Sunday, August 19, 2012

Sunday Go Puzzles

This one can be a bit frustrating, as it seems so simple and there are only so many moves that you can try.  Good luck!

We have to start out with a sente move if we're going to get anywhere, so let's threaten to connect out, then make use of the fact White doesn't have much in the way of liberties.


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Sunday, August 12, 2012

Interview with Gansheng Shi New American 1 Dan Professional



I recently interviewed Gansheng Shi 1p after his success in becoming one of the first American Go Professionals.  I wanted to get his outlook on the process of becoming a professional, the challenges of playing through the tournament, and what he thought about the future of American Go.

Before the U.S. Professional Go tournament was announced, did you ever think about becoming a pro in Asia?

I did not think about becoming a pro in Asia because having been in training in china before, I understand that it is a very difficult task.

Did you do anything special to prepare for the tournament?


I did play out pro games for an hour each day for a month before coming to the tournament

What game was your hardest game and why?

The hardest game was games 2 and 3 with Yang Jing because I had to overcome a 1-0 deficit. The second game I was able to come back in late game and in the third game I also played amazing endgame to win by half a point.

Were you relieved when you won?

I was very excited and relieved when I won the pro tournament because I had never thought about becoming a go pro before.

How do you think you'll fare against other professionals?  Which tournaments do you plan to partake in?

I think it will be very difficult facing other Asians pros, but I do think the road to a good pro is long and I believe I will work hard to improve my go skills.

How do you plan to build your strength to compete against other professionals?

I plan on training in Korea for 6 months in an Insei school and by playing against other professionals in tournaments such as the Samsung, LG and BC card cup.

What are your thoughts about the future of Go in the U.S.? 

I have faith in the American go pro system because I see great support from the American and international go community such as the KBA. I see America producing new pros in many years that will be able to compete internationally against Asian pros. comments

Sunday Go Puzzles

Today's problem is actually a bit tricky.  The aim should be clear: you've got to use those two cutting stones to their fullest, but how?

Solution to Last Week's Problem

This problem is not so hard if you know to hane first.  If you got that, then the throw in practically jumps right out at you.  comments

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Sunday Go Puzzles

Today's problem is an adventure in false eyes.  See if you can kill White.  This problem is not so hard for intermediate level players, but the tesuji can be overlooked in games.

Solution to Last Week's Problem


If you saw Black 1, then great!  This is a case where we might get confused by the throw in stone, but since we have 3 spaces next to it, we are assured of a real eye. comments

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Reached my funding goal!

This about sums up my feelings.

So we've reached the $800 goal for Sunday Go Lessons, and I can't tell you how awesome that is.  I've always wanted to bring the joy of Go to as many people as I could, and this is a great way of doing it.  I started playing Go when I was 19 and it's one of the few things I can say that I've worked really hard at.  I like it so much I went halfway across the world just to play it with people who are probably ten times as passionate about it as I am.  Go honestly makes me feel content, and I know it can do wonders for other people in improving their lives as well, even if it's just another hobby on the shelf.  I'd like to work towards a vibrant Go community in the U.S., and given the fact that there are now going to be U.S. professional players, it's important we create our own unique American Go culture to try and make that program a success as well.  Again, a big thanks to the Go community for stepping up.  

Now, we've reached our funding goal, but there are a few things I could use to make the videos really great. I can live without them, for sure, but living with them would be preferable :P

Here are the stretch goals.  If you know someone that might be interested in any of the perks, from game reviews to personal tutoring, let them know, and thanks again!

Lateral Tripod $200 - If we can reach the $1,000 funding level, then I can get one of these bad boys.  I've been using my own tripod, but it's really old and is being held together by duct tape and a prayer.  A lateral tripod would allow me to do overhead shots, so I can point the camera straight down at the board.  If you saw the videos of the professional games I did, a lateral tripod would make the shot a lot clearer.  Here is the page on Amazon.
Anything over this, I'll donate the equivalent amount of free lectures to the American Go Foundation so that they can freely give them to Go Teachers who'd like to use them in their classes to teach children or really anyone else who wants to learn Go.
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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Sunday Go Puzzles!

Last week's puzzle was on the harder side, so we're going to do something simple this week.  This is a problem that tests how much you understand about eyes.

Solution to Last Week's Problem
The first move sort of jumps out at you, but the rest takes awhile to really work through.  White has some liberty problems, so he has to connect at 4.  What you have to see is that if White captures 5 directly then Black can come under.

