Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Feeling Stuck at 15 kyu

Hi all,
I haven't posted for awhile as I haven't seen much improvement in my game. (I have been a bit busy - moving from west coast to east, unpacking and job hunting.) But I have kept playing GO on OGS. OGS is a nice change from KGS, but it has its own issues (I will post on that). I need to play a few games on KGS and get rid of my ? again...

I do have a few things to talk about. I am straying away from my "ignore the middle" strategy that I posted on below. I find myself roughing out small side areas I think should be able to make an eye and then looking to connect with other groups (and surround territory) in the middle. So, a lot of my latest games have me taking chances/guessing about what moves will allow me to connect. If two groups are a knights move apart can they connect? What if their closest stones are 2 knight's moves apart?

Latest realization is what I call "the corners don't matter". What this really means is that it is OK to play a 4-4 opening rather than a 4-3 and 3-5 combo. More on this in a later post.

Finally, I really think I would benefit from some in person games. I need to join a local club and/or find a teacher. I will post as I investigate these potentially helpful methods of improving my GO.

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