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Floris Barthel
PageType: HomePage
Hi I'm Floris Barthel ( I play at the go clubs in Hilversum and Utrecht. I stopped playing internet go, with a few exceptions. Every once in a while I can still be found on KGS as 'flush' or on Dashn as 'fbarthel'. Current Favorite OpeningBlack: Shusaku, Takamoku White: Komoku, Takamoku My go historyMar 2, 2003: Started playing go, registered on NNGS as 'fujiwara' - 25k NNGS Mar 19, 2003: Joined KGS as 'fbarthel' - 18k NNGS, 20k KGS May 7, 2003: Registered a new KGS Username 'florisb' and stopped playing on NNGS, still go there to chat - 14k KGS May 24, 2003: Yet another new username 'floppy' - 11k KGS May 28 - Jun 1, 2003: Took part in the Amsterdam Toyota Tour as 10k, won 4/6 Jun 1, 2003: Again a new username 'flopdisk' - 7k KGS Jun 11, 2003: Took a break playing rated games and played a few free games against strong players using guest accounts (I beat three 2k during that period) Jun 17, 2003: Registered previous guest username 'CdRom' - 5k? KGS Jun 20, 2003: Got rank solidified - 5k KGS Jun 22, 2003: New account 'telephone' - 4k KGS Jun 28-29, 2003: Took part in Utrecht Go Toernooi, won 4/5 (registered as 5k) Jul 5-6, 2003: Participated in the 4th Luxembourg Go Tournament, won 3/5 registered as 4k (1 game i lost by half a point because I missed a one-point last move and another because i screwed up on a ko threat creating thousands more) Jul 8-27, 2003: On vacation in France, camped in the French Alps (climbed Mt Thabor), the Drome, and the Cévennes. Aug 8, 2003: Got another account at KGS (moyojojo). After playing 6 games with it, got my rank solidified to 1k (seems to have dipped down to 3k). Aug 15, 2003: Started playing on IGS with username 'fbarthel'. Currently ranked 3k*. Aug 24, 2003: Yah! My 16th birthday ^_^ I got GoGoD, Positional Judgement and The world of Chinese Go. Not to mention some non-go related presents. Sep 29, 2003: Long time no updates. I should be about 1k/1d now. Also i seem to have become one of the strongest, if not the strongest of my (relatively weak) go club (also at my level are are a self claimed 1k and a strong EGF 2k). Oct 7, 2003: These past few months (since mid august) I have started playing on rated on NNGS again. And after playing a few games (maybe an average of once a week) I have finally reached 1k* there. :))) (See graph below) Nov 8-9, 2003: The Martinicup in Groningen. Signed up as 2k. Won 3/5. I can really recommend this tournament to everyone. The organisation and location are great. I really had a great time. If you're looking for an extremely serious win/lose tournament though, this is not for you. Dec 1, 2003: Yah! My first major victory. Having signed up as 2k for the Utrecht Club Championships i got to play my first game vs. Marijn de Jong 3d and in the end I won by 4,5 points. Now to win that championship...
Dec 23, 2003: Unfortunately, I lost my game vs. Arend-Jan Westhoff in the Utrecht Go Club Championships. On the bright side, I am still in the top 4 for the tournament, so I am allowed to participate in the 2-round, 4-player knockout finals. Whoever wins both his games here, is the ultimate champion. I won't lose to Arend-Jan again! If you're interested, you can follow the tournament I've also managed to boost my KGS ranking up to solid 2d, most likely because of my study of Hyun Hyun Ki Kyung. I've also cleaned up this page a little bit, taken away some conversations. If you are bothered by this, drop me a note and I'll put it back. Jan 3-4. 2004: New years tournament in Heerlen. My first tournament as 1k, and also my first tournament winning less then 50%. (2/5). That includes *sips* two games lost by 0,5 as black (6,5 point komi). The tournament was ok, but not too much of a serious one. The first day I played two games, a win by resign vs. 1k and a loss by 0,5 vs. 1k. Afterwards I went to eat a Mexican restaurant nearby. The food was good, but the day after I noticed it had affected my digestion (a.k.a. farting). I stayed up late playing the Settlers of Catan and a game of rengo. I barely slept that night (approx. 3 hours) and the sleep i got wasn't perfect: basically I lay with my sleeping back on the wooden floor, not very comfortable. The next day I lost to a 1k by 8,5, beat a 3k by resign, and lost to another 1k by 0,5. Before leaving for home, I ate at the Brunch room where the tournament was held, which I wish I hadn't done. The food was absolutely horrible. Oh well, I had a good time nonetheless. Jan 11, 2004: Game recorder dutch NK. More later.
