elahrairah

Hello all,

My name is elahrairah and I have been playing go since May 2007. I have been around one kyu on KGS for about 6 months now, and am patiently waiting to break through the dan levels.

How did I get there? Before I discovered that there were books available, I searched the Internet a lot for information about go. Inevitably, I visited many times Senseis, which has since proved to be one of the most reliable go source ever. Lots of greats articles there, with quite the active community.

How did I get to 1 kyu? I guess that many players have gone further than I did, but some players could benefit from my experience, so there you go. The secret is simple: train the easy way!

• I kept playing as much as I could, at various time settings, achieving a 2,300 games record so far. Playing is very important; you cannot learn if you do not have fun! I never reviewed my own games, but retrospectively I think I would have made much more progress if I had.
• I did a lot of tsumego, around 4,000 problems so far. At first though, like anyone, I properly hated tsumego - I could never solve any of them, which was quite unappealing. I then switched to tesuji study, with absolutely no better results. It wasn't until I tried easy tsumego (I mean, really easy ones, reading only two or three moves ahead), that I came to appreciate them. I made 1000 of them (from the series "Mastering the Basics", by Mr. Bozulich), and rised from 6 kyu to 3 kyu in about 3 months. Success suddenly made tsumego look beautiful! As for now, I am working on Gokyo Shumyo; I try to read all possible variations and then move on the next problem, without checking solutions.

I usually play on KGS; do not hesitate to come and play with me if you like! I happen to have a turbulent style (I like when half of the board is dead). I also like to give teaching games. If you have more than a 5 stones difference with me, just come along, I'll be glad to show you one or two tips.

Happy go playing on Senseis !