axd

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Hello, world!

lost in space...
ice bear

I'm Alexander Duytschaever, aka "Alex", born in Gent in 1967. After having spent thirteen years as a [ext] Fighter Controller, I quit the Belgian Air Force and started a career as Software Developer in the [ext] ATM domain. [ext] BGF member since January 2004, currently performing at the local Go club in Gent.

I learned about Go some time around 1985 in Gent when I stumbled over a book written by Leon Vie, which activated my fascination for Go's black and white patterns.

I remember I tried to introduce Go (probably in the late 80') in a Shogi club that met in some cafe (forgot the name - it's a shop now) not far from the Botermarkt/Belfortstraat, without much success however. Although I remember having discussed the game with a school friend (David, must have been 1988), a few years later I moved to the other side of the country and had the occasion to really start discovering Go together with a former colleague, Christophe Fichefet. Later I got Internet and we first tried the ASCII interface of NNGS - a rather unsatisfactory way to play - until DGS (June 2003) and later KGS came in sight. In 2005 I completed a kind of loop and joined the Go club in Gent.

Go is intimately woven into my daily life in several ways, my Go club is a source of joy as well as pain... And I'm a recent changes junkie beyond recovery.

Feel free to browse collected Go walls at [ext] http://users.pandora.be/dual/go/walls.

I can be reached at *gmail at alexander.duytschaever@*com

More links at [ext] http://del.icio.us/axd/go

This page is becoming way too big - there's a persistent smell of [ext] http://c2.com/cgi-bin/wiki?WikiSquatting, seems to me...


Bookmarks

SL should have a Favorites/bookmarks mechanism (better than the customisable links in the left nav bar) to ease managing links one wants to visit, to avoid having to edit a (home) page each time a link must be added/deleted


Recommended links

uxs
Kris created an interesting summary of terms/concepts
Handicap For Smaller Board Sizes
nice to know what handicap to use on smaller boards
RGG FAQ
things you always wanted to ask
holosys
Chris Lawrence made some [ext] gorgeous pics of his freshly acquired Go set
[ext] http://www.kurokigoishi.co.jp/
that's where I hope to buy a goban one day...
[ext] http://www.ymimports.com/
alternative?

More links


SGF editors

MultiGo
easy to use, quick; my best pick (before I switched to Linux :). Not so user-friendly against GnuGo (but it improved). It has some very nice features: tutor mode, for example.
cGoban2
KGS client, SGF editor - handy if you prefer to stick to just one piece of software.
Jago
I don't use it often any more, but it allows you to play with a buddy across the Internet without a need for a Go server! GnuGo cap.
GlGo
also nice to try variations against GnuGo.

Some more or less useless graphs...

[ext] invite me on DGS!, my user ID is [ext] axd

Before http://www.dragongoserver.net/ratingpng.php?uid=3209&startyear=2003&startmonth=8&endyear=2004&endmonth=12&size=300.png

The transition between aug 2003 and jun 2004 is what I more or less expected when I entered DGS as a 30k (I was not certain about my strength; until then, a player from Leuven had rated me around 15kyu after one game). In about a year I reached my actual strength, probably frustrating quite some players on DGS :-(


As from 2005 http://www.dragongoserver.net/ratingpng.php?uid=3209&startyear=2004&startmonth=12&size=300.png

Possible correlations to make the DGS graph a bit more interesting...

 2004 12 downward peak, still to investigate; the only thing I can see,
         is that I played a lot as White and often ended with resigns.
 2005 08 joined club in Gent
 2006 09 Stormy weather approaching - a low is wandering around...
 2006 10 My life is in turmoil. This morning something in me said that
         my go player might die. God I wish I could forget.
         Soaring over the abyss...
 2006 10 I think I successfully crossed the abyss.
         but it feels like I'm sliding back.
 2006 10 Definitely. I don't know when I will start playing again.
         Go left the building, all that remains is in ruin.
 2006 11 Thanks Frederik for pulling me back.


% |<[My KGS rating is not really representative, I don't play often there for the moment - almost never lately.|http://www.gokgs.com/servlet/graph/axd-en_US.png]
% ----
% KGS archive: [axd|http://www.gokgs.com/gameArchives.jsp?user=axd]
% ----

New to Go?

People sometimes ask for more information about Go, so I created a little standard e-mail (English, easier to maintain than Dutch/French) with interesting Go links:

[ext] http://playgo.to/interactive/
Learn Go the interactive way
[ext] http://www.smart-games.com/igowin.html
Igowin is a small application to play 9x9 games against the computer. (Beginners, don't stay too long with this program as Igowin is bad for your game, but proceed with GnuGo)
[ext] http://www.ruijiang.com/multigo/
Recommended Windows SGF editor (freeware), you need an SGF editor read/review your games. Includes a version of Gnu Go.
[ext] http://www.gnu.org/software/gnugo/download.html
GnuGo is a DOS-like computer Go program - use MultiGo or Jago for the graphical interface.
[ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/
Free web-based Go server: play a few moves a day, whenever you have a few minutes, from your browser, in as much simultaneous games as you want. Games usually last for weeks/months on this server. No firewall issues. My user ID='axd'; please invite me, I'm there all the time! (or use [ext] this link once you are registered) I recommend KGS or some "live" Go playing session before starting on DGS, unless time is not the most pressing issue in your life.
[ext] http://www.gokgs.com/
Online Go server: play against opponents from all over the world; has a great teaching mode. See elsewhere on this page for contating me on KGS.
[ext] http://senseis.xmp.net/
Sensei's Library (this site): tons of Go knowledge, a bit of a jungle at first, links to other Go sites (see also [ext] http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?GameOfGo)
[ext] http://www.rene-grothmann.de/jago/
Jago is a simple (although somewhat dated) Java client+server application that allows you to play with anyone over a network (or over the Internet) without any further server support. Is also SGF editor, and GnuGo client.
[ext] http://www.gofed.be/
Belgian Go Federation (look for Gent for my Go club)
[ext] http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/achim/gogame.html
animated GIF of a pro game, part of [ext] http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/achim/go.html - more interesting pages around Go.
[ext] http://www.wingsgoclub.org/books.php
some interesting electronic books available here.

More

[ext] http://www.misterx.cistron.nl/htmlgo/
pure HTML goban, for quick demos with bystanders

This is a copy of the living page "axd" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2007 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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