ChiyoDad Learns Go

Sneak Peek: GoBox Invincible

2008-02-26T19:27:00.000-08:00

Whoa!

Just as the weekend started, Pong Yen at Yellow Mountain Imports (YMI) shared with me photos of their latest Go accessory, GoBox Invincible.

Handle extended.

Some of you might recall that I got a preview and later acquired the original GoBox. It was rather functional but one of the oft-heard criticisms of the original design was that it was unlikely to survive the brutal abuse of airport baggage handling. YMI took those into account with the development of GoBox Invincible.

Bottom view

There was some talk by collectors of using the GoBox to ferry valuable gear from Japan. This new version looks very much suitable for that job.

Deeper design and ...

... looking down. Is that a floor goban inside?

GoBox Invincible will fit a floor goban that is 7cm thick (13cm with legs). As you can see from these photos, it will also fit extra-tall bowls (I recognize those as the rosewood Super-Yunzi bowls), a timer and books.

This is a quantum-leap improvement over the old GoBox and I'm sure that it will appeal to a specific group of players and collectors who greatly prize their equipment. It is expected to retail for $255.

The case is manufactured in the USA by Storm Hardigg and is model iM2875. Storm Hardigg makes some of the best industrial-use cases on the planet. I suspect that no one is going to question their credentials or the robustness of their cases.

Update from Yellow Mountain Imports

2008-01-10T11:25:00.001-08:00

The super-Yunzi tested negative for lead.

This morning, I received the update below from YMI on their own tests for surface-accessible lead content in their Yunzi. I really admire their efforts to look after their customers and keep the communication lines open.

The following stones have been tested and do have lead:
Double Convex, New Yunzi, size 32 9.2mm
Old Yunzi, all sizes

The following stones have tested negative to lead content:
Single Convex, New Yunzi, all sizes
Double Convex, New Yunzi, size 38 and 42, 10.7mm and 11.9mm

In addition our marble stones, ceramic stones, melamine stones, and anti-bacterial stones are negative for lead. I will have results for the Jade Luster Yunzi tomorrow.

Thanks for bearing with us! We trying our best to resolve the situation to the satisfaction of all our fellow Go players.

The Go community collaborates on analyzing the Yunzi lead risk

2008-01-05T07:55:00.000-08:00

Some specialists have begun providing their feedback on the Yunzi lead content issue on GoDiscussions.com.

You may want to examine the discussion by clicking here.

As of today, the consensus seems to suggest that the risks may be insubstantial.

Lead check for Yunzi stones

2008-01-02T06:55:00.000-08:00

A Lead Check kit from Home Depot for about $6.

I was recently alerted by a reader about the surface-accessible lead content (chemical symbol = Pb) of his Yunzi stones that he had purchased in October of 2007 from Yellow Mountain Imports. All the hullabaloo about lead in children's toys from China piqued his curiousity so he initially tested his stones with a kit similar to the one pictured above. The test came out positive.

The old recipe for Yunzi included lead oxide which helped reduce the brittleness of the white stones but current formulas are no longer supposed to use this.

My reader had access to x-ray fluorescence testing to confirm the kit results. The white stones contain almost 200 times the amount of lead allowed by US law in paint, and the black stones about 5 times.

My Own Test

I picked-up a Lead Check kit from the local Home Depot to do my own test. As some of you might recall, I had purchased my set in late 2005.

Sadly, the results were positive and showed that my stones did have surface-accessible lead.

Here's a close-up of the test-swab which turned pinkish-red after being rubbed on a white Yunzi stone for less than thirty seconds.

Educating yourself on the risks of lead

The risks from dermal contact (through the skin) are low. Children under the age of six are the most vulnerable to lead exposure because their bodies and nervous systems are still developing rapidly and because they are most likely to place objects in their mouths (thus maximizing exposure).

To better understand the risks and concerns of lead, please see the following links:

Heavy Metal: How dangerous is lead (Slate Magazine, Eliza McCarthy)
Guidance for Lead in Consumer Products (US Consumer Product Safety Commission)

YMI responds to take care of its customers

The reader and I had corresponded with YMI regarding these findings. YMI was caught off-guard as they had received assurances from the Yunnan Weiqi Company (YWC) that their shipments of Yunzi were lead-free. The images below are from documentation provided in 2006 certifying that the stones had no lead content.

Certification from the Yunnan Weiqi Factory showing zero lead content.

Test results from the Yunnan Weiqi Factory

YMI conducted its own tests and found surface-accessible lead on samples of their Yunzi.

YMI brought this matter up with the Yunnan Weiqi Company. The YWC received two new official lab results of the most recently produced Yunzi, confirming 0.19% lead in the white stones and 0% in the black. They were rather baffled because they had taken lead out of the formulation in early 2006. The lead had occurred somewhere in their supply chain and they eventually narrowed it down to their zinc supplier. The zinc supplied for use in the Yunzi contained lead. The YWC will be switching zinc suppliers and will also try making Yunzi without zinc.

In the meantime, YMI is working to put together an exchange program for their customers who have concerns about surface-accessible lead. Obviously, because the YWC is still sorting-out its sourcing, it may take as long as a month before YMI has lead-free Yunzi available. Pong Yen at YMI has advised that if anybody is immediately concerned and does not want to wait until then, they can send in their set of Yunzi stones (without their bowls) and YMI will send them a set of marble stones as a replacement.

A complete set of stones and shipping address should be sent to:

Yellow Mountain Imports
Yunzi for Marble Exchange
227 S. Raymond Ave.
Alhambra, CA 91801

You can also contact them via their website.

ADDENDUM (Jan 3, 2008):
Yunzi stones from the Yunnan Weiqi Company are sold all around the world by many vendors. If you did not acquire your stones from Yellow Mountain Imports and have concerns about the stones' lead content, please contact the vendor who sold you your set. Regretfully, other vendors may have their own policies with regards to safety-issue exchanges.

A discussion on this matter is also active on GoDiscussions.com. Click here to go directly to that topic.

Kyu Review: YMI's "Jade Luster" Go Stones

2007-07-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

Click on image to enlarge.

"Jade Yunzi!" exclaimed my friend when I popped-open the reed basket. "Those must be expensive!"

As I explained to him, these Yunzi are not made of jade but they do appear as such, complete with subtle patterns. The "Jade Luster" Yunzi are among the latest additions to Yellow Mountain Imports's Go product offerings.

The light stones have slight variegations that resemble jade. Click to enlarge.

Contrary to my friend's first impressions, these stones are not expensive. They sell for US$45 which is just $13 more than their regular single-convex Yunzi.

Middle Kingdom Theme

We all choose our Go equipment to suit our tastes. Back in 2005, when frankiii and I were exchanging notes about gear, he expressed a strong preference for single-convex Yunzi for a couple of reasons:

Flipping the stones over made it easier to study variations.
Single convex Yunzi reminded him of China, where Go originated.

The game is Shusaku (B) versus Shuwa (W). Black has a 2-stone handicap. Click on image to enlarge.

If you want a set with a more Chinese theme, then single-convex Yunzi would be your first choice. However, the "Jade Luster" Yunzi really drive that theme home because few things shout "Middle Kingdom" the way jade does.

I wasn't sure if the light green shade of these stones would look alright on my board but, as you can see from the photographs, they work just fine. The flash and my digital camera tended to wash-out the lighter-colored stones so I took another photo outdoors.

Looking a little greener but still a somewhat washed-out. This is the set photographed outdoors. Click to enlarge.

The photo above better captures what the stones look like in natural light. Indoors, the stones have a deeper jade color which is pleasing and easy on the eyes.

I think the looks of these stones would be enhanced when played on a slightly darker surface like YMI's bamboo boards. YMI also had a laminated dark-cherry board at one time but it looks like they're currently out of stock.

Another Option: Old Yunzi

Today's Yunzi with whiter stones.

Old Yunzi with a yellow tint to the white stones.

Afficionados of course know that the original Yunzi had a slight yellowish tint to the white stones. These are now called "Old Yunzi" and YMI sells sets of these also for US$45. If you'd like to theme your set along traditional lines, these are an option to consider.

Now, ... where was I?

2007-07-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

I'm looking forward to the the 6th of August as I'll be declaring my Go sabbatical to be officially over. I don't think the time-away has improved my game, but I think it has given me an opportunity to re-evaluate how I want to spend my time improving at it.

Coming-Up: A review of YMI's "Jade Luster" Yunzis

The stones were yet unwashed, but my immediate reaction upon opening the shipping box was, "These are too nice for reed bowls!"

I'm talking about Yellow Mountain Imports's new Jade Luster Yunzi stones (US$45). I received a set about ten days ago but was in the midst of certification exams and was too tight on study-time to write a review into my blog. I'm hoping to finish it before the end of this week.

"Spoiler" for The Last Potter Book

2007-07-19T20:33:00.001-07:00

I'm in the midst of a certification exam right now but I know that some of you are Harry Potter fans and I just wanted to do a quick off-topic post on the last book.

For those of you who shop at Borders, you'll probably get the joke of the image below. If you want the image to print on a T-shirt (to wear on the night of the book release), you can find it here.

Photos from the Philippine Go Association

2007-07-10T23:09:00.000-07:00

I very much enjoy seeing how Go is enjoyed in different parts of the world. Pong at Yellow Mountain Imports recently shared with me these photos from the Philippine Go Association in Makati, Metro Manila.

I noticed the Hangul (Korean) in the sign which suggests that the club is probably partly-supported by members of the local Korean community. (Expatriates, perhaps?)

These photos were take by Alvin who works with Pong in YMI. That's him in deep thought.

Here's his board position. It still looks reasonably balanced in the chubansen.

Alvin's opponent is also in deep thought. Behind them, we see ...

... a game in its counting stage.

There's a good deal of activity at this club.

And another match goes into the middle-game.

I just noticed that the ladies are almost equally-represented at this club. That looks like a clock on that table.

These two seem to be building the pinwheel fight-pattern after someone played on tengen.

My thanks to Alvin and Pong for sharing these photos with us! It was great to have a virtual club visit and see how Go is being enjoyed in the Philippines. I hope the club members get to see their photos, leave some messages, and join the online community at GoDiscussions.com.

I also discovered that they have a video on YouTube and have embedded it for your enjoyment.

Summer reading: YMI gets its Chinese books in

2007-07-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

Pong had informed me months ago that they would soon be importing some Chinese Weiqi books and I'm happy to report that they've arrived. I would recommend that you drop by Yellow Mountain Import's Go book section.

I imagine that collectors will want a copy of the complete games of Honinbo Shusaku (pictured above, US$45).

The more practical choice, in my humble opinion, would be the collection of Lee Chang Ho's life-and-death problems (US$45).

Keep in mind that these books are written in Chinese but, as is the case with kifu and tsumego, they are usually not difficult to understand even if you can't read the language.

Reminders of how uninviting online Go can be for newcomers

2007-06-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

It was 8:30pm one night and I was awaiting a critical report from our company's subsidiary in Japan. It might come within 15 minutes. It might come in two hours. I thought I could instead be playing a game of Go, but the likelihood of a sudden interruption gave me pause.

"Why not play a game of Go with your 'anonymous' KGS account?", I thought.

As I discovered, my anonymous account had floated to "5k?"; its rank destabilized from months of idleness. So I put up a game with a remark that I was actually 7k and that I would gladly adjust the handicaps as needed.

Games 1 & 2: A Hostile and An Escaper
As expected, hardly anyone wanted to play with me since I didn't have an established rank.

The first challenge came from a KGS guest (no rank and no games) after almost 20 minutes of waiting. My opponent proceeded to criticize my moves and taunt me with remarks that were occasionally laced with expletives. It was clear that he was notably stronger than me. I didn't care for his demeanor so I resigned early in the game.

"Had enough, eh?", he remarked just before I exited.

The second challenge came from a player with a similarly unstable rank. The game did not go very well for this opponent and it quickly degenerated into a losing blitz. The opponent escaped.

The good ol' days weren't always that good
As you advance in rank and become better-known to the online Go community, encounters with discourteous players become less frequent; but they still occur. On GoDiscussions.com, it's not uncommon to read the laments of new players about rude opponents.

These two games brought back memories of less-pleasant matches of online Go. In my early months, I had my share and blogged about a few; and these were the tip of the iceberg. As time passes, you learn to regard these encounters as anomalies and move past them quickly. I imagine however that they can discourage one from further play. Beginners and those without an established rank generally have it worst.

I wasn't discouraged in my early months because I had a strong desire to advance which was aided by the passion of imagined rivalries and the encouragement of many volunteer mentors and friends. After having been on this journey for two years, I can't help but wonder how many others might have chosen to not continue playing (or to play less) because of encounters with rude players.

