I play as usagi 1kyu on the Kiseido Go Server. I don't play much on the taiji account anymore, but maintain it for historical purposes.
I have played over 3,000 games of go on IGS (accounts xinjia and kungfu), however I don't play there anymore out of preference for KGS. I run KGS Rooms / The Dan Study Room on KGS.
* My Alexander Dinerschtein number is 1. * My Solaris number is 1. * My tartrate number is 2 (through both solaris and breakfast). * My Cho Hun-Hyun number is 2 (through Kim Jung-Jin). * My shuusaku number is 5 (Shusaku-Shuei-Shusai-Iwamoto-DrStraw(KGS)-Me)
My games have been described by my opponents as 'interesting'. To tell you the truth I don't know why, because most of what I learned I learned from books - Power of the Star Point, Ishida's Joseki Dictionary, Invincible, A Way of Play, etc. and by studying pro games. Tactically (locally) I am very strong when I want to be, probably KGS 4d or stronger. Strategically however I am very poor, sometimes playing close to the 3k level. This should change soon as I refine my fuseki strategies -- and indeed this has been at the forefront of my recent studying.
My strategy is one of extreme impatience. I want the game to end -- perhaps now. I want to get a winning position and then I want the opponent to resign, but they don't. What this means is that late in the game I often make mistakes which cost me the entire game, or I often win by killing large groups. A close call game is almost unheard of for me. This is what I am aiming to change about how I play. I feel that some of my opponents moves are mochikomi and I go overboard in trying to kill them, or rescue my own stones which should be uncapturable, and I make a mistake somewhere down the line. I'm not a moyo player anymore. I'm not good with or against them at this level. I need to learn more strategy.
All of that being said, I do believe I have a rambunctious nature to my style, something that is truly unique. A long time ago I started calling myself a "professional kyu player". This means that I am "at least several stones stronger than the corresponding amateur kyu". I know this doesen't make much sense now, but back when I was 16 kyu professional on IGS, I had a dream. And, I had finally beaten those hard to beat 16 kyus and figured out their mystical "sente".
You might think it's kind of nuts, but it is my dream and one way how I motivate myself to get stronger. I don't play the player anymore, I play the board. People who do not understand this cannot say anything about my playing strength.
My top influences are currently Go Seigen and Shusaku. I strongly reccomend the book "A Way of Play for the 21st Century" by Go Seigen, and "Invincible: The Games of Shusaku".
I have a mission in the go world: to become 1 dan professional, for real. It's a long, hard road; I suspect I will need to become around 6d on KGS before it would be possible to think about really becoming pro. After all, at least one chinese pro has a 7d account on KGS, and some have 8d accounts. So getting to at *least* 6d is the first step. Why?
It would seem that 7d and 8d KGS is equivalent to 1p and above. What I mean by this is that there are some 1p players who retain 7d+ accounts. _Although pro ranks are not ratings, there does seem to be a requisite strength of pros; This appears to be at a *minimum* of 7d-8d on KGS._
Here is my plan:
1. Memorize Ishida's joseki dictionary. Memorizing Joseki Discussion
2. Memorize Cho Chikun's Life and Death. Do many go problems. Many.
3. Memorize professional games. A lot of them if possible.
4. Take lessons from a very strong amateur dan, or pro player.
5. Promote the game of go and teach go. Please see:
Updates: April 25th, 2004:
I wrote the above back when I was around 5 kyu on KGS. Over time I began to get stronger. My taiji account is only 1k, but I have another account which I worked up to 4d before bouncing around in the low dan range and now settling down at 1k.
The plan is working. It's a self directed plan and it requires dedication, but if I have nothing else but my dream, I still have dedication to it.
So as I write this I stare down the final 6-7 stones it will take me before I reach one of the final doors I must open. When I get to 5 dan or 6 dan on KGS, I will make a final leap of faith, a final blind stab in the dark, and I will do what I came here to do.
As part of my plan to promote go, I teach go in a children's school. I currently teach two children's classes per week and I am looking at picking up additional classes soon. I also have several students on KGS and at the local club, their strengths range from about 15 kyu to shodan strength.
Go books: I am writing a series of go books; the first one, for beginners, is almost finished. You can download a copy if you like, just go to: taiji's books
Aug. 10th 2004: The second volume in my book series will be finished sometime before the end of 2004.
