Life In 19x19

I am Eerika Norvio from Finland. I'm 24 years old and study mathematics in Helsinki university, first year now though. I am a bit late because I've had some difficulties in my life, mainly due to my Asperger's syndrome. I started playing go in December 2011, because my physical condition was crumbling due to overexercise. I needed something competitive, but not involving physical exercise. I developed special interest in the game of go and continued playing even when I was able to do sports again. I belong to Helsinki University Go Club, Yligo.

My current EGF rank is 1 dan, but my GoR (2028) is 22 points short from 1 dan lower limit. Many Finnish players share this condition though. This is my player card. I was promoted at EGC 2013, and I am playing my first tournament as 1 dan this weekend. I'm a bit nervous about that. I tend to take tournament games too seriously. Generally I take playing go too seriously, being impatient and obsessed with results and improvement. I learned fast up to 1 kyu, but the last stone took half a year, and it's not likely to get any faster.

If I have some goals at go, it'd probably be to reach the Finnish Championship semifinals some day. That would require strong European 4 dan level at least. I was runner-up at Finnish Women's Championship in 2012, as 3 kyu. I will do my best to win the title this year.

My life now is balancing with the many hobbies and interests: mathematics, go, martial arts, drawing and writing. It's hard to find the balance between maths and go, since they use same mental resources. My boyfriend also plays go, and he's somewhat stronger (actually 5 dan). It feels somewhat annoying to need handicap against him

Well, thanks for accepting me even though I'm a bit weird. Also excuse my bad English.

Houmenta

Tervetuloa!

Hei!

And, as we say in England, hello!

Eerika Norvio wrote:Well, thanks for accepting me even though I'm a bit weird. Also excuse my bad English.

We're all a little weird here. Also I can barely tell you're not a native speaker.

I can.

Cause she mentioned she's from Finland.

Hello by the way.

Welcome.

Welcome to the board.

Enjoy your tournament this weekend!

Welcome!

It looks like you are very gifted. A little more than year and a half and you've already reached a dan level - this is something I have heard about only once. In this rate of improvement I think you can be one of the top european players in just a few years!

Welcome from me too.

There are other people with Asperger's among amateur and professional Go players.
Of course, I am not an expert or anything.

You are still young, and you may find that your interests change as the years go by.
But you already know that Go is deep enough to last for a lifetime.

I look forward to seeing some of your games posted for review.

Your written English is good and clear. Clarity is valuable here.

Thanks for all of you.

I have noticed that go players might be more liberal than people in average, at least in Finland. There are many that identify themselves "weird" in some way. It's the first community where I haven't had any troubles fitting in.

Eerika Norvio wrote:It's the first community where I haven't had any troubles fitting in.

You may find mathematics students similar. This is not a coincidence.

Oh, that might be too. I'm just starting my first year, so I've not yet made any new friends. I know a few senior students because they play go

Eerika Norvio wrote:It's the first community where I haven't had any troubles fitting in.

Hi Eerika, you may also try your local community theater group.

Eerika Norvio wrote:I have noticed that go players might be more liberal than people in average, at least in Finland. There are many that identify themselves "weird" in some way. It's the first community where I haven't had any troubles fitting in.

Us go players also don't like throwing stones in glass houses (ask if you aren't familiar with the saying)