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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Go Videos

Some of you may be wondering what kind of videos am I going to offer on the site.  So far, I've put up 4 Go videos on Youtube.  They're not completed, as I'm still getting my Go studio setup and learning the ins and outs of video editing.  Teaching myself a new skill is pretty fun.  Currently, I'm filming at the Wixom Public Library in their recreation room for the low low price of $25.  The librarians love me, so sometimes they let me use the room for free!  The recreation room doesn't have the best light, but I can use my makeshift green screen and lighting, and can produce a few decent videos.  For instance, I made this video to teach beginners the rules of Go:



Hopefully, I can get my home studio setup so that I can make it look as good as possible.  I'm also going to try and use a lot of different techniques to show concepts in Go, like acting stuff out with friends so that it's interesting for people who are not hardcore Go types.  My main hope is to get new players to give Go a try, as well as help clubs reach out to new people.  One BIG thing I want to try for is to have materials for people who teach Go, but are not especially strong themselves, but want something for their class to enjoy.  In any case, any feedback one what people would like to see or what topics they'd like covered, I'm all ears!

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Sunday, July 22, 2012

Sunday Go Puzzles!

This week's Go Puzzle

This one is a lot easier than it looks.  The first move should stick out to you, but it will take some careful reading to get the correct sequence.

Solution to Last Week's Puzzle

It's hard to connect to our friendly stones with liberties.  I'd like you to read out the many different ways Black dies now.  comments

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Malkovich Game

So I'm involved in a Malkovich game on the Life in 19x19 forum.  I really love Malkovich games because you can play at your own pace and it's nice to try and explain your thoughts so that others can gain from them.  I've played a few Malkovich games before, but I thought I'd discuss this one  because the direction of play is especially interesting.  Here is how the game has progressed thus far:
 
I'm White.  So far things are pretty groovy.  Black has a monstrous amount of territory at the top.  He has maybe 35-40 points easy.  It's a lot of points, but I've got my moyo of justice!  Black plays at 39 which is a good move to move into my moyo.  So, my moyo is deep, but thin, whereas Black has locked up a lot of points, but in the process, his framework on the right side is largely broken up or has gaping holes.  I have yet to decide how I'll deal with Black 39.
 
 


In the game Black approached the upper left 3-4 point, but I originally thought he would take the top side.  It's big from his perspective as it gives him a double wing formation, and Black 11 us a huge point to deal with White's territorial framework towards the bottom.  I dunno, Black wasn't bad in the game at all, so this could just be another way to play.  The standard sequence in the upper left was brand new to me though.  I had never seen Black's kosumi there.
Normally it goes like this, and I thought it would be decent for both sides, but Black chose a good sequence and I think both sides were not too far off from one another.  We'll see how the game progresses.  I'll have to go into my arcane den of the dark arts of Go and figure out how to deal with Black's attachment...



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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Sunday Go Puzzles!

This week's Go Puzzle:

 
 This is a classic problem, you'll find it in just about every intermediate level Go puzzle book.  Think about how to capture White!

Solution to Last Week's Problem

Here's the solution from last time.  Sorry that I missed the past few weeks of Sunday Go Puzzles, but I couldn't get to my computer in time.  The solution to this problem may have been hard to see.  The idea is you have to throw in once then start the ko with 3.

The direct route doesn't work because White can double back and prevent the three stones from being captured.




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Friday, July 13, 2012

New Sunday Go Lessons Video: Professional Game Review



Here is a professional game review between Rin Kaiho and Sakata Eiou.  We focus on resisting your opponent's strategy and learn some useful shapes!  If you think you would like to see videos like these, 24/7 for one month for only $1, consider pre-ordering 10 and get 5 free!  Just click on the Kickstarter link to the right. comments

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Kicking off Sunday Go Lessons with Crowdfunding

So, I've put up some sample videos and have been talking about Go for awhile, but now it's time for me to actually get the Sunday Go Lessons Web series up!  To do that, I'm starting a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, which you can visit here.  The goal is to raise $750 so that I can finish fixing up my studio, get the website done, with some left over for advertising for outreach.  I've paid for most everything so far and have taught myself the joys of video, but just need an extra push from the Go community to get me over the edge.



My videos will have something for everyone.  Game reviews, professional games, lectures on topics like common mistakes or attack and defense.  Some videos will be conventional, some will be a bit on the goofy side.  After all, we're trying to widen the Go playing community.  The main thing that I focus on in lectures is changing the way you think about the game.  The way I learned Go was to forget my mistakes and learn to focus on why certain moves were good.  You literally just forget bad moves and stop considering them which enhances your play dramatically.  It's a good system, and I want to reflect that in the videos.

