I have fallen down on my promise to play rated games with greater regularity on KGS. I had planned to play one rated game a day on weekdays for a total of five rated games a week. I wanted to do this primarily to keep that question mark away from my rating. My resolve only lasted for a couple of weeks. I had settled in at 8k after a few weeks of rated games and then I had stopped, probably because I was devoting so much time to reviewing my past lessons.
A couple days ago someone I recognized from Go Discussions who was two stones weaker asked me for a game. I asked if he wanted a free or rated game, and he chose rated. With some measure of fear I proceeded to play the rated game fully expecting to lose. I went into it willing to lose cheerfully, sacrificing myself on the alter of go to encourage someone weaker than myself. Afterall, isn't that what we are supposed to be doing, and what others before have done for us? It is impotant to play white even if you don't feel comfortable doing it.
I was losing, but found a chance for a great double atari late in the game which brought it to a conclusion in my favor, and I was instantly 7k. The first thing that went through my mind was that I would avoid playing rated until Thursday so Mr. Yang could see my 7k even if it was to disappear later.
I have my next lesson tomorrow. I hope that having reviewed so many former lessons will help my game.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Reviewing My Former Yang Lessons
I have been reviewing my former Yang lessons to get rid of those pesky triangle marks I referred to in a recent post. But I also wanted to reveiw them to get back in the spirit of things now that I am taking lessons again.
I decided to begin with the first lesson game Mr. Yang and I played on KGS. Since November 13th I have reviewed 61 games spanning a time period of one and a half years. When I got to game 111a I had a good laugh because that game was played right after I had "beaten" at 4 dan on KGS and had become 5d? as a result. It was a joke, and I never used the game to play rated after I achieved the rank, that was never the intent so the administration didn't care since I was not going to corrupt the system. Also KGS was a lot smaller in those days, and I don't think it could be done now because the current rating system would probably not allow that rank to linger as long as it had five years ago when I played my little joke. I think I kept the vanity rating for a couple weeks.
Here is some of the commentary from the next game I played with Yang:
pala [-]: now w has two weak groups
goddess [5d?]: yes
pala [-]: not good, attach to weak stone
One interesting thing about having the rank of 5d? is that I found that I was treated very differently than I had been treated as the 6k that my rating had drifted to previously. Everyone wanted to talk to me and play with me. I had been fairly well known, and thought I was popular, but people I had never met before started coming out of the woodwork to speak to the female 5d. After a few weeks I turned off the rank and went back to life as usual, and was much happier.
I decided to begin with the first lesson game Mr. Yang and I played on KGS. Since November 13th I have reviewed 61 games spanning a time period of one and a half years. When I got to game 111a I had a good laugh because that game was played right after I had "beaten" at 4 dan on KGS and had become 5d? as a result. It was a joke, and I never used the game to play rated after I achieved the rank, that was never the intent so the administration didn't care since I was not going to corrupt the system. Also KGS was a lot smaller in those days, and I don't think it could be done now because the current rating system would probably not allow that rank to linger as long as it had five years ago when I played my little joke. I think I kept the vanity rating for a couple weeks.
Here is some of the commentary from the next game I played with Yang:
pala [-]: now w has two weak groups
goddess [5d?]: yes
pala [-]: not good, attach to weak stone
One interesting thing about having the rank of 5d? is that I found that I was treated very differently than I had been treated as the 6k that my rating had drifted to previously. Everyone wanted to talk to me and play with me. I had been fairly well known, and thought I was popular, but people I had never met before started coming out of the woodwork to speak to the female 5d. After a few weeks I turned off the rank and went back to life as usual, and was much happier.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
SmartGo and EverNote - Perfect Together
The more I use SmartGo the more I am convinced that it is a "kick ass" go study tool. The review of my previous lessons with Yang in SmartGo has promted me to look more closely at how SmartGo handles the markup of sgf files. I find that I am in love with the way SmartGo reads coordinates from the file and places letters on the board to show these moves. (Until I actually understood what was happening I found it really confusing to have letters appearing on the board that I knew I didn't put there.) In the past I used to spend hours tediously adding triangles to mark moves referenced by coordinates so they would be easy to find. SmartGo saves me the trouble. This feature works especially well for me when I use the markup style of showing next moves with capital letters rather than lower case because it avoids the confusing duplication of letters in lower and upper case. Seeing A, a, B, b drove me absolutely nuts. But the best part is that if my way of viewing things isn't your way of viewing things, you get to have it your way. It's like SmartGo is the "Burger King" of sgf editors. I am now in the process of going through my lessons and removing all of those pesky triangles that I don't need anymore.
As much as I love SmartGo, I still cling to CGoban on occasion because of it's fantastic move tree, but the coordinate markup feature of SmartGo has forced me to take a closer look at the SmartGo tree, and I am getting used to it even though it doesn't offer the fully expanded glorious visual map that CGoban offers.
The title of this post mentions a program called EverNote. (Follow the link to buy it cheap.) I have used this program for years to collect recipes, and web clippings, and emails with registration keys for software... all the things you jot down and don't want to lose. In all that time I never actually thought about the value of this program for studying go until recently. The program is basically an endless tape of notes which you can categorize and search. I created a category called "go study journal" and I have been putting in all of the nitty gritty details of my go study... the stuff that absolutely no one is interested in, even though they might think they are... the stuff from which I choose to spare you. I can use a tool in EverNote called the "universal clipper" which not only allows me to do a screen capture ala SnagIt, but actually deposits that screen shot into an new note in the "go study journal" category, where I can then add text to annotate it.
