Why Speed Go Is Bad

  Difficulty: Beginner   Keywords: Tactics

The following position occurred in a game between 1D and a 4kyu on KGS. Time limits were 1minute, and 25 stones in 2 minutes. That leaves about 4 seconds per move. Netlag can determine the winner under those conditions.

[Diagram]

to live

The position was never resolved. Black did not find the obvious move. Black won on time in the end.


[Diagram]

A 20 kyu attempt


So, correct me if I am wrong, but the position is resolved already within about 15 points gote; black lives with white to move. So, it might have indeed been better to tenuki, depending on the center game and so forth. Or, at least, it might have been feasible; away from the essentially settled corner may have well been where the real strategic potential was.

Velobici: Arghhh...miscopied the position. Now corrected.


This seems to be to be an argument for playing more speed go rather than an argument as to why speed go is bad.

I routinely play speed go at 20 moves in 2 minutes (similar conditions to this game) and would spot the correct move in this example in the blink of an eye. Practice with speed go will do that - a lot of things you will see and not have to read.

People with strong views against speed go are usually the player type depending on slow, but accurate, reading. A lot of the things they read out can be seen with practice. Speed go is that practice.

And no, speed go is not a replacement for slower paced games, and no - winning or losing in speed go does not matter. It is practice and it is fun.

Coconuts: I recently started playing many blitz games on KGS, and pretty quickly my short term reading and positional judgment started to improve. Becoming reliant on your opponent's mistakes or time restraints just to win games could create bad habits, but generally if my opponent is running out of time I give him an extra minute (I play 10 second byo-yomi), essentially refilling the byo-yomi clock. I play unranked games so I'm not caught up in winning or losing, and its been very good for my game.

The key to blitz is not to see it as a way to win games, but a way to improve your other slower games.


Yes blitz does allow you to practice fast reading... But super blitz? How far can you push it? When I used to play really fast games I wasted ko threats to gain precious time... This and the game itself already being below the avg level... Here's a question - Won't playing worse games than usual hurt your game? (Well since nobody said anything against..;)

Another note - That diagram is an exception, normally 10k+ in super blitz would see it without trouble since it's such a common shape, it's the less common stuff and such that might a problem... And even though it helped my readin (I assume it's one of the reasons), slow and reviewed games were what improved my understanding (thx K). Reuven

Coconuts: If the game is going so fast that you cannot possibly read common situations, then you are playing above your speed level, and not improving. However, if the pace is such that you are pressured to read quickly (or abandon reading for intuition), win or lose you will get better. I think around 10 seconds a move is appropriate, though you can get away with more stones in a Candian system because often only one move in a sequence requires reading. Like I said above play *FREE* games! Don't be held down by the thought of winning or losing. If you are short on time, ask for more, if your opponent is, give more. Don't base your ranking on blitz; use it to improve your skill.

Didn't mean hurting your rank but your game... (Perhaps by delaying your progress) Reuven


This is a copy of the living page "Why Speed Go Is Bad" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2004 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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