The videos will be available in multiple languages, because I know from talking to some friends that there is not much out there for French, Spanish, and German speakers as far as Go stuff in their own languages, which makes it harder for them to spread it to a wider audience.

If you decide to donate I will shower you with free videos, review your games, give you awesome advice, and even personally tutor you if that's what it takes.  Heck, if you want to be in a video and can get yourself to Michigan, have at it!


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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Any Comments?



So this is a game review between two 6 kyus.  I'd love some feedback, as you'll be seeing more videos like this when Sunday Go Lessons is launched in August! comments

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Sunday Go Puzzles!

A week flies right by doesn't it?  I've had a crazy busy week trying to make sure the website is going to be all set when it finally does come up, so the only post I was able to eke out was this one.  Anyways, enjoy this week's Go puzzle.  I'll go easy on you...for this week.

Solution to last week's problem

You really can never go wrong with the kosumi, can you?  The idea of this problem is to save your stone and make sure White's eye stays false.  And using White's shortage of liberties can't hurt either. comments

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Sunday Go Puzzles!

Wow, I almost forgot to put up today's puzzle.  It's not midnight in my time zone, so I can still make it!  Here's today's problem.  It's a doozy:


Well, maybe it's not that bad.  Let's just say the obvious move may not be the best move.

Solution to Last Week's Problem


This problem was tricky because it involves sacrificing so many stones, and visualizing the shape after each sacrifice.  The idea is simple: The lower right corner is a an eye in gote.  That means we have to get rid of one of White's eyes on the left.  In this case, we can create a two way street.  Black 7 threatens White's eye, now if White wants to make a gote eye in the corner, he can't save his other eye.  This one was tricky! comments

Friday, June 15, 2012

Go Videos - A Sample

So I've got some great news: I finally have enough money to get the Go website going and get some of my first videos online.  I have a brand spanking new HD camera I got super cheap on E-bay (Can we say $150?) and the library down the street will allow me to rent out their presentation room for as long as I'd like for only $25.  You've got to love public libraries.  The only thing I have left to do now is continue filming as best I can and come out with maybe 30 videos to start.  I wanted 10 for beginners, 10 for intermediate level kyu players, and 10 for single digit kyu players so there would be enough for everyone.  As time goes on I'd look at my audience and see what types of videos people would like to see.

Now I bet you're wondering what the videos are going to look like.  Well, let's satisfy that curiosity. This one is a small part of a larger video where I go over a professional game between Masaki Takemiya and Chikun Cho.  Let me know what you think!


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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The Surrounding Game Movie

There is a great new kickstarter project I wanted to talk about for a bit, and it's called the Surrounding Game Movie.  It's going to be a documentary about the birth of the U.S. Professional Go system.  It's really exciting that someone is going to record this historic event, and I'm also all in for anything that will help spread awareness of the game in the West.  There will be interviews with Go professionals, and you'll probably learn a thing or two about Go in the West that you may not have known.  There are all sorts of great prizes for those who decide to donate, including free DVDs and tickets to go to the screening of the movie.  Take a few minutes, and definitely check it out!
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Sunday, June 10, 2012

Go Puzzle Sundays!

Today's problem will give you plenty to chew on.  It's all about the eyes!  There are two tesujis you'll need to employ to solve this problem.  See if you can find them!

Solution to last week's problem
This problem was a lesson in mutual life.  Black has to find the right point with 1.  The key to this problem is Black can defend at 5, because White cannot atari Black without making a living shape.  Four spaces on the inside in this case lives.

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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Neat New Shape!

So I was perusing through some professional games and took a look at the Chinese City League and saw one of my old standby's, Cho Chikun, playing in the league.  I took a look at his game, and found this really neat shape.  It's not new.  I found three games with this shape that were played back in 2009, the first game being Shikun Ryu vs. Rin Kono in one of the preliminary rounds for the Ouza.  It goes like this:


 I love attachment plays and this one is a doozy.  Normally when your opponent attaches to y our stone...you react.  In this case though, Black extends to 5 so that he can cede the corner to White and make groups on both sides.  White 6...is new to me.  I have never seen it before, but it ends up being a trade.
White clamps at 8, which doesn't capture the inner stones per se.  Black plays up to 13, and White 14 is a tesuji.  Can you read the rest out?

