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Tamsin: I am placing the older material and discussion here.
Tamsin: This term is proposed for a set of guidelines by which to play a game of go. It is different from an algorithm? in that it is much less formal and binding; the idea of a compass is to provide the user with an idea of where they are, rather than a strict course of actions to follow. It is like a compass used at sea: it will help you establish your position and will provide such vital information as which way is north; it won't actually tell you in which direction you ought to be going.
What can a go compass be used for? I suggest it as a tool for removing rust. I stopped playing for almost a year and found when I started to play again that I did not know where I was in a game - I have been having problems finding the direction of play. So, I'm setting out three simple principles to give me a start; they won't take ages to apply like a checklist and they won't provide me with a complete way of generating moves like an algorithm?, but they should at least give me some basic orientation for thinking about my game.
SAMPLE COMPASS
1) Is there anything too big to lose?
2) Does the move under consideration have two or more functions?
3) Do a positional judgement so that you know where you would like to be playing
Bob McGuigan: Is this idea related to Heuristics?
Tamsin: It's certainly related, but it's not quite the same. A compass is a small set of heuristics that you might wish to bear special attention to, in order to give you something to "hold on to", rather than all of the proverbs, principles and their exceptions that you need to know. For instance, there's more to go than the simple compass expressed by "Urgent - big - honte", but that would at least give you something to think about when you sit down to play, rather than "oh my gosh! where do I begin?"
Bill: Different compasses point to different lodestones. Mine asks, What can I throw away? ;-)
MalwethPDA: This is a good way of learning new ways of play and improvement of your play. Although it won't help much with reading ability, it can help teach or reinforce shape, direction of play, and size of moves.
Tamsin: Thanks for the affirmation :-) You will note that my checklist idea is a bit similar to this, but this avoids the drawbacks of a checklist, which are that it's practically difficult to apply so many formal steps to selecting every move and that such an approach can create a somewhat rigid mindset. A "compass" gives you a few basic themes by which to shape your play, and that has got to be better than trying to select your moves by a complex algorithm? (or checklist) and more useful as a general guide than proverbs. Perhaps, in a teaching situation, the ideal would be for the sensei to examine your games and then to give you a compass tailored to your personal learning needs.
Tamsin: Last year was a really upheaval-filled one for me, and I did not play go. I have been back at it for a month. I can say definitely that using a compass works (for me at least) for rapid de-rusting. It gives direction and shape to my thoughts. When you're struggling to remember what you know, it really helps to hold on to some fundamentals. This time, I derived mine from reading about Sonoda's book on Go Strategy:
1) Play away from living (i.e., strong) groups. 2) Don't defend or attack territory: be creative as your first option.
Tamsin: Again, another period of big changes and a long hiatus. Again, I'm rusty. I'm using the compass technique to regain my level (such as it is).
It occurs to me that the compass idea is not only useful for removing rust. Getting rid of rust is a learning process: you are re-learning what you already know. Therefore, what works as a leaning method also works as a derusting method, and vice versa. Now, strong players frequently say that one way to improve is to learn a new idea and then attempt to consciously apply it in your games. If you make a compass, you are in effect making the effort to apply a set of new ideas to your game, so that they become natural to you again.
Therefore, I would suggest that beginners use this technique to help them apply new ideas (which of course they encounter frequently) while they play. Make a list of two (certainly no more than three) ideas on a piece of paper, and keep referring to them throughout the game. Maybe this would be dishonest in a tournament setting, but for learning games using a written-out compass to apply ideas must help one to keep a calm mind, and to play according to definite principles and not emotion.
Tamsin: I am still working out how to apply this idea, but here are some refinements that I have made.
First, I use a "field compass" and a "planning compass". The planning compass looks a bit like a mind map, and works on a very similar principle, namely linking ideas around one another. However, it is not quite the same. A mind map does not give you a sense of direction, but a compass does. Let me explain how. In the middle of the planning compass, which I have drawn on a large piece of paper, is a central guiding principle (for me, "play actively"). Then coming from this are different objectives, placed at north, west and east. In the south I have put something to avoid (e.g., "a passive move is a pass!") Around the central compass sketch, which is very general, are various flags for specific situations. For example, there is a compass for the flag "fight smart" and another for "active defence". The use of flags helps one to learn a ways of acting in many different scenarios.
However, of course it would be unwieldy to try to apply the planning compass to playing games - rather it is a way of studying ideas and linking them together, and in a more goal-directed way than mind-mapping.
Therefore, I am also experimenting with something much simpler, which I call a field compass. This is a stripped-down version of the original idea, in that there are only two directions - north and south. In the north, two or three of the most crucial ideas I want to apply are written in order of importance, namely "weaknesses?", "what`s big?", "where do I want to play?". In the south, I have written in red ink what I want to avoid, what I want to move away from.
This is more visual, and more directional, than a checklist, but I think might be easier to apply on the spot. When special situations arise, one can recall the relevant flag and its compass points from the planning compass.
You might think that this is all a bit complicated, but I think it has some real advantages.
One, it teaches systematic thinking. You`re more likely to solve a problem by going about it methodically than randomly, especilly if your method is based on the most fundamental principles.
Two, it helps you to achieve a relaxed but alert state of mind. This is something that really came home to me when I moved to Japan. The Japanese have a set `way` of doing many things, and I have found that following such patterns is surprisingly calming. The field compass I use is basically the principles given by such writers as Yamashita Keigo and Ishikura Noboru, only expressed in my own way.
Three, because it is systematic, it should be a good way of implementing changes, which was the original idea.
So, for now I recommend using a large-scale `planning compass` for thinking about what you have learned, and for setting it in order in your mind, and for establishing `sub-routines` for special situations. The planning compass does not only have to cover pure go skills, but can also cover gamesmanship (e.g., how about a flag for how to deal with go bullies) and attitude. Use the field compass for training yourself to think about your moves systematically, so that you automatically look for the most important things first, and have something more stable than emotions to guide your play. After all, if systematic thinking is good enough for Yamashita Kisei, then it might be good enough for you and me too!
Also, I see no reason why you cannot add visual material to your planning compass. For instance, on mine there is a flag marked "confused?", and this deals with the various tricks a "go clown" might perpetrate to try to win by force of gamesmanship. Nearby I have drawn the terrible road that leads to go clownery, which starts with frustration and hurries on to desperation (that is, reliance on overplays, playing too quickly, bizarre moves without supporting ideas and other such sins). I imagine those who occupy that place as extremely scary chain-smoking clowns, and the purpose of this fearful image is to drive me away from that path!