Sometimes, real life isn't any better

Coincidentally, chid0ri captured a similar perspective in the 21st cartoon of EmptyTriangle. The difference was that it was from a woman's perspective and based on an in-person incident.

... perhaps it is not the reason why such a few girls are playing go (it could be the consequence; who knows), but it certainly might be the reason why a girl would quit playing - or, at least, stop attending tournaments
- chid0ri

Social ineptitude can be found anywhere.

Games 3 & 4: The faith restored
My data arrived from Japan shortly after the second game. I was actually relieved to have to get back to work.

Still, I was intrigued by what had happened. It's not everyday that I get to be a pseudo-noob on KGS. I thought I should carry on after my work was done and turn my evening into a social experiment.

My third challenger was a solid 6k. I got the impression that this person was in his early teens. He was refreshingly polite and cordial. He lost the game because of a couple of errors and we did a short review. We probably thanked each other for the game at least three times before we said our final goodbyes.

My fourth challenger was an active member from GoDiscussions.com and also a solid 6k. True to his form, he played a thoughtful and polite game that went into byo-yomi. I was surprised to have won by a small margin. There was no end-game review or long goodbyes, but there was his usual and fully-typed "Thank you for the game".

And so, the night ended with four games with rude players claiming 50% .

Maybe I'll try this experiment again on another evening.

Consumer Choices: What I learned today about CapitalOne Visa

2007-05-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

Based on what I know to date, the credit cards issued by CapitalOne are among the few left that do not charge fees for foreign currency transactions. That's something worth considering among Go players since most of our high-end goods (like Mr. Kuroki's wares) are likely to be purchased from Japan. Foreign currency fees are typically assessed at 3% of your transaction amount.

I got a chance to deal with CapitalOne's customer service and their transaction-dispute departments yesterday and today. I was having trouble getting a timely refund for a guitar that I had returned to an eBay merchant. My experience shed some light on CapitalOne's operations and how they're able to reduce their costs (thereby reducing the fees charged to the customer).

Outsourced Call Center
Both of the service reps, Richard and Steve, had heavy Indian accents and the lines had a slight level of static. Both reps spoke clearly but in slow and halting English. These would seem to suggest that the main call center is located in India. I spoke to both during the mid-morning, Pacific Coast time.

The line to the transaction-dispute department was clear and the representative, Dee, had an East Coast accent which suggested that this department was located in the US. I expected that any "escalations" would still be handled locally.

30 Days
I was told that CapitalOne does not open a dispute until 30 days after the transaction has closed or 30 days after the date that the merchant claims to have issued a refund; whichever is later. Until the dispute is resolved, the transaction stays on the card owner's account and he/she is still obligated to pay it. Otherwise, normal credit card interest will be applied on any unpaid balance.

Comparison to CitiCard
To the best of my knowledge, Citbank's call centers are all still located nationally and I haven't yet seen any indication of an overseas operation when calling late in the evening.

With regards to contested transactions, Citibank assumes that the customer is right and immediately issues a credit for the disputed amount so that the card owner is not obligated to pay for it. If there is a difference between the claimed amount and the settled amount, the balance is debited/credited to the account on the date of settlement. The final settlement usually takes about two months to complete.

Overall, this was a good learning experience and it will help me decide when to use my CapitalOne credit card. It's best suited for transactions with trusted merchants (Amazon.com, UPS, your grocery store) and, obviously, with trusted merchants dealing in foreign currency (like Mr. Kuroki).

For yet-untested merchants, it's probably best to handle the transaction with a more service-oriented credit card issuer like Citibank. I've been their cardholder since my first year of college and they haven't yet disappointed me. I still remember the time that they upped my credit limit so that I could buy a gift for ChiyoMama when we were in Hawaii.

chid0ri's hilarious take on KGS

2007-05-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been frequenting GoDiscussions.com, then you might not have already heard of chid0ri's Go-related art blog, The Empty Triangle. Trust me, it's worth your time to visit her site and browse through her (to-date) seventeen works. You can find the navigation buttons below the main image.

You probably should bookmark it because she updates it in a rather regular fashion. If you prefer, an RSS feed is available on the home page. Don't forget to sign her guestbook.

Her latest work depicts KGS. Solomon Choe started a topic thread to discuss the many amusing references in her collage.

The old neighborhood

2007-05-20T21:45:00.001-07:00

I recently revisited rec.games.go using Google Groups. Not having the benefits of a usenet killfile application, I was quickly reminded of what inspired Don to create GoDiscussions.com.

Usenet groups certainly have their advantages. Posts are automatically replicated and archived on several servers. Usenet posts are, in an internet sense, "immortal". They are also searchable, although it may take a little skill to find the specific posts that one is looking for.

In my first months of playing Go (mid-2005), I frequented RGG and sometimes received good advice and occasional encouragement. I seldom go there now as GoDiscussions.com has created a more welcoming atmosphere for discourse, general communications and socialization.

At some point, Google will probably build a killfile tool into its Groups interface and that may give RGG a bit of a facelift for those of us who have grown accustomed to using only browsers to read Usenet posts. Of course, it would only serve its purpose for as long as visitors to the group don't feed the trolls.

Sabbatical. Concerned and unconcerned.

Two steps forward and one step back is still progress.
- Zen saying

I'm still on a Go sabbatical. For a while yesterday, I was briefly disturbed by the thought that I might return a weaker player than when I left. Then I remembered a few Zen teachings about how much more important it was to be focused on the here-and-now and how impatience was a not a virtue.

The thought went away.

Sabbatical ... seriously

2007-05-09T12:45:00.000-07:00

I haven't played a single game in fourteen days. For me, that's a rather long time.

Part of it was due to increased activities at the office but there was something else; something worth noting.

My desire to improve in skill and in KGS rank was making Go feel more like work rather than a leisurely challenge. It was taking a bit of the fun out of the game and probably wouldn't be helpful if I allowed it to continue. Quite naturally, I gradually stepped away and indulged in other pursuits.

I imagine that some other amateur players may have experienced a point of overload at one time or another. I'm thinking of allowing this sabbatical to continue for a couple more weeks.

Who knows? It might actually be good for my game.

Confirmed summer book offerings from YMI

2007-04-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

Pong at Yellow Mountain Imports sent me an email confirming the summer availability of at least these five titles/collections.

Shusaku's Kifu Collection
Igo Hatsuyoron (life and death book)
Guanzi Pu (problems book first published in1689)
Xuanxuan Qijing (problems book published in 1347)
Lee Chang Ho's Life and Death Set

His email seemed to suggested that other books may be added to this list.

For those who can't wait until summer, goplayer2006 sometimes offers these books on eBay. Take note of the shipping charges as his books ship from China.

In Other News: SUPs know that the ukulele is not a toy
SUP is an acronym for Serious Ukulele Player(s); but I'm still a beginner and a chording strummer with this fun instrument.

If you'd like to see what it's capable of in the right hands, watch the video below (may not appear through the RSS feed of PlanetGo.org) of Tyler Gilman (left side) performing at Ukulele Puapua in the Pacific Beach Hotel of Hawaii.

These days, a lot of ukuleles are manufactured in China but the quality has been going up well beyond the typical tourist-trash models that one usually finds.

For example, Hamano ukuleles, made of solid mahogany and not laminates, have distinguished themselves as quality copies of the early top-caliber Martin ukuleles. Not surprisingly, they command prices of $250 to $300 (which is considered to be inexpensive for a solid mahogany ukulele).

Yunzi manufacturing and books from Yellow Mountain Imports

2007-04-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

Long-time (well, in terms of internet-time) readers of my blog had seen seen the collage of photos, courtesy of Pong Yen, from the Yunnan Go Factory where boards are made. I think that's the second-most popular post of this blog in terms of independent hits. We all love taking a peek into the kitchen.

Some of you have also seen the manufacturing video from the Yun-zi Company. The video is old and you don't see the actual process until somewhere in the middle.

Pong Yen at Yellow Mountain Imports recently visited the same manufacturing facility and took these close-up shots. It's interesting to see how the Yunzis are closely consistent in size and how they turn white as they cool.

News of upcoming books at YMI
Start saving-up you cash for after-school reading.

Pong mentioned to me that they will have a whole new set of Go books available at Yellow Mountain Imports beginning in the summer. Last year, they started their book offerings with the complete game collection of Go Seigen (aka Wu Xingyuan) which was a big sales hit.

He didn't mention what the titles would be, but we had corresponded about the books that were mentioned in the July archive of becci's blog, Studying Weiqi in China. Although these are all written in Chinese, they are supposedly accessible even for those who don't read the language.

Image courtesy of Studying Weiqi in China

SOM Regret

2007-04-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

I have no doubt that I'm improving at Go because I more often find myself experiencing SOM Regret almost immediately after setting a stone down on the grid.

That's SOM as in Sub-Optimal Move.

It's an observable difference after one advances from a totally-clueless player to a just-plain-clueless one. When you're totally-clueless player, you hardly have an idea as to whether the move you just played is truly sub-optimal until about four to eight moves later when your position is completely laid waste. In contrast, when you become a just-plain-clueless player, you realize your folly much sooner and spend the next moments praying that your opponent doesn't see the opportunity that you just handed to him/her.

The proverb goes, "You are two stones stronger when you are watching a game."

In my humble opinion, the proverb could be rewritten as, "You are two stones stronger shortly after playing a move; then you drop down to your usual strength, or less, just before you play the next one."

Results of the 2007 Winter Poll

So, the question for the 2007 Winter Poll was aimed primarily at those of us who haven't yet reached that touchstone rank of shodan, however we choose to define it. The question was:

Since you started playing Go, how long do you think will it take to reach amateur shodan?

Here's a tabulation and charting of the results. You can click on the images to enlarge them.

About 50% of of the respondents said that they're not on a timetable; and I actually think that's a good thing for amateur players who want to really enjoy the game. The next two popular responses were 5 years and 2 years. 61 respondents (9.8%) doubted that they would ever achieve shodan.

Interestingly, 15 respondents (2.4%) expected to achieve it in six months. That's rather aggressive but one never knows.

The 2007 Spring Poll

There's hardly been anyone who doesn't experience some sort of rush when playing Go since it is, after all, a battle of minds. So, I thought I would examine our states (mental and, as manifested, physical) when playing Go.

Your five choices should cover the general spectrum. Enjoy the new ChiyoPulse poll!

What's that, mon Capitaine?!

2007-03-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

Read this! And stop groveling!

Most folks on KGS know of TheCaptain. I first heard of him from yoyoma, who described him as "the fighting 4-Dan", way-back when I was still struggling to even get a rank. His games attract some of the largest crowds of spectators. You can read more about him in Sensei's Library.

In the English Game Room of KGS, TheCaptain said that "all kyus should read The Breakthrough to Shodan".

Gosh. Getting a message like that is akin to receiving directives from the archangel Gabriel.

The book, regretfully, has been long out of print. I got a copy in 2005 but never even cracked it open because I was still a struggling double-digit kyu and I thought it wouldn't help me; that I needed to first get closer to shodan. On top of that, the first sections looked like mere handicap Go guides.

I'll admit that I'm now curious and I'll probably give it a better reading this weekend. Is there something to this book that might help me understand my game better? Why this book?

ScatCat's new semi-precious Go stones

When I met ScatCat in person at the Berkeley beginners tournament, he had brought with him his custom-made Purpleheart board combined with Kuroki Goishi's Purple Clam stones. Pretty creative of him.

ScatCat is putting together an new custom set. He's asked Carol Dufour (owner of Board Game Go) to craft a unique slotted board. He's also gotten a set of Rose Quartz and Agate stones from Yutopian.

There currently are no photos of this set of stones on the Yutopian page, so I thought it would be helpful to share some of Scat's images with the Go community.

Here are the stones nestled in their box. Nice presentation.

ScatCat doesn't know of what wood the bowls are made of. The grain pattern reminds me of mulberry but ScatCat doesn't believe the wood is of that specie. Although the bowls may look shiny in this photo, they really are not.

ScatCat said that he finds the black agate stones most attractive on close inspection.

Not tonight

2007-03-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

It's manga, so read right to left.
Poor Akira often has a perplexed look on his face, don't you think?

For the most part, I've managed to keep to a belated New Year's resolution that I quietly made to myself after a marathon game period.

"Play when I'm good."

"Good", in this case, is supposed to mean:

I've got a period of time wherein I'm almost guaranteed not to be disturbed.
I'm free of immediate obligations and tasks.
I've stuck to my (physical) workout routine.
I'm not physically or mentally stressed/exhausted.
I've taken time to study/research any puzzlements from my last game.

Counterproductive and frustrating
I used to play some of games as a form of escapism; to forget things that might have recently troubled me or to get my mind off an issue.

