you for writing about it
-
chopperda
- Beginner
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2016 8:36 pm
- Rank: 10 kyu
- GD Posts: 0
- OGS: chopper
- Been thanked: 1 time
Re: Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
seems this post is a bit dated at this time. Does anyone have any current info of good places to play?
-
othkhvn
- Beginner
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2014 7:08 am
- Rank: AGA 2 kyu
- GD Posts: 0
- Wbaduk: othkhvn
- Has thanked: 4 times
- Been thanked: 2 times
Re: Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
Went to the 中華棋院 around the New Year. Was charged 180 NTD and given a glass of tea. Got three games in over 2 hours before I had to go.
-
Drew
- Lives in gote
- Posts: 301
- Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 12:59 am
- Rank: infant
- GD Posts: 0
- Location: Illinois
- Has thanked: 228 times
- Been thanked: 84 times
- Contact:
Re: Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
What's the purpose of those board holders? Every board in the photo has one. I've never seen such a thing before.
-
derkberklin
- Beginner
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2016 7:38 am
- GD Posts: 0
- Been thanked: 3 times
Re: Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
Hope I'm not being too much of a necro... Anyone from Taiwan have some updates to share on clubs / meetings in the area? As a CGA 7/8 kyu, is there any chance of finding even opponents, or will most venues be full of mid-dans as described earlier in the thread?
Also, curious about buying equipment... are there any nice places to buy Go merchandise and would I be allowed to fly out with, say, a goban?
Lastly, any etiquette I should worry about following and/or phrases I should learn? I am not fluent in Mandarin.
Thanks a lot for the information & stories already posted, I thoroughly enjoyed reading through this thread long ago, and now it's all going to actually help me a great deal.
Also, curious about buying equipment... are there any nice places to buy Go merchandise and would I be allowed to fly out with, say, a goban?
Lastly, any etiquette I should worry about following and/or phrases I should learn? I am not fluent in Mandarin.
Thanks a lot for the information & stories already posted, I thoroughly enjoyed reading through this thread long ago, and now it's all going to actually help me a great deal.
-
Tapani
- Dies with sente
- Posts: 96
- Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2016 9:53 pm
- Rank: SDK
- GD Posts: 0
- IGS: 8k
- Has thanked: 38 times
- Been thanked: 16 times
Re: Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
I have similar questions as derkberklin above.
Tried a local go salon, but got just completely trashed despite getting several stones of handicap (I am maybe 10-14k). And nobody spoke a word of English. Also, after getting crushed a few times, nobody really wanted to play me.
Does anyone know of a place around Taipei where there might be some English speaking players? Or players closer to my level?
Tried a local go salon, but got just completely trashed despite getting several stones of handicap (I am maybe 10-14k). And nobody spoke a word of English. Also, after getting crushed a few times, nobody really wanted to play me.
Does anyone know of a place around Taipei where there might be some English speaking players? Or players closer to my level?
-
Trung12ly
- Beginner
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2018 2:21 am
- Rank: Ogs 6 kyu
- GD Posts: 0
- IGS: trung12ly
- OGS: trung12ly
- Online playing schedule: OGS most weekdays 21:00 -23:00 GMT+8
Re: Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
hello, i have been living in Taiwan for about 2 years without knowing there are playing places near taipei. I really wanna go to such places on weekends. However, my Chinese is insufficient to communicate. I'm more than happy if someone can go with me. Is there anyone? Thank you.
-
clemi
- Dies in gote
- Posts: 66
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:38 am
- GD Posts: 0
- KGS: clemi
- Location: Paris
- Has thanked: 51 times
- Been thanked: 35 times
Re: Update on Taiwanese weiqi scene
Never been in this one.
Seems like a restaurant owned by a weiqi fan. Should be more casual than a go school/salon.
https://www.facebook.com/bhu123698745/
Address :
(cn)
104 台北市
松江路108巷20號之1
(en)
104 Taipei City
No. 20, Lane 108, Songjiang Road
On the photos, you can see some professionals are regulars
Seems like a restaurant owned by a weiqi fan. Should be more casual than a go school/salon.
https://www.facebook.com/bhu123698745/
Address :
(cn)
104 台北市
松江路108巷20號之1
(en)
104 Taipei City
No. 20, Lane 108, Songjiang Road
On the photos, you can see some professionals are regulars