I have cranked through 3 of 4 sections in Contact Fights and 1 of 4 in Sector Fights. I like the concrete recommendations he makes. Things like, "if your group has 6 liberties you MUST play away". It feels like I have a bunch of new techniques to apply, but I haven't played any games to try them out. I expect to use them awkwardly at first, but we will see.
One other interesting thing has happened, my perception of the board and the game have changed again. The board no longer seems like a 19x19 area to place single stones, it is starting to feel more like a "field" that can support 20 or so groups. Stones work together as groups, so there is a more tetris-like feel as you build odd shapes and try to connect them on the board.
The game also feels to have shortened, because the endgame starts a lot sooner than I thought. Here are the three phases of the game (and their Japanese names):
Fuseki - Until there is a weak group.
Chubansen - Until there are no weak groups.
Yose - Post weak groups.
So, the whole game seems different. Each player builds a few groups. There is a struggle to exploit weak groups. Finalize the borders. Done.
Back to the Go Dojo - I really like the format and the style of presentation as well as the subject matter. It seems like it has revealed some of the principles of GO that I hadn't understood beforehand. I need to see if I gain any stones in real play, but at this point I would recommend Go Dojo to anyone serious about GO. The first sections of each seem applicable for players at an early stage of their GO career.
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