Life In 19x19

I won my second training game, this time against a Twitch friend.

I've been focusing on my time usage, and trying to achieve this system:

* 10m for the first 75 moves
* 15m for the next 50 moves, ie. up to 125
* 15m for the 50 moves after that, ie. up to 175
* 10m for the rest of the game

This includes the 20s / move Fischer, which is treated as a pleasant extra. How I actually like to phrase it is:

(50 main time)

* (at least) 40m remaining after 75 moves
* (at least) 25m remaining after 125 moves
* (at least) 10m remaining after 175 moves

I'll be playing against jlt again in a few days, I think, if we arrange something.

I think the second way, as managing the reserve, is a much better to phrase it.

Given Fischer 50/20, in a 300 move game, you have 150×20 s from the bonus time, that is 50 min, i. e. half of your whole game time. That's more than a »pleasant extra«.

Yeah, I agree. I understated a little too much ^^

Here's a table of comparison, including the Fischer.

(50m main time, 20s / move Fischer)

* 1st Stage: 75 moves by 40m remaining ("75 moves in 10m") = 37 or 38 moves in ~23m = [~35s / move]

* 2nd Stage: 125 moves by 25 mins remaining ("50 moves in 15 mins") = 25 moves in ~23 m = [~55s / move]

* 3rd Stage: 175 moves by 10 mins remaining ("50 moves in 15 mins") = 25 moves in ~23 m = [~55s / move]

* 4th Stage: I'll be playing this by ear, probably trying not to go below at least 3m left in case an emergency appears. If we propose that the game lasts to 250 moves, and that I finish with 3m on the clock, that's "75 moves in 7 mins" = 37 or 38 moves in ~20m = [~30s / move].

If I've done my maths right, that is.

Supposing that I can accustom myself to this speed, I should at no time be in a situation where I'm forced to play an important move in less than the equivalent of one, or more likely two, 30s byo-yomi periods, even though the Fischer is only 20s.

Here's the breakdown in tabulated form.

All I'll be using to actually measure in my training games, though, will be [Moves made (total)] and [Clock left remaining].

Well, having played tournament games with Fischer time, I mostly appreciated that I did not have to think about the clock. I just kept a little eye on the reserve, but never consciously calculated anything like a move number. Also, 50/20 is quite slow (soft max of about 3:20 h for a game). My advice would be not to think about the clock but the game.

I don't know how well this will translate to your situation but here's what I focus on:

1) Playing more games. A mix of more serious and faster games should work fine. You can also take this opportunity to practice and prepare your favourite opening patterns.
2) Analyse games. Preferably with AI or a stronger player. It's also helpful to keep track of and to practice your common mistakes (I use AI Sensei for this but I'm sure you can improvise some sort of system).
3) Flood my brain with good moves and shapes. I rarely replay professional games but I like watching pro game analyses on YouTube (Michael Redmond, Baduk Doctor, Go Pro Yeonwoo, Dwyrin and occasionally some others as well). Watching stronger players play and comment their games is also helpful, though the quality of those games will be lower.

Physical preparation:

• Try to get enough sleep and rest.

• Make sure you eat and drink enough during the tournament. I always have a water bottle and some emergency snacks with me.

• Ironically, one of the best ways to prepare for a tournament is to regularly attend tournaments. Whenever I don't do that I find it much more difficult to stay focused on the games and get tired more easily. Not sure how to get around this issue but perhaps you could try simulating the tournament schedule once or twice to build up the endurance.

Psychological preparation:
Others have already given you a lot of great advice, I'd just like to stress here the importance of patience and of keeping a calm mind. Here's some of my most important mantras:

• Focus on the current move, not on winning the game.

• Focus on the current move, not on past mistakes.

• Focus on attacking, not killing.

• Counting is important. If you're ahead, simplify the game. If you're behind, make it more complicated.

I've checked the game you posted and saw that you went a bit off-kilter a few times when trying to attack your opponent. Generally, most kyu players and a fair amount of dan players will defeat themselves if you just let them. Just be patient and make sure your position is strong. Perhaps you could play a few games where you just focus on building a strong position and on reducing & enclosing your opponent's groups. I've tried that a while ago and surprisingly won a lot more games then when I was being more aggressive.

Second game: https://online-go.com/game/38102366

Bugcat was winning big from move 120-130 on, until the last blunder at move 156.

Just a note on the joseki bottom left:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . O . O O O . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . X X X O . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . X . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . , b . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . a X . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

In the game, White played "a" but Katago prefers "b". The following continuation after "a" is playable for black:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . O . O O O . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . X X X O . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . X . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . 7 4 6 . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . 5 1 X . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . 3 2 . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]