This is a common tesuji where we throw in and then connect at 24.  Black can escape with A or play at B to take the outside.  In the game, Black took B because it's pretty important, and White plays at one spot below A.  I guess there is some aji of Black escaping, but he won't be able to save those three stones, so White's group isn't split.  Black gets a strong outside, but the White stone isn't captured, and if it comes out strongly, then Black starts getting shredded.  

Any thoughts on this new shape?  How might you respond?
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Friday, June 1, 2012

Chip In and Help Launch Sunday Go Lessons


So my Go videos website is almost done, but I need some help getting across the finish line.  I need funds to get the videos professionally edited and to make a snappy introduction to each video, as well as some funds to finish up the website.  I'm using ChipIn.com to try and get the funds up, and this is where YOU come in.  Once it's all packaged, you'll be seeing a lot of videos like this:



Except even higher quality!  My aim is to create a video series for Go players of all levels.  Beginners, single digit kyus, dan level players, you'll find something that fits your needs.  It can also be a great promotional tool for clubs and a nice way to get new people interested in the game.  I'm using If you chip in, I'll throw in some free lectures!
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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Go Puzzle Sundays

I hope you got last week's problem.  It's actually a dan level problem, so if you did find the solution, your reading skills must be top notch.  Today's problem is a lesson in mutual life.  Oops, maybe I gave too much away?


Solution to Last Week's Problem
Seems all too easy, doesn't it?  You have to reduce White first before you can start using his weaknesses.  When Black takes at 7, this group is decided by a ko.

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Sunday, May 20, 2012

Go Puzzle Sundays

Let's kick it up a notch for this week's Go Puzzle!  This one is actually not hard once you see the solution, but it might take a long time to figure it out.
Black to play

I know, it looks like White is alive, but he has some weaknesses.  This is one of those cases where the first move is everything.

Last week's solution
Black 1 makes an eye in the corner.  This problem relies on your knowledge of false vs. real eyes, because you might think this is the right move but worry about your second eye in the center.  Nothing to fear!
 

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Thursday, May 17, 2012

Thursday Go Tips

So, as I may have mentioned, I did really poorly at the Chicago tournament and lost 4 out of 5 games.  That was a pretty humbling experience.  It's kind of difficult to think that one can work really hard and still not even achieve average results, but such is life and the way of competition.  My mindset is simply to learn as much from my mistakes as possible and move on.  I do have a difficult time brushing off losses, as I really hate to lose, but being disciplined and maintaining the correct mindset helps me pick myself up and move on.  This brings me to today's Go tip: How to take your loss and have it make you stronger.

I like to scrutinize all the games I've lost to really pick out where I made a mistake.  This is also rather cathartic, because I can go over my thought process and realize I'm not such a bad player; I just make mistakes and misjudge situations like any other homo-sapiens.  Now, some of you may be wondering how effective self game review is, especially without a stronger player present to watch over you.  It can be quite effective, as no one knows your thought process better than you!  What I do is I pick out three moments in the game where I clearly screwed up.  You don't need a strong player to tell you losing a 30 point group is bad.  I then work through these situations and try to find better moves.  It's a lot easier to see your mistakes when you're less emotionally invested in winning.  This part will take time, as you don't really know how your opponent will answer, so do this part slowly.  Find a good sequence, and satisfy yourself that the new sequence you found is better than the old one.

If you need help, websites like Eido Go and Gobase.org have pattern searches so you can look up board positions and joseki, so that you can compare them to your game.  If you search through Gobase's database and find not one pro who played your move, you might want to either rethink it or call the AGA and let them know you've found a new joseki!  After you're all done reviewing, forget about the game and move on.  This will make it so that you are more flexible in the future and that you see your losses as learning experiences.
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Monday, May 14, 2012

Belated Sunday Go Puzzle Part Deux!

Sorry, I was busy from the Chicago tournament and forgot to set my blogger update to automatic!  I endeavor to get next week's Sunday Go Puzzle published on...well...Sunday!  As for the Chicago tournament, I did very poorly.  I only won one game out of five.  My Go has really gone south.  I'm making bad mistakes, playing poor shape, losing on time, and all around not having a good go at it. In any case, on to the Go puzzle!

 This one should be fairly easy, if you think about vital points.  Black to live!

Last week's solution

If you saw the diagonal move at 1, then pat yourself on the back.  We know that this is a capturing race, and since there is no way Black can make an eye with one move, we need to make sure White can't.  Also, we're utilizing the fact that White has to waste moves capturing a stone that's not connected with the important group.  After 7, White's toast.
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Friday, May 11, 2012

Chicago Tournament this Saturday

I'll be in Chicago this Saturday for a tournament!  Wish me luck! comments

Monday, May 7, 2012

Belated Go Puzzle Sunday

My apologies for not having the Go puzzle for Sunday yesterday.  I had such a hectic, awful day at work I spent the rest of the day recuperating and forgot completely about the blog! :P  Without further ado, here it is:

So far the problems we've done have been...really simple.  Let's turn up the difficulty level!

