My week in numbers (was "Tiny steps towards shodan")

[RBerenguel]

I hope you don't think "why should I care?" and enjoy my short study-digression journal. I will probably write longer pieces (maybe not) in my blog, although it is not a Go focused blog.

A short bio: I started playing around July 2003, although I think I learnt the rules a year or two before. I have been playing on and off. Fear of losing (or of looking stupid by making stupid moves) always drags me off the game, even if I love it. For some odd reason almost every autumn I want to play again, and here I am. As every year... Hopefully this will last longer. At least, it has started better. Back in the days, I rose to solid 12k, then after getting the "?" again, to "9k?" due to rank shifts and similar, although my rating drifted up (while I wasn't playing) up to 6k?, according to my old Sensei Library page (the current version is here). Then I only played sparingly for 2 years, until now. What happened?

Well, as every autumn, something prompted me to play. Last year (more or less this time of the year) I was in our local board game shop, which also carries Go books. I bought The Direction of Play. And a few months ago, we were in the middle of sorting our library... And the book appeared again. And I thought well, maybe it's time to play again? As a frequent user of Reddit (for 3 years already!) I checked if there was a sub-reddit devoted to Go... And indeed there is. I arrived on time to see one of their moderators (Hellzapoppin) start a reddit handicap tournament, which I promptly joined... As 14k. I thought that 2 years was 2 stones weaker, and the rank I remembered was 12k (I had been 12k like a year and a half, and my EGF stopped at 14, I think). I'm sorry about this!

Now I have joined the Advanced Study Room League to keep me playing (the reddit tournament ends tomorrow for me). This (with a little luck) will cover the playing part.

What am I studying? I'm doing a mixture of tsumego-tesuji problems, tied with some theory books. Chronologically, starting just a little before joining the reddit tournament:

• Solving varied tsumego in SmartGo Kifu for iPad (up to the 8k level, then started over again)
• Playing against Igowin HD (iPad's version of The Many Faces of Go): rose to 7k, now somewhat stable at around 8k
• Started reading The Direction of Play on my commute, find it too dry
• Started reading Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go (for the n-th time), it's a fun book
• Asked tasuki about his problem sets, reformatted them for iPhone screen size to carry on my iPod Touch
• Working through Cho's problems from the previous point (elemental and intermediate, half done)
• Asked here what I should read
• Picked again Attack and Defense, as per the suggestions
• Borrowed Lee Ch'ang-Ho's tesuji books. Working through the first, very fun
• Borrowed Lee Ch'ang-Ho's L&D books. Still not started them

So far I've played just 2 games in addition to my tournament games... Just for the kicks, I paste below the second from yesterday, comments welcome. Before, almost never did I play two games in the same day (except in tournaments), because I always get (very) nervous when playing. But I want to settle my rank, so I tried. Won both games, still don't know my real rank and finding playing time is always harder than just a little tsumego-ing while on my commute, or waiting for something to end (TeX compiling, for example)

http://files.gokgs.com/games/2011/11/24/Vasily-RBerenguel.sgf

See you around in our shared way to shodan (or far beyond)

[RBerenguel]

Today I played another game, won against a 10k with 2 stones. I feel like I'm playing worse than a few weeks ago, duh. Anyway, I have set a training scheme for December. Basically (I have not put here in which day I do what, but I have it in my schedule) it is:

10 tsumego and 10 tesuji daily from Yi Ch'ang-Ho's Tesuji / Tsumego books (currently book 1 of both, should finish tesuji-1 this week or beginning of the next)
Twice a week (re)reading Attack and Defense (1-2 chapters per week, but some chapters are very long)
Once a week (re)read a chapter from The Endgame
Once a week (re)read a chapter from Opening Theory Made Easy
Once a week read a joseki from 38 Basic Joseki
Once a week do 10 problems from 501 Opening Problems
Once a week give a look to one of the games in Invincible

So far I've done two days of the plan (One chapter of A&D, one of OTME, one joseki and 20 tsumego-tesuji). I use my commute for most of the reading/tsumegoing, except when I definitely need a board.

Tomorrow I'll visit my local go club (oddly I hadn't been there ever, before I was in another club, now dead) and maybe this will become part of my weekly stuff. I have not added playing or reviewing, since this depends on the week. Today I played a game, and Thursday I'm joining the ASR League, so I'll probably get enough playing-reviewing from this.

I'm also re-reading Lessons in The Fundamentals of Go when I get tired of A&D, I'll probably finish it soon. The next target after A&D will be The Direction of Play.

Any suggestions or comments? I know that much reading is bad and I should play, but commute is dead time anyway, I can only play humans when I'm in front of the computer.. And my weak spots currently (I think!) are opening+direction of play+endgame. But you are free to digress (please do!)