Evernote happens to be running a special promotion until the end of November which will allow you to purchase it for thirty dollars off the regular price. It is too good a deal to miss, and you can use it to organize every other area of your life as well. I have absolutely no connection with EverNote, other than as an enthusiastic user. And I would love to see other go players benefit from its use in go study so I bring it to your attention here.
As much as I love SmartGo, I still cling to CGoban on occasion because of it's fantastic move tree, but the coordinate markup feature of SmartGo has forced me to take a closer look at the SmartGo tree, and I am getting used to it even though it doesn't offer the fully expanded glorious visual map that CGoban offers.
The title of this post mentions a program called EverNote. (Follow the link to buy it cheap.) I have used this program for years to collect recipes, and web clippings, and emails with registration keys for software... all the things you jot down and don't want to lose. In all that time I never actually thought about the value of this program for studying go until recently. The program is basically an endless tape of notes which you can categorize and search. I created a category called "go study journal" and I have been putting in all of the nitty gritty details of my go study... the stuff that absolutely no one is interested in, even though they might think they are... the stuff from which I choose to spare you. I can use a tool in EverNote called the "universal clipper" which not only allows me to do a screen capture ala SnagIt, but actually deposits that screen shot into an new note in the "go study journal" category, where I can then add text to annotate it.
Evernote happens to be running a special promotion until the end of November which will allow you to purchase it for thirty dollars off the regular price. It is too good a deal to miss, and you can use it to organize every other area of your life as well. I have absolutely no connection with EverNote, other than as an enthusiastic user. And I would love to see other go players benefit from its use in go study so I bring it to your attention here.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Had My Second Lesson On Thursday
I had my second lesson with Mr. Yang in my new series of lessons which I started two weeks ago. It is actually lesson 134 with Mr. Yang if you count the lessons I took previously from 1998 to 2003. I know this because I named my lesson game records with numbers, and the last two lessons I took in 2003 were named 132a and 132b. Of course that doesn't count the few times we had spent our lessons reviewing games I had played with people at my own rank.
On Thursday we played two games and reviewed them. I did screen capture videos of the lessons as I did two weeks ago, and will probably continue to do this. It takes longer to watch the videos than to click through the sgf files because the time spent thinking of alternate moves in response to Mr. Yang's questions is in the video. But it is a good way to get a feel for the flow of the game before using the sgf files. So I watch the lessons in video format two or three times.
When I took lessons previously I would edit the game records to move comments back in the record so they referred to the next move rather than to the current move. I started to do this in 2003 when I moved my lessons to KGS because it emulated the style of commenting that Mr. Yang used when he commented games off line.
My first 12 lessons were on IGS and I found it difficult to edit the game records to include the variations and the comments so I found myself getting behind in the editing. So at the 1999 go congress I asked Mr. Yang if he would play a game with me for one hour and then spend the other hour of the lesson time commenting the game offline and sending it to me. It was an unusual arrangement, but because I was a weak player I could not remember the comments and variations to insert them into the game record like a strong player would be able to do after the lesson. So I think it was a good way for me to take lessons. We started that arrangement in August of 1999 after the go congress and continued with it until January of 2001 when we started lessons on KGS.
I guess you could say that one of my claims to fame is that I was the first student to bring Mr. Yang to KGS for lessons. Others followed, and the rest is history.
On Thursday we played two games and reviewed them. I did screen capture videos of the lessons as I did two weeks ago, and will probably continue to do this. It takes longer to watch the videos than to click through the sgf files because the time spent thinking of alternate moves in response to Mr. Yang's questions is in the video. But it is a good way to get a feel for the flow of the game before using the sgf files. So I watch the lessons in video format two or three times.
When I took lessons previously I would edit the game records to move comments back in the record so they referred to the next move rather than to the current move. I started to do this in 2003 when I moved my lessons to KGS because it emulated the style of commenting that Mr. Yang used when he commented games off line.
My first 12 lessons were on IGS and I found it difficult to edit the game records to include the variations and the comments so I found myself getting behind in the editing. So at the 1999 go congress I asked Mr. Yang if he would play a game with me for one hour and then spend the other hour of the lesson time commenting the game offline and sending it to me. It was an unusual arrangement, but because I was a weak player I could not remember the comments and variations to insert them into the game record like a strong player would be able to do after the lesson. So I think it was a good way for me to take lessons. We started that arrangement in August of 1999 after the go congress and continued with it until January of 2001 when we started lessons on KGS.
I guess you could say that one of my claims to fame is that I was the first student to bring Mr. Yang to KGS for lessons. Others followed, and the rest is history.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Started Lessons With Yilun Yang, 7p Yesterday
After a four and a half year break I decided to start lessons again with my teacher Yilun Yang, 7p. I always loved the lessons I took with him from January of 1998 through March of 2003 (over five years). The main reason I stopped when I did was because I was not playing enough, nor studying enough, to justify taking the lessons. It was always good entertainment for me and a social event as well, but it couldn't be called studying go if I wasn't doing anything outside of the lessons to enrich my study.
That was then... this is now...
I'm retired and I have the time to play, study, and review my lessons.
Speaking of reviewing my lessons, I have discovered an exciting way to save my lessons for future review. I have a screen capture program called Camtasia Studio. Yesterday I used it to record the screen during the review of my lesson games. I sized the game window at 800 x 600 and captured only the window in which the review was taking place in order to keep file size down. Mr. Yang and I played two games in our two hour lesson. The first review resulted in a 40 minute video file. The second review resulted in a 30 minute video file. I can replay these files as often as I want and relive the review exactly as it occured in real time. I have replayed them each twice already.
