Uxs
[1] Personal Info
My real name is Kris.
I'm from Belgium, and a member of the
Go Club in Gent, the city I live in.
I'm supposed to be 17 kyu, give or take a few. DGS seems to confirm this. I've now (1/1/2005) decided that I have been 17k for long enough, and that I will become a single digit kyu within the year.
I've been playing on DGS a lot. It's fun, but it doesn't seem to make me improve a whole lot. I think it's because there's less of a connection between the bad plays you make and getting punished for them. That's why I'm going to play more on KGS from now on. In accordance with
Dieter's Ideas On Improvement, the goal is at least 1 game per day.
You can
find me on DGS if you want to play. You should also be able to find me on KGS in the evening (CET).
[2] Mini progress log
My mini log to track my progress:
- Started playing igowin at the start of 2001, while I was in Athens, officially to study other things than Go.
- Joined KGS at 30 kyu in the beginning of 2002.
- Stopped playing on KGS at about 23 kyu, in april 2002, after about 100 games, mostly rated 19x19, but also some others.
- At about that time, I think I joined the Go club in Gent.
- Joined DGS in december 2003 at 17 kyu. One and a half month later, I have 30 finished games and a rating of about 15 kyu.
- Last weekend on saturday (Januari 31st, 2004), I went to my first tournament: the
2nd Toyota Denso Oza Tournament. I took part in the family event, and finished in 199th place. While not exactly a stellar achievement, it's a start, and I can only improve. Because I only won 1 out of 4 games, I didn't get any prizes for that, but I did win some Go bowls in the lottery afterwards.Since I allready had bowls for my stones, I promptly sold them, so I would've come out with some money left, if only I didn't buy a new book: Invincible - The games of Shusaku. All in all, it was a pleasant experience and I do plan to go to another tournament as soon as a convenient one takes place.
- November 24, 2004. I'm stuck. I've only been playing on DGS and not improving at all. I feel like I keep doing the same moves all the time, more or less playing on autopilot. I should think more, read out more, and not play so automatically. At the same time, I should do more problems, and really should start playing games in real-time again. Turn-based Go is very convenient to play for me, but I guess there's a level of disconnection between playing "wrong" moves and being punished for them. This makes it harder to learn from my mistakes. On top of all that, getting my lazy ass back to the local Go club is a priority too. (axd: shame on you! you don't know the luxury you are enjoying, others don't even have a club (yet) ;-) )
- Oh yeah, I should also try to review some of the games I play, and maybe read another book. So much to do, so little time...
- December 30, 2004. I am playing less on DGS because of a changed work environment. Now to increase the amount of real-time games... I also started to do more problems. Let's hope I see the results of it in the near future.
- New year 2005. After watching 20 episodes of Hikaru No Go, I played some games on KGS.
[3] Graphs and games
Ranking graphs are nice but can be depressing:
My
Games on DGS.
My
Games on KGS.
[4] Reference of Go terms and concepts
[41] Technical
[411] Game
- Byo Yomi
- Shortage of time.
- Goban
- The board on which Go is played.
- Jigo
- A drawn game.
- Komi
- A 'points' allowance give to White in a even game to compensate Black for having the first move.
- Nigiri
- A method of fairly choosing something using Go stones: One player picks up an unseen handful of white stones. The second player says odd or even. If he is correct, the second player gets to choose otherwise the first player chooses. When used to select colour in even games, if the second player is correct, he gets Black.
[412] Phases
- Fuseki
- The opening phase of the game.
- Chuban
- The middle game.
- Yose
- The endgame. Also: Shuban.
[413] Points - Areas
- Moku
- A point on the board. Also used in scoring.
- Dame
- A neutral point, of no value to either player.
- Eye
- A point or group of points, completely surrounded by stones of one player. Two eyes are needed for a group to be alive. (Ignoring seki situations.) For more info, see eyes.
- Territory
- Empty points, completely surrounded by a player's live stones at the end of the game, are considered territory of that player.
