Tamsin
Hihi, I'm Tamsin Jones. I live in Chester in North West England. I'm a musician and a teacher. My musical compositions are published by Chichester Music Press ( http://www.chichestermusicpress.co.uk).
A picture of me
Fun things
I like cats very much and my hobbies include reading and wine. I live in a very old house (it was built sometime in the 18th century) with my two puss cats, Dusty (girl) and Zhin Zha (boy).
Go thoughts
Recently, I have begun reviewing my games. I used to find it painful, but now I recognise that it's one of the best ways to learn. First, unless you go back and mark your mistakes, you are probably doomed to repeat them. Second, seeing how weak you are may be humbling, but it gives you a good sense of perspective - if you think you know it all, then you probably won't learn very much.
One feeling I get from my game reviews is that my go is a bit plodding - I've been relying too much on slow-paced moves. This is fine when you need strength, but in the opening, when your choices are more flexible, speed is of the essence. So, I'm making an effort to use the two point jump and ogeima whenever it seems appropriate, instead of always using a one point jump and keima.
Tamsin's own proverb: "The key to successful centre strategy is not to try to turn a central moyo into territory, but to use the threat of making territory in the middle to create and destroy profit on the sides".
This means that if you try to cling onto territory in the middle, then the opponent's territory on the sides will expand and solidify while your centre shrinks. Instead, use the influence and threat of creating territory in the middle to support invasions and attacks, and to develop your own groups on the side. This is something I have learned from experience; proving I am right is another matter altogether. You could compare it to handicap strategy, though: weak players will try to defend the corners, instead of using the star points to support fighting. In the same way, as centre stones are best at giving influence, then surely it is best to use that for aggressive purposes. If your opponent threatens your cosmic moyo, then punish them elsewhere on the board!
I like dnerra's heuristic, given on a BQM, which basically says "Count the stones before starting a fight. If you have fewer stones in the area, it's probably not a good place to fight."
11 July 2005
It's nearly time for the summer holiday, which means I have more time for playing go. I've played a few games but I'm suffering from rust.
5 September 2005
It's the first day of term! Where did the summer go? I managed to play quite a bit, but maybe not as much as I would have liked. It's difficult to be sure, because of the changes in the KGS ranking system since last time I played regularly, but I do feel that I became a little bit stronger over the holiday. I also acquired some beginners' French (can read it pretty well now!) and have really worked on my Japanese (can recognise many kanji and have started to write simple prose with kanji), so I'm pretty satisfied with my summer, really :-) I didn't manage to compose anything (I had hoped to write a substantial piece), but you can't have everything!
ilan: Your proverb is the latest confirmation that the chess proverb The threat is stronger than its execution is even more true for Go.