Life In 19x19

ez4u wrote:From your previous game...
Normal is 5 below. In the game you allowed White to capture the cutting stone too easily. The result was that all you got was the corner, a disappointing result for the taisha. Your opponent didn't really understand what was going on since the main point of the descent at 2 is to be able to jump as far as 'a'.

$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X X 1 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

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[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X X 1 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

In the game you played at 'a' below and speculated about 'b' instead. How about 5? The 3-3 is always strong and Black's low position on the right makes the bottom uninteresting.

$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 X . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . O O O X O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . 1 X . X X X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

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[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 X . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . O O O X O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . 1 X . X X X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Again you played 'a' below and speculated about 'b'. Settle your stones while undercutting White! If White protects the upper left, you protect the upper right.

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X 1 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . X O O . 2 . . . . . . . . O X . . . |
$$ | . X X O . 4 . . . . . . . . X O O O . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . . . . O O O X O . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . X X . X X X X . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

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[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X 1 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . X O O . 2 . . . . . . . . O X . . . |
$$ | . X X O . 4 . . . . . . . . X O O O . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . . . . O O O X O . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . X X . X X X X . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I like your last two ideas.

Regarding the taisha suggestion, I'm still thinking about it. It seems complicated to me.

A couple of posts ago, ez4u brought up the idea that it might not always be a good idea to give the opponent so much, just to take sente. I suppose the question to ask myself is, then, why do I give my opponent significant profit in order to take sente?

The question has been on my mind for a few days, but I hadn't thought of a good answer. Until I realized that I didn't play enough Mario 2.



What am I talking about? That's probably a question on your mind. Perhaps it'd be useful if I provided some additional context.

Yesterday, Inseong gave one of his Monday lectures. Occasionally, he hides the lecture topic for "theme ideas". In these types of lectures, he doesn't discuss any particular joseki or opening. He introduces a new way of thinking. The concepts are somewhat abstract, with several applications. Pretty good stuff.

Anyway, as the lecture progressed, I soon realized that the topic was perfect for me. One of the biggest indicators? Inseong used positions from at least 3 of my games as examples. There are over a hundred members of the Yunguseng Dojang, and members play several games. But for this particular lecture, multiple examples from my games were chosen. Surely, this is a topic that I need to reflect upon.

The topic was not about taking sente or not taking sente. Rather, it is about strengthening your own position and not your opponent's. By in large, this is a big problem area for me. Out of Inseong's examples, there was one instance where I utilized this philosophy. I'm black:

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[go]$$W Moves 56 to 65
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . O . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . O O O . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . O , O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . O . . X X O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O . O O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . X 6 X X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . 4 . 8 5 . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . 0 9 . 7 X . . . X . , . X . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . 3 . a . O O X . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 2 . 1 . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

and are these types of moves. Instead of trying to push down the opponent and forcefully attack around the 'a' area, simply strengthening oneself effectively weakens the opponent.

In contrast, here is an example in which I did *not* follow this principle (again, I'm black):

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[go]$$ Position at move 51
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 5 . X . O . . . . |
$$ | . X X . X . . . . 4 3 O X . . . X . . |
$$ | X O O X . . . . . 2 1 O X . O . . . . |
$$ | . X O O . X X . . , O X . X O , X . . |
$$ | X X X O O O X . . . O . X . O . . . . |
$$ | O O X X O O X . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I directly use brute force to cut his stones, and my opponent utilizes the weakness of my cutting stones to strengthen himself.

There are several other examples that Inseong brought, but as they are not my games, and it is his lecture, I won't share them all here.

But there is clearly a pattern here:
* Strengthen yourself --> Opponent can get (relatively) weaker.
* Directly attack your opponent --> You can get (relatively) weaker.

Now there are certainly circumstances when a direct attack is called for. But in order for such an attack to work, sufficient strength is a prerequisite.

Thinking about this led me to the conclusion that this was a lot like a particular aspect of Mario 2. Notably, the "crouch jump". Characters on Mario 2 can jump in different ways. Luigi can jump very high, but in a less controlled fashion. The princess can kind of hover for awhile in the air, but the jump isn't as high as Luigi. Toad can't jump high, but he's very controlled. Mario's kind of average.

