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Only playing Black - never playing against weaker opponents
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<rant mode on>

KGS has the nice feature of displaying and saving game records of every game played. It's easy to identify how often players take Black or White. Now, for some reason or other, there are players that only take Black, against stronger opponents. I understand their desire to improve by playing stronger opponents, but feel that this is not good gamesmanship. After all, White is playing a weaker player for every game Black is playing a stronger one. Return the favour!

What's worse is that the "improvement" in playing Black all the time is balanced with the loss of fighting spirit. Having grown accustomed to defending a four-stone handicap to victory, they have lost (or underdeveloped) their ability to make sabaki, take sente, or invade - making them easy targets when suddenly facing an equal opponent.

I play White most of the time - so I typically make quick work against players like this when I play Black.

Sai commented on how playing against the handicap is instructional on attacking, while Hikaru was training for the exams.

<rant mode off>

-- lavalyn


Kungfu

Out of my last 100 games, I was white in about 90 of them. I play on IGS. 'Go' figure.

-kungfu 3k*


I think playing only weaker players is bad, too, because it neglects your own development. It may help your win total, of course, but only by playing stronger players can you learn new techniques, and see the flaws in your current ones. MHO, of course. YMMV.

-Blake (24k KGS)


After the recent update, KGS gives players who always take black a ~ after their names. I'm not sure what's the use of showing this to everyone, though.

--Dansc

Alex Weldon: Saves weaker players from wasting their time trying to get that person to play a game, perhaps?

The use of this is that there are a lot of players who flat out refuse to play opponents who only take black. --BlueWyvern


Jenny Radcliffe: I always think that not providing help to weaker players is indirectly bad for your own game in any case. Any help that you provide to an individual ultimately benefits the Go-playing community. And anything that benefits the Go-playing community is good for your game.
Also, Go is a game which relies strongly on good feeling, and wilful good-nature. Breaking this - just isn't "cricket"!

Charles Matthews I'd agree with that. One of the hardest aspects of promoting go is the hidden one, of creating a good 'atmosphere'. That's really an intangible, imponderable kind of thing. But it is obvious enough that it is helped by having some countervailing forces to set against the hierarchical aspects of rank. Everyone doing a little teaching is good.


Fhayashi Sometimes I wonder if people only play black under the misconception that one can gain in rank only by beating stronger opponents... As I understand it , you can gain rank by winning any fairly handicapped game (under 7 stones).

I believe the misconception is rather that one can only gain in strength by playing stronger opponents. Thus, those who selfishly expect others to teach them without returning the favour to weaker players, will seek to take black disproportionately often. -- Bignose

Fhayashi I think there's lots to be learned by playing weaker players - especially how to punish bad moves... I frequently have games where I KNOW that my opponent's last move was horrible, but frequently I am unable to punish it correctly.

victim Just an additional argument for the selfish ones out there: A professor I had once said, "When I want to learn something, I'll lecture about it." I agree - you learn a lot when you try to explain something, since this forces you to think clearly enough to turn your knowledge into intelligible sentences. You will identify points you don't really understand yet. So, playing weaker opponents and giving a commentary may well help your own game.



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This is a copy of the living page "Only playing Black - never playing against weaker opponents" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2003 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.