Ah, a good old fashioned capturing race.  Neither opponent can make two eyes, and since they don't share an inner liberty, it looks like someone is going to have to die.  How can Black win the capturing race?

Last Week's Solution:
This problem is easy if you know the throw in tesuji.  Black plays at 1, and White cannot ensure that he has a real eye here because if he plays that way, he'll run out of liberties and be captured.  Black 1 is a basic tesuji that I hope all beginners learn. comments

Monday, April 30, 2012

American Go Professionals


So, some thoughts on the new system for American Go Professionals.  This has been weighing on my mind, because I always thought it would be cool if there was more international participation in the professional Go world.  It'd be nice to see someone in the top three other than Sedol Li, Li Gu, and Changho Lee.  However, when I heard news that there would be a professional system coming to America, I felt skeptical, not excited.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the Korean Baduk Association is going ahead with it.  They're putting up some serious money to make sure that this endeavor comes out. It should be done sooner rather than later, but it feels like it's way to soon and that there just isn't going to be enough support from the general population for it to be popular.  Most Americans have never seen Go, and only a small percentage of those that have actually play.  To top it off, even only a small percentage of those that play have any aspirations to become a dan level player, let alone a professional.

The first American professionals are going to be Chinese and Korean immigrants or American born Chinese.  It will probably be someone who came to the United States when they were four.  I have no idea what the salary would be, as the first American professionals are not going to be in line to win the Samsung Cup anytime soon.  The strongest American players would be doing it as a side thing; they'd have their own professional life in some other area worked out and just play Go as a professional for a trip to Asia.  Putting a hold to life for a few years to take the necessary amount of time to really study Go is out of reach for someone not already in a secure financial situation.  Plus, the KBA is going to be subsidizing this for awhile to come.  I'm not sure how much money the AGA pulls in from membership and donations, but they're not going to have a lot of help.  I can maybe picture a Chinese or Korean businessman whose lived in the United States for a number of years sponsoring a tournament, Cotsen style, but that's going to be few and far between.  

As for the future, I think the best way to go about making America more similar to Korea or China, in terms of the number of people who play Go, will require some grassroots effort.  As it stands, I cannot imagine an American parent with no connection to Asian culture let their kid study twelve hours a day to professionally play a game they neither understand nor respect.  You'd have to have a massive cultural perception change.  Even Hikaru no Go has not made an appreciable dent in this regard.  I'm personally thinking of some was myself, and when summer  rolls around I can take some of my secret projects and make them into a reality.  We'll see what happens in the future.

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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Go Puzzle Sundays







Black to play
This problem is aimed at 18-20 kyus, so for those of you who are more experienced players, you should be able to solve this problem in an instant.  Where should Black play to kill White?

Solution to last week's problem:
Black 1 is the proper tesuji for this shape.  The wedge works because of White's empty triangle.  White connects, but then Black plays at 3.  White cannot capture Black 1, so his groupis captured.






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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Final Round of the Collegiate Go Championship

Just dropping a note and letting everyone know there will not be any "Thursday Go Tips" tomorrow, as I am playing in the final round of the Online College Go Championships.  Wish us luck! comments

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Go Puzzle Sundays

Black to play
This one is a lot easier than the one we did last week.  I thought you might want a breather.  You'll have to find the correct tesuji to save Black's corner group, because it cannot make two eyes.  Here's a hint: to save it, you'll have to capture some of your opponent's stones.

Solution to last week's problem:
If you saw Black 1, then pat yourself on the back.  It's the correct move and the tesuji to remove White's eye.  What happens if White takes?  Black 3 is a way to come under since White lack's the liberties to cut us. 