Anyway, each player has their own unique ability, and their own jumping height.

But in order to jump really high, you can use the down button to crouch first. After you do this for a few seconds to power up, you can jump much higher than you could before.



The moral of the story is, if you calm down, take a bit of time to "power yourself up", then you can jump higher than you could dream of jumping otherwise. In some ways, this reminds me of ez4u's comment about sente. If I keep trying to push the opponent - sente, sente, sente, sente, sente... Or if I keep trying to attack the opponent - hit, hit, hit, hit, hit...

Then I can never realize the effect of truly jumping high. If I want to do a super jump like you can do in Mario 2, I have to calm down, gather myself, power up, then attack.

So next game, instead of "sente, sente, sente, sente, sente", let's look for opportunities to calm down, gote for a bit, then do a super-charged attack from the power I've obtained.

Mario 2 style.

It's been about 15 days since I played a game for this journal to review (i.e. a ranked game on KGS). The reason is kind of shallow. I felt bad about moving down to 1k, and then losing to 1k.

Anyway, I guess I felt a little less shallow today, so I played a ranked game on KGS against KGS 1k.

I happened to win, but I missed what I feel to be a big ko threat for black. I thought about it while he was looking for a ko threat. He didn't play it, so I guess it's lucky.

Here's my review.

Highlights

Position 1

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[go]$$ Position at move 32
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . X O . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . X . O . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . W . X . X . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . X X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I played the marked move. I feel it is slack. But I don't know what is better.

As mentioned in the SGF, it's not clear to me if the peep is working OK:

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[go]$$W Position at move 32
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . X O . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . X . O . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X a X . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . 1 . . O . . . . . . X X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I feel black might not respond at 'a', and it's not clear to me if I can come out ahead...

So, while I think my move in the game is slack, I'm not sure what's better.



Position 2

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[go]$$ Position at move 40
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . X O . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . X . O . . . X . X a . . |
$$ | . . O O X X X . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . X X O O W . O . . . . . . X X X . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I played the marked move, and I saw the ko. I thought I could ignore any threat he'd give me (thinking mostly that he'd take 'a'). But I didn't anticipate the threat here:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$ Position at move 46
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . X O . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . B . . . X . O . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O X X X O X O . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . X X O O O . O . . . . . . X X X . |
$$ | . . . . X . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I don't know if he saw it or not, but while I was waiting for him to move, I felt it was a good threat for him... So maybe going for this ko is unreasonable.

Instead, perhaps I can just play simply:

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[go]$$ Position at move 40
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . X O . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . X . O . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O X X X . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . O . . . . . . X X X . |
$$ | . . . . X W . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'm still splitting his groups, and it doesn't seem like a terrible situation. And it seems much less risky.

Position 3

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[go]$$ Position at move 52
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . X O . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . X O O . . . X . X X X . |
$$ | . . O O X X X O . O . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . X X O O O O O . . . . . . X X X . |
$$ | . . . . X X X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I played the marked move aiming at a weakness in his shape. But it's much too naive to think he'll respond to the threat of cutting.

I think it's much better to put in less pressure to let him live easily, but to instead take influence in the bottom left:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$ Position at move 52
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . X O . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . X O O . . . X . X X X . |
$$ | . . O O X X X O . O . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . X X O O O O O . . . . . . X X X . |
$$ | . . . . X X X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . W . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The marked move seems like a better strategy globally - and it seems much less naive.

for 26, I think you have only two options: shoulder hit or cap. In the game, your group became very thin.

Shaddy wrote:for 26, I think you have only two options: shoulder hit or cap. In the game, your group became very thin.

Shoulder hit at G16?

Also, I guess my strategy must be wrong. My reasoning was that, if I keep his group weak, my thin group was strong enough. Maybe this isn't practical?

yes, g16. problem was that his group became much stronger than yours, partially because of the massive black wall to the right.

