StephenM

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KGS rank graph for StephenM

South African Go Association Stephen Martindale 10 kyu
IGS Xharlie 11 kyu
KGS [ext] StephenM 7 kyu
Kaya.gs [ext] StephenM 9 kyu
OGS [ext] StephenM 12.5 kyu

The Present

The year is 2012 and I have a problem: dreaming about horrific fights and desperate running battles. This is a real problem that I really do suffer from.

Current Endeavors

To indulge my need to play Go, I am working on the following:

Year To Date

So far, this year, I have:

  1. Made good on my promises to myself and returned to Go.
  2. Discovered Fischer Timing
    (... and declared an embargo on Canadian Byo-Yomi henceforth.)
  3. Acquired a stable rank on IGS for the first time, ever.
  4. Achieved a Single-Digit Kyu rank on KGS (not provisional) for the first time, ever.
  5. Read The Second Book of Go by Richard Bozulich.
    The chapter on liberty races was brilliant.
  6. Played in the [ext] 2012 Cape Town Open and finished undefeated.
    I entered below the bar so I could not win the tournament itself.
  7. Read Attack and Defense by Akira Ishida and James Davies
    This book taught me about inducing moves.
  8. Married.
  9. Played in a good-will team match between the Cape Town (and Stellenbosch) clubs and a delegation of visitors from the Xian Go club, from China.
    We lost the ten-board match, nine to one, but this was both my first experience playing International players across a board and my first team match.
  10. Played in the South African Third-Quarter Internet Tournament.
    All games played without handicap. I lost two and won one. It was educational.

Five Year Plan

I have a goal: I want to be first kyu by the end of 2016 and first dan in 2017. To do this, I need to drop three stones this year and, in subsequent years, three stones, two stones, two stones and, finally, one stone in 2016 itself. I fear that this will require an insane amount of hard work on my part but it is my five year plan.

In the long term, I'd really like to travel and play some Go in odd places against odd people. The Internet is all very well but, socially, it is somewhat lacking.

Anno Domini 2011

Towards the end of 2011, things happened. The first was the Google A.I. Challenge (Ants) of 2011. This piqued my interest in Artificial Intelligence and caused me to jump at the opportunity to attend the second momentous event: a lecture by Petr Baudis, the author of Pachi, at Stellenbosch University, here in South Africa.

Whenever Go players engage in discussion even vaguely related to Go, it is only natural to expect that the evening will deteriorate into yet another late night. Before I knew it, I found myself sitting on a bench in the Neelsie, playing Go for the first time in ages.

After driving back to Cape Town, I immediately signed up for some brand new IGS and KGS accounts. Filled with enthusiasm, I planned to pick up Go again.

A few days later, I jumped on a plane bound for Harare, Zimbabwe. Go would have to wait.

Anno Domini 2009

In 2009, I was prevented from playing Go with the Cape Town club because I became involved with the University of Cape Town's Ballroom Dancing Society and was committed to practices with them on Tuesday evenings. I eventually stopped playing altogether - online and in real life - but not before achieving 12 kyu.

I think I played a few games on the Internet in 2009 and 2010 - probably on OGS - but, for the short term, Go ceased to be a part of my life.

Anno Domini 2008

I started playing Go in 2008 while living in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. A friend introduced me to the game and we played on KGS because we didn't have a local club and couldn't afford a board or stones. Later that year, I moved to Cape Town, South Africa, and joined the Cape Town club.

In Cape Town, I soon achieved 15 kyu through regular play and several blitz and open tournaments - some of which were held in Stellenbosch.

See Also

My Profiles on Other Sites


This is a copy of the living page "StephenM" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2013 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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