Malweth’s Metablog

Here’s some good playing points from r.g.g.! This is from the mid-kyu players checklist thread, which references a basic checklist of things to think about during any given game.

Just an interesting goban I found online! That’s a new desktop image for me!

The latest Hikaru no Go episode has been translated - I’ll be watching it tonight (New Years 2004 Special)! Woohoo!

Today was my lesson with Tsurukame. A 9 stone handicap (of course… :p), but I definitely think I learned. As long as I keep learning, I’m happy with go. Getting a stronger rating is good, of course (it’s in some ways a measurement of your learning and ability), but the best time is when you have some major breakthroughs. I’m on the verge of one now (I think I may have had it - in terms of the whole-board opening to mid game time frame). My real weakness is again Life and Death.

I love it when I’m put into a tough life and death situation, get half of the answer correct, and can’t see the next 5-8 moves required to solve it. As I mentioned to Mirel today, I can see the answer if it’s within 3 or so moves. A big part of Life and Death also seems to be sente… yes, I know, a lot of the game in general is about sente! Any move that is a guaranteed sente move cannot be bad (usually…) At worst case the move is answered and you have aji left behind. In one Life and Death situation, at least, connecting was sente because White would have to respond or I’d escape. Obviously not all such moves will work, but they must be examined!

Sente is also important in Joseki and the middle game. Joseki ending in sente is one obvious example (and for someone like me who doesn’t know Joseki, very hard to find…) In both cases, the mid-game especially, we must look for ways to improve our shape in sente, gain influence in sente, or expand our moyo in sente. This was/is part of the big breakthrough I think I’m undergoing… not only finding these sente moves, but understanding which are sente and which are not (though they might look it. Beware of people not responding to your angle attacks! Even a peep can be ignored under the right conditions.

People don’t always make the typical responses, but it’s also important to decide which ignored response can be exploited. If they ignored a peep, what will cutting gain you? I think they call this “reading”

Another good lesson from Tsurukame this past Sunday! I think I’m improving, but I know there’s plenty for me to work on! The hardest part now is that I need to play games more often. Sounds like I’ve got something to do at lunch time from now on! I’d also like to play a game in the evenings, but that’s a lot harder to manage in terms of time.

The AGA Yearbooks are coming out, though… and GoGod and looking at amature games will give me something to do when I don’t have time to play! What I don’t understand when looking at various ~10 kyu games is the tendancy to ignore fuseki (at this level we don’t really know Joseki) and create a massive battle that envelops the board. Is this really necessary? Do I do this (I don’t think I do)? Perhaps I was just unlucky with the players games I downloaded from KGS, but these people did reach 10-14 kyu!

In fact, that brings me to what I really wonder about my games. Will improving my opening let me break past 10 kyu? Do I need more life and death experience (from problems AND games)? I suspected it was a little of each until I looked at some of these ~10 kyu games last week. Perhaps the real breakthrough will come when I, as a low 10s player, decide to actually think during the opening. Spending 50% of my time on the first 30-50 moves could help my game incredibly!

Well… I’ve returned from taking a short break from Go. It was the holidays, so travel helped interfere with my go playing! It wasn’t only travelling, though… I needed a break - I think I was pressing too hard and making too many over plays (or under plays…) My best games in the week or two before Christmas were the League matches, but they had their own problems.

Go is a psychological game. Obviously tactical skills are a requirement, reading skills are quite necessary, and the fundamentals are essential to the game. Given two people of equal skills or a game played at the appropriate handicap, the game is essentially psychological.

Overconfidence in your ability, at least at the 10-15 kyu level, results in disastrous overplay. I think that once I realized I grew so much stronger when I jumped from 18 kyu to 14 kyu in November to December, this was the result. I was attacking groups well, growing stronger in Life and Death, and winning a lot of equal games.

And once I realized this (see the partially lost post Dec 10th) I started losing. Why? Because I pushed the envelope just a little too hard. I made too much close contact when attacking and reckless plays. I played better in the December League finals, but this was more because I lost my confidence and played some more defensive moves.

When I realized my problems I decided a break from the game was in order. I took a week and simply started rereading “Attack and Defense.” The results of regaining attacking ability can be seen in the game I played yesterday. (VIEW) (SAVE)

I also had a fun time getting my brother on KGS Now I can try to teach him how to be a 18-20 kyu (From my experience, that’s about where you get addicted to go… heheh). 9×9 and 13×13 games will be best for now - only problem is that I’ve never played 13×13! I’ll have to see how different it is!