Back in 1998 when I first took lessons, in the spirit of sharing, I made my lessons public on KGS in the Wings Go Club Room. They were in the late morning on Saturdays so it was a good time for most people in Europe or the United States who wanted to watch. At the time I thought that it didn't bother me to have people watching me play. I think I was fooling myself, however, to think that I wasn't self conscious, and that it didn't effect me to have all those people watching... as many as ten or more people at a time. It is probably one of the reasons that I stopped taking lessons when I did. So this time my lessons are in the English room at a time that is convenient to me, and they are private. I feel a little selfish about this, but I have to do what it right for me.
I had been thinking of starting lessons again ever since I retired, but it was a recent post to the Go Discussions web forum asking questions about your go teacher that really pushed me over the edge and got me to send the email asking about starting up again.
I am really happy to be doing this, but it is very important to me that I keep focused on what is important, which is enriching my love of the game, not improving my rating. It's not that I would mind improving my rating, but I don't want to lose sight of what is really important.
That was then... this is now...
I'm retired and I have the time to play, study, and review my lessons.
Speaking of reviewing my lessons, I have discovered an exciting way to save my lessons for future review. I have a screen capture program called Camtasia Studio. Yesterday I used it to record the screen during the review of my lesson games. I sized the game window at 800 x 600 and captured only the window in which the review was taking place in order to keep file size down. Mr. Yang and I played two games in our two hour lesson. The first review resulted in a 40 minute video file. The second review resulted in a 30 minute video file. I can replay these files as often as I want and relive the review exactly as it occured in real time. I have replayed them each twice already.
Back in 1998 when I first took lessons, in the spirit of sharing, I made my lessons public on KGS in the Wings Go Club Room. They were in the late morning on Saturdays so it was a good time for most people in Europe or the United States who wanted to watch. At the time I thought that it didn't bother me to have people watching me play. I think I was fooling myself, however, to think that I wasn't self conscious, and that it didn't effect me to have all those people watching... as many as ten or more people at a time. It is probably one of the reasons that I stopped taking lessons when I did. So this time my lessons are in the English room at a time that is convenient to me, and they are private. I feel a little selfish about this, but I have to do what it right for me.
I had been thinking of starting lessons again ever since I retired, but it was a recent post to the Go Discussions web forum asking questions about your go teacher that really pushed me over the edge and got me to send the email asking about starting up again.
I am really happy to be doing this, but it is very important to me that I keep focused on what is important, which is enriching my love of the game, not improving my rating. It's not that I would mind improving my rating, but I don't want to lose sight of what is really important.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
My First Crane's Nest
We have all seen the Crane's Nest in our studies of life and death. And since everyone else has seen it as well, our opponents may see it coming, and it is rare for it to come up in actual play. I played a Wings Go Club League Game last night which gave me my first opportunity to play the Crane's nest. I hope to eventually learn how to post a game record here, but for now I will just put up a couple of screen captures of this interesting game. Anyone who wants to see the setup of the position can look at my info as buzzsaw on KGS and bring up the buzzsaw-Kireta game of 2007-10-16. I was white.
Here is the Crane's Nest:
Here is the Crane's Nest:
This capture was satisfying, but didn't give me nearly enough of an advatage to win the game. It happened fairly early in the game, and my opponent clearly outplayed me throughout the opening. and was leading by about nine points when I made a fatal cut that resulted in the capture of nine stones. My opponent went on to atari the cutting stone so as to make life along the bottom. The 18 point swing was enough for me to win the game with a final score of +12.5 for white.
Earlier in the game I had attempted a throw in at t7 which made the cut of r4 a failure because the black stones along the right still had two liberties and black could atari from s4 since there was no shortage of liberties for black on the left. Naturally I tenukied at that time. It was only after the final liberty of the black stones along the bottom was taken that the cut worked since either atari would result in a loss for black, albeit the atari from r3 made the most sense.
Earlier in the game I had attempted a throw in at t7 which made the cut of r4 a failure because the black stones along the right still had two liberties and black could atari from s4 since there was no shortage of liberties for black on the left. Naturally I tenukied at that time. It was only after the final liberty of the black stones along the bottom was taken that the cut worked since either atari would result in a loss for black, albeit the atari from r3 made the most sense.Tuesday, October 16, 2007
8k Again
I did what I promised and sought a rated game on KGS after my last post.
I played a 10k and at the end of the game I was 8k again.
I had a really good time reviewing the game with a 5k who happened to watch the tail end of it. We went over the corner I had killed to try a few variations.
Life is good again.
I played a 10k and at the end of the game I was 8k again.
I had a really good time reviewing the game with a 5k who happened to watch the tail end of it. We went over the corner I had killed to try a few variations.
Life is good again.
Hoboken Tournament Results
I attended the Hoboken tournament on Sunday. I enjoyed the time I spent with friends, especially a fairly new go acquaintance from the Montgomerville club who I got to know well during our hour and a half ride to and from the tournament.
However, this event turned out to be the worst tournament experience I have had since my very first tournament in 1997 when I (through ignorance) entered three stones stronger than I should have at the U.S. Go Congress in 1997 in Lancaster Pennsylvania. I went on to lose the first five tournament games of my career sending my self esteem plummeting lower each day. The low point of that week was when I spent several minutes sobbing in the ladies' room after resigning to an eight year old 26 kyu who claimed not to know better than to use her IGS rating as an entry rank. (This was back in 1997 when IGS ranks were really really tough). There is only one game per day in the main event of the congress so I had plenty of time to ponder my first dismal experiences with tournament play back in 1997. It's a wonder I bounced back, but I did.
One thing these two events had in common was the number of children I played, about 75% of my opponents were very young children. In both cases I also had a tendency to allow the first game of the tournament to set a bad tone for the rest of the event and it was a downward spiral from there on.
