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Study Techniques
Path: Study   · Prev: StudyingProfessionalGames   · Next: TeachingPaths
   

Tristan Jones Here are some methods that I find effective for studying go. Please feel free to add to them, as I'm sure that I'll want to try them myself :-) Please note, though, that I'm most concerned with means of study per se rather than study paths. That is, a study technique is how you study, while a study path refers to what, specifically, you study (e.g., professional games, life and death problems, tesujis).

1) Flashcards I like making cards showing a particular technique, for instance a joseki or a killing shape. On the back of the card I will make notes on how this technique is best to be used (for instance, it's often good to choose a pincer when there's a hoshi stone in the adjacent corner to support the pincer stone). Not only do flashcards make it easy to learn and revise ideas, but the act of making them helps to get the material into one's head.

2) Computer Libraries I use my Palm Pilot far less for recording my games than for keeping notes on any new ideas or tactics that interest me. It's easy to make notes and to adapt them or add to them. It's also easy to revise them. I use my desktop computer for the same purpose.

3) Interactive Reading Do you regard books as holy relics that must be handled with care and the greatest respect? Then you're probably not getting the most out of them. I scribble notes in mine, highlight important text, fold pages, correct errors and make additions. My books don't look pretty, but I tend to remember what they say because I get very involved with them!

4) Lists Sometimes I get to the point where I think that I need to emphasise certain issues to get my game going in the right direction. To this end I sometimes prepare lists and keep them nearby while I'm playing. For example, at present I'm very keen to get into the habit of making position judgements, to play more lightly, and to keep a closer eye on aji. So, I have a list saying "1. Light 2. Positional judgement 3. Watch aji" close to hand.

5) Random Testing Do you think you know the LargeAvalanche joseki well enough to play it in an important game? Then why not test yourself before it comes to the crunch. My way of making sure things are staying in my head is to see periodically whether I can still remember the critical lines of such and such a joseki or tesuji line, choosing it at random. It can be sobering to get halfway through playing out a sharp variation only to find one is not certain whether the next move is at A, B or where?! If you test yourself regularly, you'll probably identify those ideas and lines that you really have most trouble with, and will be able to put things right quickly.

6) Use a Ready Reckoner to learn the values of common moves and formations.


7) Practise Reading Lines of Play One way to develop reading skills is to set up a situation on a goban or one of the Go Editing Programs such as CGoban2 that supports variations. Work out as many branches as you like. Restore the situation and then read out the variations in your mind. -- Hu of KGS

Tristan Jones--May I add that a good one to start with here is to lay out a ladder and apparent ladder breaker and to see if you can work out whether or not the ladder works? This would be Kageyama-style study!


8) Dieter: A way of playing. Each time there is a new decision to make, evaluate the position, look for exactly 3 moves that serve the objective, read out about 5 moves deep, considering only the most natural sequences that follow it and evaluate each sequence as soon as it dies out locally. Choose the move with the best resulting sequence. This looks like what we all do always. I know it is not.

9) Another way of playing. Repeat the previous and speak out loud your analysis before playing the move. I found out this greatly helped simply doing 8). An opponent with whom I tried this out, continuously forgot to think and just played. Then I would ask him what his anamysis was and he'd say "Huh ? What analysis. Oh yeah, I keep forgetting about that."


Teach Yourself Go



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This is a copy of the living page "Study Techniques" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2003 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.