Imagine that I've just wrapped-up an exhausting day at work when things didn't go as planned and I was overstretched. "Hey! It's all over, ChiyoDad! Now let's play Go!"

BEEP! Wrong! It's probably one of the worst times for me to play Go. I'm tired and drained and even all my enthusiasm won't be enough to charge-up one tiny little brain-cell for a battle royal. Passive mental escapism might be the better alternative to active mental escapism. I should just fix myself a strawberry smoothie and unwind with a movie or, at worst, solve some very light tsumego.

It's an ironic fact that a lot of the times that I want to play Go are actually the most counterproductive times.

A brief unexpected lull at work? Not all high-priority tasks done?
Bad time.
Overworked? Just finished a long morning of house-cleaning? Got a headache or even just a mild head-throb?
Bad time.
Substituting your gym period for Go? Got a guilty feeling because you're supposed to be pumping iron and doing a 30-minute cardio?
Bad time.
You didn't read-up on that joseki that you mis-played?
Bad time.

If I insist on playing, then I'm likely to play a sub-optimal game, which increases my chances of losing thus leaving me slightly frustrated, ...

... which may cause me to drop in rank (I'll be honest. I try not to get hung-up about rank but I occasionally still do.), thus leaving me slightly more frustrated, ...

... which may induce me to play another game to try to redeem myself ("That wasn't me. It was just an anomaly. I'll be better focused in my next game.") ...

... [BEGIN LOOP].

Holding to the conditions of my resolution often means playing only one game a day (on days that I can) or playing a handful of games infrequently. I'm playing fewer games than usual, but I'm finding myself enjoying my matches more.

The effect of rivals (real or imagined)

2007-03-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

In the manga, Hikaru No Go, the rivalry between Hikaru and Akira is symbiotic. Akira's concerns for Hikaru's potential strength drive Akira onward to keep his lead. Hikaru's aspirations to surpass Akira make Hikaru work harder. In the process, both become stronger Go players.

Rivals then
I had a good number of "rivals" back when I started playing Go on KGS in 2005. Most were just other players of the same rank who had started playing the game about the same time that I did. I might have played a game or two with them but we really didn't know each other.

I guess you could instead describe them as randomly-selected benchmarks rather than rivals; but they served the same purpose.

Those first months were when I had the strongest desire to advance. I would often peek at the rank charts and game tables of my so-called rivals to see how their progress was going. I would then try to catch-up if I was being left behind; or experience a subtle glee if I managed to pull ahead.

However, many of these players disappeared quickly. The great majority were flash-in-the-pan beginners and they quit the game after hitting a wall near 22-kyu (on the old CGoban2 ranking system) or sooner. A small number were notably talented and quickly left me in the dust. Two, whose life profiles are similar to mine, needed to deprioritize Go and now play infrequently.

Rivals now

These days, I find myself just aspiring to play my next game better than my last (by thinking even just a little deeper). Obviously, as an amateur, I don't have a burning need to improve as quickly as possible. On top of that, I've probably come to accept that all folks have different life circumstances and that makes it hard to really compare one's progress to another's.

I still sometimes benchmark my advancement against other players that I've known for a while; a couple of these being Typhoon and aussiemate. I compare their progress to mine just to check if I'm "falling too far behind the pack". This gives a little impetus for me to improve; a gentle tug that helps ward-off complacency with my current quality of play.

I really hope that I don't develop some intense rivalry in Go. I'm not sure if I'd be able to handle it. I have enough competition to deal with at work.

Is your game off?

2007-03-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

Relax

I had blogged about the effects of OGA (Online Go Anxiety). Some of you had also reported suffering from RLGA (Real-Life Go Anxiety). As you've probably suspected, any anxiety makes you play worse.

Research presented by Mark Ashcroft, a psychologist at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, shows that Math Anxiety - feelings of dread and fear and avoiding math - can impair the brain's working capacity. Ergo, worrying about how you'll perform in a math test can undermine your performance.

Try to keep that in mind (or not) the next time you play a match.

Stay Fit
I've known for a long time that exercise can lift one's mood and suspected that it can boost brainpower. Now a new study shows that it builds new brain cells in a region linked with memory and memory loss.

Yet another good reason to maintain balance in one's life; playing Go and staying fit.

Speaking of fitness

I changed my workout at the beginning of the year to add a regular squat routine.

No, not the leg-press machines but real "bar-on-your-back-with-the-potential-to-crush-you" squats. Squats with heavy weights that make you break into a sweat on the second repetition. Squats that make you feel your heart thump.

Michael Mejia and John Berardi, fitness trainers who write for Men's Health, strongly recommend squat routines as the best way to induce overall muscle development. As they describe it, a squat puts stress on the entire body, treating it as a whole organism. Machines by contrast, isolate specific muscles.

I stopped doing squats back in late high school after the gym acquired a leg-press machine. Sure, it was safer and I could do heavier weights; but in retrospect, the switch did less for promoting muscle development.

Misconceptions about the decline of real-life Go clubs

2007-03-07T22:04:00.000-08:00

"I hate Go."

- Cho Chikun, replying to a Dutch TV question as to why he liked Go so much.

That phrase, "I hate Go", was half-jokingly spoken to me seven times over the last three weeks by friends on KGS.

Admittedly, there are times when I too "hate" Go. The phrase encompasses my frustrations. Maybe I lost a game. Maybe I'm not advancing in rank as fast as I think I should be. Maybe I'm unhappy for not having read a move just one stone deeper, or for having found the ideal move three stones after it should have been played.

Given that "love" and "hate" are supposedly two sides of the same coin, one would come to expect similar frustrations in just about any fervent pursuit.

Interestingly though, I can't recall having felt as much frustration at any time when I practiced fencing or kendo. One possible explanation is that the intense physical activity released enough endorphins to lift my mood.

Another explanation might be the camaraderie of the salle or the dojo. Everybody acted as a fun social distraction, a cheering squad, or a mutual support group. And honestly, how can your mood not be lifted when occasionally, after two hours of practice, the gang either steps out for beer and pasta at Original Joe's or sits down for a tasty home-style Japanese meal?

Virtual vs. Real-Life
Now, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that I probably spend at least a third of my time on KGS just socializing. There's a lot of online chat that goes on in the rooms of that server and, coupled with KGS's rather well-designed game-review capabilities, I once speculated about the ultimate demise of real-life Go clubs as virtual clubs would take their place.

I probably couldn't have been more wrong.

Face it, it's a different experience to be sharing a drink, a light conversation, and a game in person than it is to be sipping tea by yourself as you play on a server. You can throw-in all the tools at one's disposal - internet telephony, webcams, and virtual worlds like Second Life - but what you get is still a substitute that falls notably short of the broad social enjoyment that comes with a club.

These days, I'm more convinced that online social interaction will always remain merely an extension of real-life social interaction; a convenient way to get together when time constraints or distance conspire to keep us separated. Online Go is enjoyable and educational, but I'd really prefer to be playing at The Berkeley Go Club, The Sunnyvale Go Club, or join the LLNL Club for it's once-a-month off-campus meets at the Panama Bay Coffee Company.

I speculate that many of us would also rather be at a club if one were nearby. The pleasure of just getting together with people who share the same interest is difficult to replicate.

Ladies' turn

2007-02-27T12:36:00.000-08:00

Most of you are already familiar with three women in the Go blogosphere: NannyOgg, who started blogging back in January of 2005 (preceding me by six months), toastcrumb, who documented her effort to advance as far as possible in a summer and is still blogging, and becci, who provided considerable detail of her summer weiqi studies in China under Mr. Yan in Wuhan province. There were two other bloggers, but their journals have long been inactive.

We've seen two new entrants.

The first of these is Terri Schurter's, currently 8k on KGS. Many of us have known her as goddess or buzzsaw on KGS, as the founder of the Wings Across Calm Water online Go club (of which I am a member ... albeit a rather inactive one) and as a part-time correspondent for the AGA's ejournal.

The second is from Silent Snow (aka Yuki Nabe) who goes by the same namesake as a teacher on KGS. She carries the real-life rank of 1D and blogs from Germany. She teaches in both English and Japanese. I'm not sure if she teaches in German (but I assume that she can).

Last Installment of Go! Go! Igo!

2007-02-25T22:59:00.000-08:00

shadowbakura has posted the seventh, and last, installment of the Go! Go! Igo! compilation. I've linked it below for your viewing convenience.

We owe shadowbakura a lot of thanks for taking the time to split and convert these clips. Please take the time to visit his YouTube account and rate his videos.

Here are all the previous six installments, also for your convenience:

Meanwhile, in an alternate universe ...

If the video doesn't work, you can use these links to
access it in Quicktime or Windows Media Player.

12.4 minutes

2007-02-25T08:48:00.000-08:00

I set my games typically to a base time-limit of 20 minutes plus 5 x 30 seconds of byo-yomi (Japanese Timing). yoyoma, who often said that I needed to slow down, once chided me that I was being rather generous to myself given how fast I actually play.

Out of curiousity, I took a sample of my last fifteen games to see how much time had elapsed on average.

The answer was 12.4 minutes; only 62% of my base time-limit. Of the fifteen games, only four games lasted more than 15 minutes, and only one of those went into byo-yomi. For those who are into statistics, the standard deviation was 4.9 minutes.

This, of course, is only a simplistic analysis. I recognized a few games that were played-on even though Black or White had already won. There were also shorter games that, if my opponent chose to do so, could have been drawn-out with the possibility of winning on time by creating complications.

This still points-out however that I may be playing just a bit too fast and that I'm not taking the greatest advantage of my time allotment. I know that Sorin advises us to play fast games, but I'd also like to cultivate the habit of thinking a little deeper.

Plateau ... again. No big deal.

Click on image to enlarge.

This investigation into my elapsed game times was, in fact, prompted by a remark during one of my reviews. One of the commentators said that the difference between where I was (8k) and 5k is currently a matter of reading deeper.

Admittedly, there are days when I start a game on KGS, even when I know that I'm not ready to dedicate all my mental energies to it. It's a very bad sign when I feel an impatience for my opponent to make his/her next move.

That image above is a 20-month composite of my entire record on KGS to-date which I constructed using Photoshop. It should be noted that there was a dramatic change in the ranking method when KGS switched from CGoban2 to CGoban3 in September 2006. For many of us in the mid-kyus, that resulted in a five-rank jump.

As can be seen, I've gone through several plateaus and am currently in one of my longest ones. I remember how my early plateau back at 22k briefly made me wonder if I might be forever stuck at that rank (HAH!). If you enlarge that chart, it becomes quite obvious that my 22k plateau was one of the shortest ones I had experienced.

I expect to move forward eventually. Either something has to sink-in my brain, or I just need to change my style of play (i.e. take ... my ... time ... and ... think).

Yes, I'm you're fan!

I've made a lot of friends and acquaintances since I started playing Go on KGS, and just about all of them are on my "Fan" list.

Bill Shubert added this feature to CGoban3; a third option to marking an account as Buddy (so that it appears at the top of the logged-in roster) or Ignore (so you don't see any of their remarks). If you have the "Fan Games" room active, you will be alerted whenever a fan account starts a game.

It seems to be a natural extension of playing in the virtual world; one strolls about from board to board to see how their friends are doing in their games. It's always nice to root for your friends or just try to see how your thinking compares.

Spring Sale at YMI for local shoppers

2007-02-14T17:33:00.000-08:00

I had written to Pong at Yellow Mountain Imports to forward ScatCat's inquiry. He wanted to know if the new slotted portable board can be purchased without the case.

At this time, YMI has no plans to sell it without the case.

YMI discounted boards for folks down in Southern California

Some discounted items (Image 1)

Pong also made mention of this:

We’re doing spring cleaning early here. Your readers might be interested in this collection of 40+ boards I’ve amassed. They have imperfections, most minor, some not as minor. I’m discounting them all so you can find boards as low as $10.

Got a few nice 6cm Kayas at $95, one 6cm Shin-kaya with a crack on the side for $65, 3cm Shin-kayas at $30, $35, and a whole bunch of other boards and a bunch of free T-shirts.

They are welcome to stop by after next Tuesday (I’ll be out of town for Chinese New Years). Our address is 227 S. Raymond Ave, Alhambra, CA 91801 and we’ll be open 10-6:30, out for lunch around 12:45-1:45.

Some discounted items (Image 2)

Some discounted items (Image 3)

If you're not in the Los Angeles area but have an interest in some of these boards, send an inquiry to YMI via this page.

Folding Kaya Board in-stock again

I had forgotten to mention in my earlier post that YMI has also re-stocked on its folding kaya boards. These come with a felt cover for transport. They were available in very limited quantities before Christmas.

This item retails for US$65.

Bodum Tea Presses: Super-cute, stylish and very efficient

The Bodum Assam III tea press comes in 2-cup
and 4-cup sizes.

