Life In 19x19

Okay, before I ask, I'll go ahead and say I know this might not be too intelligent of a question, but it's something I've been wondering for some time now (i.e. since I began playing). Is it possible to get better by playing yourself? I've wondered if it's possible to gain some insight to your play, however insignificant. I know you probably learn more from playing other people, but I was just wondering if it's possible to improve some just by playing games against yourself.

I hate playing myself, the colour I'm aiming to win with always loses!

schilds wrote:I hate playing myself, the colour I'm aiming to win with always loses!

The funny thing about that is that that's how it usually works when I play myself, too.

I don't know if I call it "playing myself", but I sometimes explore variations. I guess this is, in a way, playing yourself.

Wasn't there another long thread already discussing this? Or was that on GD?

If you play a lot of 9h games against yourself, you'll improve 9 stones very rapidly!

Araban wrote:If you play a lot of 9h games against yourself, you'll improve 9 stones very rapidly!

Really? I had no idea. I guess I'll have to try that.

hailthorn011 wrote:Okay, before I ask, I'll go ahead and say I know this might not be too intelligent of a question, but it's something I've been wondering for some time now (i.e. since I began playing). Is it possible to get better by playing yourself? I've wondered if it's possible to gain some insight to your play, however insignificant. I know you probably learn more from playing other people, but I was just wondering if it's possible to improve some just by playing games against yourself.

I do it but it is only to understand joseki and logical pla better. Bobby Fischer played himself all the time in chess.

Another man, a man weaker than I, might make puns here on how "playing with yourself" is both healthy and pleasant indeed! But, as a man of great moral integrity, I will of course shy away from any such futile attempts at humour...

gaius wrote:Another man, a man weaker than I, might make puns here on how "playing with yourself" is both healthy and pleasant indeed! But, as a man of great moral integrity, I will of course shy away from any such futile attempts at humour...

No one used that phrase, you are punning with yourself.

At least he did not use a**.

gaius wrote:Another man, a man weaker than I, might make puns here on how "playing with yourself" is both healthy and pleasant indeed! But, as a man of great moral integrity, I will of course shy away from any such futile attempts at humour...

Ha ha, I did set myself up for that, didn't I?

I think reviewing games from stronger players would be more helpful than playing games against yourself. I find that even as a SDK that reviewing pro games yields insights. I find that I have to be patient and not get frustrated if a move completely baffles me. I just move on.

I don't spend a lot of time doing this myself, but when I have reviewed pro games, I tend to play them out on a goban with perhaps SmartGo running the game record on my laptop or iPhone. Actually putting the stones on the board and allowing myself to stare and ask "why" has been both enjoyable and insightful.

I can play a certain number of moves against myself, but eventually I'm not able to move anymore as I get stuck in a situation where I keep having to think for both sides, and I'm unable to find optimal moves for both players, and the whole game quickly spirals into a mess if I do play anything out.