Name: Johan Meijerink
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Occupation: College student into Psychology & Linguistics
Country: The Netherlands - Holland
Place: Harderwijk
Email: Blizzeh@hotmail.com
Go Experience: 1 year, 8 months.
Favorite Go Server: KGS -Kiseido Go Server ( http://www.kiseido.com)
KGS handles: Adante & diavolo (assistant account)
KGS Clubs:
Fujiwarano Sai Go Club; Room is called the same, one of the best and biggest clubs on KGS. Great place to be with nice active people. They also have a nice Go-Bot where you can test your skills against. Beware of violent women when you decide to visit us though.
KOSUMI Go Club; Room is called Dream on KGS, it's a Japanese club, but non-Japanese people are more than welcome to join. A great club, with leagues to participate in. ( http://kosumi2002.at.infoseek.co.jp/)
Wings Go Club; The, in my opinion, best and largest club you can find on KGS. Definitely worth it to visit someday to check out their features. ( http://www.wingsgoclub.org/)
Current Go strength: 3k KGS - 1d IGS - 2k EGF - 1k Dashn -
Go Goal: To participate in the World Amateur Go Championships one day. Go Rival: Daric 1d? <- this Canadian guy will meet his doom once I get to his level!
Here you can find most of my games:
http://kgs.kiseido.com/en_US/gameArchives.jsp?pageNum=1&user=adante
The day my friend Tom (KGS nickname = hidden) showed me the game of Go, and the anime Hikaru no Go. I was sold right away.
The first day that I played on an online Go server, called IGS, using Panda Egg as my client. Started with 28k and ended with 22k that day. Big step going into the right direction.
Although this was a long time ago, I can remember that I had some difficulty reaching the 18k on IGS. So I stopped playing for like 1 month, and kept watching high "dan" games during that month on IGS.
Started to play intensively again, after reading hikaru no go a couple of times. And because Tom persuaded me to continue to play Go. I'm not a board game freak at all. But somehow it manages to pull me closer and closer to the virtual goban. Watching and feeling the intense battles online. While it was snowing outside, and I was drinking hot chocolate milk. hee hee.
I finally reached the 18k level on IGS, and my o my, I was so thrilled about it. Like getting a cute, lil, puppy for my birthday, that kind of joy. And to my suprise, Tom was also around 16-17k. From friends we changed into fearsome rivals.
My birthday ! I became 19 years old that day. And I was still 17k-ish on IGS.
A day to never forget, I went with Tom to Amsterdam, to visit the best Go-Shop in Europe, called 't Paard. I bought my very first goban there + magical stones of glass, white/black colored. Today I came to realise that Go is far more fun than I first thought. The Go spirit within me grew twice as large, and again I started to play quite intense. Becoming 16k on this day too.
The legendary date, I registered on KGS this day, and became 15k right away. So I liked KGS right from the start, not knowing that KGS was a little weaker than IGS that time. But ok.
In this month.. I went from 15k to 11k, I was excited that I went into the year 2003 as a solid, powerful, magnificent 11k, with as goal, to become a single digit kyu soon.
I started good this new, refreshing year. Raised my rank to 7k, and succeeded my mission to become a single digit kyu. So I had to find a new challenge, becoming 5k ! But yet, this was troublesome to do, it seemed that there was an invisible wall for me to get from 7k to 6k.
Still 7k.. there was no end to this wall that I was climbing for so long. Then one moment I surfed to www.gobond.nl and checked the Tournament Scheduler. And so I planned to go to a Tournament in a place called Apeldoorn. I had nothing to lose.. and wanted to see how it's like to play in "real life".
