Facebook

So here's another source for advice for your online game. Facebook. I swear I don't know how I got along without it. I've recently found friends I forgot and found out who is dating who and it just never came up.

It is also a good source of discussion boards and advice on the game as well as news and information.

I think I am close to jumping up to 13k. Maybe I can break 11 or 12 by the end of the summer. The fifth Janice Kim book is the best improvement I've seen since the first two. That said, I'm more focused on law exams right now. I hope to translate my tseuji to my exams.

Games

I've played some more online in recent weeks than usual. Maybe I'm trying to escape again. Good news is I'm playing at about the level I'm supposed to be playing at. I'm 14k and winning and losing the same amount so I guess its accurate.

Maybe this summer I'll be able to play some more without the added pressure of school work at home.

Interestingly enough, there are a lot of go players on facebook. Maybe I can find a dan level player interested in tutoring me. ;)

Go Lesson in Church

Our pastor today invoked Joshua 5-6 today in the sermon. Before the Israelites entered the promised land, they circumcised their young men and prepared themselves. Not for battle, which was looming over them, but to make themselves right with God. The lesson is that the enemy before us should not concern us. Only the enemy within can destroy you. See also II Kings 18-19. While I don't want to trivialize the Scriptures by analogizing them to Go, I did think of this:

In Go, my opponent is not my enemy. He will attempt to claim the board and will try to thwart my plans but he is not my enemy. My enemy lies within. I must continue to play my best and trust the end result will take care of itself.

The pastor went on to say that the only way to defeat the enemy within is to feed the spirit continually to make him strong through going to church and studying God's word so that daily you can become more Christlike each day. It isn't an overnight conversion and that's it. To grow stronger as a Christian, you need encouragement and training.

Again, I went back to Go. The march to becoming a recognized master is very long.

You'll never achieve perfection in this life. But it is necessary that we strive to imitate perfect examples and improve. At death, the good work begun in me will be perfected by God. Phillipians 1:6.

KGS World

Good news bad news.

Bad news: I've dropped to 15 kyu on KGS.

Good news: I've broken my losing streak.

Yes I know the two may be related...

Local Players

The biggest problem with a hobby like Go is that there are very few local players. There is a Birmingham Go Association but it is pretty small. Bookstores rarely carry any games on the subject. That is what makes the internet so important in your Go development. There are so many people to play online in your strength range. There are so many materials from people around the world who have been there and recommendations on books. Truth is, I wouldn't have learned about the game absent the internet. I read about it when I was reading another page about how Deep Blue beat Kasparov in chess but no computer was even close to conquering Go. Made me want to be part of something that only the human mind could conquer.

That said there is something about the feel of the stones in a bowl. The sound of the stone hitting the board. The human interaction. That said, if there are any Go players in Alabama, particularly near Birmingham, Alabama, don't despair! There are others...

Real Game

This is what a real game looks like kiddies. In Hikaru no Go, Sai, the ghost returns in search of the divine move. A divine move is one that is not obvious, original, and turns a losing effort into a winning one. It is a tesuji on a global scale.

There are very few recognized divine moves in the history of Go. Here is one such move. Honinbo Shusaku, generally recognized as the greatest ever to play the game, only played this one. It is known as "the ear-reddening game" because his opponent, Gennan Inseki's ears turned bright red after Shusaku played the move. The move is the jump into the middle. It created potential framework in multiple directions. Anyway, this is how the game should be played.

Another Website

Here is a website that provides reviews of tons of books about Go. Some of these books are older or out of print but it is very comprehensive. Congratulations gobooks.info. You've made the list. Click here to access the site or look to the links to the left of the screen.

Joseki Tutor

I found an interesting website that is going in my Go Links and Resources list to the right of the screen. It is called Joseki Tutor. It can be found at turbogo.com. It allows you to play through joseki's by allowing you to click on the board. It only allows you to play through regular josekis by restricting which spaces you can play on a turn. I wish it gave more commentary on why the moves are made but it does a good job on getting you used to good shape.