It's not that I mind playing children, because I really don't. I also don't mind losing. What I dislike are ugly games filled with really stupid moves, and that is what I seemed to end up playing over and over again on Sunday. The lowest moment was the point at which I forgot what color I was during a ko fight in my second game and made a "threat" against my own corner. It was a mistake from which I knew I wasn't going to recover, not so much because it would lose the game for me, because there was plenty of time to recover from it. I just wasn't in the frame of mind to recover, so I promptly resigned after that move. It was about ten minutes into the game and I had hours to ponder my stupidity before my next match. I even reprised my crying jag in the ladies' room from ten years ago after my ko debacle. This clued me in to the fact that I had reached an unusually low mental state. I had been proud of the fact that I hadn't sobbed in the ladies' room in many years. It just felt like deva vu all over again.
Having just experienced a two week streak of losses online which resulted in a ratings drop from 6k to 9k, due to the lack of a calm mind, I should have foreseen poor results and taken them in stride. But I allowed it to eat away at me, which only made matters worse. At home you can walk away from the computer. But at a tournament, aside from wasting time with a bye, you are pretty much stuck, especially if you are depending on a ride.
The highlight of the day was between the 3rd and 4th rounds when a 3k friend and I played a rengo game against my traveling companion who was also 3k. So basically, I was a handicap to my partner, since I am 11k (and playing much worse to boot). The purpose of the rengo game was to see if my partner could play simply enough so I could follow. He had said that his style is on the wild side. He tempered his moves for my benefit, and we actually did quite well. He was able to set up a net that I saw, and that brought the game to an end. My traveling companion played his side of the game without a partner.
My results for the day were 1-3. And I am not particularly proud of the fact that my win was against my smallest opponent of the day, who happened to have lost all his previous games. Not only was I a failure, but a bully as well. Well, not really, I just tried to play my best, and I happened to win one game. As for my rating... I was close enough to 10k at the start of the tournament that my three losses are unlikely to result in a drop to 12k, and even if they did, that just means easier games at the next tournament so I'm not concerned with the statistical results, just getting back on track with my game mentally.
Now I am off to seek a rated game online. I can only drop so far before I meet up against opponents I have a chance against.
Blogging is good therapy.
However, this event turned out to be the worst tournament experience I have had since my very first tournament in 1997 when I (through ignorance) entered three stones stronger than I should have at the U.S. Go Congress in 1997 in Lancaster Pennsylvania. I went on to lose the first five tournament games of my career sending my self esteem plummeting lower each day. The low point of that week was when I spent several minutes sobbing in the ladies' room after resigning to an eight year old 26 kyu who claimed not to know better than to use her IGS rating as an entry rank. (This was back in 1997 when IGS ranks were really really tough). There is only one game per day in the main event of the congress so I had plenty of time to ponder my first dismal experiences with tournament play back in 1997. It's a wonder I bounced back, but I did.
One thing these two events had in common was the number of children I played, about 75% of my opponents were very young children. In both cases I also had a tendency to allow the first game of the tournament to set a bad tone for the rest of the event and it was a downward spiral from there on.
It's not that I mind playing children, because I really don't. I also don't mind losing. What I dislike are ugly games filled with really stupid moves, and that is what I seemed to end up playing over and over again on Sunday. The lowest moment was the point at which I forgot what color I was during a ko fight in my second game and made a "threat" against my own corner. It was a mistake from which I knew I wasn't going to recover, not so much because it would lose the game for me, because there was plenty of time to recover from it. I just wasn't in the frame of mind to recover, so I promptly resigned after that move. It was about ten minutes into the game and I had hours to ponder my stupidity before my next match. I even reprised my crying jag in the ladies' room from ten years ago after my ko debacle. This clued me in to the fact that I had reached an unusually low mental state. I had been proud of the fact that I hadn't sobbed in the ladies' room in many years. It just felt like deva vu all over again.
Having just experienced a two week streak of losses online which resulted in a ratings drop from 6k to 9k, due to the lack of a calm mind, I should have foreseen poor results and taken them in stride. But I allowed it to eat away at me, which only made matters worse. At home you can walk away from the computer. But at a tournament, aside from wasting time with a bye, you are pretty much stuck, especially if you are depending on a ride.
The highlight of the day was between the 3rd and 4th rounds when a 3k friend and I played a rengo game against my traveling companion who was also 3k. So basically, I was a handicap to my partner, since I am 11k (and playing much worse to boot). The purpose of the rengo game was to see if my partner could play simply enough so I could follow. He had said that his style is on the wild side. He tempered his moves for my benefit, and we actually did quite well. He was able to set up a net that I saw, and that brought the game to an end. My traveling companion played his side of the game without a partner.
My results for the day were 1-3. And I am not particularly proud of the fact that my win was against my smallest opponent of the day, who happened to have lost all his previous games. Not only was I a failure, but a bully as well. Well, not really, I just tried to play my best, and I happened to win one game. As for my rating... I was close enough to 10k at the start of the tournament that my three losses are unlikely to result in a drop to 12k, and even if they did, that just means easier games at the next tournament so I'm not concerned with the statistical results, just getting back on track with my game mentally.
Now I am off to seek a rated game online. I can only drop so far before I meet up against opponents I have a chance against.
Blogging is good therapy.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Down Down Down
Well I guess it can only go so far, but the meteoric rise has turned into a meteoric fall. I played my rated game today. I gave three stones to a 9k and after that loss I dropped another game to hit 7k, which I hope is as low as it goes.
I look forward to the time when I don't change rank with every game I play, win or loss. That should happen soon as I add to the data the server has to work with.
