Monday, March 23, 2009

Driving toward SDK

My most recent OGS ladder and OGS tournament games have matched me up with a 15k, a 9k, a 19k and a 12k. I won all 4 of those games! Woot! My rank is up to 11.9k. I went 4-2 in the 1st round of the tourney and I've jumped 112 rungs up the ladder to 76th place!

It feels good, but I think I am due for a butt kicking or 2 soon. I wouldn't be surprised to see my rank fall a bit, but I really think I am on a good path to help me improve.

I may just have to comment up the game I won against the 9k. It was a lot of fun. So was the 12k game. It sure would be nice to have some face to face games as well...

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Playing opponents that outrank you

For a long time I was intimidated to play against players with a better ranking than I had. I wasn't super-confident that my own 15k-ish rank was accurate and I didn't want to "waste the time" of higher ranked folks. I didn't want to waste their time or get slaughtered by them.

It feels like there are a lot of 15 kyu players that have this attitude and are all looking for an even 15k game that they have a chance of winning. Now I am wondering if this isn't a bit of a trap. My theory now is that 15k is too soon to start settling and assuming you have hit a plateau.

I started playing against SDKs (Single Digit Kyu) when I attended the Go Club. I have continued sort of by chance in a few different spots. On KGS I played a few robots and got a (9k?) rating. That seems way too high, but it got me a game against a player I knew from GoDiscussions. He was an 11k so he asked for 2 stones! Also on OGS I have joined a tournament which has me playing against players up to 8 kyu.

Third area, also on OGS is the OGS 19x19 Ladder Competition. This is a ladder for all skill levels, and I made up my mind to challenge the highest player up the ladder that I could each time I finish an old ladder game. This decision could have me playing even games against Dan players, depending on where they are on the ladder!

I have only played a few of these "stretch" games so far, but I think they are important. It just reminds me of the old saying that if you want to improve in a competitive field you need to play against other players stronger than you.

For a long time I think I was pretty happy to be able to say I was a 15 kyu. I was humbled by all the things I realized I didn't know and was just happy to have mastered a little. But now I am starting to feel that the SDK ranks don't seem that far away. I have a sense that by playing SDKs I will be forced to stretch myself to play like an SDK. Time will tell.

BOTTOM LINE: I truly think that having some mechanism built into my training schedule that forces me to play stronger players will help me improve faster. I would suggest the OGS Ladder trick to anyone that wants to try this.

++++++++++

Vultur's OGS Ladder Ritual:

Step 1: Join the OGS 19x19 Ladder

Step 2: Challenge the top 3 players available to you on the ladder. (The way things are set up, you won't start out with access to challenging people at the very TOP of the ladder, but you will be able to challenge people 50 or 100 spots higher than you.) Don't worry about their rank - it may be below yours, the same or above - it doesn't matter. Your goal is to climb the ladder!

Step 3: As you complete a game, challenge the player at highest available spot on the ladder.

Repeat step 3 until you are in Ladder position #1 !!! :)

Use the results of these games as "review and improve" material.

++++++++++

If nothing else, playing against stronger players should help reduce the intimidation factor of people rated higher than you. It has helped me see that I am not stuck on some 15k plateau with an unclimbable cliff leading up to higher ranks. The slope up to 8 or 9k seems achievable now.