Joseki

I went to the local go club here in Birmingham. I feel good about my progress. There are some players I could never imagine beating right now but everyone is friendly. I played two three stone handicap games against an 11k (on KGS) opponent. I barely lost both of them. Afterwards, one of the members who is very, very good gave us both a lesson on joseki. We replayed some that we had played and asked for some comments which he gave.

Right now in my development, I understand the concepts in almost all beginning Go books. I haven't looked into any books on a specific topic like joseki or life and death problems. I asked him if joseki were comparable to chess openings. Should I just buy a book and memorize positions, moves, counters, etc.? He told me that was absolutely wrong. They are different because they have different objectives.

In chess you are trying to gain a positional advantage over your opponent. You are trying to play to gain superiority. In joseki, and Go in general, the point is to come to a mutually agreeable arrangement. If both sides play perfect Go, every game should be decided by half a stone. The point is not to kill groups but to come to agreement and divide territory.

This is a zero sum game that encourages cooperation. It is blowing my mind.

Go Lesson for Beginners

Here's the latest from Goplaygo. He gives some information about his playing on here. Apparently he doesn't play online because his school has a club. I think he is from the west coast. He is a 2k player. I am a 13-14k player. These ranks go to 30k on KGS but it is a bell curve. A 2 kyu player is significantly better than a 13 kyu player. If I were to play him heads up, he would spot me the full nine stone handicap and still be a favorite to win.

I read in Kaoru Iwamoto's book, Go for Beginners, that with study and serious play, a player should be able to progress from raw beginner to 10 kyu within a few months but then the progress to the dan ranks goes slowly. I would love to be a recognized, official ameteur dan one day in the American Go Association. Just have to do it one step at a time...

Oh, here's the video, it deals with joseki patterns. Joseki are common exchanges in the corner that are favorable to both players. Such an odd concept for

Go Lesson for Beginners

Here's another video from our Youtube sensei, Goplaygo. Today he is focusing on the ladder capture and how to break the ladder. It's very basic stuff but he explains it well. The third example is one of the most useful explanations of how to place a ladder breaker I've ever seen. I'm honestly embarrased I never thought of multitasking this way.

Total Games

I've played 124 games on KGS. Only 876 to go right?

Streak Ended

I was on a tremendous losing streak. I know that you aren't supposed to focus on winning and losing this early in development but it was getting to me. I think due to the pressures of real life, my Go game completely went out the window. I'm not moving as well either in global strategy or life and death battles. I'm going to try to work a little harder on my game. I checked Go for Beginners by Kaoru Iwamoto out of the library and read it. I almost need to start over from the beginning and go forward.

Next I'll start over on Janice Kim's series on go. Reviews of all books forthcoming. I'm also going to goproblems.com to work on making better decisions in battles. I really want to get better. It said in Go for Beginners, that it takes 1000 games to become a shodan. I am over 100 games in. Maybe 200. I've got a long way to go to get to dan ranks.

Book Review Hikaru No Go Volume 1

Ok, Ok, so I admit it: I got the manga comic book of Hikaru No Go from my local library. This was volume one of the series. It contains games 1-7.

Game 1 - Descent of the Go Master
Game 2 - From a Level Beyond
Game 3 - Matters of Life and Death
Game 4 - Inexcusable
Game 5 - Akira Bares His Fangs
Game 6 - A Decisive Blow
Game 7 - Three Problems of Life and Death

The series is the story of a 6th grader who is inhabited by a spirit from the Heian Period of Japan who teached him to play Go and helps him do well in social studies. Believe it or not, its actually a decent story. OK, so I'm a huge nerd. The comic does a good job of explaining the game and gives life and death problems for the reader to solve along with the characters. It also gives some historical background on the game.

Well worth the read if you have some free time before bed. Which is all the time I have nowadays. I'll try to do better.