I look forward to the time when I don't change rank with every game I play, win or loss. That should happen soon as I add to the data the server has to work with.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Got Rid of My "?" on KGS
After briefly climbing to 4k? on KGS, I finally solidified my rank on the server and settled in at 6k with no question mark.
I should be able to keep the question mark from coming back if I continue with my program of playing five rated games per week.
Today I put up my offer in Wings, then Go Discussion, and finally the English Room before finally getting a taker. It took over a half an hour before I finally got a game. I played a 6k today, and lost, to stabilize my rank at 6k.
I should be able to keep the question mark from coming back if I continue with my program of playing five rated games per week.
Today I put up my offer in Wings, then Go Discussion, and finally the English Room before finally getting a taker. It took over a half an hour before I finally got a game. I played a 6k today, and lost, to stabilize my rank at 6k.
Went To Princeton Go Club This Weekend
Yesterday I went to the Prineton Go Club.
I had an even 19 x 19 game, which I won by a half a point with a player who was uncertain of his rank. We then played a 13 x 13 in which I did considerably better. But I still think that he and I are fairly evenly matched. You can't tell much from two games.
I observed a first time player having a 13 x 13 teaching game and offered some coaching with the permission of both players.
Last I observed a very interesting game which had an exciting capturing race which resulted in a resignation. This game was being observed by an 8 dan who had been one of the four who had split the first place prize at last week's Philadelphia Fall Open. To be observing the same game I found exciting in and of itself. I knew that we couldn't be seeing the game in the same way. But we couldn't kibbitz because it was live, so I will never know for sure what was going through his head.
By the time that game was over it was me and a handful of undergraduates who were ready to head off to dinner, so the fun was over at about 5:45 and I headed home thinking that this will be a really good way to spend Sunday afternoon whenever possible.
I hope to return again next week after a week of rated games on KGS.
I had an even 19 x 19 game, which I won by a half a point with a player who was uncertain of his rank. We then played a 13 x 13 in which I did considerably better. But I still think that he and I are fairly evenly matched. You can't tell much from two games.
I observed a first time player having a 13 x 13 teaching game and offered some coaching with the permission of both players.
Last I observed a very interesting game which had an exciting capturing race which resulted in a resignation. This game was being observed by an 8 dan who had been one of the four who had split the first place prize at last week's Philadelphia Fall Open. To be observing the same game I found exciting in and of itself. I knew that we couldn't be seeing the game in the same way. But we couldn't kibbitz because it was live, so I will never know for sure what was going through his head.
By the time that game was over it was me and a handful of undergraduates who were ready to head off to dinner, so the fun was over at about 5:45 and I headed home thinking that this will be a really good way to spend Sunday afternoon whenever possible.
I hope to return again next week after a week of rated games on KGS.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Playing More Rated Games On KGS
Yesterday I instituted a plan to play more rated games on KGS.
My plan is to play a rated game at generous time limits every weekday at approximately 8:00 AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time. I am posting my games requesting a rated game with up to four handicap stones in either direction.
Yesteday I played a rated game which took me from 7k? to 6k?.
Today I played a rated game which took me from 6k? to 5k?.
We shall see what Monday will bring. The goal is not so much to increase my rating as it is to discipline myself to play rated again.
My plan is to play a rated game at generous time limits every weekday at approximately 8:00 AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time. I am posting my games requesting a rated game with up to four handicap stones in either direction.
Yesteday I played a rated game which took me from 7k? to 6k?.
Today I played a rated game which took me from 6k? to 5k?.
We shall see what Monday will bring. The goal is not so much to increase my rating as it is to discipline myself to play rated again.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Philadelphia Fall Open Tournament
Last weekend I played in the Philadelphia Fall Tournament in the handicap division. The playing field was a little sparse down at my level, 11 kyu. It was my first go event in Philadelphia since moving to Ewing, New Jersey. I was able to take a train directly from West Trenton to University City, which was about a three block walk to the playing area at the University of Pennsylvania.
Saturday I chose to play the first two games and bye out of the 3rd game so I could take the train home before dark. I didn't want to be traveling in the dark since it was my first time going into Philadelphia by train. My first game was with a 12 kyu who drew white. My opponent says that I won that game with my end game skills. My second game was with a 15 kyu. The tournament directors didn't seem to want to give handicap even in the handicap division, and I ended up as white in an even game and even got 7.5 komi on top of that. I would much rather have given four stones to my opponent since playing someone so underhandicapped put a lot of pressure on me to win to defend my rating. If I had lost a four stone game to the same opponent it would not have mattered much. And the win won't do anything for my rating since I would be expected to win under those conditions. I left before the 3rd round started and got home at about 5:30.
Sunday I went in by train again. My first game on Sunday was with 6 kyu and I got four handicap stones. I was surprised since this seemed to run counter to what had been happening the day before with handicap. This was the only game I lost at the tournament and was also the most exciting. My opponent was in byo yomi when I had at least 20 or 30 minutes left on my clock. But he eventually ran me into byo yomi as well, which was quite an experience for me since I think it was the first time in my ten year tournament career that I had been in byo yomi. I usually have a fair amount of time left on my clock by the end of the game. But I think I am actually trying to read more these days, and I am building up the stamina to do it, so it would make sense that I would be using my time. My second game of the day was with another 6 kyu, and once again I got four handicap stones. I managed to get a resignation when I was over 50 points ahead according to the score estimator when I loaded the game into cgoban later.
I recorded all four of my games on my tablet pc, and I will have them reviewed by strong players to see how I did. I already has Solaris review the game I lost. He did that during our group lesson yesterday on KGS.
My next tournament will be in Hoboken, New Jersey on October 14th.