[coderboy]

Since you have an iPad might I suggest to try out the smartgo books application on it? It makes for much more enjoyable reading, all the diagrams can be played through inside the book while reading and all books can be previewed before buying. Actually I would say it is worth just reading through the free parts if nothing else.

No I am not affiliated but like the app very much indeed.

Cheers and good luck!

[RBerenguel]

Hi Coderboy, I have the SG books app and SmartGo Kifu (I got a promocode for reviewing it, I hope to post it this week in a blog I am editor of: http://www.whatsoniphone.com, we recently reviewed Crazy Stone). So far I've found no definite "must buy" books, but I love the format and idea, it is perfect for go book reading.

I can definitely recommend SmartGo Kifu, overall it is an awesome app for any Go player, for a lot of reasons.

[coderboy]

Hi RBerenguel, I agree. I have pretty much downloaded all go related apps on both iOS and Android.

I like several books so far but I would love to have all my go books in there, including problem books like the Lee Ch'ang-Ho books.

[RBerenguel]

Yes! Seeing the variations would be awesome!

[RBerenguel]

I'm feeling a change in my style since my previous playing season (i.e. from 2003 to 2010). A long time ago, I used to do decently at the beginning and middle game, if there was no fighting. And I would usually be the punished by reading mistakes or suicidal groups.

Yesterday and today I've won two games (as white, giving 2 and 4 stones,) with reversed situations. The players were good: solid start, no mistakes in the early middle game, I was the one making big direction blunders (and a few reading slips)... Then a "small" mistake on their part and here you are, dead giving me 40+ points, game over. I used to be them...

I was also a bad killer/life getter... And my previous two games (prior to these two, one of them is posted in the first post of this thread) showed several groups of my opponent dying. Probably I've killed more groups this month than in the previous 10 years.

If only I had a better fuseki & sense of direction now...

[karaklis]

Well, this is probably the feeling of getting stronger. The ability to fight is obviously a necessary step to get stronger. Yesterday I watched a nine-stone handicap game of a 8k (so about your strength) against a 3d. The 8k player refused to fight. He made a lot if timid moves, trying to live locally in every area, corners, edges and center. Throughout the game I was virtually shouting to him "Go and fight! Separate your opponent to weaken him!". He also missed a quite simple (at least for me) life and death situation. At the end he goofed up a complete corner as the 3d player had made the game complicated. For players who have just entered in the select circle of SDK players I recommend to study L&D and tesuji. At least I'd say it is more important than studying fuseki/joseki and it helped me to move up the ranks.

[RBerenguel]

I just feel my direction of play is below par. I can kill or connect (even live if needed), but I have problems choosing targets. Reading Attack and Defense seems to help... Yesterday at least I knew what to do (even if I won because my opponent slipped), and I just played a quick game against Igowin HD (The Many faces for iPad) at 7k level and was able to (at least be convinced that) lean, get strength, cut and encircle the computer's groups. Then in the endgame I ended up not playing up to par and just won by 5 moku or so (as white, komi 4.5).

Tomorrow begins the ASR league, so I'll be playing quite a few games in December, maybe most free due to the league's norms. I hope this results in playing better players and improving!

[RBerenguel]

What a day!

Today, 1st December started the ASR league for this month... Yipee! And this afternoon, after doing almost all my work for the day, I decided it was a good time to play. I didn't know what to do, if a ranked game with automatch or a free game for the ASR league. I decided for the latter... And made two 30k errors in the game that coste me a bunch of stones, thickness and in the end, the whole game. Also, my opponent played pretty well and made sure I could not come back from anywhere! Later I'll review them (alone, but you can find them easily if you want to point how bad I played )

Then I decided to play an automatch rated game... And made more like 3 30k mistakes, and in the end, suicided a group. Geez? Not enough, I did twice. Ended up resigning.

Overall non-go lessons: focus more. Much more.

On a side note, my rank stabilised at 7k (don't know why)

[RBerenguel]

A small update. I have not played since the two losses in a row of Thursday, for no particular reason. Or more exactly, yesterday I slouched in the sofa and today I had a lot of chores.

While slouching in the sofa, I had time to finish Yi Ch'ang-Ho's Selected Tesuji problems, vol1. Today I'll probably finish Selected Tsumego problems vol 1. Since I started I've seen a slight improvement in my reading: tsumego that would have puzzled me just 5 days ago are now pretty clear, before it was like:

• Aim for the seemingly vital point
• Read around, become puzzled because all options end short of one liberty
• After 5 or 6 minutes, grow tired and read the solution.

whereas now it is like

• Aim for the seemingly vital point
• Quickly find that there's another point, more vital
• Check that move tree, mark as dead.

