Sunday, January 30, 2011

The Most Stupid Misread EVER!

Today I played an ASR game on KGS and read the ladder which would catch my stone. I read it perfectly. No, does not hit his stone. I am fine.

He played it anyway.

Hmmmm, how can he misread such a simple ladder? Checked again. No he MUST be wrong. It is soooooo not hitting his stone. I play a few more ladder moves.

 


Well one of us MUST be wrong. It can't be me, can it? This is such a simple ladder. No of course it must be him.

I read it again.

No, it is not hitting his stone. It is hitting the edge of the board instead. Duh!!!! I am DOOMED!!!

The joys of misreading a 29k ladder ^^
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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Against All Odds: Playing Go!

Still lots of life going on but surprisingly enough I actually have managed to fit go in way more than I did last year. I have been playing in the Advanced Study Room League although I need more games to promote to a higher group and the month is almost over.

 


I had been playing on wbaduk but got discouraged when there was a lot going on and somehow I lost all my games (go always reflects my state of mind.) Today I finally played there again and WON a game though so maybe there is hope. It can't have to do anything with the fact that I meditated earlier today, right?

 


I managed to play the Boston tournament a few weeks ago which was awesome to be able to devote a whole day to go.

 


This is a good start of the year. I hope it will continue like this!

 
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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Massachussets Go Association Tournament

Last Sunday we drove down to Boston to play in the MGA tournament.

 


I won 2 games and lost 2 games which means it was a perfect tournament, right? The funny thing is that I was confident about my even games but not so confident about giving handicap. Which was not reflected in my results.

 


  • First game against 1d: I lost;
  • Second game against a 2d: I lost;
  • Third game against a 2k, giving 2 handicap stones: I won;
  • Fourth game against a 3k, 3H: I won (close game though);


Hmmmm, I guess I am getting better at giving handicap. Or I just got lucky ^^
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Monday, January 03, 2011

Happy New Year!

May your year be filled with love, happiness, good friends and sente.

 


I finally joined the Advanced Study Room League. It is an interesting system and I am looking forward to getting some good games in.

The League divides group of players into Layers

The league is made out of multiple layers; Super, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon. The superclass floats above the league and is only available for 6d+ (link). The regular league works with the pyramid system. The pyramid means that for every layer you move down you double in size of classes. So Alpha splits into 2 Beta classes, Beta splits into 4 Gamma classes etc. Layer sizes might vary according to the number of entrants we have that month.

The layers are subdivided into Classes

A class consists of 14 players. The lowest layer in the league can have 20 players. This is done because often new players sign up but don’t play a lot. This way we can give new players the chance to still enjoy the league.

Every month we promote the top 3 players in a class and demote the lowest 6 players. The top 6 places in the league are always safe from demotion.

What I like most about the League is their focus on teaching and learning:

With a spread of ability in the majority of the classes, that there will always be stronger players to play that can be learned from, and weaker players that can be taught. At the end of each game, it is hoped that the stronger player will take the time to review the game for the weaker player. If the players are of even strength, much can be learned by reviewing the game together.


Every month is a new league and there are still many slots open for January. If you are interested log on to KGS, join the Advanced Study Room and sign up. It is for all level players so don't worry about being too weak, these games will help you get stronger.
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