Jim Kiraly Go Blog
Welcome to my blog, where I take some time each day to blurt out whatever happens to be on my mind (usually Go related). I'll probably just keep the last 5-7 days on here, deleting old days as I go (any interesting discussions will be moved to a new page). Feel free to comment on anything you like.
Originally I intended to update this blog daily, but I'm both lazy and boring, so it just isn't going to happen.
Jim Kiraly
Ongoing Game Test Page - Feel free to make a move (for either side).
08/22/2003
Wow, been a while since I've updated this. I've recently taken a bit of a break from constant go playing/studying, and it actually appears to have been helping my game a bit.
I've been holding steady at 20k at Dragon and have been floating between 2-3 stones handicap games against a 13k member of the Fort Wayne Go Club. Time to start getting back into the swing of things to see if I can improve my game a few stones.
06/25/2003
Did some serious reading. Amazing how much more sense a book makes when you read through it a second time. Hopefully some of this stuff starts to sink in!! For
those of you considering the book Making Good Shape by Zeijst and Bozulich, be forwarned that there are many, many typos (usually mix ups in Black/White references). mAsterdam had pointed that out to me before, but I was still suprised to see just how many there were when reading it.
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Recently started six new games on Dragon by posting open (conventional handicap) games in the waiting room there. Everytime I do this, 90% or more of the games are taken by weaker players. No conclusion on this either way, just pointing out something I find interesting. :-)
06/22/2003
Been working my way through the various levels of Many Faces of Go (starting with the easiest and moving a level up when I win). I should probably be spending my time on KGS playing against real opponents instead of playing against computers, but...
I finally broke the 20 kyu mark on Dragon Go Server!! I'm not one to care too much about my rating, but after 390 some games on there it is nice to finally see the teens. Probably won't stay there very long, but that's alright as well.
06/20/2003
Purchased Many Faces Of Go to play around with a bit. Having a pretty good time with it, but found that I tend to get in mouse click races with the thing, and end up playing speed go (and getting crushed). To remedy this, I've started to make all of the moves on a real board, and force myself to think a bit before throwing in stones.
It seems that a lot of people dismiss computer play as a way to learn. But in the little that I have used it, I've found two things that I really need to work on, so it's already been helpful to me (although at ~18/19K I really need to work on everything :-)).
The two things to work on:
1. Keeping track of my connections. Time and time again I get large groups of stones cut off because I either: a) lose track of what I'm trying to do, b) overuse the knight's jump when running into the middle.
2. Protecting weak groups.
06/14/2003
Haven't done too much go related stuff this week. Did get a game in during lunch this week, and signed our club up as an official AGA chapter. Other than that, just waiting for the club meeting later today to get some playing in.
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Sometimes I think a break would be helpful, as I've been doing some really stupid things in my games lately. I'm having a terrible time keeping track of my groups. Saveable groups are being cut off because I'm not paying attention, and groups that I should be able to make live are getting killed because I'll miss the key move. Time to blow away some Aliens in Halo!!
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Came across a new favorite SL page: SomePhilosophicalQuestionsAboutComputersAndGo.
06/07/2003
Didn't get on KGS last night due to hockey again. Just get too wound up from playing that I don't feel that I could concentrate on a game afterwards.
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Had a good turnout at the club today. Six players with some good games played! Looks like we're finally started to get a consistent turnout, which is very nice to see.
This is a copy of the living page
"Jim Kiraly Go Blog" at
Sensei's Library.
2003 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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