Saturday I chose to play the first two games and bye out of the 3rd game so I could take the train home before dark. I didn't want to be traveling in the dark since it was my first time going into Philadelphia by train. My first game was with a 12 kyu who drew white. My opponent says that I won that game with my end game skills. My second game was with a 15 kyu. The tournament directors didn't seem to want to give handicap even in the handicap division, and I ended up as white in an even game and even got 7.5 komi on top of that. I would much rather have given four stones to my opponent since playing someone so underhandicapped put a lot of pressure on me to win to defend my rating. If I had lost a four stone game to the same opponent it would not have mattered much. And the win won't do anything for my rating since I would be expected to win under those conditions. I left before the 3rd round started and got home at about 5:30.
Sunday I went in by train again. My first game on Sunday was with 6 kyu and I got four handicap stones. I was surprised since this seemed to run counter to what had been happening the day before with handicap. This was the only game I lost at the tournament and was also the most exciting. My opponent was in byo yomi when I had at least 20 or 30 minutes left on my clock. But he eventually ran me into byo yomi as well, which was quite an experience for me since I think it was the first time in my ten year tournament career that I had been in byo yomi. I usually have a fair amount of time left on my clock by the end of the game. But I think I am actually trying to read more these days, and I am building up the stamina to do it, so it would make sense that I would be using my time. My second game of the day was with another 6 kyu, and once again I got four handicap stones. I managed to get a resignation when I was over 50 points ahead according to the score estimator when I loaded the game into cgoban later.
I recorded all four of my games on my tablet pc, and I will have them reviewed by strong players to see how I did. I already has Solaris review the game I lost. He did that during our group lesson yesterday on KGS.
My next tournament will be in Hoboken, New Jersey on October 14th.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Rating Going the Wrong Direction
Before the congress I was -11.7
Now I am -11.75
I am amazingly okay with this result, just surprised. It somehow seems ironic given that I had taken the third place prize in my band. Yes, I only went 3-3 at the congress, and if I hadn't been sitting down already I would have fallen over when they called my name at the awards ceremony. 3-3 didn't seem worthy of anything, but I took it, and I am very happy with my beautiful marble plaque.
As far as the rating goes... I guess I lost to people I should have won against, but like I said... I'm okay with this.
I have a two day tournament coming up soon in Philadelphia. I'll see what happens there. And there is a tournament in Hoboken coming up in October that I hope to attend.
Now I am -11.75
I am amazingly okay with this result, just surprised. It somehow seems ironic given that I had taken the third place prize in my band. Yes, I only went 3-3 at the congress, and if I hadn't been sitting down already I would have fallen over when they called my name at the awards ceremony. 3-3 didn't seem worthy of anything, but I took it, and I am very happy with my beautiful marble plaque.
As far as the rating goes... I guess I lost to people I should have won against, but like I said... I'm okay with this.
I have a two day tournament coming up soon in Philadelphia. I'll see what happens there. And there is a tournament in Hoboken coming up in October that I hope to attend.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
U.S. Go Congress
I had a great time at the U.S. Go Congress this year. I ran into many Go Discussions members, and even had a game in the U.S. Open with one of them. The big surprise of the week for me was when I came in 3rd in my band in the main event, which was the 11k - 12k band. I didn't expect this at all. I got a really nice plaque. They chose nice awards this year, so it was a really good year to win a prize. The plaques were green marble with gold lettering. The first place plaques were huge and even the third place plaques were a good size.
New ratings have not been run yet. I was -11.7 when I started the Congress and I don't expect to break into 10k based on my performance, but I am hoping to get a couple tenths of a point out of this.
I am considering joining the Shodan challenge for 10k next year, so I secretly hope that I don't make 10k before it is time to declair my intentions for the challenge. One stone I can do, but if I make it to 10k in the next ratings update I could never make it to 5k by the next congress, so it would not make sense to join the challenge.
I can't wait for the new ratings to come out.
The next event on my go calendar is going to be the Philadelphia Fall Open in late September.
New ratings have not been run yet. I was -11.7 when I started the Congress and I don't expect to break into 10k based on my performance, but I am hoping to get a couple tenths of a point out of this.
I am considering joining the Shodan challenge for 10k next year, so I secretly hope that I don't make 10k before it is time to declair my intentions for the challenge. One stone I can do, but if I make it to 10k in the next ratings update I could never make it to 5k by the next congress, so it would not make sense to join the challenge.
I can't wait for the new ratings to come out.
The next event on my go calendar is going to be the Philadelphia Fall Open in late September.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Mr. Yang Observed One Of My Games
My previous post included a montage of pictures of Yilun Yang which I used to create a cup which I carried with me throughout the U.S. Go Congress. The purpose of the cup was to remind myself to play my best game, as I would if Mr. Yang were watching.
As it turned out Mr. Yang came by several times to observe my third game of the U.S. Open, which I happened to win. The first time he came by to study the board I held up my cup for him to see, and told him why I had brought it.
After the game was over, and Mr. Yang saw me in the lobby and he asked if I had won the game as expected. I confirmed that I had done so. This time there was no need for Mr. Yang to say, "It should not be." Instead he turned to a mutual friend and commented on my game saying, "She can fight." Given the fact that fighting had always been my weaknesss while I was taking private lessons with Mr. Yang, I considered that to be the highest praise. I have progressed beyond the opening. Mr. Yang also told me that I had missed an opportunity on the right side of the board. Later in the day I went over the game with my opponent and a dan player who confirmed this fact.
I will post more about the Congress soon. I have been too busy to post much because all of my energy since returning from the Congress has been devoted to packing and moving to a new home. And now I am devoting all of my energy to unpacking and setting up housekeeping. I will post more about the Congress and the move later.