The day of the Apeldoornse Tournament 2003, I went there together again with Tom (hidden on KGS). we signed up as a 5k, while we were around 7k on KGS that time. The games were: 20 minutes absolute time for each person, so no byoyomi. Really fast games. Well, the tournament went great for me, as well as for Tom. I won 5 out of 5 games, beating a 5k, 4k and three 3k's. And Tom won 3 out of 5, and that was enough to become Youth Champion of Apeldoorn (17 years old). He received a certificate of being the Champion and I was awarded with a Go book, called "The Direction of Play, by Takeo Kajiwara".
After I proved myself worthy as 5k on the tournament in Apeldoorn, I established on KGS a solid 6k, 5k and 4k rank soon after. I guess it gave me quite some confidence about my own ability.
This was the day that I left Holland, and took off to Japan with the airplane. Excited and thrilled that I was, I arrived the 22nd in Japan on Tokyo Narita Airport. I planned to stay in Japan for 1 month.
A whole month, living among Japanese people, exploring the cities, villages and dark underground world *cough*. I met quite a lot of people and ate many noodles. Some of the people I met, are people that play Go on KGS as well. Very friendly and nice, like Hirakawade, hama88, gamizo and umaaaa <-- KGS nicknames. I've been to some Go Salons in Japan, but my favorite one is in Musashi-Koganei. They serve tea like madmen there, you'll never get thirsty while playing Go. So, of course, I've been playing many games there, and was granted the rank of 2d. (Japanese rating) I also bought the whole manga collection of Hikaru no Go there, making myself the first Dutch human being that owns such a collection. I had a great time over there, and in 2004 I'll repeat it.
Birthday coming up again, 2nd of November, but this time I'll be celebrating 20 years of my glorious life. Also I've planned to participate in another "real life" Go Event. Namely the Martini Cup in a place called Groningen here in Holland on 8-9 November. However, this time I'll be entering as a 2k. Safety first, clobbering later! Ah, and my rank on KGS seems to be around 1d-2d now (see my other account called Kuroiinu).. quite scary if I say so myself.
From 4k to 5k. Deep sigh..Ever felt so extremely tired, that you didn't sleep one night, but you still have the urge to play Go ? one word of advice: DON'T ! Just go to bed, and recover ! This is also a reminder to myself.
I managed to get back to 4k with my Adante account on KGS. And my other account Kuroiinu is a solid 1d rank now, because I lost to another 1d, which was a very very bad game on my side. I tried a new opening in that game, first it worked out good, but then later I screwed it up, leaving 2 weak groups behind. The story of my life. I wonder how long I will be able to keep that 1d rank.
My 20th birthday, getting old, but not feeling old yet. I still have 10 years to become a Go Pro.... HA! always look on the bright side of life, right?
2 days, the entire weekend, Playing and thinking about Go. However, I made the usual mistake: STAYING UP ALL NIGHT before the tournament starts! sigh sigh.. I was too excited to sleep I guess. Anyways, I went to Groningen with the train, Arriving there quite in time. You could buy snacks and drinks there, nothing is for free these days. A total of 30+ people were there. A nice show up for the 30th Martini Cup, making it the oldest European Go Tournament ever. I had to play 2 games on the first day, and lost both. I was so tired that I don't even remember the games. So that was not a good start. Starting on the second day, I had 6 hours of sleep. And I had to play the remaining 3 games. The first two games I won. The third game I lost because of a seki that I missed out on. Making my total score 2 out of 5. Not good at all, but the most important thing of all, I had A LOT of fun! It was really great. The people are very nice. And I learned a lot from this wonderful experience. I hope that many more tournaments will follow after this one. Ah, we also went to a lovely Chinese restaurant with 25 people. It was funny, because the restaurant was not really made for 25 people to sit next to eachother. But it was a nice evening, with delicious food. mmmmm
Floris?: I remember your first game ^_^
Adante: yes.. I bet you do, showing me all the corners of the board. :) I'll beat you next time we meet though.. That's a promise.
I quit Go, I hate it, I lost the passion, and I won't be coming back.
I'm back ! I love Go, I got the passion back, and I'll never leave again! Lesson of today: Never neglect something or someone that you like/love. Amen.
