Life In 19x19

gaius wrote:Snorri, I have never understood this point of view. If you don't want to budget 2 hours on a game, then why on earth are you starting a 45 minute + very generous byo-yomi game?? A few years ago I sometimes played long games online, and it always surprised me that some people were actually annoyed that I used all of my time. They shouldn't complain, they just shouldn't have accepted a game with those time controls! These days I don't have the time and energy to play long games online, so I just don't start long games. IMO, something like 10 min + 3*20s byo-yomi is excellent for casual fun games when you don't want to blitz, but also don't want to agonise over every move.

In a long game, I believe a serious go player should do everything in their ability at every move to avoid oversights as much as possible. Of course, you will not use every last second of byo-yomi at every move, but it doesn't hurt to use most of it whenever you can. Until you get to high dan level, there are not that many trivial moves! Even playing small endgame well can be very complicated. Playing like this is very exhausting indeed, but it does wonders to your tournament performance and really helps you progress because you consider every move seriously. And isn't progress one of the things that makes go so much fun?

Well, it's byo-yomi. The expectation is that there will be averaging going on. Leaving aside the games that I know I play in a rush, I still sometimes finish towards the end of main time, and sometimes play until I'm down to my last period. If every game went until the last period, I would reduce the time settings I allowed, and me and my opponents would lose out in those games that demand the extra time.

gaius wrote:Snorri, I have never understood this point of view. If you don't want to budget 2 hours on a game, then why on earth are you starting a 45 minute + very generous byo-yomi game?? A few years ago I sometimes played long games online, and it always surprised me that some people were actually annoyed that I used all of my time. They shouldn't complain, they just shouldn't have accepted a game with those time controls!

I agree. I'm very aware of the actual budgets because when I play online I often have a "hard stop" so I won't take a new game if I'm unsure it can be finished if we both wind up using a lot of time. However, if there is a kind of unwritten expectation that players will not use up huge amounts of their time, then that can make it confusing for people, and I think there is some of that going on. Some defenders of Japanese byoyomi will dismiss criticisms of that system by saying, "well, you're supposed to finish the game in main time. The overtime is really for emergencies or unexpectedly long endgames." But clearly this is not a universal opinion, as many players, especially stonger ones, get into byoyomi while the game is still in the opening or early middle game!

gaius wrote: Of course, you will not use every last second of byo-yomi at every move, but it doesn't hurt to use most of it whenever you can.

It depends on how many games you to play that day. In IRL tournaments, where there are sometimes 4 serious games crammed into a single day, later games may suffer from burning oneself out on earlier ones. I suppose it depends on one's physical and mental endurance, but more time does not necessarily equal better moves or fewer mistakes. There are mistakes that come from rushing and carelesses, but others that are related to fatigue in long games.

It's not just about the moves of one side, either. I think sometimes players choose longer time limits when they want to "get serious." That sounds great. But especially online, it is hard to get any guarantee that your opponent is serious. They often play blitz even with generous time limits. This is one reason why many players believe they really need IRL tournaments to improve---they want their opponents to be trying as hard as they are...

Indeed it is true that your opponent may not be very serious in an online game - in fact, this is one of the main reasons that I stopped playing serious games online. And in a real-life tournament, it may indeed be sensible to save energy in earlier rounds, but for some reason I never manage to do so...

But most importantly, there are NEVER unwritten rules about not using all your time. Those who pretend that such rules exist are only hampering their own improvement. Ignore them at all costs!

gaius wrote:But most importantly, there are NEVER unwritten rules about not using all your time. Those who pretend that such rules exist are only hampering their own improvement.

You sure about that? Maybe they're playing more games and improving faster. Seems like it could go either way.