Go Boot CD

Hikarunix is an amusing and cool idea for us Go lovers. A Linux boot CD that has all the internet Go tools built in.

Hilarious. Nerdy. And Cool.

Wilcox Review

Okay.

I've been reading and rereading Bruce Wilcox's Sector Fights and Contact Fights. And I have some thoughts. First off, the presentation isn't necessarily "juvenile" - it comes from a different school/methodology of thought. Wilcox uses words like "sucks" and "toasted" and the like, because that is how he is. He is also a computer programmer, and the book reads like a reference manual at times. Which is very useful to me.

I'm learning a lot, because instead of arcane proverbs, like "the touch of a single stone is as a darting swallow," or whatever, he puts it in english terms and principles.

I can see why this can be disconcerting. It demystifies the game, and by using non-standard terminology, it removes much of the aura and flavor and the mysterious oriental inscrutability of it all.

I feel stronger. My play isn't necessarily better, but at least I am not simply trying for the same old thing all over, my play inproving incremently, but without any fundamental sense of what I am trying to do. That at least has changed. And I'm enjoying playing again.

I have come to the conclusion...

...that I need a teacher - an instructor - a mentor - a sensei. I will continue to improve incrementally; this I can tell. But I think that I need a much better player to help me out to push me quickly through the teens.

Now to figure out how, in the desert, I can accomplish this... especially when I'll never be able to afford lessons, so I am simply looking for someone who wants to teach.

It'll never happen, right? Ah, who knows. Life is funny that way.

I have come to the conclusion...

...that I need a teacher - an instructor - a mentor - a sensei. I will continue to improve incrementally; this I can tell. But I think that I need a much better player to help me out to push me quickly through the teens.

Now to figure out how, in the desert, I can accomplish this... especially when I'll never be able to afford lessons, so I am simply looking for someone who wants to teach.

It'll never happen, right? Ah, who knows. Life is funny that way.

GoGrinder

At some point, I think I will download GoGrinder. It looks like a great tool for organizing all the different problem sets that I like to visit and try.

Go Humor

Okay, so it took me a while to understand that the link that pointed to ritchie press as a publisher of excellent books on go was one of wry and subtle humor.

Oh. I made 19kyu.

KGS Tournament Results - First Day

Well, much to my surprise, I'm, doing pretty well in the KGS September Handicap Tournament, Asia/11k to 30k Division Players. I'm tied for 2nd after the first two games in the swiss tournament. And I proved to myself, that if I take my time, I can actually play a reasonable game of Go. Also, Wilcox's Dojo is actually helping me. Because he takes time to explain things in plain english (in an almost pedantic lecture style occasionally), I can actually understand the technical reasoning that lies behind the proverbs that I have been studying for two months now.

Learning From Wilcox

Okay. Being my normal meticulous self - at least when it comes to learning new material... I began by reading the rules of the game. And I have to say that Wilcox's description of a false eye is quite probably the best I have ever read - clear and understandable, and most important of all: immediately usable.

Trying to learn from Wilcox

I went ahead and ordered Bruce Wilcox's go material. I've heard a lot of both good and bad about his material. Most of the bad has to do with his cockiness, refusal to use traditional terminology, and the (what has been termed sophomoric) presentation. However, people whose playing strength I respect have assured me that the content is very valuable, and definitely worth the low price. I started working through sector fights already, and I think I am learning useful material already even though I am just scratching the surface.

I'll let you know how I feel about this material down the line.

And in playing... haven't felt confident enough to play anyone on KGS in days. But I am playing several simultaneous games at Dragon Go Server. It's not as much pressure - which is what is stressing me out the most right now.

Understanding Not, I Am

I went up to 20kyu without playing a game these last few days.

I don't feel any stronger. Do I look stronger to you? [flexes muscles]

I feel like I understand less and less. Every day I play a couple games against the computer, either WinHonte or GnuGo, and it seems like I do worse and worse. I think that I will study some fuseki here over the next several days. My fuseki used to seem great, but now I get so involved in fighting that I forget to form moyos or to invade my opponent's.

I also haven't been to the Go club lately for two reasons: I haven't had the time now that the school year has started, and I feel bad about only taking my daughter; it becomes very boring for her if she doesn't have friends with her, and due to the school year, her friends don't have the time to come.

I still like the game. But I am so very frustrated!

Rank(ed) Amateur?

Well, I keep going up in rank on KGS even though I keep losing game after game.

I'm now 20kyu. I thought that perhaps buying that great Go equipment would suddenly enable me to make that leap to where I understood everything, but it still isn't happening. I still feel lost. I can't play fuseki anymore, though my fighting is getting a little better. But I'd love to be able to not have to fight so much.

I have noticed that all the studying on tesuji and all that I had been doing had led me to an interesting pass... in almost every game I would focus almost exclusively on cutting off and killing one huge group - to the detriment of the rest of the game. I would succeed, but I would lose all four corners.

Granted, I have been playing almost exclusing 4-stone handicap games against GnuGo, but I still am losing by more than 4 stones' worth of territory. Ah well, with time comes experience. I still like the game, I just get frustrated easier these days.