We've been using a pair of Bodum Assam tea presses to brew and serve our Lupicia teas. ChiyoMama and I use the 4-cup one and ChiyoChan has the 2-cup version. These are very convenient for loose-leaf teas but they work just as fine for bagged teas.

The tea floats and brews inside the stainless-steel filter. After the correct brewing time has elapsed, you merely press down the plunger and the leaves are isolated from the water; thus stopping the brewing process and eliminating the possibility of bitter tea.

The 2-cup version is excellent for most folks. The 4-cup version is best if you expect to be serving guests.

A nice way to serve your tea (or any other hot beverage for that matter) is with Bodum's Pavina line of tumblers. They are hand-blown Borosilicate glass. These were a nice discovery when I bought the first two for ChiyoMama and so we got two more.

These tumblers are double-walled so it has two nice benefits:

It keeps your hands from burning when you serve hot beverages.
It keeps the hot beverage hot for a longer period of time.

On top of that, there's this odd illusion of the beverage "floating" in air which is rather cool.

YMI's latest portable goban is now available

2007-02-13T12:45:00.000-08:00

Finally, after having missed the Christmas season, Yellow Mountain Imports has gotten their new portable Kaya goban in. Pong and I had lamented that shoppers didn't have a chance to get their hands on this board in late 2006 but it seems that their container has finally arrived. The set retails for US$95 (with the case).

The carrying case borrows from the original GoBox design which I have. It looks like the size is just right for toting about and for carry-on luggage.

As with the original GoBox, the board is protected with foam padding. It looks like YMI opted for an improved case handle.

The board is 1.1 inches thick and uses cylindrical pegs. I don't know how this compares to rectangular slots which is the way most portable Japanese katsura boards are built with.

The grid is Japanese-standard sized so Chinese-sized stones (which are about 1mm wider) will fit too tightly. When shopping from YMI, make sure that your Yunzis are Japanese-sized. I know that the double-convex Yunzis are Japanese-sized.

The board is reversible and has a 13x13 grid on the back. You would probably want to pack a sheet of felt cloth with the board so that you can have a protective material between it and the table.

A couple of you who had seen the sneak-peeks of this set were disappointed that the case only accomodated the board and not the stones. In my humble opinion, this is not really an issue since it allows the user to be more flexible with which stones to bring along with the board. Besides, YMI's double-convex Yunzis already come with their own carrying bag.

It's always a challenge to strike the right balance between cumbersomeness and the aesthetics of having a full-sized all-wood set when choosing a portable set. I think this new offering from YMI will certainly fill a niche.

New book coming from Kiseido on February 15th

2007-02-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

wmcguire93 alerted the crowd at GoDiscussions.com of a new book being released by Kiseido on February 15th: Mastering the Basics, Vol.5: The Basics of Go Strategy. Here's the publisher's description:

Aji, kikashi (forcing moves), and sabaki are the most important concepts of go. They imbue the game with strategic subtleties unmatched in any other game. Without an understanding of these concepts, no go player can hope to attain a high level of skill. Besides these concepts, it is also necessary to understand the shape and distribution of stones and how they influence other parts of the board, determining which stones are important and which stones can be sacrificed, and which stones must be strengthened before playing large-scale strategic moves.

The aim of this book is to bring together these ideas and to show the reader how they interact. Many of the examples and problems are taken from professional games so that the reader can see how the top pros deal with and utilize these concepts.

This book is divided into two parts. The first part is expository, and the second part consists of 101 problems. These problems will expose the the reader to various techniques and ways to think about certain kinds of positions. The reader is urged to approach them as positions that might occur in their own games, decide how they would play, and then look at the answers to compare their own thinking to that of a professional.

Available from February 15, 2007.

The price is US$18 plus shipping and handling. You can pre-order your copy now.

Short notes from Bruce Wilcox and Jens Henker

2007-02-11T22:02:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't been perusing the forums over at GoDiscussions.com, you've probably missed all the accolades that some of us have been heaping upon Bruce Wilcox's Go Dojo: Contact Fights.

I'm hoping to write one of my kyu-reviews on this software in the near future but I'd like to get further along in it. I'm about in the middle of its intermediate section but my initial impressions of Bruce's Dojo are all strongly favorable. In a nutshell, if a beginner were to approach me today and ask how they might be able to level-up quickly, I'd probably direct them to Bruce's software as soon as they finished reading something like Janice Kim's Learn To Play Go: Volume I. In my humble opinion, Bruce is particularly talented in writing software to teach Go.

Anyway, I had asked Bruce in an email as to what new developments there might be with his software and he had this to say:

There is no news from me.... I write new software when I am between jobs, and currently I am fully employed. My next unemployment plan is to write Go Dojo: Pattern Recognition, which covers, life and death, joseki, and tesuji. But it may or may not ever happen.

Here's hoping that we might see more teaching software from Bruce (albeit I do not wish for him to lose gainful employment)!

Jens's new English website

Jens is in the center at the back.

Jens Henker (aka Tudorus on KGS) is studying Baduk at Myongji University. Up until now, his personal website was written only in German. He has recently set-up an English section so we can keep tabs on his Baduk academics and life in Korea.

Just what is it with me and Life & Death problems?

2007-02-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

Actually, I use my small YMI board for analyzing joseki variations, not L&D.
But you all probably wanted to see what problem 212 looks like.
Black to play and live with 1 move.

My rank on KGS says that I'm 8-kyu on that server's ranking system - based on playing medium-speed games (20 minutes plus 5x45 seconds byo-yomi) almost consistently. But just where am I right now on Graded Go Problems for Beginners: Volume III?

Problem 212 (that's page 44 under Intermediate problems, Level Three, Life & Death Problems). The old rank-range for this book was 20-kyu to 15-kyu. It has since been re-ranked as 15-kyu to 8-kyu which probably conforms to AGA ranks.

With James Davies's book, Life And Death, my progress is even worse. I've gone as far as page 39 (of 157 pages) but am currently re-reading from page 26. tetris would probably want to whack me with her avatar's pillow when she reads this.

Most of you have probably heard of Janice Kim's advice to solving Life & Death problems; do them in your head and not on a board. James Davies takes it up a notch; consider if either side can live (or kill) depending on who plays first.

It seems a bit odd, but I tend to breeze through tesuji and fuseki problems, but I notably slow-down (and sometimes struggle) with life & death.

One nasty habit of mine
At least one of my difficulties can be traced to this habit that I have of trying to keep track of each stone in sequence. It was probably programmed-in from all those statements like "Black to live in 3 moves" that you often encounter in tsumego books.

This image illustrates what I tend to visualize in my mind; stones with numbers on them: "Black 1 here, White 2 there, Black 3 here, ...".

If the analysis variations are wide, it gets difficult for me to keep track of where move 1 was and where move 2 went! For me, this sequential book-keeping seems to slow down the analysis.

This is another visualization method that seems to make it much easier for me. It's akin to Toshiro Kageyama's advice of just going systematically: "Black, White, Black, White, ...". Place the stones in your mind and count the moves later.

If it comes to the required number of moves, then great. Even if they don't, it seems that I can reset the board in my mind and analyze the alternatives faster.

Everyone's mind is wired differently, so this method may or may not work for you.

Speaking of wiring ...
Steve Fawthrop (aka DrStraw on KGS and GD) wrote an article about how to study Life & Death problems. His methodology seems to be hard-wiring the patterns into the brain. It's worth a look and your consideration.

Aaah ... Lupicia!

The Lupicia tea emporium in the San Francisco Centre.
Each of those boxes in the wall contain a particular variety of tea.
The tins on the counter are for scent-sampling and examination.

As a tea-drinker, I consider myself rather blessed to be living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lupicia has two stores in the city. If you love tea and happen to be in town, it would be well worth your time to visit one of their stores (as well as the tea-shops in Chinatown).

Lupicia is a large tea chain in Japan and they currently have three shops in the United States (two in San Francisco, California, and one in Honolulu, Hawaii). There are also two shops in Australia (both in Melbourne) and three in Taiwan.

Flavoured Green Tea No. 8503, Paradise

ChiyoMama has a preference for floral-flavoured teas while ChiyChan likes fruit-flavoured ones. Our current favorite is No. 8503 which is called Paradise. It is also suitable for iced tea.

Lupicia sells by mail and by phone. So wherever you are in the US, you no longer have an excuse for not trying their teas. They can be contacted at (415) 227-0533 [Fax at (415) 227-4161] and are located at 865 Market Street in San Francisco. Ask for a free copy of their English catalog.

Sorin Gherman and The Expanding Go Blogosphere

2007-02-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

Some of you already know of Sorin Gherman (6D), one of the few people in the west who have had the opportunity to study as a Japanese insei. I had blogged about his advice for getting strong back in July of 2005; not long after I started taking Go seriously.

Sorin had recently joined the forums at GoDiscussions.com and I was pleased to learn that he has updated his website and added a blog. There's a good amount of free educational material on both so it's well worth a visit and a browser bookmark.

Ye Early Go Blogs

The Go blogosphere is now in a growth stage but it was in its absolute infancy only two years ago. I recall that when I started my blog, there weren't too many that were regularly updated and many others were abandoned only months after being launched. NannyOgg's "Go Shodan Challenge" was then the most well-known and it still is, thankfully, going strong to this day.

But even NannyOgg's blog was preceded by an older one entitled "A Go Player" started in July 2004 by an author known to me only as Jay. Sadly, this blog has, since April 2005, not been updated. It went silent after Jay achieved a KGS rank of 15k. It was then the only lower-kyu blog that I could find and relate-to in my first months.

These two blogs, in fact, gave me the idea of tracking my progress and sharing pieces of my Go-education in an online journal. I owe Nanny and Jay for that.

To Nanny, keep blogging and more power to your game!

To Jay (wherever you are now), thanks for the gift of your lower-kyu blog and I hope your game has continued to improve!

Latest Entrants to the Blogosphere
Here are five recent entrants to the English-language Go blogosphere; most launched in January of 2007.

Alejo, the author of Alejo's Tenuki, blogs in English from Spain. This is a low single-digit-kyu blog.

rayen, the author of rayen's Go Blog, blogs in English from Norway. I think rayen is single-digit-kyu.

noir, the author of noir's Road to Shodan, blogs in English from Romania. His blog was launched in September of 2006. noir is currently ranked at 7k on KGS.

chinmay, the author of Go!, blogs in English from India. He is a rapidly-advancing beginner.

And finally, Rajmahendra, the author of As you name it!, blogs in English from India. His blog isn't Go-centric but he's rather enthusiastic and he does touch upon it frequently. His was probably the first Go-related blog from India. Raj is a rapidly-advancing beginner.

A White Facing Komoku

2007-02-03T08:54:00.000-08:00

Safe and super-timid.

In a recent game, White played a facing komoku (3-4 Point) fuseki; something I don't encounter very frequently. I had started with a hoshi (4-4) and a komoku.

That's a pretty wide space between those two White stones and I wasn't quite sure what a good response might be. I knew it wasn't optimal, but I chose to just jump into the center with an invasion on the third line. It was safe, but rather uninspiring and somewhat timid.

White gets the corners easy.

I felt it wasn't optimal because White would, and did, approach my invasion from both sides and force me to defend. As White does so, she forms two corner enclosures albeit the last one in gote. I guessed that I would at least be able to blunt an extension from one of those on either the left or right side.

But, all's well that ends well.

The end result was alright. Both sides mapped out large territories and Black won by a little over twenty points (White was 7k and I was 8k).

Misreading the invitation
The Nihon Ki-in Small Encyclopedia of Fuseki explains that the facing komoku fuseki, as played by White, is an invitation for Black to make an approach at either corner. White expects to pincer the approach, making good use of the opposite corner stone.

Black must start a fight that frustrates this objective.

What White really wants

A low approach to either of the 3-4 points plays into White's hands. This allows her to make a very effective pincer in sente.

The above diagram show one possible forced sequence which puts Black at a disadvantage.

A better approach for Black
Pincers tend to be less effective against high approaches and Black can therefore get a better result.

This diagram suggests a possible sequence which would work very well with a Black nirensei (two star-points). Rather than finishing the joseki, Black could tenuki and approach the other White Corner. If White opts to cut the hane at A, Black gets to do a double-approach to the neglected corner at B.

If White responds to 5 with an attachment at P3, Black can play out the joseki at both corners and claim the bottom.

Furikawari and the "Why" behind it

2007-01-29T05:44:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I was busy
A handful of you know that the third to fifth weeks of the beginning of the quarter is when I coordinate a small global conference. There were no posts to my blog last week.

Trading Places: Furikawari

I (Black) expected to take the left but was happy
to take the corner and bottom.