Christmas coming up, always looking forward to that. But yet no snow in Holland. I really do hope that it'll snow. As for Go matters.. hm I still play it, I enjoy the game. I can be found on KGS ( http://www.kiseido.com) and IGS(
http://www.pandanet.co.jp/English/), the 2 most lovely Go servers around at this moment. Although IGS is quite bad for Japanese players, because they have to pay for it to be able to play Go on it. ugh...
Also I found out what my 4 weak points are in Go. 1) I really have a bad temper sometimes.. which causes me to play really bad. 2) Bad case of concentrating, especially with loving parents bothering me with all kinds of questions in the middle of a game. And a girlfriend that never stops calling me. But hey.. that's life. 3) My balance in Go, I need stability in my games. 4) Last but not least, I need the time to sort out the first 3 problems.. which I don't have.. so this is the most serious problem.. *sighs*
I played 3 games on KGS today. Lost all three playing with white, vs three 5k's. I even lost to one who I beat in the KGS tourney before when he was a 6k with 2 handicap stones. Something tells me I need to play more. I am definitely not at the level I used to be at. I consider myself now around 6k-7k as a matter of fact. I just hope that it won't become any worser than that.
The last day of the year 2003, I wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New year, and that you all may enjoy each day in comfort and also enjoy the greatest work God has made; the game of Go. HAPPY NEWYEAR and be careful with fireworks kiddos !
The start of a brand new Year! There are some things I want to change about myself, and no, I don't mean plastic surgery.:) I have to play a different style of Go, actually I have to re-find my inner Go strength again and climb up the ladder towards shodan, especially on KGS. I guess that can be done. Other people want to quit smoking, lower down on the alcohol, play more sports, have more money, hoping for world peace and so on. And well, I want the last 2 things to happen too actually. Some extra money is always nice. Furthermore I hope for myself that I'll learn to enjoy Go even more than I'm doing now. Already played one game today and won it, so that's already a good start I guess. Also I would like to mention that people like Yuuichikun <-- he made it to 8k on the last day of 2003 on KGS, congrats Chris!, sigh, Akujunkan, Zalf and some other people gave me the motivation that I needed to think this positive again about Go. For that my sincere & eternal gratitude.
Yuuichikun is currently trying his best in the Toyota/Denso Oza Go Championship, I'm so jealous that I couldn't be there. Lack of funds and time. But I wish him all the luck and joy he can get. Perhaps even win a price or two and send the price money to me so I can participate in the next upcoming tournament, har! Well, about my Go, I'm still trying to regain my strength as I'm struggling much with just being a 5k on KGS right now. So I have alot of work to do. Ah one more thing, I'm a member of the Dutch Go Association, and so I get this cool Go magazine 6 times a year about various Go events. Even about the Go Tournament I played in Groningen last November (playing as 2k, won 2, lost 3). There is a nice photo in the magazine, with me obviously on it. It came as a great shock heh. It gave me more motivation though, someway or the other. Next time I'm hoping to be on another photo, but this time with a Go Cup in my hands! Aah.. *dreams away*
Well.. I managed to win some, and lose some games on KGS. I have the feeling that my lovely 5k rank won't dissappear so easily. Some people on KGS give me stomach aches by their play & chat. I hope that doesn't happen too much. Anyways.. a bad day for Go.
heh.. Daric's comment made me laugh. It's true.. my Zabayuma account is 3d? now after beating a 3d. However I'm not getting too excited about it. It's a one time only kind of thing. I know where my weak points are, so I'll work on that the next couple of months-years. I'll do my best to improve any way I can, and it will take time to reach the goal that I have in mind. The European Toyota Denso Go Tournament ( http://egcc.european-go.org/) is coming up, I'm planning to participate in the side Tournament. Still thinking about it if I can reach that with my already tight schedule. But some things are just more important than the other.