Jan 18, 2004: The Dutch Youth championships. My first game was an unexpected loss vs. Wouter Berkelmans 2k, whom i have never lost against. We both played at inhuman speed, and this was my downfall. My second game was vs. the former champion, Tommy Hollman. It was a really exciting game until the end when I made miai of killing two groups and he resigned. The third game was vs. Yamo Afzahli whom i beat by 43,5 points. After three rounds the championship was still undecided as Wouter had lost to Tommy. Thus I had to play Tommy again and this time I was beaten, making Tommy the new champion. The whole tournament being on a single day, we didn't have enough time left (45 min pp, no byoyomi) for the match between Wouter and myself to decide who would take the second and third place. At the end all participants got a free prize, and I chose Attack and Defense. Jan van Rongen has taken pictures, which you can take a look at Jan 24-25, 2004: Game recorder dutch NK and Scheve Ogen tournament Amstelveen. Sign up as 1k, win 3/5. More later. Jan 26, 2004: Finale Utrecht club championships vs. Arend-Jan Westhoff. Horrible game for me. Lost by resign. More later. John F. Noting that Floris is a birthday boy, a go talent and a fan of Invincible, I thought it might be apposite to append a translation Shusaku's first diploma, given by Jowa: "Though in the game of go he is of tender years, his devotion and conduct are excellent, and in "handtalk" too he is admirable. Accordingly I herewith authorise him to play as 1-dan based on a handicap of three stones relative to a senior player jozu, or 7-dan? . To signify the importance of diligence, I therefore bestow this diploma." As Jowa retired two days later, this was probably his last diploma as Godokoro. Among the many stories that show Shusaku's excellent conduct here's one that will be new to most of you. He was passing through Suzuka Forest with his elder brother. He told the maid at the inn they would set off early in the morning. They set off walking when they got up, but something seemed strange. The maid had mixed up moonrise with dawn, and when they set off into the forest, it stayed dark. But eventually they saw a fire and heard people talking. His brother wanted to return because it was a place notorious as a den of mountain bandits. But Shusaku stopped, calmly warmed his hands at the fire, made his greetings and left. The bandits, in blank amazement - perhaps at being treated as normal people - saw them off. More for Floris to aspire to (nay, for all of us!): On his departure for the capital again after a visit home, Shusaku received a fatherly poem from his patron Hashimoto Chikuka. It was in the Chinese style, alluding to three great Chinese go masters of various ages: "Seeing off Yasuda Shusaku on his journey to the East". "With utter naturalness, your slender fingertips make the jewel-like stones fly across the board. I look agape at the devilish strategies that would defeat the great Huang Longshi. They would overcome the famous Zhi Dun!. I sense you will even become a Yi Qiu. Provided that you do not neglect to polish your skill, one day you will surely achieve great things." JanvanRongen: Floris hasn't got a nice go-ban, so I just told him (2003-06-29) that I will give him one if he can beat me before the end of this year (he needs to be about 2-dan to do that). Floris: This is a bit slowed down due to our time schemes not matching. We have played our first game though. The outcome was a 6,5 point win for Jan playing white. KGS Ranking Graph
eng60340 : Damn. how do you improve so fast ? Any tips/suggestions/strategy ? I am pretty much stuck at level 12k right now. Dieter: You may want to know that Floris' progress is almost unprecedented in Europe. I'll let him answer the question himself, but somewhere in the explanation, the word "gifted" is bound to show up. Floris: Pfff. Dieter, don't make me look *that* good. It's not like i sit on the couch all day watching tv and improve as if magic, no, it is hard work :) I am extremely dedicated to it so give priority to go above anything else. And I spend a lot of my time studying or playing. As for suggestions, play a lot of blitz, solve some easy problems daily, and study a set of difficult problems once a week. Play a serious game at least twice a week. Note: Damm you wiki vandal :/ Tamsin: Improving fast is wonderful, but don't let go stop you from enjoying all the other fun things in life! Good luck, Floris, and don't despair eng60340, even if you never get better (but you will get better) since go is definitely not everything. Hope you don't consider me a wiki vandal... Floris: Hehe, nope I dont :P Some rude person changed "Dieter, don't make me look *that* good" to "Dieter, do make me look *that* good", hence the comment. Go is not everything, just nearly :) Rob: Floris improved by playing almost 24 hours 7 days each week. He even edits his page at about midnight... Does he ever sleep? By-the-way: when are you going to play the play-off game for the second prize in the Dutch Junior Championship? It must be before the end of February, otherwise I have to make the decision that both you and Wouter Berkelmans (2k) will be not finished in that tournament. Floris: Heh, depends on my mood. I go to school to you know, so I really don't play that much ^^ Plus I am reading manga, watching anime quite frequently too, also occasionaly doing some school stuff that needs to be taken care of. BTW, my match vs. Wouter Berkelmans has been played, and I won by 31,5 points, making me second. The website hasn't been updated yet though. Nacho: Floris, congratulations on your really fast progress. According to what you say, I started playing go two days after you did, but I seem to have hit a barrier at around 6k/5k... Anyway, I just wanted to know what do you mean by 'serious games'? I assume you refer to attitude towards that particular game, but I wanted to make sure. If so, wouldn't it be better to say that every game should be taken seriously? (not that I follow my own advice, but I should at least try it) Floris: Well, decide what you enjoy more, the joy of winning or go for the fun of it. Deciding that is the first step to progress :) Rob: Hi, Floris, why didn't you attend the "Hilversum Denkt" rapidplay go tournament on Saturday April 3rd? We were waiting for you, as you had subscribed for the tournament! Floris: Oops! No internet go calendar ready to remind me :( Gommenasai! tsjanl: Floris, congratulations with your promotion to 1d. Quite remarkeable, within a year after learning the game. Time to update this page? This is a copy of the living page "Floris Barthel" at Sensei's Library. ![]() |