In a recent game, one of White's moves in a corner battle (number 8 in the image above) made me (Black) consider taking an opportunity for furikawari; that is, an exchange of potential territory.

In the opening of this game, White seemed to be mimicking my High Chinese Opening. This fuseki shares some of the potential of the sanrensei (stones on the star-points of one side) in developing a center-facing territorial framework. The challenge for the opponent would then become the task of invading or reducing the framework.

With my stone at D10 and the approach at D6, I had generally expected White to give me the left side so that she could build a right-facing wall and a moyo that I would have to later reduce.

However, the atari of move 8 seemed to suggest that White wanted to take the side, so I obliged with the sequence shown above to take the corner, and eventually, the bottom.

White got an upward-facing wall on the left; but it's potential was somewhat blunted by my stone at D10.

In the course of this game, the exchange favored Black.

Applying a sanrensei guideline
I can't say that the territorial exchange that took place in that game was fundamentally advantageous or disadvantageous. After all, White could still push my D10 stone against her wall with a pincer in either C12 or D12.

My decision to play for the exchange was influenced by a guideline for using the sanrensei fuseki that Shukaku Takagawa provided in the first chapter of The Power of The Star-Point.

The diagram above shows a possible outcome after White's approach and Black's pincer. If White jumps into the corner, then Black makes good use of his sanrensei by blocking in the direction of the center stone (Q10).

The result yields a large zone of influence from the stone on O16 to Q10. Ideally (but very unlikely), Black may be able to turn this zone into solid territory. The more likely outcome is that White will be forced to invade or reduce that zone; and Black's massive wall will give him the upper hand.

Blocking toward the left makes less effective use of the sanrensei. Although Black takes the top, White undermines the potential of using the sanrensei to build a large framework on the right.

In my game, given that a successful furikawari could have allowed me to deny White a similar framework from her opposing Chinese Opening, it seemed to make sense to play for the exchange.

For now, it's NO to Vista

These days, I tend to run our house's IT maintenance and upgrades the same way that most corporations run theirs; conservatively and only when the technology has matured or become acceptably stable.

Windows Vista is due to release in late January and I've already decided that we will not be upgrading for 1-2 years; and then only when we need to replace our hardware.

Back on January 18th, Walter Mossberg, Personal Technology editor for the Wall Street Journal wrote:

After months of testing Vista on multiple computers, new and old, I believe it is the best version of Windows that Microsoft has produced. However, while navigation has been improved, Vista isn't a breakthrough in ease of use. Overall, it works pretty much the same way as Windows XP.

He goes on to write:

For most users who want Vista, I strongly recommend buying a new PC with the new operating system preloaded. I wouldn't even consider trying to upgrade a computer older than 18 months, and even some of them may be unsuitable candidates.

Clearly, Walter is not being effusive in his recommendation to upgrade. I believe my desktop and ChiyoMama's laptop may be candidates for upgrading but Chiyo-Chan's desktop, top-of-the-line powerhouse that it was two years ago, might struggle somewhat.

We ran Microsoft's Vista Upgrade Advisor on all three and these were the discouraging results.

Her Nero CD burning software will need to be upgraded. The current version will not run on Vista.
Full compatibility with our networked HP Officejet 7310xi is not guaranteed.
Compatibility with proprietary media-enhancement software (from Sony and HP) is not guaranteed.
Each computer also had 7-20 applications or peripherals for which compatibility was not guaranteed.

Upgrading all three of our XP-based computers to Vista would cost our household between $300 to $450 for the operating system alone. Add to that the lost time and additional costs of software and/or peripheral upgrades, and our household has many a good reason to just stick with Windows XP SP2.

The Care and Survival of Pincers

2007-01-16T21:50:00.000-08:00

"Must ... keep ... SENTE!"

Back in December, I had written about pincers launched in your opponent's area of influence. I play pincers a lot because merely forming a shimari (corner enclosure) in response to a kakari (corner approach) feels too passive. I expect to become less aggressive as I mature in this game as even Cho HunHyun wrote:

In every Go player's life, early in one's career, youthful exuberance propels one into stirring fights. But as one gets stronger, one tends to go for solid profit. I am no exception to the rule.

But, as most of you know, I'm still in the (irrational) "exuberance" stage.

Lately, I've been wrestling with the dilemma of how manage my pincer stones when they come under attack.

As shown in the above diagram, the most common response to a pincer is a leap into the corner at the 3-3 point. White gets territory while Black gets outside influence and some thickness. Most would say that's fair dinkum.

Black usually chooses 4 at Q3 as his blocking move unless he has a stone at A. Otherwise, he chooses R4 so that he can build a moyo.

The pincer stone starts getting isolated

Other times however, White finds it in her interest to hang tough on the outside and duke it out with the pincer stone. This initial sequence to 5 is very common. Black must now decide how to proceed.

Sure the corner is defended, but ...

As a lower-level kyu, I've often followed this common pattern to 6 or to 8 in order to protect the corner. But most of you can see what is happening. With each move, White is getting stronger and forming an anvil against which the pincer stone of M4 will be smashed against with a counter-pincer. White can also slide to M2 but that seems a little slack to me.

In past reviews with GW (4D) and Zero9090 (3k), I was shown that the Black defensive moves at R3 and S3 can sometimes be superceded by other local moves which can yield more profit or pose a greater threat to your opponent.

Not responding to the Q2 slide however, gives White an opportunity to inflict much damage upon Black's shimari. So the key is to find a move that is big enough that White will reconsider, for the time being, continuing with her encroachment into the corner. The move must draw White into another battle in order to keep the balance.

Kick the kakari!
Here's one model suggested by The Nihon Ki-in Handbook of Star Point Joseki.

Black probes White's preference.

In this sequence, rather than Black responding with 6 at R3, he attaches to the kakari stone with N3. This move is actually a probe to see if White is prepared to continue the outside fight or to take the corner.

Fight on the outside!

The sequence shown above is a joseki that results if White prefers to fight on the outside. Black is ultimately able to protect the corner with 10. This is judged by Kawamoto Noboru to be an equal result albeit somewhat slack for Black.

The corner is mine!

This alternate sequence is a joseki that forms if White prefers to take the corner with move 9. Black's hane at 10 and atari at 12 aim to spoil White's shape but her counter-atari with 15 keeps all of her stones connected.

For me, when comparing the two sequences, Black seems to still wind-up with one group which is not perfectly settled. He has territory potential; but it has yet to be realized. White may or may not get much territory, but her stones are settled and stable.

Understanding these possible sequences is helpful; but as always, they still don't provide easy answers for what may follow next.

Chiyo-Chan's Gallery and the animation of Adam Philips

Hikaru from Angelic Layer

Chiyo-Chan has been continuing her experiments with Flash animation. Here's a trio of her tests:

These are her scraps. You can find her public-presentation gallery here.

Bitey of Brackenwood

In the course of her search for tips and techniques, she stumbled-upon a site by Adam Philips down in New South Wales, Australia. Adam once worked as an animation director for Disney.

The following links are his award-winning shorts about his characters from mystical Brackenwood. I've listed them in the order that they are best viewed.

You can find more of his shorts (thirty of them) which will launch from the buttons on the top of this page. Some of these could be rated PG-13 for ... grossness.

Parts 5 & 6 of Yukari Umezawa's Beginners' Videos

2007-01-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

Yukari Umezawa's Videos: Parts 5 and 6

ShadowBakura has posted another two installments from the Go! Go! Igo! teaching segments of Hikaru No Go.

Part 5

Part 6

Mr. Kuroki's Go-Cart

Floor gobans; if we in the West had fatter wallets and were more comfortable playing on the floor, more of us might buy them. There seems to be a sharper click to one's stones when they smack upon thicker wood.

Mr. Kuroki of Kuroki Goishi Ten recently introduced a simple raised platform for folks that might want to use their floor gobans for chair-seated play.

The raised cart.

The cart again. Fully-loaded.

At 10,000 Yen (roughly US$87) it's an elegant means of getting dual-use out of a floor goban.It's wheeled so moving the goban around will be easy. The space on the bottom can be used to store the stones in their bowls.

More on Super Yunzi

I saw that Super Yunzi are now on the Yunnan Weiqi Factory's website as well. These are the same ones sold in the US by Yellow Mountain Imports. This set includes the 11.7mm stones, bowls, and the walnut storage box in the background. It sell for 2,800 Yuan domestically which translates into about US$360. Shipping to the US would probably be about $45 via surface freight.

It's not clear to me what needed to be done to achieve this thickness and how the manufacturing process changed. Pong told me that these stones have a shinier surface as opposed to the traditional matte texture of Yunzi. This is noticeable in the photo above.

Learning to REALLY appreciate Go problems

2007-01-10T18:26:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you but I tend to shun Go problems (aka tsumego albeit the Japanese term applies mostly to Life & Death Go problems where there is only one solution path). It often feels like work and it just doesn't carry the excitement of a game. Solving problems can feel like doing math exercises for leisure; although I know some folks who enjoy that.

I played a lot of games last week while making use of some compensation time that was owed to me after working over the holidays. Some of the games I played were serious while others were experimental. I'd read-up on some strategic theory or gain a better understanding of a joseki, then I'd get into a game hoping for a chance to apply it. Of course, those opportunities seldom came-up since your opponent plays according to his or her own objectives and not yours.

By the end of the week, I looked at all the games that I had played. Even though my matches tend to be fast, it was a considerable amount of time spent. Most were not reviewed.

As a means of improving at the game, it all seemed rather ...

... inefficient.

Sure, there was a lot of thinking that went on in my games. Sometimes though, you lose or gain a significant advantage early in the match by your blunders or those of your opponent. It then becomes an exercise of keeping the lead by not making simple mistakes, or a desperate (and often futile) attempt to catch-up with risky plays.

Most game veterans that I've communicated with say that both playing and doing problems can improve your game; but they give the much greater nod towards the latter.

Their advantages are glaringly obvious:

You can usually do them anywhere when you have time, assuming that you're studying from a book or a printout.
You can select problems that are appropriate for your skill level.
You can select what subject you want to study. There are problem books for all areas of the game and not just Life & Death.
You spend practically every minute thinking and analyzing; that is, training your brain. I'm guessing that one easily does much more deep-thinking in 20 minutes of tsumego than in equivalent time of play (particularly if your games are on the fast side).
Good problem books expose you to better play and provide an explanation as to why one move is better than the alternatives. This can deepen your understanding of the game and train you how to read the values of your choices.

Accordingly, I've become open to doing more Go problems and it's been feeling less like work and a little more like fun.

You can find books from Kiseido, Yutopian, Slate & Shell and sometimes on eBay. You can check GoDiscussions.com's product database for ratings and comments on some of these books.

Scoring the last Fuseki Quiz 20/20
(Jump to the last quiz!)

A = 6
B = 8
C = 10, This is the furthest that Black should extend into White's territory. A more aggressive thrust would leave the attacking stone in danger of being captured
D = 4
E = 2

Corresponding Ranks based on the Fuseki Quiz Results
So how did you do in all of the fuseki quizzes? These rankings are according to the Japanese strength assessments of 1975.

Keep in mind, of course, that we're only evaluating your strength in the opening. A good opening strategy still needs to be backed up by your strength in tactics, middle-game strategy, and end-game strategy.

6k = 64 pts or less
5k = 66-78 pts
4k = 80-92 pts
3k = 94-104 pts
2k = 106-118 pts
1k = 120-132 pts
1D = 134-144 pts
2D = 146-158 pts
3D = 160-172 pts
4D = 174-182 pts
5D = 184-190 pts
6D = 192-198 pts
7D = 200 pts

I didn't know that: Coffee Brewing Lesson

Lately, I've been regularly brewing a cup of hazelnut coffee
in my new and inexpensive Bodum French Press.

ChiyoMama learned from a 25-year coffee grower that one should wait a minute after the water has boiled-over before pouring it over the ground beans in a French Press or some other brewer. Never use boiling water to make your coffee. Otherwise, you over-extract from the grind and the brew turns bitter.

A finer grind, hotter water, and pressure all lead to over-extraction. You want that in espresso, but not in regular coffee.

I've applied this lesson to my daily brew and it's surprising how less bitter my coffee now is.

In Other News: ChiyoChan tries out real animation

Another book for her learning library.

ChiyoChan's has begun earnestly experimenting with Flash animation so I bought her a copy of The Complete Guide to Anime Techniques from Borders to support her interest. She's been spending most of her Christmas holidays with these experiments and improving her art. The work below is based on Waka from the PlayStation2 game, Okami.

Click to enlarge.

She's completed three basic, but rather good, animation studies with Macromedia Flash since she got the book. Maybe I should buy her a copy of Toon Boom someday ... soon.

That dang hoshi fuseki

2007-01-03T19:05:00.000-08:00

Aaargh! It's that fightin' fuseki again!

