Life In 19x19

I personally think it's right time to make changes in the League as the number of players has declined drastically.

Main reasons that stop me from rejoining League are:

1. Entrance fee - I think it should be definitely less than 50$, in my opinion 30$ a month

2. Tournament system should be implemented to be able to play fixed-time (scheduled) games.

What are your thoughts, ideas on this?

I hate to see League closing but if changes are not to be made then it is already on its way to the end...

Largely time constraints and ASR. I don't have the time to put in the effort that the league deserves, so I go with the closest thing to a free alternative: ASR. That way, if I don't put much effort into ASR, I don't have to feel as guilty.

I've never joined, but I probably would if it were significantly cheaper.

Not enough time and too expensive. I have a friend who did a month or two, and was disappointed. If you don't have a lot of free time, he said, it's hard to keep up and make it worthwhile.

I joined from the beginning. I loved it, but there were very few players in my group in compatible time zones. This wasn't a problem the first month, but I happened to switch jobs around that time and suddenly found that I wasn't able to play games in the times that other players were around.

Yes, the league takes a considerable time commitment. If you aren't willing to commit a lot of study hours to the game, then this is not the league for you. I think that's a key selling point of the league, not a liability. I also felt that the money prizes got in the way of good games. If I could have made any change to league, I would have eliminated the cash prizes. (at least perhaps outside of the top group)

What would make me join again? If my schedule were a little more flexible, I would definitely rejoin. There is really no substitue for slow games with serious players under the watch of very strong players. It is absolutely worth the money.

Not that its important, but my reasons for not joining are simple. I don't like leagues. Period.

I can get serious games when I need them, for free. And I can get them many per night or none over the next few months. Its my choice, and my schedule. I decide if I want to play a lot or not at all, and my decision affects nobody else.

If the league was the only way to play I would have joined it. As it is, I don't need additional motivation to play (which a league might help with) but I need more time and more energy (which the league does not help me to get.)

I played in the A group for 2 month. I also gave lessons for the lower groups.
The reason I stopped is not only the time needed to play the games, but also the fact that the games "count",
making me not want to risk losing (not playing late, not playing early, not playing when tired ect.).
The regular games I play on KGS are having the opposite effect. I can relax and have a fun game,
without having to worry about doing silly stuff, lose points or feel like a fool when the game gets reviewed..
I ended up with maybe 3-4 games a month, which was not much less than the average.
To make it worth while you need to play 3 times as much, and the others players need to do the same.
I have not watched much lessons, so I can not comment on that. The simul games are very nice though.
I enjoyed playing a couple of games against Alexander.

The lessons I gave where sometimes watched by 10 players, but on other times I had to wait for 15 min or so before someone showed up.
While I enjoy giving lessons regardless, I would have liked, and expected to see more people. other teachers had simmilar problems I think.
I did get positive feedback from the people who did attend my lessons

freegame wrote:I played in the A group for 2 month. I also gave lessons for the lower groups.
The reason I stopped is not only the time needed to play the games, but also the fact that the games "count",
making me not want to risk losing (not playing late, not playing early, not playing when tired ect.).
The regular games I play on KGS are having the opposite effect. I can relax and have a fun game,
without having to worry about doing silly stuff, lose points or feel like a fool when the game gets reviewed..

There are 2 factors that are stopping me from joining

1. Price - way too expensive.

2. Simul games - I do not think that the teachers there can concentrate completely on the game they would be playing with me while they are playing 3 - 4 others.

Nevertheless, I think it is a good league, with many strong players there.

P.S - Laurens you are right, I also feel like a fool when my game is being reviewed.

Time commitment.

If I were to quit it would be because

1. Price
2. Difficulty of Finding opponents

I recommend Alex halve the price and double the number of inses. Currently it is very difficult to find games outside European peak hours. Often there is not enough games on offer for review so its not like the lack of teaching/student support is the big problem. The problem is lack of students.

Stevenson wrote:I personally think it's right time to make changes in the League as the number of players has declined drastically.

Main reasons that stop me from rejoining League are:

1. Entrance fee - I think it should be definitely less than 50$, in my opinion 30$ a month

2. Tournament system should be implemented to be able to play fixed-time (scheduled) games.

What are your thoughts, ideas on this?

I hate to see League closing but if changes are not to be made then it is already on its way to the end...

FWIW I quit the insei league solely because of teaching time constraints which may finally end this month as school is out for the summer. I may be able to come back.

But, ultimately, I do not think that the KIL is run as professionally or seriously as it could be. Mr. Dinerschtein Ilya, and the others, are all top-notch go players -- but the turnover rate among teachers is too high. This tells me there is no strong organization which connects the teachers together. As a result, the "teaching" received is somewhat random; from month to month there is no real sense of progress. Whats worse is when a teacher tells you one thing and the next month a different teacher tells you something else. That's the main problem as I see it. There's no lesson plan.

But, then again... this is a different style of learning, which some people prefer. I'm just saying it's not my favorite way to learn.

All that being said, I'm probably going to sign up for next month and try again. I like the idea of the KIL and it's probably settled down a little, hopefully the teachers have settled down and it's even better than when I left it to focus on my work. Plus I miss many of the teachers from there and want to talk with them again.

c u