spindizzy 1976
Hello. I'm spindizzy1976. Actually, I would have preferred to be just "spindizzy" but the name was already taken. I have a nasty feeling I might have registered it myself a long time ago, then forgotten all about it.
I'm not really sure when I started playing Go but it think it was late 2003. My interest has waxed and waned since then. In particular, I completely stopped playing between mid-2006 and Christmas 2008 partly because my life was full with other things and partly because I didn't feel I was progressing anyway.
Surprisingly, I'm playing marginally better since the break than I was beforehand. I'm currently a tentative 9k on IGS. I'm not so keen on KGS but I go for the teaching ladder.
My emotional responses in Go
The psychological element is a big part of the game (at least for me). Here are some of my observations:
- It is probably a sickness to be so obsessed with a number but I always feel ecstatic when I rise in rank and heartbroken when I fall. I would like to become more philosophical about this.
- If my opponent makes what looks like an overplay, I often experience a sense of moral indignation. It feels like my opponent is being "greedy".
- If I overplay myself I often feel greatly embarrassed. As a result, my play tends to be heavy.
- I dislike aggression and am afraid of complication so my game is too timid.
- If possible, I like to chat a little with my opponent and feel on friendly terms. This is a good way to moderate the pain of losing or the pleasure of winning and it makes the game much more enjoyable.
You can probably tell that I need to work on emotional maturity. This is one of the most interesting aspects of Go for me.
Some old stuff (but probably still relevant to my game)
Some concepts I want to understand better.
I think most of these are fairly basic. At the moment, my games have too many gross mistakes for me worry about the finer details.
Global strategy.
I enjoy reading out sequences and playing semeai (local strategy). However, many of the semeai I get into result from inappropriate or unnecessary invasions (when a reduction would be better). I also start unnecessary fights by chasing too hard, or just a failure to play urgent moves.
I like games which follow a peaceful, territorial playing style. However, most of my own are decided by a kill (for me or the opponent). I hope that as my level improves, there will be less need for violence.
Counting and not trying to win more than I need.
Sometimes I can't be bothered to count, especially if it's going to take more than a minute. This is a good example of recidivist stupidity. By the end of the game, I'll have paid for my laziness two or three times over.
When I do count then I mostly count in pairs ignoring the dead stones. Then I'll go back and count the dead stones. This seems to be easiest for me.
I'd like to remember the size of each group on the board individually. However, I always seem to forget the size of the first group after I start counting the second. Is my memory really so poor? Would it be cheating to write it down? :)
What I'm doing recently...
I went up to 10k for a short time, and now my rank seems to be in freefall... Down to 12k and still losing every game I play! Sometimes I try to play territorially, and end up with fewer points at the end. Other times I try to be more aggressive and make invasions, but I keep getting killed! I don't know what I was doing right before that I'm now doing so wrong. :(