Does the above board position look familiar? It's a fuseki where every stone is on a star-point.

I'm sure you've seen it at least once if you're a lower kyu. Maybe several times. I'd bet real money almost everyone has played it.

Whenever this fuseki materializes, the first thing that comes to mind is, "We're going to have a real fight".

In the Nihon Ki-in Small Encyclopedia: Fuseki, Fujisawa Kazunari writes this about this particular opening:

Although playing only on star-points like this may seem simple-minded, the result is roughly equal and sometimes seen in tournament play. After this, the players will either mark-off huge moyos or start some serious fighting.

To the best of my recollection, I've always found myself playing White when this fuseki materializes. That's likely because two reasons:

I have a habit of playing moyo openings as White, so my first two stones are on the star-points.
One of the best ways that I currently know of to counter a sanren-sei fuseki by Black is for White to build a sanren-sei as well.

When the 10th move is called for, I follow the example that was set in a 1990 game between Cho Chikun (W) and Takemiya "Mr. Moyo" Masaki (B).

This is the first "paratrooper invasion". Just a little behind the enemy's sector line and far enough from enemy stones to be able to run (or, hopefully, fight out).

Then when it comes to attacking and defending the corners, I rely heavily on timing, and what little I have read in Chapter Four of Masaki's book, The Enclosure Josekis.

Fuseki Quiz 20/20

This is it gang. This is the last fuseki quiz. Next week, we'll see the table of what Miyamoto thinks your rank should be after adding-up the scores for all of your answers.

Black to play.

Scoring the last Fuseki Quiz 19/20
(Jump to the last quiz!)

A = 4
B = 6
C = 2
D = 10, Black playing on N4 is correct. If it is ignored and White is allowed to play her next move to L3, then Black's stones would be separated into two groups. It is a small play but also a key point. You cannot pay attention only to the big points on the sides in the opening.
E = 8

Odd stuff on the web
Multi-tasking. If I could study Go while doing a bench press, I'd do it!

How about learning English to music while doing aerobics? Maybe it's not a bad idea.

Of course, things can go a bit too far. This video shows the instructors training the viewers for a more unpleasant encounter in America.

Help fund shygost's KGS Go lectures and keep them going

2006-12-30T10:56:00.000-08:00

Last night on KGS, I caught the tail-end of one of shygost's lectures in Lance's Go Dojo (aka the LGD room under Rooms > Room List > Lessons > LGD). These lectures take place on Friday nights at 7:00pm, US Pacific Time.

Those of you who are familiar with shygost's lectures probably enjoy them quite a bit. He helps guide his listeners in how to evaluate a situation; how to think in Go. He's easy to understand, clear, and concise. Most beginners find his concepts easier to grasp.

These lectures are publicly-funded. Those of us who can, contribute a little cash to help keep the lectures going. Some donate as little as a dollar while others donate substantially more. It's similar to the way public television in America works; the programming is funded a great deal by altruism.

Well, as of yesterday, we had only enough money for two more lectures.

If you've very much enjoyed shy's lectures, you can help keep them going by donating whatever you can via PayPal on this page (the email address is lance@kemperpainting.com).

Your donation is never too small to make a difference. Fifty-cents here, a dollar there, five dollars here - they can all add-up thanks to the efforts of many. One good private lecture from a 6-dan would easily cost you $15 and a group lecture often costs $50. I think a personal or club contribution to shy's efforts is a great bargain.

Your efforts kept these lectures going almost every week for a full year in 2006. Let's try to keep it going for another year ... and beyond!

Super Yunzi from Yellow Mountain Imports

YMI's Size 42 Yunzis. Oh my!

Paired with huge Rosewood bowls.

Yellow Mountain Imports had recently made available their Super Yunzi in two sizes: Size 42 (11.9mm) and Size 38 (10.7mm). These are sold along with their Extra Large Rosewood bowls (with a matte finish) at prices of $350 and $250, respectively.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no other vendor outside of China that is offering Yunzi stones of these sizes. Pong Yen had told me that the widths of these stones conform to Japanese-standards so you can use them on any Japanese (and Chinese) goban.

These stones are a bit out of my personal budget but there's no doubt that their size and heft makes a rather imposing statement. In my humble opinion, they should probably be combined with YMI's Dragon-carved bamboo goba n.

Comparison of Mr. Kuroki's Size 46 giant clam stone
to a typical Size 32.

The only stones that I know of that are thicker than these are Mr. Kuroki's Size 46 (13.1mm) Giant Clam stones. Those would cost about $770 along with your choice of Keyaki or Karin bowls that can fit them.

Results of the 2006 Summer-Fall Poll

2006-12-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

Well, my Summer 2006 poll got stretched-out into a Summer-Fall 2006 poll. Of course, that allowed more responses to be recorded and, in all, there were 663 of them.

The poll was partly intended for me to examine the rank demographic of those who read this blog. It's obviously tailored to beginners and lower kyus and the responses seems to confirm that. Here's a tabulation of the responses.

And for those of you who are more diagram-oriented, here's a pie chart to show how the rank categories filled-out.

Click to enlarge.

I very much appreciate those of you in the higher ranks who have been following my progress and have been assisting me in whatever ways you can. Quite honestly, a good deal of my advancement is owed to some of you.

Reality Bites: The 2007 Winter Poll
In Go as in any endeavour, some of us are talented and most of us are not. I clearly fall into the latter category.

How long did you, or do you, think it might take to get to shodan? An honest-to-goodness tested-in-many-battles shodan? An "I can defend it in any even-ranked or handicapped game" shodan? An IGS or KGS shodan? Perhaps even a Korean-grade shodan?

Did something happen and you tapped into your inner Sai to speed your way to that goal?

Or did reality bite, ... and bite hard?

That's the subject of the 2007 Winter poll: how long we think it might take to get to shodan. There are those with driving ambitions while others are finding "fun on the road". There are realists and idealists.

Have fun with the new poll!

Notes from stronger players: GW

2006-12-27T12:14:00.000-08:00

A belated Merry Christmas to you all! It's been busy in the Chiyo-household and at work, and I'm still trying to clean-up and finish a few more posts to this blog. There's never enough time, is there?

The following diagram comes from a match where I was playing White. Although White won, the game replayed itself in my mind for most of the evening after it was over.

Focus on the left side.

Black makes a three-point jump on the same line in his 15th move to C6.

A three-point jump on the same line; something that is often not advised when the opponent has back-up stones or a strong formation nearby. It has the inherent weakness of being split in the center. Under these circumstances, a two-point jump is stable and almost worry-free; resonating a degree of strength that could be used for an attack.

The big debate for me was whether to play right in the middle of that jump with W-C8 or not.

My 8-kyu mind had to weigh these considerations:

White's D16 string is stable. (Group A)
Black's C14 string is stable and strong; particulary with "iron pillar" of B17 and B16 which are next to C18. I didn't finish the joseki to take sente elsewhere. (Group B)
White's C12 string (Group C) is reaching out into the center after having gotten pincered with B-C10. It is still somewhat weak. It could escape, but it's still pressed against Black's strong Group B.
White has a stone on D4 in a keima relationship to the Black stone on C6. This White stone could be used as back-up in an attack.

I felt that W-C8, right in the middle of the 3-point jump would weaken both the C10 and C6 stones (splitting them into two weak groups).

But Black would probably respond by jumping-out with E10 which would further weaken White's Group C. I was very wary of having to fight two battles.

So, ... of course, I jumped right in.

White won, but ...

GW (4D): "Idea usually right. Not technique"
GW (4D) reviewed my game the following day and explained that the strategy was correct.

W-C8 pits 3 white stones against 1 Black stone and there's good back-up with White's D4 stone. White's Group C can easily run out into the center. The burden of the fight would rest on Black's shoulders; being forced to manage the survival of two group. GW demonstrated that it would have been difficult for Black to manage both. Either one of these would die or White would gain considerable profit.

However, in this game, White won because Black's mistakes compensated for White's own mistakes.

GW told me, "Idea usually right. Not technique." His remark summarizes where my development is still lacking.

Still seeing "ghosts"
As GW took me through the review, it became obvious that I was still making small or defensive moves because I didn't fully understand the inherent strengths and weaknesses of shapes and connections. As yoyoma (1k) had once joked to me, I was "seeing ghosts".

That's rather typical and, as a KGS 8k, I see other beginners playing to defend against the same ghosts that I saw when I was a 30k-20k.

Clue to my deficiencies: I'm still scoring about 70% on Bruce's tests?

Bruce Wilcox has a very nice software called Contact Fights. I very much like it because:

It provides a progressive program of training. You start with basic rules and move onwards to more complicated ones.
It thoroughly explains the concepts behind its guidelines for managing a contact fight.
It has tests to gauge how well you've internalized these concepts.

Now, this is rather embarassing, but I have to admit that I'm still erring on the elementary concepts (20k-ish) by about 15% of the time and the intermediate concepts ('teen k-ish) 30% of the time.

I interpret that as a statement that I'm still giving away roughly 1 out of 3 moves that someone about five stones my junior in rank would not!

Now, that's not necessarily a harsh assessment. As Bruce demonstrates in his demo games, even SDKs and lower-level dan-level players err (and err often) in contact fights.

But still, I'd like to reach a point where I know these guidelines by heart and only deviate from them knowingly.

Fuseki Quiz 19/20

Black to play. Miyamoto says that a professional would see
the solution at a glance.

Scoring the last Fuseki Quiz 18/20
(Jump to the last quiz!)

A = 8
B = 4
C = 2
D = 6
E = 10, White has two weak groups of stones: the five on the left and the one stone on the lower right. It is imperative that she defends one of them. It is a bad strategy to have two groups in danger. If Black plays R10, White will have a difficult time in this game.

Bay Area Go players, there's a visiting Pro

2006-12-18T12:08:00.000-08:00

Jean at the Sunnyvale Go Club informed me that Korean Professional Chi Hyung Nam and author of the series Baduk Made Fun and Easy will be visiting the club this Tuesday. She also happens to be one of the three professors at Myong-Ji University in Korea which offers a degree in Baduk. She will be playing against Lance (aka shygost) across the board.

I know. I know. "Go to the club! Ask her about the program! Get an autograph! Take pictures! Say 'Howdy' to Lance!"

Believe me, I wish I could but I had already made plans for Tuesday evening (most of which are related to work).

Anyway, if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area and have your evening open, make plans and arrive on-time (7:30PM)!

Some days, I feel like a one-trick pony

2006-12-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

If you were to examine a sample of my games, I'd be willing to bet that many of them would contain the Chinese Opening. I used to play the low Chinese opening, but ImNoSensei inspired me to adopt the high version.

How I tend to play when I see a stone appear on the 3rd line.

The Chinese Opening tends to be my standard response to White unless she happens to play a stone on the third line when her parallel fuseki faces mine. Then I'm likely to play my first stones on parallel star-points and launch a one-space approach on the low stone (a style acquired after reading Kajiwara's The Direction of Play).

"Terrimoyo"

In Volume 2 of his Workshop Lecture series, Yang Yilun categorizes games as territorial and moyo oriented. (He also has a third classification: Fighting.)

A territorial opening pattern.

Territorial games are typically launched from the third line (usually the 3-4 points, also known as komoku). In territorial style play, according to Yang, you must:

make solid positions
avoid trying to develop a moyo
protect your weak groups
pay attention to the overall balance so that you can reduce your opponent's potential when appropriate

A moyo opening pattern.

Moyo games, by contrast, are launched from the fourth line (usually the 4-4 points or hoshi). The objective here is to develop a large framework which may win the game if it is all converted into territory. When your opponent invades the framework, you make territory by attacking the invading stones.

The Chinese Opening (both low and high variants) strikes me as a compromise position. As the late Kato Masao described this fuseki in his book, the hoshi stone is moyo-oriented while the 3-4 stone is territory-oriented. It is meant to be played like a moyo, with the follow-up moves extending outwards in a grand scale. Yet the lower half of it retains a strong territory orientation; able to quickly build a solid base while attacking.

To me, it's what I would call a "terrimoyo" formation.

Yang seems to suggest that it can be confusing to combine both territory and moyo styles. Perhaps my opinion will change when I develop a greater understanding of this game, but I can't help but wonder if the terrimoyo orientation of the Chinese opening could be seen as a balanced strategy that plays well into Go Seigen's concept of harmonizing the whole board.

Stuck in My Comfort Zone
Playing the Chinese Opening has, in fact, probably been helpful towards familiarizing myself with joseki since I find myself having to play either 4-4 and 3-4 josekis when my opponents approach the corners.

I don't claim to be a master of this opening. I know that I can just as easily lose with it in an even game. But I will claim to at least have a good understanding of the spirit by which it should be played; and a fair understanding of how to demolish it when playing White.