A few more days to go untill I participate in another Tournament (look above). KGS players like Solaris, GuoJuan, Breakfast, Redrose, Cyclops?, Floris? and many others will be there too. Quite exciting isn't it! I will be playing as a 2k, I think it's a bit too high, but we'll have to see how Í will manage. As for now I don't think I would stand a chance. But good or bad, it will be another great experience.
Ah.. I am still 5k on KGS.. and it looks that my 1d rank on IGS will be going down to 1k soon, as I lost 4 games in a row there.
Also I am working on the Fujiwarano Sai Go Club homepage, which you can find here: ( http://fsgc.go.m00ki.de) it's not done yet though. Nothing works, so have patience.
After thinking about it for some while, I decided not to participate in the Oza Tournament anymore. The reason herefor is that I'm simply not ready yet. I am search for my balance in Go and want to find that first before I take place in any tournament. The worst thing that could happen is to disappoint my opponents by signing up as a 2k, and playing weaker than that because I don't have the balance to keep up such a rank. So I want to prevent that, and work on it some more.
hm.. nothing much to add, still 5k, still wrestling to get back to my old thinking ways. perhaps that's the failure of my Go, I think to much while I can't keep my head straight and lose concentration due to certain circumstances. The mood changes I have doesn't help much either. but that's not important.
Started playing quite active again. I'm back to 4k on KGS, trying to get it to 3k soon I hope. rrylur (guy I know on KGS) is going to Japan in 3 weeks.. hoping to surpass me by the time he comes back. We shall see about that. How I envy him though, if I had money and the time, then I would go there aswell. Guess I have to wait..
A very relaxing evening. Basically all I did after dinner was watching games on KGS and IGS. It's nice to think about a move in a high dan game, and then to see that it's being played by him/her. Finding and understanding the flow of a game is really addictive. Once you found it, it sucks you up in the game as if you were playing it yourself. Also a valuable lesson to learn, concentrate in your games, find the flow in your moves, let them work together and enjoy a great game. The Fujiwara No Sai Go Club on KGS is organising a Summer Tournament, and I decided to participate in it. I am looking forward to the games that will be played, and hope everyone has fun in the first official Tournament that the Fuji club has organised.
The day has finally arrived, the day of the promotion to 3k on KGS. I'm happy that I got there after such a long time being 4k-5k.. A new revolution is in progress, I'll try to get to 2k within 1 month. Though that will be hard work. Hm, I also created my own "relaxing" Room on KGS with daric, called "Within The Core" at Social Rooms. You're free to visit the room anytime you want!
Well, since the European Championship of soccer started, I haven't been playing the amount of games that I had in mind. Nevertheless the rated games I do play, are quite satisfying. Out of my 26 latest rated games, I lost 5, and won 21.So I guess that's alright. Now I'm just waiting for the right times to play more rated games, so I can hit the 2k soon on KGS.. that would be so sweet! hm.. There's also a Japanese person on KGS called "ome". I am amazed by the power of this person. He beats 8d+ like it's a walk in the park. Truly amazing to watch any of his games. Perhaps he's a pro in disguise. However, I hope he will play alot on KGS.
Visit here -> http://senseis.xmp.net/?GoTerms
EGF Official Ratings:
http://www.european-go.org/rating/gor.html
Dutch Go Federation:
http://www.gobond.nl/
American Go Federation:
http://www.usgo.org/index.asp
Go Games, Information and Study Tools:
http://gobase.org/
These are the books I have sofar;
"In the Beginning - The opening in the game of Go, by Ikuro Ishigure"
"Get strong at Tesuji, by Richard Bozulich"
"The Direction of Play - Takeo Kajiwara"
"Making Good Shape, by Rob van Zeijst & Richard Bozulich" - This book was a gift from mister Hirakawa (hirakawade on KGS), who I met in Japan.
"Go - Step by Step, by Frank Janssen (Dutch version)"