Learn to play go

Recently I bought two books, “501 Tesuji problems” and “Basic Dictionary of Tesuji, Vol. 1” to study regular fighting positions more. I also went back to Gobase to study the Shape Up! article series, that I remember studying way back when. These days I understand a lot more of what it’s about…

Through the KGS Archives I dug up my first ever go playing account and watched some of the games I played around three-four years ago. I’ve been under the illusion that I was a much stronger player back then, because my rank was higher back then and also because of a recent rank adjustment at KGS the server’s rankings actually became ‘weaker’ from what they used to be. Lo and behold the surprise when I realized what senseless idiocy those old games were. I’d be able to give my older self at least 2 or 3 handicap stones now, which is of course very good, but not a very promising speed of development over that many years…

The ranks really were higher, but both my play and the opponents’ was truly painful to look at. It’s like a constant barrage of mistakes that had mistakes in them.

I’ve become stuck at 2 kyu. I know I could reach 1 dan or 2 dan if I just took a moment to look at where I’m placing the stones. Most of the time I play 10-seconds-per-move blitz games, so these type of mistakes are abundant.

On mornings where I get a lot of sleep, playing is much easier. Also I don’t drink any coffee regularly, so I can use it as a legal doping substance. My concentration level and reading shoots through the roof with a cup of coffee, weirdly enough.

Reviewing a game I lost against a 2d by time, even after blundering a taisha, I was ahead by at least 5 points going to the end of yose… Curse that 10 second time.

/me shakes fist

I got the spark for playing simultaneous games as white, and tried it on two occasions against human opponents. This is pretty fun I have to say. The games I’ve gone through so far have been a bit like being unconscious for a while, with so many boards flashing in front of your eyes. There’s absolutely no time for thinking at all, since there’s always someone else who’s been waiting for your move for a while. So far I’m about half and half with wins and losses in simuls, with reduced handicaps of course…

Some three years ago I was about 1 dan (AGA standard) and quit the game, now after returning to the board I’m finally getting close to that point again, possibly two or less stones below it. Studying Honinbo Shusaku has been the fastest way to ‘push’ my strength from 5 kyu’ish up. I have the book “Invincible, the Games of Shusaku” from where I click in the games in a Go program, then I memorize the game from fuseki (opening) to near end of chuban (middlegame) and start of yose (endgame), getting a much better feeling for shape and moves to aim for while wondering where the next move was and trying to find the next move and possible variations from the unfinished kifu (game recording). Since the book has pro analysis of the games and instructive game variations, it’s very easy to remember the move orders by looking at the game flow and remembering what the analysis said.

I’ve also figured out a fun pasttime. I created a new account on KGS, and when I play with it, I also play a simultaneous game against GnuGo (a computer Go program) while playing on the net, alternating moves on both boards. It really makes things hugely more difficult… It’s pretty humbling to realize how much I suck at playing on two boards at the same time.

I’ve reached the 1 dan rank in KGS years and years ago, and then I played exactly one even game against a 2d getting so throughoutly crushed that I quit the game indefinitely. Now, after about three and half years, I’ve made a small return to the board (as a 5-10 kyu or so), and am also thinking of joining a local Go club for good measure.