Tickling shodan
Tickling shodan is a fuzzy rank which describes someone who is almost shodan, such that they have on a few occasions beaten bona-fide shodans - sometimes handily. But the tickling shodan state is one where the individual is likely never to reach shodan, for various reasons, like a lack of intelligence, lack of desire to study, or an excessively strong desire to reach an idealized perceptual goal. The idealized anticipation of reaching a static (yet illusory) goal is often the result of a character failing, and therefore not necessarily related to Go.
Many who call themselves shodan are in fact lying - they may be tickling shodan - i.e. range from 8 kyu to 1k. Some who tickle shodan rank may in fact be stronger than the average international shodan for a short while, before realizing that they have made the leap into the dan ranks - which quickly causes a loss of purpose (since the desired goal is reached) and interest in Go instantly wanes, which may cause them to go back to playing something like chess, or they will sink back into the kyu ranks again.
A shodan tickler's rank is always in a state of hyperflux, and useless for statistical analysis. Shodan tickler's can often beat legitimate shodans, but instead of rising to shodan themselves, they will remain 2-1k, and the bonafide shodan is generally left with some explaining to do.
Eratos: I used to dabble in the martial arts, and the 'problem' is evident there too - by far the highest drop out rate from any martial art is after obtaining that elusive black belt. I got mine about a year ago, and haven't trained seriously since then. That's just the way it goes I guess! However, is there really any need for this artificial distinction between kyu and dan grades? Apart from the Japanese cultural influence, why not rename 30th kyu to 1st grade, making 1st kyu the new 30th grade, and 1st dan 31st grade, etc. In fact, why give grades like this at all, just call them rating points, so the phrase, "I'm a 1st kyu" becomes "I've got 30 rating points".
- on the other hand, maybe if there was not such thing as "shodan" or "black belt", people would drop out in dribbles much earlier, with the same or greater net loss
anon: I think there is a real distinction between kyu and dan. I noticed that as I approached and broke through the dan barrier, there was an attainment of a deeper understanding of and connection between what had previously felt like distinct ideas. That is, for me, as I hit shodan, the individual concepts I'd been studying all allong coalesced and I felt a new synergy in my thinking. Sounds like a bunch of hoey when I write it down, but I really did notice a difference. Thus, for me, shodan is more than 1 stronger than 1 kyu. Becoming a "master" is more than getting just a bit better. Suddenly, the parts work together to make more than the sum of them individually. This may just be my personal experience.
Hu: Some rating systems do have that kind of effect (removing the distinction of crossing the shodan barrier), but you are unlikely to eliminate the dan / kyu distinction any more than you are unlikely to eliminate the black belt distinction. You are urged to study the existing rating systems.
I have not heard this phrase, tickling shodan. It has some intuitive appeal, but I feel there may be other phrases that might be even more intuitive or more immediately obvious.
Matt Noonan: The KiwiGo folks once web-published some informal statistics on how long people get stuck at various ranks. There was the expected sticking points of 8k, 4k, and a deep one at 1k. The authors made the proposal that shodan is where it is because of this deep sticking point. Seems plausible to me!
JohnAspinall: Perhaps you're referring to
these stats which I mentioned in BottleneckTheories.
Neil: Plausible, yes, but in need of testing. If the deep sticking point still existed in a group of players that didn't revere that rating point, only then would we know for sure whether the prestige caused the sticking point or the other way around.
ChrisSchack: Given that some rating systems are stronger than others, you might be able to compare the "sticking" points in each of them ... this might show what's due to prestige and what isn't.
Malweth: Shouldn't this page have the keyword "Humour?" (I did it) In any case, although Shodan is the goal for many, I view it as the next step in the journey for higher strength. In this case, once the Shodan Tickler finds out they've reached Shodan and realizes that the work to gain a rank suddenly doubles (or more), they give up and leave. In this case it isn't simply because they've reached their goal, but also because further goals require 100 times the effort of their previous goal.
8 kyu, hm? I guess that at 9k I'm tickling Shodan-tickling...
Klay: This page seems ridiculous. All the rank of shodan means is that someone who is a shodan will win against another shodan 50% of the time. a 1 or 2k beating a shodan is just as natural a part of the probabilities that determine ranks as is winning. Now, if the 2k or 1k beats the shodan 20 times in a row, then it's probably time for some serious reconsideration of either the person claiming the shodan rank or the person claiming the kyu rank.
I guess I can't see why getting close to shodan makes your rank somehow "useless for statistical analysis" or makes your rank somehow more changable than others. Statistical analysis is all a rank is! Being a "bonafide" shodan is an arbitrary distinction, nothing more. There's certainly no guaranteed move that you can point to and say "that makes me shodan, and you an X kyu."
Harpreet: I second the comments above. Not every possible term that can be coined is useful or needs its own page. Proofread your thoughts for content.
Kjeld Petersen: In Denmark use a formular to calculate the expected winning percent. We use a normal distribution N( x ; 0 ; 3.568 ). Ranking is calculated with 2 decimals. A Shodan would have a ranking between -0.50 and 0.49. The average Shodan would be 0.00. The winning percent for a Shodan aganst an average 1k is N( 0.00 - -1.00 ; 0 ; 3.568 ) = 63 %. The winning percent for a Shodan aganst an average 2k is N( 0.00 - -2.00 ; 0 ; 3.568 ) = 71 %. For more description se the Danish Rating System.
Blake: I'm a tad annoyed at some of this page, along with some other portions of go culture. "the tickling shodan state is one where the individual is likely never to reach shodan, for various reasons, like a lack of intelligence, lack of desire to study, or an excessively strong desire to reach an idealized perceptual goal." Why is the failure to progress at go seen in such a quasi-moralistic sense by so many people? I've been a double digit kyu for ages, and it's hardly because I'm stupid or don't study, but rather because of prioritization. Go comes after my obligations and some of my other hobbies...