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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Thursday Go Tips

Over the past few weeks we've been doing a lot to improve our Go.  We've played blitz, done Go puzzles, and even rocked out to 80s music (well, maybe not the last part).  Today's Go tip is rather simple and is in fact the opposite of my advice from last week . This week, I want you to play a really long game.  It can be online or in person, but play a 60 minute game with someone and use up your time.  This might actually be harder than playing blitz games, especially if you are the type to come up with a move only after a few seconds.  I know I don't think long for my moves unless I need to read out something really detailed.  Long games are good for training your concentration.  When you play in official tournaments, you'll learn to stay focused and ration your energy so as not to burnout during a game.  I don't expect a 15 kyu to be reading out a 100 move sequence, but try to be as detailed and consider as many options as possible.  You can feel relaxed in doing so, as there's tons of time!
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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Game Review Part 2

So, if you remember from yesterday we were going over my game from the Online Collegiate Go Championship.  I was figuring out how to respond to Black's two space high pincer, and going over the various joseki in my mind.  There are a lot of options:
White has tons of options for his next move.  I don't like A, B, or D because they're the wrong strategy.  C is probably best although F does indeed look shiny.  So, where was my genius move?
I have a friend named Dave, and whenever I review one of his games, if he plays a really weird move constantly, I always tell him "This move is not a thing."  Well, White 36 is not a thing.  It's not a joseki, it's not anything.  My brain fused the idea of playing from the right and attacking the pincer stone with my thickness and ended up accomplishing neither.  I was thinking of the avalanche joseki, but it doesn't really work with that extra Black stone on the left.

So Black squeezes the crap out of me.  Black 51 is sente and I don't have any crosscut antics on the right side.  Instead, I'm forced into a brick and Black spears through with 63.  We don't need to go over the rest of the game; it's really too horrible to watch.  I've already lost.  That's the one thing I don't like about higher level Go: if you make a really air-headed mistake, the game is over.  There is nothing more to do.  When I was 6 kyu it would've been possible to come back from this.  In any case, the tournament continues either this Saturday or next.  University of Michigan faces off against Princeton.  I hope I don't have to play Michael Chen...

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Monday, April 16, 2012

Collegiate Go Tournament Championship

So, as some of you may already know, the University of Michigan Go team won its first round against Carnegie Mellon University 3-2.  It all came down to the final game with our John Starkweather pulling out the win in an impressive game.  Yours truly?  I played awful.  I'm not sure why, because I played some warmup games and I was doing well, but I encountered some situations where I can only say I just wasn't thinking.  A bit more discipline might go a long way.  We'll review my game, although I in many ways hate going over games I've lost :P

 Here's the first part of the game.  Not a lot to write home about.  The lower left is a not quite joseki.  I came out with 24 to fight against Black sealing off the center since him having influence in the lower left quadrant would make the game hard on White.  Black could've cut instead of extending with 27, but Black 27 is one of his choices.  I pushed one more time to make double sure that this center area doesn't materialize.  Black can peep to reduce my corner, but that's small now.  Now, Black pincers with 35 to breakup a possible White territorial framework along the top.  I kind of regret White 34, it should be one higher at A.  Works better with the thickness in the upper left.  Now, Where should White play?  We have a corner enclosure in the lower right and some thickness in the upper left.  We don't have as much territory as Black.

I ruled this standard sequence right out.  White 1 and 3 are defensive moves and Black settles ridiculously easy on the right, and my lower right corner enclosure is ...well just two stones making a handful of points; nothing more.  This also doesn't use my thickness effectively.
White 1 is the best option.  It forces Black low, weakens his pincer stone facing my thickness, and the right side isn't interesting for development anyway.  There are some other options for White, and we'll go over some tomorrow, including the fabulous move I chose!
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Sunday, April 15, 2012

Go Puzzle Sundays


Black to play
For this week, we have this doozy of a problem.  It's actually quite simple, but the first move is key and might not be intuitive for some. If you need a hint, just think of a way to make the bottom not an eye, since White clearly has a solid eye on the right.

Solution for last week's problem:

 If you saw the tesuji of White 1 then you get a gold star!  We need to create miai (a two way street) to get rid of that second eye since the first one is rock solid.




What makes this problem fun is that that sneaky stone in the corner gives us a solid bridge out, so that our stones can take the vital spot without fear of being captured.  Try out other variations in your head too!  Just because we find the right first move, doesn't mean that we still cannot mess up the followup. comments

Friday, April 13, 2012

College Go Tournament Tomorrow!


Tomorrow (April 14th) is the first round of the Collegiate Go Association's Championship Tournament.  I haven't participated in the league at all, as I had been busy, but I decided my team needed me for the championship.  So far, we have a pretty strong team.  Seungjin, our resident 7 dan, is first board.  I'm second board, and Yizao Wang will be third.  We'll be facing off against Carnegie Mellon. I have no clue who I'll be facing off against, but it should be very interesting to say the least.  You can catch the games on KGS.  The festivities will be kicking off at around 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  See you there!
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