"In which the first foot finally becomes firmly embedded...
Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 10:56 am
in the muddy banks of that other shore." - George Starostin on the Beatles 'Rubber Soul'
That quote has always stuck for me for one reason or another. I've even quoted it in school papers. You may think this doesn't seem to pertain much to go, but alas, it does!
I've been stuck at a certain level without improving for some time now. I never quite understood why players in Korea would quit being professionals when they have to go on military duty, but now I realize. I took a year-long break after I hit high SDK and I've never been able to find my momentum again. But now, I want to firmly embed the first foot in the muddy banks of that other shore. The dan shore.
Over the last few days I've been trying to run down my list of weaknesses in order to find what's wrong. I've gone back time and time again to old books - Kageyama, A&D, Opening Theory. I feel as if I've been making more progress because I've now started reading them by taking notes and playing out the diagrams instead of reading them straight.
As a result, I've come up with a study plan to help me burst through that impenetrable wall...
1. Reading - I've never quite appreciated reading because i've always found it quite easy to read 5-10 moves at a glance, a skill most of my opponents weren't able to do. That was my first mistake; handicapping myself.
Now I've decided to buckle down and increase my reading ability to 20 moves with ease, and to take breaks during pivotal points to actually read more than one or two variations (another problem I've mine; must be ADD or something, I can't seem to focus enough to read more than one or two branches before playing a move).
To do this, I've decided to re-do my LCH set over and over until I can solve every problem with ease. That means, every day I will solve 1 book (123 problems from Book I or II)/half a book (~60 problems from III orIV)/quarter of a book (~30 problems from V or VI). This comes first, before all else.
2. Opening - I've always had a ridiculously weak opening, but I didn't worry much about it because my midgame skill was far ahead of my similarly ranked opponents; ending fuseki behind by 30 points was no problem. However, now I plan to research how professionals play all of the Chinese variants (High, Low, Micro, Mini) and also the best way to play with/against sanrensei/double 4-4 (my favorite opening with white).
2a. Joseki - I've always abstained from studying joseki because I never really knew the point of it all. Now I've done a complete 180 and have been dedicating myself to learning joseki (note: LEARNING, not memorizing). However, I've decided something to help me out: memorize the final result of each joseki. That way I can save time reading by just hovering the final result over the board.
3. Fighting - A friend once remarked to me that (if i remember correctly), "you're a 4 dan in fighting, but 20k at the opening"; this is completely true. Well, maybe not. I am not 4 dan in fighting, but it is my forte. So why put it so high? Because playing 4 dans and 5 dans, and 1 dans and 2 dans has showed me my fighting isn't that good!
Of course, this will come with all the reading practice, but I'd also like to learn how to make better shapes, what the weaknesses of certain shapes are, and how to make and utilize thickness in a more a efficient way.
4. Judgement - I need to speed up my estimating ability; I can count the entire board in under a minute, but I think that's too long. I'm not a fan of the "this area looks bigger than this area" philosophy. I'd rather have (somewhat) concrete numbers.
I'd also like to increase my ability to discern who is leading in power and thickness, and how to use that power to take over a game/how to come back if I'm behind in power.
5. Fundamental concepts - This should probably come first, but I think I have a solid grip on the fundamentals and really only need a refresher every so often. I would like, however, to increase my ability to create and use aji the right way; I'm an aji-keshi master, and I don't even understand why or how!
6. Playing - I need to play three serious games a week and have at least one reviewed. I want to improve, but I feel I won't get much farther without having a game reviewed, but I hardly have any kifu because I haven't really hunkered to play "serious" games (serious in my book = 2+ hour game).
7. Lessons - Even though I've written this near 1000 word guide for myself, it certainly wouldn't hurt if a high dan would point out more weaknesses in my game, or how to improve the weakness I've already listed. I would like a regular teacher, but it's quite hard to find any affordable ones within my $8/hr wage.
8. Review - Lather, rinse, repeat.
I'd like to use this thread as a way to keep track of my studying. I feel it's the only way I can actually force me to study; to record. If you have any tips, they are greatly appreciated. In fact, I have a game that I'd like to have looked over. I won, but I feel I could have played better.
http://eidogo.com/#2M20G8u7
P.S. How can I paste the link into an SGF on here?
