I'm new here, so thought I'd better introduce myself. I'm 39, live in London, have 3 children, work as a scientist/doctor, and play in a band.. so I thought I would try to learn Go properly too.. I originally discovered the game when I was around 14/15 and used to play on a cheap cardboard goban with the one friend of mine who was also interested in the game. That was before the days of the internet, and I never really improved. Since then I have had a couple of minor stints of playing Go online, most recently 2 years ago, when I got up to 11k KGS. I restarted about 2 months ago and have slowly clawed my way back from 17k to 11k, and now up to 8k (briefly before dropping back to 9). I am determined to continue to improve, and am currently studying book 3 of Go Problems for Beginners, which despite completing the first 2, I am finding pretty tough - but I think it is definitely improving my playing. I also have a number of other Go books from 2 years ago - although I am leaving them for now until I have got through some more of the problems. I also play on DGS and am 15k there at the moment... I do have one 1dan friend who lives in Portugal and who is giving me some teaching games on DGS. My next aim is 7k...

Looking forward to some interesting discussions!

James

Welcome. Hope you enjoy your time here with other fellow go enthusiasts.

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http://tchan001.wordpress.com
A blog on Asian go books, go sightings, and interesting tidbits
Go is such a beautiful game.

Welcome, James! Cheers.

welcome! i'm new here too..

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"Hell if you understand everything I said, you’d be me." ~ Miles Davis ~

Hello James
Here's to your rapid improvement

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!

I will probably have quite a few questions, and I look forward to some interesting discussions!

Welcome, how do you find fitting in interests like go with young children?

I just have to be careful to use any spare time I have wisely! My commute to work takes 1 hr each way on public transport - so that is good for doing Go problems, and watching videos sometimes.. Getting out to a club is pretty difficult for me, but a spare hour or two on the computer in the evening to play a game or two is usually pretty doable (if I'm able to stay awake!)

My other interest - playing in a band - is much more tricky time-wise. Helps to have a (usually) understanding wife!

J

Yes, those do come in very handy!