Well, I played three games today. And my rank is plummeting - just in time for US Go Congress, eh? I wanted to play until I won, and I lost the first two, so that's why I played three games. On the forums, it's fun to ask generalized questions about small details in your study, or how to study in the most efficient way. I did this last week, in fact, commenting on the way I studied go problems (the thread went in a weird path I didn't imagine, but anyway...).

But the bottom line is simple. The reason I'm losing is simply because:
* I didn't put enough effort into these games. Reviewing the games, it just takes a few seconds to recognize some of the problem areas. I can knit-pick about the details, but the bottom line is that I didn't spend a lot of effort thinking.
* I didn't put enough effort into study. These days it's not uncommon for me not to do go problems at all. Furthermore, when I do problems that have a rank associated with them, I have a hard time focusing. I have trouble even with problems ranked as "5k". Clearly, I'm not focusing enough.

I have the tendency to try to analyze ways to get better at go. But the reason I'm doing poorly these days is quite simple: garbage in, garbage out. It's not the complicated formula I want to make it out to be. There is no secret. Put quality in, get quality out. Put garbage in, get garbage out.

So here are a few "garbage" games. I guess garbage is more fun than nothing at all.


Game 1



Game 2



Game 3


---

Typically I write out "highlights" in the form of diagrams.

I'm not going to do that today. That's because I think that the takeaway from these three games is simple:

* Garbage in, garbage out.
* Quality in, quality out.

This applies both to while I'm playing the game, and when I am studying. Maybe part of the problem is that garbage can be relaxing. I don't have to think as much, and it's still a little bit fun.

So maybe I need to dislike garbage more...



Problem is, it's so easy to play a garbage game. And it's so easy to lack focus while "studying". And it's still fun. So I really need to find a way to stop enjoying garbage so much. I tell myself I don't like it. But is that true?

I think you hit the nail on the head with the garbage thing. The problem is that we often automatically assume that more is better and that if we keep playing, eventually our rank (which we mistakenly equate with skill/improvement), will increase. The real focus while playing a game should be to play the best game you can. Every move should be the best move you can make. You should try to count the score at intervals, some recommend 30,50,100 or some such and always play accordingly. If ahead, try to get more ahead and not give your opponent a chance to catch-up, if behind it's time to start a fight and try to orchestrate a comeback. We have to remember that each move we play has to count for something. In the end, given equal skill, the person who makes his moves count just that little bit more (i.e exerts himself to always find and play the best moves), will win. But winning games and increasing ones rank should never be the focus even though it automatically wants to be. We should always focus on just playing the best move we can in a given situation. If we messed up, we must reassess the board and play the move that can get us back in the game. This focus on always playing the best move is one way to counteract garbage/lazy games. Another thing is to not immediately respond to your opponent, take a couple of seconds with the hand off the mouse and actually consider what your opponent is trying to do. We must not only focus on our own moves, but also consider the opponents moves. I've often had a problem with underestimating my opponent and kinda going psht, meh at all his moves even though they may be legitimate. So every move counts, ours and our opponents. If our opponent plays a sub-optimal move and we just respond with another sub-optimal move instead of trying to find the best move/counter, then we aren't really playing, are we?

In the event that one loses a game horribly, it's natural to immediately want to redeem oneself by 'destroying' someone and winning. (The focus has now switched from playing the best moves/game we can, to 'winning', but winning is a consequence of the aforementioned). So when this happens, instead of immediately queing up for another game and angrily trying to destroy the opponent, it's best to take a break, make a cup of tea and put your mind off the game for a little while. The temptation of the ego to re-assert itself through a glorious victory is very hard to resist sometimes, but we must recognize that expecting to win when we are emotionally unstable after a horrible loss is unrealistic. Always, we must examine the board without emotion and find the best move. This is the only way. We must forget about winning and about ego. Instead, we must focus our entire being on playing the best moves.