And that relates to what I'm struggling with right now. I feel so comfortable with this opening that I have not branched-out much into experimenting with pure moyo and, quite notably, pure territory openings. I believe I could manage a sanrensei (3 stones on the star-points) as I had played it often before. But I find myself quite unable to launch a pure territorial opening because I lack the experience and, consequently, the confidence to apply it.

I'm thinking that I'll need to study Yang's chapter on "How to Play A Territorial Game" and will probably have to play-out a few professional games just to see how this style is applied. This will likely lead to interesting discoveries as there are more 3-4 josekis (and rather complicated ones) than there are 4-4 josekis.

I expect that my rank will stagnate, or perhaps even drop, once I start really experimenting with new fuseki. But I guess that's better than being a one-trick pony.

Interestingly, some Go players do have a preference for styles. I recall DrStaw as having once remarked in GoDiscussions.com about his dislike for moyo-oriented game.

Photo From the First Dali Cup Womens' Tournament

Click to enlarge.

Pong Yen of Yellow Mountain Imports sent me this photo of the participants in the 1st Dali Travel Cup Womens' Tournament in China. The semifinals were completed in November and the final round will take place in May. You can see the results, and the names of the participants, on this page.

Tidying-up

2006-12-14T12:18:00.000-08:00

After having been inactive for almost four months, my blog feels like an abandoned cabin that needs a lot of cleaning-up. Just bear with me while I get everything back in order.

Yukari Umezawa's Videos: Parts 3 and 4

ShadowBakura has continued posting more episodes from the Go! Go! Igo! teaching segments of Hikaru No Go. Below are the next two installments. These videos are targeted towards complete beginners. Parts 1 and 2 were posted back on August 15th.

Part 3

Part 4

Fuseki Quiz 18/20

Miyamoto warns that this answer to this problem may not
follow common-sense Go. White to play.

Scoring the last Fuseki Quiz 17/20
(Jump to the last quiz!)

A = 4
B = 6
C = 10, White's keima to K5 is a good example of how to attack with a knight's move. White immediately takes the lead. If Black tries to run with H5, White will chase with J7.
D = 8
E = 2

Tragedy: The Baiji becomes "functionaly extinct"

China's shy freshwater dolphin. The baiji of the Yangtze River.

There's terrible news in the conservation world. We have, in effect, lost one specie of dolphin; the baiji of China. This white dolphin became a victim of overfishing, sea traffic congestion, and sonar use.

A six-week expedition, organized by the baiji.org Foundation, failed to find even one of these in the Yangtze. Only seven were spotted back in 1998.

Less than a century ago, the baiji's habitat was a healthy, living,
freshwater paradise. Its clean, nutrient-rich waters supported
millions of fish and thousands of river dolphins.

"It is possible we may have missed one or two animals", said August Pfluger, head of Swiss-based baiji.org Foundation and co-organizer of the expedition. "Regardless, these animals would have no chance of survival in the river. We have to accept the fact, that the Baiji is functionally extinct. It is a tragedy, a loss not only for China, but for the entire world."

Many more species remain on the World Conservation Union's Red List. The baiji's loss should be a wake-up call to step-up our conservation efforts by donations and even armchair activism. Don't expect governments and special organizations to take care of the environment; we are these governments and special organizations.

In Other News: Don't Sweat the Christmas Holidays

Just in time for the season, Richard Carlson, author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...And It's All Small Stuff, has written another little guide to maintaining a reasonable perspective on life's many little annoyances. His new book is: Don't Get Scrooged: How to Thrive in a World Full of Obnoxious, Incompetent, Arrogant, and Downright Mean-Spirited People.

I recall several years ago of having heard or read a report that folks tend to be crabbier during the Christmas holidays. The gist of its cause is that our expectations of being merry are raised and, therefore, we get even more upset that the universe doesn't seem to be completely aligning to our wish for merriment (as it usually doesn't).

Much of Carlson's advice is very much the usual "chill-out" guidance, but it's still worth reading; if only to remind yourself that life's little troubles don't take a vacation and that a reasonable, measured response to these can be cultivated within oneself.

Hey! It's great to be back, folks!

2006-12-06T21:28:00.000-08:00

My thanks to all of you who have been patient with my absence. A snafu with the migration of my blog to the beta release of Blogger caused me to lose all editing capabilities to my blog since August. I could neither post nor even approve comments.

In retrospect, not having access to my blog was to my advantage since I had to deal with a number of developments in my professional and family life. It was, in fact, a good time to take a sabbatical from blogging.

My situation, regretfully, hasn't changed much; particularly at work where I am now undertaking more responsibilities after a departmental reshuffle. It will now be a greater challenge for me to blog regularly; but I intend to keep in touch!

Progress to-date

Many of us play on KGS and are notably aware of the abrupt bump that our ranks have undergone since Bill Shubert implemented CGoban3. My understanding is that these ranks more closely mirror the ranks one would expect to be conferred by the American Go Association and, perhaps, the European Go Federation. You can still expect to be somewhat underranked by KGS, but not by too much.

As of today, KGS ranks me as 8-kyu; putting me solidly into its single-digit kyu range. I'm still ranked as follows on the other servers:

Internet Go Server (IGS): 18 kyu
CyberOro: 22 kyu

Thinking streak

Other folks call them winning streaks and losing streaks. I call them thinking and non-thinking streaks.

I once half-joked with friends that I could tell when I was on the verge of a non-thinking streak. I'd usually play slumped in my chair. My mind would be eager to play Go but would be nagged by the distractions of other thoughts (personal or work-related). I would also play rather fast (what NannyOgg calls plunk-and-pray) and rely primarily on poorly-developed instinct and short-ranged, shallow-depth tactical rules.

In a non-thinking streak, I would also play with a conscious intent to improve my ranking on a Go server. If I lost a game, I wouldn't review it but would instead quickly start-up another game out of some delusion that my last loss was just due to a minor error or an under-ranked opponent. "The next game will be different," I'd lie to myself.

The end result is usually a loss, followed by another loss, and another; all in rather quick succession and often on the same day. And quite honestly, there's an increase of anxiety and even desperation as each loss occurs ("Gnats! What's that loss going to do to my server rank and how many wins will I now need to get to the next rank?!").

It all reminds me of why NannyOgg turned-off her KGS rank indicator.

By contrast, when I'm on a thinking streak, I usually sit straight in my chair. All other concerns in my mind have either been settled for the day or compartmentalized for the future. I want to study the grand puzzles of the board and sometimes place each stone one at a time in the board of my mind. "How many liberties does this string have?", I ask. "Will a ladder form there?", I ask. "What is the best follow-up move that my opponent may try?", I ask.

Rank is of no concern when I'm in a thinking streak. I'm not interested as much as in whether I win or lose than as to whether I can find an opportunity to apply something that I had recently learned or read about. I'm still in a zero-sum match, but it's one in which I first want to experiment and apply.

Comparing these two mental states is very amusing. A non-thinking streak is like a gambler's downward spiral. A thinking streak is a curiousity and analysis quest of a calm and patient mind.

Of course, I'm not saying that there aren't such things are real losing streaks that may occur even when you are playing calmly and thoughtfully. These, however, are most likely to occur when you lack a certain understanding of facet of the game that would allow you to move beyond your current rank. I had been through some of those, like when I couldn't believe that certain invasions were possible.

In a recent teaching game, Takeshita (2k) told me that, at my current level, much of my improvement would depend on reading. That only means that further improvement will hinge on a lot of thinking.

Pincering in Enemy Territory

I have a strong tendency to play pincers. I just prefer starting some type of fight early in the game. Eventually, I expect to balance my play with more enclosures and jumps (after I get accustomed to playing on the 3-4 points instead of the 4-4 points).

During an evening Question-and-Answer session with shygost, I asked him about guidelines for low and high pincers. When does one pincer on the 3rd line? When does one use the 4th line?

In the situation illustrated above, shygost cautioned White against pincering on the 3rd line (A or B) as this was playing in Black's territory. In this situation, it's recommended that White consider a pincer on the 4th line (C or D).

In this situation, pincering on the 3rd line (A or B) is perfectly fine since it's both a pincer and extension. White is playing in her own territory.

I assume that neither of these are hard and fast rules. They are only considerations that must be assessed (with regards to how the game might develop).

Yukari Umezawa's videos for complete beginners

2006-08-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

Yukari Umezawa, 3rd Dan Professional from Japan

This post is dedicated to all those who have just started learning Go. If you're a complete newcomer to the game, you may want to bookmark this specific post.

I'm guessing that most of you have heard of Yukari Umezawa, the Japanese professional player who was the consultant to the story of Hikaru No Go. At the end of each episode of the animated TV series was a short clip about Go and beginners' techniques (tailored primarily towards children).

Well, ShadowBakura on YouTube.com did us all a wonderful favour by uploading the collection of Umezawa's instructional videos. He currently has two streams. They are in Japanese but with English subtitles. Here they are for your enjoyment and education!

Part 1

Part 2

Short Biography of Yukari Umezawa
Japanese only. No subtitles.

HNG: Episode 02 and the LLNL Go Club

2006-08-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I met with Steve, Linda and Bob of the Lawrence Livermore National Labs Go Club. We played at the Panama Bay Coffee Company in downtown Livermore.

Bob gave me three teaching games and I'm very thankful to him for that. I learned a potentially useful new joseki in our second game. My Friday teaching game with lloyd gave me some good lessons that I was able to apply.

That afternoon underscored once more to me the value of in-person games; not as conduits for learning better Go, but as opportunities for enjoyable social interaction. What fun it is to sip on a cold chai while playing with no time pressure and a lot of casual laughs; trading Go stories and ideas.

Steve invited me to another event that the club will be sponsoring at the Livermore Valley Cellars Winery next month. I think I will be going.

Hikaru No Go: Episode 2

Well, a lot of you seem to have enjoyed the Hikaru No Go videos that I posted last week. Below is the second episode. Perhaps I'll make this a regular mid-week feature; something to relax with as your workday or schoolday builds-up.

Only a handful of episodes have been dubbed so most of what's available is only fan-subtitled. Admittedly, if you're impatient to watch all the 70+ subtitled episodes, you can always find them on YouTube.com.

Hikaru No Go: Episode 02 (Subbed)
Courtesy of fujitsuX on YouTube.com

Part 1

Part 2

Hikaru No Go: Episode 02 (Dubbed)
Courtesy of shiraganknight on YouTube.com

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Take-aways from my teaching game with lloyd

2006-08-12T06:52:00.000-07:00

Some of you might have had a teaching game with lloyd on Kiseido Go Server. I had been told that he's a good teacher and I got an opportunity to discover that in my first game with him (SGF link) yesterday evening.

Much of what he taught me were concepts that I had known about, but are better learned in an actual game.

The tsuke-nobi joseki in a handicap game.

In handicap games, White will try to create complications. Black should keep things simple and go for solid profit. White wins because Black makes mistakes.

An example of this is the application of the tsuke-nobi joseki as illustrated above. If you know this joseki and its variants very well, then Black has little to fear by playing A or (in a non-handicap game) as far away as R10. But B is solid and profitable.

Recognize opportunities for furikawari (an exchange of territories).

The sequence to 5 confused me but it was, in fact, an opportunity to exchange territory. P3 is the correct response (I played Q3). White would get the corner and Black would capture the two stones to the left.

White attacks the two Black stones on K.

Make a fist before you attack (or build thickness and push your opponent against it).

Here, the Black stones on the K line look like they might be endangered. But the invading White stone on G4 is potentially weak. I originally approached it with F3 as my next move.

lloyd showed me that Black can, and should, build-up thickness to the right. Then F3 becomes a very powerful attack. I applied this concept in my third game of the night, which was played on Internet Go Server (and, yes, I won that match).

Other take-aways were:

Unreasonable invasion? Just seal it in and build your outward-facing influence (or a moyo).
Remember the Clamp tesuji. This could have saved a key group that I needed but I neglected to read it out.
Mind your cuts.
The empty triangle is sometimes alright.

Butting Heads

No, this isn't a about Zinedine Zidane. It's about a tactic in Go.

Butting Heads is what Bruce Wilcox describes the triangled moves illustrated at the top. They are generally inefficient at a beginner's level of play. This is pushing on a link in the hope that maybe your opponent won't defend against the cut. The move could be better spent elsewhere.

I've noted that this is a bad habit that I have so I'm trying to be more conscious of it. UTDEspy told me once that I have a lot of bad habits.

YMI gaining clout with manufacturers?

Yellow Mountain Imports must be gaining some influence over their manufacturers. It's only a small cosmetic change but their new bags for Go bowls now sport the YMI logo instead of the Yunzi logo.

