Life In 19x19

First I have a confession: I've been aiming at 1D in a year for a month now, that's why the title

I was around 15k OGS when I started and I'm now 11k going strongly to 10k. But I know that it won't be smooth sailing now that SDK is so close so I decided to make my goal public to help motivate me when I eventually hit a wall. (Like the one I had at 15 kyu where I was stuck for 2 years, ouch.)

So I've got some kind of idea of what to study. GoStyle Web App recommended Elementary Go series and books on opening, life and death and tesuji. And although I'm a bit wary because it also ranked me around 2kyu in KGS, I think it's on the right track. I watched In Sentes 1 Dan video and it seemed like I'm going in the same direction. So that's good! Also I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong when studying the fundamentals

So besides reading books I'm also looking through pro games and youtube videos (especially by Dwyrin) but those are mostly just for fun. And I'm also playing and reviewing games. Lots and lots of games. It's almost an addiction at this point guys.

So there's a small intro. I'm still not sure how and when I'll update this journal but stay tuned! And of course any and all feedback is always appreciated!

Stemu wrote:.. mostly just for fun..

This seems like the most important part to me.

Different people will have different recommendations for training regimes but I think it's important that you enjoy all of it or it will be tough to stick with.

Good luck.

So funny thing I realized today after a long long time of frustration. I was so confused about essentially being stuck at 15k for years and thought there was something weird about it. So I finally decided to take the time to take a long hard look at my game history.

The thing that kept bothering me was that in any other server I was around 12-10k but in OGS I was 15. And since I kept playing on mobile I stuck with OGS whenever I played. Now I looked at my rankings in past and I had been 12, 11 and even 10k in the past. Multiple times. But everytime I somehow found myself back around 15k.

So now I realize I'm an idiot. I've been around 12-11 kyu level all these years. How? Well. Short answer is: correspondence games.

Now I feel like an idiot for not realizing this sooner. Everytime I got my motivation back I would go back to play these 15k players and win. And that was fun! Easy victories! Then I would have one match against a tougher opponent, suffer a crushing defeat and lose all interest in the game for a while. Now. Since I was only playing correspondence games like an idiot that meant I would lose all my ongoing games by timeout. And rank back down to around 15k. And then go back and do the same thing again! For years!! I feel so stupid now. No wonder I haven't improved.

So yeah not sure if anyone is actually interested but this was a big revelation for me.

Tl;dr I thought my rank wrong for years because I'm an idiot. Would not recommend only playing correspondence games for anyone, ever.

MikeKyle wrote:

Stemu wrote:.. mostly just for fun..

This seems like the most important part to me.

Different people will have different recommendations for training regimes but I think it's important that you enjoy all of it or it will be tough to stick with.

Good luck.

Thank you! And having fun is the most important part I agree! Happy stones die easier and so on

So you guys ever have a game that tells you plainly what you need to study next? Because I did and it was as embarrassing as it was enlightening. Just click straight to the end to see what I'm talking about!



So I'll definitely go back to do some tsumego now

Hi Stemu,

need to study next?

Quite often: the fundamentals.

occasional move... not sure the engines agree here. ^(*)

LR corner feels more urgent. ^(*)

misclick ? very strange. ^(*)

K7 seems bigger. ^(*)

K7 atari. ^(*)

iffy. R17 bigger. ^(*)

requires careful reading, vs. o9. ^(*)



_____
^(*) Please check with a super-human engine.

Thanks EdLee! I was so focused in my epic misreading I didn't pay enough attention in other areas in my review! Your comments def helped to see the game better

And I agree with you, my fundamentals are deffinitely shaky. That's why I'm currently going through Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go

Quick response.

Tsumego was not why you lost the fight on the right side. Study shape and tesuji.

Thanks Bill I will!

LeelaZero says you were still ahead, so you shouldn't have resigned so early.

Hi Stemu, you're welcome.

attention in other areas in my review!

Remember that if we could see all the things we missed, we wouldn't be playing at our current level, by definition -- we'd be playing at super-engine levels. My experience has been that a review shows a million other things I completely missed. Yes, often there's one or two key moments where things went wrong, but almost always there are still many other blind spots throughout.

EdLee wrote:Hi Stemu, you're welcome.

attention in other areas in my review!

Remember that if we could see all the things we missed, we wouldn't be playing at our current level, by definition -- we'd be playing at super-engine levels. My experience has been that a review shows a million other things I completely missed. Yes, often there's one or two key moments where things went wrong, but almost always there are still many other blind spots throughout.

This underscores the point that, to advance rapidly, you almost always need a coach or teacher, someone who can see where your game need the most help. Without such coach or teacher, my advice is to study everything.

https://senseis.xmp.net/?DieterVerhofst ... mesmanship

Recommended for fast improvement and overall attitude, to convert increased understanding into results.

So I tried to play a game without trying to kill everything and lost. Looking back most of the games I tend to win are ones with intense fighting :/ I guess I was too passive in this game?

I am not a strong player but here are a few moves that I found strange at first sight:

makes your stones heavy, I would have extended along the edge.

is bad shape, and doesn't seem to provide any benefit.

is dangerous because of the potential ko fight ( at P1), at M1 looks better.