Questions and comments below:
Comment #1 anonymous: I've seen your games as Usagi on KGS - you are nowhere near to being a solid 3 Dan (KGS). You still make alot of bad, "kyu-ish" moves. But keep studying and you may get there one day. (Usagi account currently sitting at 1k)
Response to #1: Go is like war, and truth be told, people like the above just want to tear you down because they are your direct rivals.
Most of the people who have said the above to me are kyus (such as papertiger 10k, ofriedli 5k, SaiNoSensu 1k, etc). I suspect those people don't have a conception of what it takes to advance from where they are to where I am now. (Usagi account currently sitting at 1k)
To close this response, one must question how I got to 4d on KGS *twice* and why I am 1k now if I am really playing a lot of "bad, kyu-ish" moves.
-- taiji
Comment #2 anonymous: First of all, I am a Dan player like yourself (1 Dan). Secondly, I didn't mean to come across as tearing you down. I just think you are not 3-4 stones away from professional strength. KGS rankings should not be your sole basis for determining your strength. If you seriously want to know how strong you are, have a professional level player look at some of your games. I've done it but as you're probably already aware, it is not cheap!
Seriously though, best of luck and let us know what gets you past the next few stones as I myself seem to be stuck at Shodan :)
Response to #2: Hello again. I didn't say I was 3-4 stones away from professional strength. I said I was 3-4 stones away from thinking about trying to be "insei" of some kind (i.e. getting serious lessons from a professional). If I became 6 stones stronger than 1k on KGS, I could definately start playing pros at reasonable handicaps.
My main problem with people who say I (or anyone) is/is not of a certain strength is that the people who usually say this are far below the person they're talking about. There was a recent case where I was informed that my play was around the 4k level - a comment apparently made by an unknown pro player - but this comment could not possibly be true given that I am clearly rated 2 dan on KGS.
Comment #3 Hu: I attached the "Anonymous Coward" tag to the previous posting, which was subsequently removed. I am all in favor of various levels of anonymity. People are free to post anonymously on SL. Or they may wish to choose an identity that is anonymous but has continuity that extends over many postings and several servers. SL and the other servers use a login/password system to maintain the continuity of an identity on a server.
I chose to attach the same tagline that other respected servers such as slashdot use: Anonymous Coward. I chose to make the attachment because of the personal nature of the attack against taiji, despite its partial retraction by one we are asked to assume is the same anonymous person.
Response to #3 Hu: Hi Hu. I can understand your response and in a way I'd like to thank you but... given the text in comment #2, I don't feel he has attacked me anymore.
Comment #4 Different Anonymous?: Please do not prejudice anonymous comments with derogatory edits Hu. If someone wishes to express the opinion that taiji is rather given to wishful thinking, wiki allows them to do so anonymously.
Response to #4: This is true. I've even given people the opportunity to say such things right here on my page. I'd also like to remind you (and everyone) that out of every person who told me I was not a 2 dan, only ONE apologized when I created a new account on KGS (usagi) who is, in fact, a strong 1k. So you can say whatever you like about me, but talk is cheap, show me your kung-fu on the goban.
Comment #5 Hu: It may be a person's "right" of some kind to post personal insults totally anonymously. That doesn't make it respectable. The word "prejudice" refers to judging before a fact. I made my edit after the remark had become a fact. However, since this is taiji's page, ultimately he will manage it the way he wants to. After a while, I expect all these comments including mine to be erased.
Response to #5: Hi again, Hu. You're right, I plan to only keep around the last 10 or so comments and what not on my page. As this is all about someone claiming I am nowhere near 3 dan on KGS, I will say again that it's all irrelevant talk - I am 1k on KGS, and now that I have stopped studying josekis again, I expect to be 4 dan again soon. I advise "anonymous" to play a game with me while he still can, that way one day he can say "Ahh yes, I played with taiji when I was young, yes, taiji the famous canadian pro". ^^
anonymous Comment #7: Response to Response to #5: Sorry, taiji, your claim is outdated and certainly mistaken. You're a 1k again on KGS. You should consider correcting KGSMentoringScheme.
response --> please add to bottom of page. will respond there
Comment #6: Tamsin: Hi Taiji. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I did go through some games of yours and found that most of them were played at very, very fast time limits. If that is so, I don't think you should take whatever rank you have achieved very seriously, as you're likely to win lost games on time, and vice versa, and generally get somewhat randomised results.