[414] Ranks
- Shodan
- One-dan level.
- Dan
- Master rank.
- Kyu
- Student rank.
- Insei
- Japanese student studying to be a professional.
[415] Other basic terms
- Atari
- The state of having only one liberty left.
- Joseki
- A standardised sequence of moves, usually in a corner.
- Tenuki
- To abandon the local position and play elsewhere.
- Tesuji
- A good move.
[42] Points
- 3-3
- San-san.
- 3-4
- Komoku.
- 3-5
- Mokuhazushi.
- 3-6
- Oomokuhazushi.
- 4-4
- Hoshi (actually all star points, but 4-4 when talking about Joseki).
- 4-5
- Takamoku (literally: "high point").
- 4-6
- Ootakamoku.
- 5-5
- Gonogo.
- 10-10
- Tengen.
[43] Connections
[431] Straight
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/4/c96a06f61c02ffab091f56c10cccad1f.png)
Nobi
Nobi.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/42/68beba2103ff68bea3bfaed8d298de5d.png)
Ikken Tobi
Ikken Tobi.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/43/8eb2f4cf5f010dcd8e680de41f88549e.png)
Niken Tobi
Niken Tobi.
[432] Diagonal
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/37/7cda8a87c74655477b3e4dc7a28f0638.png)
Kosumi
Kosumi.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/24/70e4ac4a51804ba2e3540802b5c27e6e.png)
Hazama Tobi
Hazama Tobi.
[433] Knight's moves
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/51/10af2641addb6dd4114b01d8d39270db.png)
Keima, Kogeima
Keima, Knight's Move; Kogeima, Small Knight's Move?.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/24/9683ff1fb2f8b4f2b7fb1e7467e41a42.png)
Ogeima
Ogeima, Large Knight's Move.
[434] Enclosures
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/49/b3f13cb65d2d40965df262337aff9c09.png)
Shimari example
A Shimari is a (Corner) Enclosure.
[435] Non-basic connections
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/8/cb65a5a84985d71c4a87e21b77cecdf8.png)
Bamboo Joint
Bamboo joint.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/4/0fff817d86fa8f63a716f78b20903127.png)
Tiger's Mouth
Tiger's Mouth, Cat's Face.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/38/d84538a4c19fca29743abf8ec4aa4cb0.png)
Table
Table.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/33/7d63128687a30d0070d04f31ce971659.png)
Trapezium
Trapezium.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/10/c2d57da88cd4eecdb56f2f3c65aa6627.png)
Empty triangle
Empty Triangle - this is (almost always) bad shape !
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/48/ecaca26565ebdcfec559e73248e88d74.png)
Parabola
Parabola.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/23/fa289bd9f21e7128e2e82ec15e9a4f08.png)
Almost Bamboo Joint
Almost bamboo joint?.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/16/ea0605d5185218c9d3807bdbf4434c4c.png)
Sake Bottle
Sake bottle, Dog's Head.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/14/2ab812c806c1dd1ba1d2639e3f936a7f.png)
Horse Head
Horse Head.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/48/05f3c3e3bad1a902d8f8202795c472e9.png)
Loch Ness Monster
Nessie's Face, Giraffe's Face.
[44] Tactics
[441] Moves against stones of the opponent
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/28/0bbee3269a41594cd15a92cc4d09f16f.png)
Boshi
Boshi: A capping move. Usually played at a one space interval above an enemy stone.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/9/2a25e675f2fc99ac9b8be0982a0592c5.png)
Hane
Hane: A move that 'bends round' an enemy stone, leaving a cutting point behind.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/40/4c448c490980de7964dc6b7504e16910.png)
Hane tsugi
Hane tsugi: A hane (
) followed by a connection (
).