When studying/doing problems, we must discipline ourselves to just pick a candidate move and start reading. Sometimes it can be hard to focus and we may be discouraged because we cannot immediately see the vital point to kill and just easily read out a common remembered sequence to confirm the move. However, the only way to solve problems is to pick candidate moves, read if they work or not, and if they don't, move on until we find the solution. In this case it's a matter of discipline. However, some problems are solved by techniques we have yet to encounter and if we cannot solve a problem within a reasonable amount of time, say 10-15 min, then it's best to just look at the answer and learn the technique for next time. In any case, if you discipline yourself to read methodically, then you will benefit from the problem even if you cannot find the solution and must turn to the answer sheet to learn the technique. Discipline in solving problems by picking a candidate move and methodically reading it out ensures that the study has not been wasted, even if an answer is not found. This is similar to focusing on playing the best move during a game. Even if you lose/don't solve the problem, you will still benefit from it.

Another cure I can suggest for playing alot of mindless games, is to simply stop and just replay pro games for a couple of days, a week or however long you feel like while also continuing to solve problems. For problems it can also be useful to set yourself a time goal, like 30 min a day or 1h a day.

Just my 2 cents, hope it was helpful

Thank you, OtakuViking, for your insightful reply.

You mention several things, but one that sticks out to me is the mindset of playing the best moves. What concerns me is that... this desire to play the best moves... I'm not sure I see it within myself - at least not within my present self. Playing moves, even when they are garbage moves, provides some entertainment in itself. So if I’m honest with myself, I must ask, “Where is the benefit?”

I can make an analogy with physical exercise. It’s easy to fantasize about losing a lot of weight, building up muscles, living in a healthy way, and exercising. I can tell myself to avoid unhealthy food, to stay away from alcohol, and to stop sitting around and using the Internet. But until that desire to live in a healthy way is strong enough to overcome the desire to eat that burrito at lunchtime, or to sit down in my chair and troll on L19… It’s hard to see any change in habits.

So to come back to the topic, your advice about aiming to play the best moves is truly good. But where is the benefit that makes the effort worth it?


---

Edit: And after a bit of exercise today, I reflected a bit on this some more. It's not totally related, and perhaps a bit of a paradox in bringing it up, but I have another observation on my behavior.

Namely, I feel that I sometimes express my thoughts about my lack of study, lack of diligence, etc., quite easily and publicly.

When I think of why I do this, perhaps it's a sort of "pseudo-guilt".

That is to say, if I publicly express my frustration with myself, perhaps I soften the guilty feeling I have. That is to say, if I publicly state my guilt, it makes me feel better, even if I have done nothing to fix the problem.

In saying this publicly, maybe it's a bit funny. But maybe, if I want to deal with my guilt, it's better to do it in private.

Just a thought.

This Saturday is the start of the 2015 US Go Congress.


I cannot believe that the time is already here... And, looking back at my ambitions from a few months ago... I am not ready for it. I had dreams a few months ago about studying very hard, playing many games online, ranking up, and doing very well at the US Open. Sadly, my study wasn't what I hoped, my game results are not good, and I have "ranked down". Perhaps more of a problem is that I've been a bit of a downer lately. It's probably clear from the tone of my recent posts in this journal. Maybe it was due to poorly played games, or maybe I just haven't studied enough, but I've even questioned why I even play go. I've pondered motivation - maybe I don't have the intrinsic motivation that I thought I had.

But what's past is past. There is no need to dwell on negativity excessively. Rather, I'd like to look forward to what I can do from this point forward.

So, I have made a resolution for this year's Go Congress. In contrast to the last two years, where I had ambitions of winning all of my games, my goal is different this year. Namely, my goal for this year's Go Congress is to reignite my passion for the game. I can play games online any day. But Go Congress happens only once a year. And if anything can make me passionate again about Go... It's probably the US Go Congress. So here's to finding my passion, again. Cheers!

Oh, and if you happen to be attending this year's Go Congress, by all means, introduce yourself to me! If you can't find my name tag, this is what I look like:

Enjoy Congress!

EdLee wrote:Enjoy Congress!

Thank you. If you're attending, I look forward to seeing you.

Kirby, no. Have fun.

( If they ever return to this area... )