Life In 19x19

I'm sure we've all heard this at one time or another, but I have run into this interesting article http://preview.tinyurl.com/385hvk6 It gives a sort of layout for studying problems and has some recommended problem books. It's an interesting article that comes from some stronger players it seems. Just thought I'd share it with you guys.

I'd be very curious to know what this Tianlongtu is, and how to get a copy. It's the only one I haven't heard of.

http://tchan001.wordpress.com/2010/05/0 ... ems-books/
Tianlongtu is 天龍圖. I translated it as "Heavenly Dragon Diagrams" in my blog entry.

I'd recommend looking for the Taiwanese versions. You can look at this blog entry for info on buying Chinese go books:
http://tchan001.wordpress.com/chinese-g ... -go-books/

There are Japanese versions of Tianlongtu.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/天龍図1-碁楽選書-権-甲龍/dp/4488000231/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281922870&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.co.jp/天龍図2-碁楽選書-権-甲龍/dp/448800024X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281922870&sr=1-1

Can't really give you advice if you plan to buy the original Korean version though. But if you are looking for the latest books from the author, they are currently only available in Korean

Thanks tchan, I've never heard of it either. Your blog is really useful, I've used it for help on ordering some chinese go books.

Yes, that article is one of the best to model a long-term study plan on. I have all of the books in the article, including the Kweon Kap-yong Baduk Academy Series (權甲龍圍棋道場系列), and believe that they are all very good.

I must say i don't really trust anyone who says it's easy to become 8d.

palapiku wrote:I must say i don't really trust anyone who says it's easy to become 8d.

"Easy" is a bit of a relative term. Reading the article, I think the path described to reach 8D is "easy" in concept, and even in execution. What would be difficult (for me) is finding the time, energy, dedication required to follow the path as described. If you have those, and enough mental acuity to work through the program, then, yes, it certainly sounds possible.

It's a nice article, and I hope it inspires many players to redouble their efforts at reaching 8D!

palapiku wrote:I must say i don't really trust anyone who says it's easy to become 8d.

Don't take his word for it. Try it yourself and find out

CarlJung wrote:

palapiku wrote:I must say i don't really trust anyone who says it's easy to become 8d.

Don't take his word for it. Try it yourself and find out

I'd hate to spend all that effort and find myself stuck at a measly 7D

Everything is easy if you put hard work in it.

SoDesuNe wrote:Everything is easy if you put hard work in it.

I've tried flying by flailing my arms a lot as a kid. I'm still unable to take off or even glide.

SoDesuNe wrote:Everything is easy if you put hard work in it.

This is not true. People have limitations. I've seen people work very hard and not become 8d.

palapiku wrote:

SoDesuNe wrote:Everything is easy if you put hard work in it.

This is not true. People have limitations. I've seen people work very hard and not become 8d.

I'm not sure. I mean 8d in 3 years if you spend all of your time studying tsumego* seems believable, but I don't think I can honestly give any say on this because I'm just a kyu.

*of course, if the tsumego difficulty follows with your level.

palapiku wrote:

SoDesuNe wrote:Everything is easy if you put hard work in it.

This is not true. People have limitations. I've seen people work very hard and not become 8d.

Less go specific, more just general with competitive games: when you plataeu, in order to get better, you have to either think at a fundamentally higher level (what was strategy before becomes tactics now, and what was tactics before is taken for granted) or at the lower levels master a skill you were ignoring before (learn those damn Starcraft2 hotkeys) or unlearn some deeply ingrained habits (cut whenever you can whether the fight favors you or not). All of which mean playing worse for a while because you're outside your comfort zone. Not everyone's egos can take that, so they get stuck in a blind alley skill-wise, trying to get better at the sub optimal techniques in their comfort zone.

There probably is some upper bound on how good a person can play go based just on physical processing power of the brain (it is finite in material, so finite in processing power) and time limits, but I imagine it's well in to the pro range for an average person. The limiting factor is ego, time/money, motivation/endurance, and knowing what to study (coaching). I think that's true of any activity that takes years to master.

palapiku wrote:

SoDesuNe wrote:Everything is easy if you put hard work in it.

This is not true. People have limitations. I've seen people work very hard and not become 8d.

I find it less important to ponder the absolute limitations and more productive to ponder if I can improve from where I am now and what's the best way to accomplish it. The above article shows the way forward. If 8d is the final destination isn't that important.