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/13/3ce34d3dec7d5873a2f4e67999067927.png)
Pincer example
Hasami, Pincer: A move (
) which attacks an invading stone (
) from both sides.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/24/444054a48e143d2e47123906d4e9699e.png)
Kakari example
Kakari: Approach move (
) against a single stone (
) in the corner. The diagram shows a keima kakari.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/0/7d5c4a5b3e5b60a2443f6100a872295f.png)
Magari
Magari, Bend. Move that bends around an enemy stone, leaving no cutting points.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/14/b53c7afd147f6dc388a6bf77452a0d9c.png)
Peep !
Peep: See diagram. Both
and
are peeps.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/34/32d198480c1d71acc810cb8f384ab6e1.png)
Ponnuki
Ponnuki: Diamond shape that results from the capture of a single stone. In the example, white's capture of a black stone at "a" creates a ponnuki.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/16/be9302dfab5afe730f134754e84208d8.png)
Contact play
Tsuke, Contact play.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/41/f03e3648f866aef387d6bcd12fad0b71.png)
Crosscut
Crosscut.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/1/efe3b29f0462c0a1e9834375ab8f0307.png)
Shoulder hit
is a Shoulder Hit.
[442] Life & Death, Capturing
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/23/7eff24cfc93a9a2a3052e65189477ce7.png)
Ko example
Ko. Example:
captures a black stone at "a". Black is not allowed to retake at "a", because that would repeat the previous position.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/9/62cba3281649b9925a9b8921c83d7e98.png)
Seki example
Seki: A local stalemate between two or more groups dependent on the same liberties for survival. In the example, the marked groups are in seki.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/27/d59e4c7ec138d899dcf7219378424780.png)
Semeai example
- Semeai
- A race to capture between two adjacent groups that cannot both live. In the example, whoever has sente will win the semeai.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/22/93c33298faf189bfe79fd4a7474294fd.png)
Ladder example
Shicho: A ladder. In the example, assuming an otherwise empty board, white can't escape.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/21/34b99db76d9202e850c29dcc22470b4c.png)
Net example
Geta: A net. In the example,
creates a net, from where the marked white stones can't escape.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/33/d57b7f7a772b5744b2fda37729836bf3.png)
A snapback
Snapback. Putting your opponent in atari with a stone that is in atari itself, but if the opponent would capture your sacrificial stone, he would still be in atari.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/9/da6b0010d44e054a975240559c34892a.png)
Tsumego example. Black to play and kill.
Tsumego are Go Problems. Most often they are about Life and Death.
[45] Strategic concepts
[451] Concepts
- Aji
- Latent possibilities left behind in a position.
- Aji keshi
- A move which destroys one's own aji (and is therefore bad).
- Amarigatachi
- A position where you were apparently attacking nicely and pushing the opponent around, but you either let the opponent live or got a trivial profit.
- Damezumari
- Shortage of liberties.
- Furikawari
- A trade of territory or groups.
- Haengma
- Fuzzy Korean concept of moves.
- Hamete
- A basically unsound move which complicates the situation. Often the obvious answer to a hamete is bad and it is difficult to see the right way to play. Also "trick play".
- Honte
- "The proper move". Used of a seemingly slow but solid move that leaves no bad aji.
- Kikashi
- A move which creates aji while forcing a submissive reply.
- Miai
- Two points related to each other such that if one player takes one of them, the opponent will take the other one.
- Moyo
- A potential territory.
- Nakade
- Play inside the opponent's group's eye space that kills it.
- Oiotoshi
- "Connect and die"
- Oshitsubushi
- A way of countering nakade.
- Sabaki
- "Skilful process successfully handling an awkward situation".
- Shape
- Shape.
- Suji
- Fuzzy Japanese concept of moves.
[452] Conflicting objectives or terminology
Good
You want to be Strong and Thick, but also Light.
Bad
You don't want to be Heavy or Overconcentrated, but also not Weak or Thin.
- Note: This section is probably not entirely correct.
[453] Initiative
- Gote
- Losing the initiative.
- Sente
- Gaining the initiative; a move that requires a reply.
[454] Openings
See Overview Of Fuseki Patterns.