As it turned out Mr. Yang came by several times to observe my third game of the U.S. Open, which I happened to win. The first time he came by to study the board I held up my cup for him to see, and told him why I had brought it.
After the game was over, and Mr. Yang saw me in the lobby and he asked if I had won the game as expected. I confirmed that I had done so. This time there was no need for Mr. Yang to say, "It should not be." Instead he turned to a mutual friend and commented on my game saying, "She can fight." Given the fact that fighting had always been my weaknesss while I was taking private lessons with Mr. Yang, I considered that to be the highest praise. I have progressed beyond the opening. Mr. Yang also told me that I had missed an opportunity on the right side of the board. Later in the day I went over the game with my opponent and a dan player who confirmed this fact.
I will post more about the Congress soon. I have been too busy to post much because all of my energy since returning from the Congress has been devoted to packing and moving to a new home. And now I am devoting all of my energy to unpacking and setting up housekeeping. I will post more about the Congress and the move later.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Off To The US Go Congress
In less than one hour I will be on my way to the US Go Congress in Lacaster, Pennsylvania. This is the first time I had attended the congress since retiring and having more time to study go.
I hope for interesting games and a peaceful mind with which to enjoy them as they unfold. Other than that, I have no expectations.
Anyone reading this who is also at the congress, please look me up. My name is in my web address... Terri Schurter, so it's no secret. I am 11 kyu AGA. You'll find me at a table with a triple digit number.
To keep me focused on the questions I should be asking myself during my games I have brought with me a mug that I made. It has a montage of photographs of Yilun Yang, 7p circling the surface of the mug. I will try to play each move as if Mr. Yang were watching.
Given the fact that Mr. Yang will be there and has been known to roam the room he might be watching at any moment. I am reminded of the time Mr. Yang was watching one of my games during the 1998 Congress shortly after I had started taking lessons with him. My opponent and I met up with Mr. Yang later in the cafeteria lunch line after the game was over. My opponent mentioned to Mr. Yang that he won the game. Mr. Yang's only comment was, "It should not be." Apparently I had been ahead when he had stopped observing.
I hope for interesting games and a peaceful mind with which to enjoy them as they unfold. Other than that, I have no expectations.
Anyone reading this who is also at the congress, please look me up. My name is in my web address... Terri Schurter, so it's no secret. I am 11 kyu AGA. You'll find me at a table with a triple digit number.
To keep me focused on the questions I should be asking myself during my games I have brought with me a mug that I made. It has a montage of photographs of Yilun Yang, 7p circling the surface of the mug. I will try to play each move as if Mr. Yang were watching.
Given the fact that Mr. Yang will be there and has been known to roam the room he might be watching at any moment. I am reminded of the time Mr. Yang was watching one of my games during the 1998 Congress shortly after I had started taking lessons with him. My opponent and I met up with Mr. Yang later in the cafeteria lunch line after the game was over. My opponent mentioned to Mr. Yang that he won the game. Mr. Yang's only comment was, "It should not be." Apparently I had been ahead when he had stopped observing.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
My First Audio Go Lessons SGF
I have been viewing the audio go lessons quite often in the past couple months. The only thing I don't like about the site is that you only get to view each lesson you purchase for a month. This isn't going to keep me away though. You can view your lessons as often as you like during the month that you have access to them, which does encourage a measure of restraint concerning how many lessons you purchase at one time. I can understand the reasons why audiogolessons is set up that way. Some people might be tempted to be dishonest and build up a library of lessons and then share them with others, robbing the professionals of the income they deserve, so it makes sense to create a distribution model which makes it less likely that people would do such a thing. Still, my ideal setup would be a flat monthly fee for all the video you can watch similar to what is available for technical educational videos at lynda.com.
Having honestly purchased a lesson I would like to have a way to review the material whenever I want. There are a number of ways to accomplish this. I could take notes, make screen shots, or make an sgf. Initially I had done some screen shots of some of the early "Step By Step lectures". It was my plan to incorporate them into doc files with notes that would maintain the flow of the lesson. But I never got around to putting those pages together, so I decided to make an SGF of a lecture which is due to expire soon to see if this method would work out better for me.
I picked "Common Opening Lecture 3" for my first sgf lecture file. It took me somewhere between between two and three hours to create the file working in chunks of time rather than all at once. I got my money's worth right there. Where else can you get two hours of entertainment for one Euro?
The Common Opening #3 is the one where black ends up with a shimari consisting of a small knights move approach to a 3-4 which is facing a black hoshi stone while white has both hoshi points on the opposite side of the board. Picture the shimari in the right bottom corner facing up to a black hoshi stone.
This was a particularly good lesson for me to transcribe because as black I always begin with komoku in the upper right often resulting in a downward facing shimari with a black hoshi below it. This lesson showed how to handle the variations that result in a white play on the 3rd line below the starpoint between the black shimari and hoshi. This is definitely a lecture I need to devote time to studying.
I found the process of creating the sgf file more than just clerical. It was a study process in itself. As much as this file will be useful to me for review, it was useful in its creation as well. I don't think that it would be nearly as useful for study without having seen and heard the lecture because it doesn't follow the flow of the lecture since varitions sometimes appear in the file before they are referred to in the lecture. An sgf file isn't a movie afterall.
I am not sure if it is possible to do, but I think the most valuable way to review such a file would be to create a set of hyperlinks within the file that would take you from one part of the file to another in the same order as the lecture.
I highly recommend Audio Go Lessons to anyone who has not tried it yet. They have some free lessons you can sample. Give it a try.