Response to comment #6: Hello Tamsin! Nice to hear from you. Did you check my usagi account? I took heed of your comment and played several slower games, at 2 hours main time each. My results have improved since then, and I believe i have now put an end to the huge losing streak I experienced on the usagi account. Indeed, many of my games became quicker games. I have always been of the opinion that slower games should not count as much, and furthermore, that faster games damage reading ability by training you to make impulsive moves. We will see where the 2 hour main time gameframe takes usagi in the future.
Response to comment #7: My claim is not outdated because at the time I responded to it, I was 2 dan. Now I am 1k on usagi, so I will certainly admit to that here and now. As for my claim being mistaken, it is not mistaken because at the time I responded to it, I was 2 dan. etc. At any rate, I am constantly amazed at the large number of kyu players who will observe my games and make comments to the effect of "he sucks" etc. or make judgements on the position of the board. To give an example, usagi 1 dan recently played gomadness 1k, and then again. usagi won both games hands down, and yet, several people such as mgoetze and others decided to observe my game and tell me I suck. A long discussion with some of the people could not resolve this issue. It so happens that at that exact moment in time, mgoetze was 2k. How does a 2k critique a 1d's play when that 1d won against the 1k? It doesen't make sense.
Most of my critics dont make sense either, such as when you said my claim was certainly mistaken.
Where will you be, mr. anonymous, when I am back up to 3d or 4d? You'll be nowhere, thats where. Remember. If you're say 4k on KGS and I am 1d, I am 4 stones stronger than you any way you slice it - if I suck, what does that say about yourself? Take the aforementioned michael goetze. He is 2k. I am stronger than him by several stones, but I would never say he sucked. Never. He is merely not as strong as I am currently.
Furthermore, if I lose a game, I won't give an excuse such as I was tired, or drunk - even if that may be the case for that particular game. So in that respect I think all go players can learn something from me regardless of their rank, for go is a deep game of many levels. Thank you for reading this.
mgoetze: To add some context, I saw a move with which taiji could have cleanly killed one of gomadness' groups, and when he played a different move, one of the other kibitzers asked me a pretty much rhetorical question as to why he didn't play the move I had suggested. My answer was something like, "well, because he sucks?" - and note that I am of the opinion that all amateurs suck at go, myself most definitely included. Sure, some of us suck more than others, but none of us would last 30 moves against a top professional (e.g. in a recent game between the German champion and a 9-dan professional, the commentary placed the first serious mistake at move 23.) Anyway, I could go on about all the bad moves I saw in this game, but there's no point really - taiji is convinced that he can become a pro and I'm not holding my breath, and that's all there is to it. :)
A Comment (#8) in regards to critics not making sense:
Response to comment #8: Hi patrick. You're right, and thats exactly what I told some of my critics in the past: Go is a deep game with many levels, and someone's life and death (for example) may be stronger that mine - but if that's all, if that is the only thing they have over me, they can't really say I suck and have it sound believable. Just think patrick, how many *more* bad, kyu-ish moves a real kyu would play vs. someone like me? It doesen't make sense then for a kyu to say such things about me.
By the way, you're right, r14 was a bad move at the time you and a few others were chortling around for me to play it, which is exactly why I did not do so.
Hi I just feel like adding my own comment. I have looked at your last 3 games from KGS. I'm not very good at judging whether someone close to my own strength is a stone weaker or stronger than me especially if he plays Ni-Ren-Sei what I never use. Anyways I could say we're about the same level. Sadly that would rather put you at a difference of 6-7 stones to try becoming a pro (I'm currently 1Kyu on IGS). I'm not sure about the difference of KGS and IGS ratings because I never play seriously on KGS. Anyways I admire the courage that you show. Who isn't dreaming of becoming a pro. Well I'm not expecting it to actually happen... Still I wish you good luck. If you do it I'll cheer for you. What puzzles me is why so many people try to tell you that you'll not do it. This page looks like the whole world was constantly trying to tell you you'll never do it. Don't let them get you down!