That quote has always stuck for me for one reason or another. I've even quoted it in school papers. You may think this doesn't seem to pertain much to go, but alas, it does!
I've been stuck at a certain level without improving for some time now. I never quite understood why players in Korea would quit being professionals when they have to go on military duty, but now I realize. I took a year-long break after I hit high SDK and I've never been able to find my momentum again. But now, I want to firmly embed the first foot in the muddy banks of that other shore. The dan shore.
Over the last few days I've been trying to run down my list of weaknesses in order to find what's wrong. I've gone back time and time again to old books - Kageyama, A&D, Opening Theory. I feel as if I've been making more progress because I've now started reading them by taking notes and playing out the diagrams instead of reading them straight.
As a result, I've come up with a study plan to help me burst through that impenetrable wall...
1. Reading - I've never quite appreciated reading because i've always found it quite easy to read 5-10 moves at a glance, a skill most of my opponents weren't able to do. That was my first mistake; handicapping myself.
Now I've decided to buckle down and increase my reading ability to 20 moves with ease, and to take breaks during pivotal points to actually read more than one or two variations (another problem I've mine; must be ADD or something, I can't seem to focus enough to read more than one or two branches before playing a move).
To do this, I've decided to re-do my LCH set over and over until I can solve every problem with ease. That means, every day I will solve 1 book (123 problems from Book I or II)/half a book (~60 problems from III orIV)/quarter of a book (~30 problems from V or VI). This comes first, before all else.
2. Opening - I've always had a ridiculously weak opening, but I didn't worry much about it because my midgame skill was far ahead of my similarly ranked opponents; ending fuseki behind by 30 points was no problem. However, now I plan to research how professionals play all of the Chinese variants (High, Low, Micro, Mini) and also the best way to play with/against sanrensei/double 4-4 (my favorite opening with white).
2a. Joseki - I've always abstained from studying joseki because I never really knew the point of it all. Now I've done a complete 180 and have been dedicating myself to learning joseki (note: LEARNING, not memorizing). However, I've decided something to help me out: memorize the final result of each joseki. That way I can save time reading by just hovering the final result over the board.
3. Fighting - A friend once remarked to me that (if i remember correctly), "you're a 4 dan in fighting, but 20k at the opening"; this is completely true. Well, maybe not. I am not 4 dan in fighting, but it is my forte. So why put it so high? Because playing 4 dans and 5 dans, and 1 dans and 2 dans has showed me my fighting isn't that good!
Of course, this will come with all the reading practice, but I'd also like to learn how to make better shapes, what the weaknesses of certain shapes are, and how to make and utilize thickness in a more a efficient way.
4. Judgement - I need to speed up my estimating ability; I can count the entire board in under a minute, but I think that's too long. I'm not a fan of the "this area looks bigger than this area" philosophy. I'd rather have (somewhat) concrete numbers.
I'd also like to increase my ability to discern who is leading in power and thickness, and how to use that power to take over a game/how to come back if I'm behind in power.
5. Fundamental concepts - This should probably come first, but I think I have a solid grip on the fundamentals and really only need a refresher every so often. I would like, however, to increase my ability to create and use aji the right way; I'm an aji-keshi master, and I don't even understand why or how!
6. Playing - I need to play three serious games a week and have at least one reviewed. I want to improve, but I feel I won't get much farther without having a game reviewed, but I hardly have any kifu because I haven't really hunkered to play "serious" games (serious in my book = 2+ hour game).
7. Lessons - Even though I've written this near 1000 word guide for myself, it certainly wouldn't hurt if a high dan would point out more weaknesses in my game, or how to improve the weakness I've already listed. I would like a regular teacher, but it's quite hard to find any affordable ones within my $8/hr wage.
8. Review - Lather, rinse, repeat.
I'd like to use this thread as a way to keep track of my studying. I feel it's the only way I can actually force me to study; to record. If you have any tips, they are greatly appreciated. In fact, I have a game that I'd like to have looked over. I won, but I feel I could have played better.
http://eidogo.com/#2M20G8u7
P.S. How can I paste the link into an SGF on here?