Having honestly purchased a lesson I would like to have a way to review the material whenever I want. There are a number of ways to accomplish this. I could take notes, make screen shots, or make an sgf. Initially I had done some screen shots of some of the early "Step By Step lectures". It was my plan to incorporate them into doc files with notes that would maintain the flow of the lesson. But I never got around to putting those pages together, so I decided to make an SGF of a lecture which is due to expire soon to see if this method would work out better for me.
I picked "Common Opening Lecture 3" for my first sgf lecture file. It took me somewhere between between two and three hours to create the file working in chunks of time rather than all at once. I got my money's worth right there. Where else can you get two hours of entertainment for one Euro?
The Common Opening #3 is the one where black ends up with a shimari consisting of a small knights move approach to a 3-4 which is facing a black hoshi stone while white has both hoshi points on the opposite side of the board. Picture the shimari in the right bottom corner facing up to a black hoshi stone.
This was a particularly good lesson for me to transcribe because as black I always begin with komoku in the upper right often resulting in a downward facing shimari with a black hoshi below it. This lesson showed how to handle the variations that result in a white play on the 3rd line below the starpoint between the black shimari and hoshi. This is definitely a lecture I need to devote time to studying.
I found the process of creating the sgf file more than just clerical. It was a study process in itself. As much as this file will be useful to me for review, it was useful in its creation as well. I don't think that it would be nearly as useful for study without having seen and heard the lecture because it doesn't follow the flow of the lecture since varitions sometimes appear in the file before they are referred to in the lecture. An sgf file isn't a movie afterall.
I am not sure if it is possible to do, but I think the most valuable way to review such a file would be to create a set of hyperlinks within the file that would take you from one part of the file to another in the same order as the lecture.
I highly recommend Audio Go Lessons to anyone who has not tried it yet. They have some free lessons you can sample. Give it a try.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Guo Juan 5p Joseki Lecture Today on KGS
Today I was able to watch a KGS Plus lecture live. I usually end up replaying them afterwards, which isn't nearly as much fun.
The lecture by Guo Juan was about joseki with emphasis on their proper use. I was pleased to watch this lecture given my newfound interest in joseki study. Guo Juan had given another lecture on joseki a couple weeks ago, which I had missed and plan to go back and watch soon.
One of the things she said today is that early on we should learn 10 joseki, then increase that to 20, and that by the time we are 1 dan we should know at least 50 joseki. That sounds reasonable to me.
In applying joseki she suggested that you know the final outcome(s) of the joseki you are considering, and to imagine those outcomes with the current board position. If none of the outcomes are pleasing to you, then it is time to make up your own move to deviate from joseki. I like that thinking.
She emphasized that it is not necessary to try to learn all joseki, but to learn the basic ones. She has audio go lessons on joseki, and also recommended taking a joseki book and picking the simple variations to learn. That's pretty much what I intend to do.
The lecture by Guo Juan was about joseki with emphasis on their proper use. I was pleased to watch this lecture given my newfound interest in joseki study. Guo Juan had given another lecture on joseki a couple weeks ago, which I had missed and plan to go back and watch soon.
One of the things she said today is that early on we should learn 10 joseki, then increase that to 20, and that by the time we are 1 dan we should know at least 50 joseki. That sounds reasonable to me.
In applying joseki she suggested that you know the final outcome(s) of the joseki you are considering, and to imagine those outcomes with the current board position. If none of the outcomes are pleasing to you, then it is time to make up your own move to deviate from joseki. I like that thinking.
She emphasized that it is not necessary to try to learn all joseki, but to learn the basic ones. She has audio go lessons on joseki, and also recommended taking a joseki book and picking the simple variations to learn. That's pretty much what I intend to do.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Played In A Real Club Sunday
I managed to make it to a real club Sunday afternoon. The club is near where my mother lives. It takes me over an hour to get there, so visits to the club at the Barnes & Noble in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania are few and far between.
The night before my visit I contacted one of the members online and told him I would be there. It's a good thing because as it turned out we were the only two people to show up for the club on Sunday, and he might not have bothered to come were it not for my having talked to him the night before.
I got there first and reviewed joseki for at least a half an hour before my opponent showed up. He is 1k KGS and I am 8k there. We started with a six stone game. I made some big mistakes and lost a couple groups so I ended up resigning. We decided to try seven stones, and it seems to be the right handicap for us. I managed to cut off a few white stones and won by about 15 or so. If I had not cut off the stones I would have lost the game even though white didn't manage to kill anything. That tells me that I got lucky, and 7h will still be a tough game between the two of us.
I take a go board with me when I visit my mother because I don't have internet access there. I spent at least an hour on life and death while I was there. I am currently working on the "black to kill" three move problems in "1001 Life and Death Problems". I am finding them easier than the "black to live" three move problems.
The night before my visit I contacted one of the members online and told him I would be there. It's a good thing because as it turned out we were the only two people to show up for the club on Sunday, and he might not have bothered to come were it not for my having talked to him the night before.
I got there first and reviewed joseki for at least a half an hour before my opponent showed up. He is 1k KGS and I am 8k there. We started with a six stone game. I made some big mistakes and lost a couple groups so I ended up resigning. We decided to try seven stones, and it seems to be the right handicap for us. I managed to cut off a few white stones and won by about 15 or so. If I had not cut off the stones I would have lost the game even though white didn't manage to kill anything. That tells me that I got lucky, and 7h will still be a tough game between the two of us.
I take a go board with me when I visit my mother because I don't have internet access there. I spent at least an hour on life and death while I was there. I am currently working on the "black to kill" three move problems in "1001 Life and Death Problems". I am finding them easier than the "black to live" three move problems.
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