10 Psychological principles in winning a game

[kyulearner]

I found a interesting article in a Japanese website. I takes up 10 principles in winning a game. (/) states English translations of a single Japanese word or phrase.

1. Your worst enemy is your unsettled heart/mind, be decisive in your plan/what you want to do.
2. Play freely on where you want to play
3. Don't shrivel/be shy against a bully/overplay, you have courage
4. Don't shrivel/stiffen up, don't try too hard, play flexibly
5. Don't take your opponent too lightly, he is good/strong
6. Throw away your feeling of frustration/regret
7. Be aware of your impatience, have confidence in your game/position
8. Desperately read out the moves when going for the final kill
9. Rich man do not profit/take too much points, do not fight
10. Do not think you have won until the game has ended

They say the source is a book called 囲碁の心理学的上達法 Psychological Approach to Improvement in Go by Hayashi Naomichi.
All of them fits how I lose a game, especially 6, where I keep on playing a new game out of frustration that I have just lost a game, and lose again.

[tchan001]

Also check out the ten golden rules of go.
https://senseis.xmp.net/?TheTenGoldenRulesList
https://tchan001.wordpress.com/2012/04/ ... les-of-go/

[MikeKyle]

Really appreciate this. Poor application of the principles in this list cost me so many games lately.

There is an interesting relationship between 9 and 10. Specifically for myself I would add another which is implied by these two:

-if you think you're ahead, build this into your strategy appropriately but do not think you can relax until the count.
Ie. Don't pick fights, but don't play slack either.

[Ember]

I often feel that some of these principles are harder to learn than the game itself..

[Schelliepellie]

Not getting frustrated is by far my biggest obstacle of improvement. Infact I feel like I would've been atleast 4-5 stones stronger than I am now just by virtue of losing my temper too much. This single psychological issue is the root cause for all symptoms I experience: playing too fast, playing too many games in a row because I don't want to lose another one, which makes me lose ofcourse, overplaying, the list goes on.

Ofcourse this is not something directly related to go but a game like this is sure to bring it to attention.But that's something I am activiely working on, after all go is just a mirror in that sense

[jlt]

One thing I did was to play on different servers: KGS, IGS, OGS, Fox, Tygem. For some reason, I feel less pressure on some servers that others, but the server on which I am the most relaxed changes from time to time.

[Knotwilg]

Not getting frustrated is by far my biggest obstacle of improvement. Infact I feel like I would've been atleast 4-5 stones stronger than I am now just by virtue of losing my temper too much. This single psychological issue is the root cause for all symptoms I experience: playing too fast, playing too many games in a row because I don't want to lose another one, which makes me lose ofcourse, overplaying, the list goes on.

Ofcourse this is not something directly related to go but a game like this is sure to bring it to attention.But that's something I am activiely working on, after all go is just a mirror in that sense

Unsollicited advice alert!

Frustration = "self image" - "actual results"

By virtue of this equation, there are two ways to lower frustration:

1) lower your self image
2) improve your actual results

Usually, people respond to their frustration by studying more. This tends to boost self image more than actual game results, increasing frustration.
To boost your game results, apply fighting spirit, manage time and count liberties, especially towards the end.

Good luck!

[Jæja]

Frustration = "self image" - "actual results"

I'm going to apply this equation throughout my entire life

[TheLemon]

5 is important, if you play like you should simply win because of a rank difference it is easy to get into trouble.

[blackwing]

I agree with all those except 9.

[Bonobo]

I agree with all those except 9.

It’s originally a Go proverb, “A rich person shouldn’t look for a fight”, and I totally agree with it: It means that when you’re already winning, you shouldn’t take risks—after all we all know how it is to lose a won game, no? If you’re clearly leading, play “conservatively”: repair the holes, secure and close the borders, but don't get greedy to get even more, it might kill you.

But yeah, easier to say than to play, eh? I for one am still learning to count (i.e. being less lazy) … and I still often don’t know (because I didn’t count) whether I have lost or won until the game’s over.