The key point is speed, although it's not speed what I feel like. It's more like widening your mind's eye, i.e. before I could only follow moves around a very narrow area (like a circle with a diameter of 3 stones), and now it has widened to 4 (or maybe 5), so I can decide what works, not works, and why far quicker, no longer I have to come back to move 1 and check again.

[RBerenguel]

Last Saturday I finished Yi Ch'ang-Ho's Selected Tesuji and Tsumego volume 1 (for both). My plan is unfolding correcly, now I have a few days to quickly review them. I'm around 1/3 of reviewing the Tesuji-1 book. So far I've got 6 problems wrong from the 40 first. And it's funny, because there is one problem that is almost the same... Got it wrong both times. Duh. When I'm done with the reviewing I'll try to find a pattern in these errors. Then, review the Tsumego book.

I've also advanced on (re)reading Opening theory made easy, although I'm not learning that much: the problem is remembering all the stuff, not the fact that I already know it.

I've decided to change Invincible to Appreciating Famous Games. I'm not particularly fond of Shusaku's games, but will give it a shot when I'm done with AFG.

I'm quickly advancing through Attack and Defense and Lessons in the fundamentals of Go, after all, it's a re-read, and A&D although it's a "hard" book, the lessons from it are pretty clear and concise. As for Lessons, I'm just enjoying it, getting my brain soaked in Kage's wisdom.

Today I also went through around 40 problems from Cho's L&D encyclopaedia (from tasuki's site, in my iPhone reformatted style,) because I didn't feel like more Yi's tesujis.

I'm improving my reading slowly... Sadly these days have been quite busy and I have not found much time (or at least time where my brain is at least at 50%) to play. I've started 3 games in DGS to practice a little my patience. I'll have to check if OGS looks nice in my iPod Touch... Looks like there are more players there.

[Josh Hatch]

I really enjoy Shusaku's games myself, Invincible is my favorite book in my collection although I don't have that many books.

Doing lots of life and death and tesuji problems is probably one of the best ways to improve outside of actually playing though so keep at it. Problem books make up the majority of my books and their the ones I spend the most time with when studying. If you can get them I'd recommend http://senseis.xmp.net/?MaedaTsumego and maybe http://senseis.xmp.net/?TheBookToIncrea ... rengthAtGo when you get stronger. Both sets start out with kyu level problems and end with dan level problems. I'm not a very good judge of difficulty though so I couldn't say specifically what ranks they would be good for but I really enjoy both sets.

Good luck, hopefully you'll have more time to play soon.

[RBerenguel]

Hi Josh,

thanks for the suggestions! Today I'm visiting my Go bookshop, and I'll get Maeda's books (at least the first, maybe the 2 first even,) and I'll give a look at 1001 tsumego problems. Most of my Go focus these days is solving problems, since reading used to be my blind spot... Reading books is just to get some strategic concepts "again" (like if I read 20 times that splitting attacks are nice, I'll start doing them more often...).

I'll keep you all updated with how the books are!

[SoDesuNe]

[...], and I'll get Maeda's books (at least the first, maybe the 2 first even,) and I'll give a look at 1001 tsumego problems.

Both are very good books! One Thousand and One Life-and-Death Problems is - in my opinion - easier than Maeda's Intermediate Level Problems (I hope this is the book you meant).

I wrote two short summaries of them:

One Thousand and One Life-and-Death Problems
There is not much to say about this one. If it comes down to practice life-and-death, this book is one of the best choices for intermediate players. Solely because of its vast number of situations and its increasing difficulty, you will build up confidence in reading out sequences.
The one downside there might be: The problems are all very artificial, but then again, vital points are always the same and by solving all the problems in this book, you will surely use every important life-and-death tactic and Tesuji, which will benefit your play.


Life and Death - Intermediate Level Problems
There is no way around, you need to practice reading, reading, reading and again reading ^^ But there are a lot of books out there with which you can practice. I think this book is one of the best to still have fun while doing Tsumegos.
The book structures the problems in circles of ten. 1 being the easiest problem (said to be around 7 Kyu, but in my opinion some problems are far more difficult) and 10 the most difficult (said to be around 2 Dan, but this is exaggerated, I think). In my opinion the problems are on average around 3 Kyu KGS.
Becauses of the structure you will have some easy and some hard problems, so it's not always troublesome to come up with a solution. But on the other hand you will slowly have to read deeper to find the right move and this is a nice challenge.
Furthermore this book has a really nice size: It fits in every pocket, so you can carry it around to always have some nice Tsumegos to solve ; )