For nearly a year I have made references to someone I have mentored online. He used to be a student, but now he is much more of a study partner than a student because he is only three stones weaker than I am at this point. I first made contact with him when he called me up asking about Wings Go Club. That day I helped him login to KGS for the first time. I helped him set up an account, and I played his first 9x9 game with him there. I have watched him grow from 21k to 10k. I have stood in awe of his ability to play day in and day out without fear or fatigue, and have urged him to start taking lessons with Yilun Yang, which he has been doing now for several months.
I have gone out of my way to not mention his KGS user name when I write about him because I didn't want to expose him. But today after we reviewed a situation in his game that started as a bulky five, then progressed to a pyramid shape, and resulted in a big chase resulting in eventual, undeserved life for his stones, I told him that I might write a blog post about it. He said that was a good idea. That prompted me to ask how he would feel about me using his KGS name on the blog. The conversation went like this:
buzzsaw [7k?]: btw
buzzsaw [7k?]: I have avoided using your KGS name on my blog
buzzsaw [7k?]: and sometimes it is difficult to do
buzzsaw [7k?]: do you mind if I mention you by name?
ChasLayton [10k]: I don't care. I'm an open book.
buzzsaw [7k?]: people may come to play you
buzzsaw [7k?]: people read my blog
ChasLayton [10k]: They do anyway.
buzzsaw [7k?]: well, yeah, I send them to stalk you
buzzsaw [7k?]: but not through the blog
ChasLayton [10k]: I figured that out
buzzsaw [7k?]: I say, "go stalk charles"
ChasLayton [10k]: and some of them do
ChasLayton [10k]: I can't imagine why, except I'm online so much
buzzsaw [7k?]: well that is the reason
buzzsaw [7k?]: it is a constant
buzzsaw [7k?]: that people like
ChasLayton [10k]: Right.
buzzsaw [7k?]: they like to see the fighting spirit
ChasLayton [10k]: I'm like gravity
buzzsaw [7k?]: the fearlessness
...
buzzsaw [7k?]: you are a law of nature
buzzsaw [7k?]: me too
buzzsaw [7k?]: inertia
...
ChasLayton [10k]: yes, it's inertia
ChasLayton [10k]: Like now, I'm itching to play again. Send me in, coach!
buzzsaw [7k?]: okay okay
buzzsaw [7k?]: go get 'em charles
The cool thing about Charles is that he plays up to 30 games a day, and has nearly 5,000 games under his belt in one year. He is the opposite of me. He told me that he is glad that I like to watch so much more than I like to play because he reaps the benefit of that. That may be true, but I believe that I have learned a lot by teaching him over the course of the past year.
So when you are on KGS stop by a ChasLayton game and leave a little kibbitz message, "Buzzsaw sent me to stalk you, Charles."
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