Pong Yen has headed back to China. He mentioned that YMI will be looking for new items for the Christmas season. I passed-on some product suggestions that some of you had written to me about.

Second Hikaru No Go Music Video

I featured one of the music videos of the themse from Hikaru No Go in an earlier post. Here's the second.

This music video is Days by Shela. It was the fourth ending song from the series and one of my favorites.

Can somebody please find me a music video of Fantasy (the third opening theme) by Nana Katase?

Fuseki Quiz 17/20

White to move and get back the lead. I'm waffling between B
and C. Move B constructs a moyo but does nothing to Black.
Move C does a similar action but also puts pressure on
Black's stone; so I'll go with that.

Scoring of last weekend's Fuseki Quiz 16/20
(Jump to the last quiz!)

A = 4
B = 6
C = 10, This move strikes at the weak point of the irregular corner enclosure. If White defends per Diagram 1, then Black can regard 1 as a forcing move and map out territory on the right with 3. If White ignores, then Black slides in with a move to P18; leaving the two White stones floating.
D = 2
E = 8

And some of you don't like subtitles

2006-08-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, for those of you who don't like watching your anime in the original Japanese language and reading subtitles, here is the dubbed version of Hikaru No Go.

For this dubbed version, Episode 1 was split into three.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Okay, so you don't know what Hikaru No Go is ...

2006-08-10T05:56:00.000-07:00

I've often written and mentioned the anime and manga series Hikaru No Go. Most of the younger audience of this blog have seen, and were introduced to the game, by this story. As mentioned in a previous post, it is largely responsible for the game's renaissance in East Asia.

I found the above first episode in its entirety on YouTube.com. It's the subtitled version (which I personally prefer). There's just a little jerkiness to the video in the slow-motion opening sequences but it's otherwise fine.

You can probably find the entire subbed series on YouTube by doing a search for "Hikaru No Go Episode".

Five liberties and you're stable

2006-08-09T05:28:00.000-07:00

I played nine games yesterday afternoon and evening. My rank fluctuated from 16k down to 18k and back up to 17k. Rank is irrelevant to me now; except for the annoyance that I'm less likely to receive challenges from stronger opponents. I'm in an experimentation stage.

Two of my games were with Imagist (16k) and one of them was with waya9 (14k). Imagist plays a strong game and seems to be progressing quickly. I was humbled by waya9's genorosity. I had lost my game with him but he undid a life-or-death sequence that I had messed-up so I could play it correctly. He then did a rather thorough review of our game.

They say that a string of stones with 5 liberties is stable and, when it has achieved that many in a contact fight, one can tenuki (play elsewhere). It's not an absolute rule and I may be playing it to excess; not leaving a fight for fear that my strings are yet unstable.

Hikaru No Go Music Vidoes

I came across music videos of a couple of songs from Hikaru No Go. Some of you have probably been looking for them. Here's the first.

This music video is Get Over by Dream. It was the first and most recognizable opening theme for the series.

Augst 10th Go Teaching Seminar in Oakland

2006-08-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

I had blogged about Iceman's work to launch an elementary school Go program (1st, 2nd and 3rd posts on his initial efforts and success). It's remarkable how quickly he was able to launch the program and how members of the online Kiseido Go Server community and Yellow Mountain Imports contributed to it.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Iceman dropped me a note about a special event taking place on August 10th in Oakland, California. It's a seminar on teaching Go sponsored by the Ing Goe Foundation. If you're in the area and would like to attend, please RSVP to Carolyn Doelling at (510) 208-0807.

At the very least, maybe attending the event can help one understand the Ing counting system and rules.

Fuseki Quiz 16/20

Black to move. The odd enclosure in the upper right looks big enough
to drive an 18-wheeler through so I'd go with C.
VRO-O-O-O-O-M!!

Scoring of last weekend's Fuseki Quiz 15/20
(Jump to the last quiz!)

A = 8
B = 10, Defending here is a good move. Such a move shows composure. If Black gets to invade at 1 in the lower diagram, a sever fight will immediately break out to White's disadvantage.
C = 6
D = 4
E = 2

Diagram 1

Video from the Yunnan Weiqi Factory

2006-08-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

This video is availabe on Yun-zi.com but it takes too long to watch the stream from their server. I uploaded it to YouTube where more folks can watch it.

It's narrated in Chinese but you can still enjoy the montage of images from the factory.

YMI introduces their slate and shell stones

2006-07-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

First off, I wasn't able to make it to the NorCal Open. The ChiyoClan opted for lunch at The Elephant Bar in Emeryville and we didn't drive to Japantown. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to meet-up with some of you.

My small consolation was that The Elephant Bar makes a very nice cheesesteak sandwich.

YMI's Slate and Shell Stones from Ogawa Goishi

wmcguire93 alerted folks on GoDiscussions.com that Yellow Mountain Imports had brought in their slate and shell stones.

Image of their Jitsuyo-grade stones

Image of their Snow-grade stones

An examination of their box photos revealed the name Ogawa Goishi (小川碁石店). This vendor is among those listed in the 2005 Hyuga Go Stone festival and their stones are imported into China by the Yunzi company. They currently do not seem to have a website of their own.

Here's a sampling of prices for Japanese Size 36 (10.1mm) Jitsuyo (utility) grade stones.

Kuroki Goishi Ten, Japan: 18,000 Yen = US$157 (excludes shipping and handling to outside of Japan; this is a special discounted price below the normal 33,000 Yen [US$287])
Samarkand (Kuroki Goishi Ten distributor in US) = US$409 (excludes local shipping and handling)
Ogawa Goishi, Japan, as sold by the Yunzi Company in China : 2,380 Yuan [2004 pricing] = US$299 (excludes shipping and handling to outside of China)
Yellow Mountain Imports (Ogawa Goishi distributor in US) = US$390 (excludes local shipping and handling)

Based on this information, it looks like Kuroki Goishi Ten may still be able to offer a better final price if you take their least expensive surface shipping and wait 6-8 weeks for delivery. Air freighting your stones might still be less expensive than YMI's US$390 and Samarkand's US$409.

Still, this means that you have more options open to you when shopping for real slate and shell. Keep an eye on YMI's eBay auction store in case they offer any of these stones there at a reduced starting price.

Fuseki Quiz 15/20

White to play. I chose B immediately. Black looks
too strong at the top and the bottom and B struck me
as an urgent defensive move.

Scoring of last weekend's Fuseki Quiz 14/20
(Jump to the last quiz!)

A = 10, If you consider the sequence to 7 in Diagram 1 below, you will see that Black's profit is pretty big. For White to press Black against the left side by playing D4 wouldn't be good because Black could connect-up on the left side.
B = 8
C = 2
D = 4
E = 6

Diagram 1

Gnats! There goes my weekend!

2006-07-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

I need to work for most of this weekend in preparation of my quarterly review of our corporation's operational performance. Sadly, much of my key data will not be available until Saturday and that has backed-up a lot of analysis.

The ChiyoClan might be in Japantown of San Francisco for lunch this Saturday. Hopefully, I'll at least be able to drop-in and meet some of my online Go friends who will be attending the NorCal Open.

Lucky Buy: Tesuji and Anti-Suji of Go

I was able to acquire a copy of Sakata Eio's Tesuji and Anti-Suji of Go for US$20 this week. I had set-up a wishlist request on half.com and was notified when a seller put a copy up for sale.

At first glance, this books seems neither inferior nor superior to Davies's Tesuji. However, I seem to be understanding a bit more and there are amusing bits of writing from its author. I just have to share page 43 with all of you. Part of this excerpt reminds me of my old lesson plan.

One Day, All of a Sudden

"I am such a weak player that I am ashamed of myself, and I plan to forsake playing until I become strong."

Naturally, this is only a joke, but the fact is that it cannot be expected that one will get stronger without playing.

As is the case with every art, it never comes to pass that one suddenly becomes strong one day.

The matter is comparable to a novice sumo wrestler trading blows with a junior champion. The less accomplished combatant will fall and immediately get back up, to be defeated and rise once again to challenge, demonstrating to all eyes focused on the battles the indomitable will of a champion, all the while spending more time tasting the dust of the ring than the fruits of victory.

Therefore, it is an error to harbor a noble vision of "becoming strong in secret, while no one is watching."

One should take on all comers, playing everyone and anyone, building up experience at the board. It is not likely that while one suffers the taunts and laughter of the others in the club, one will inexorably become stronger?

In view of this fact, what we want to warn the reader against in regards to methods of Go study, is to avoid meaningless adherence to a theory of perfection. First one masters joseki, next one conquers the opening, then one turns to the middlegame. This order seems to be systematic; but no sensible player would give any credence to such a theory.

Instead, adopt a broader approach, being open to anything, and willing to try whatever is at hand.

Whatever one encounters, whenever the mood strikes, turn your attention in that direction and investigate as one's interest is stimulated. That is a sufficient approach to study.

Go is the sort of game where that kind of attitude keeps it fresh and lively.

- Sakata Eio

I will write more about my impressions of this book after I have read it thoroughly.

Chris Kubika's looking for Go writers

Some of you may have heard of Chris Kubika who is running for the Eastern Director of The American Go Association. He's announced plans to start a new magazine called Go Gazette but needs writers to help out. If you're interested, you can find his contact information and details in his post on GoDiscussions.com.

I've been invited to help but I can't add any more activities to my plate these days. I wish him the best of luck with promoting our game.

Keeping a mental note on liberties

2006-07-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

I had been re-reading Chapter Seven of The Second Book of Go and trying to keep mental notes of my groups' liberties during matches. I've been mostly successful and attribute my last two wins on Internet Go Server (IGS) partly to regularly comparing the liberties of my groups against those of my opponents.

It's yet another brain-task that's needed for greater success in this game. Small wonder that many of us enjoy Go for the mental challenge.

It had been suggested to me that I should start getting into the practice of roughly estimating my territory as I play; and that this practice is a lot easier than it sounds. I might have to increase my match time settings if I want to try it in my games.

6th Cho Chikun Judan Cup

The 6th Cho Chikun Judan Cup began on the 20th and will continue through August 31st. This is a 43-day online IGS marathon to play as many games as possible while maintaining a 30% winning ratio of their games.

Perhaps by next year my job responsibilities will have changed enough that I might be able to participate in this event.

Fuseki Quiz 14/20

Black to play. I chose A since any White response
still yields a good amount of corner territory.

Scoring of last weekend's Fuseki Quiz 13/20
(Jump to the last quiz!)

A = 6
B = 2
C = 4
D = 8
E = 10, White can disrupt Black's plans for making territory in the upper right by playing R15. If Black gets to play P10, then White will have a hard time reducing this area. After White 5 in Diagram 1, if Black plays A, the sequence of White B, Black C and White D will follow.

Diagram 1

In Other News: The long slow battle to restore Hetch Hetchy

An odd name, Hetch Hetchy is; but this place is a rival to Yosemite Valley. The only trouble is that it's been dammed-in and buried under water since 1923. Environmental Defense has been working on a campaign to restore the valley and recently had one minor success.

Hetch Hetchy before the dam

Hetch Hetchy today

Rendition of a restored Hetch Hetchy

A completed study has now shown that restoring the valley is feasible and would not impact the Bay Area's water supply. The cost, however, could range from $3-10 billion and, understandibly, that has not drawn much enthusiasm from even some of the state's most pro-environmental lawmakers.

The tufas of Mono Lake

Still, Californians showed that we had the will to restore Mono Lake (the remains of what was once an inland sea). Reclaiming Hetch Hetchy would restore an even greater natural jewel to the state.

Still wishing for the perfect Go bag

2006-07-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

I'll probably be taking the GoBox with me to the NorCal Tournament but I feel that I'm still searching for my perfect Go bag.

In my opinion, there's a multi-dimensional continuity spectrum to designing such a bag. One has to balance protection, size and portability. The GoBox leans towards protection at the expense of size and some portability. I can toss all of my gear into it and take it on a road trip with no anxiety that it'll get scratched or dinged. It's hard however for me to imagine wheeling it into a restaurant in the middle of the day when I take a break from a tournament.

I guess my ideal Go bag is somewhat more like a laptop bag. Being a padded but soft-sided design, there'd be a greater risk of damage to the goban, but I think I'd be willing to accept that for even greater portability and the option of transporting my gear as carry-on luggage on a flight; away from the unpredictable dangers of checked-in luggage.

The bag that I've drawn above is more along the lines of what I'm wishing for with these features:

A heavy-duty and water-resistant ballistic nylon surface
Padded sides (dense rubber foam) with a felt interior surface
A rubber bottom surface for extra protection (because that's be were the bag and the 'ban would most often impact a solid surface)
An extra-padded shoulder strap (because it would be as heavy as the old laptops I once used)
An over-extended flap cover (to keep the rain out)

Ideally, there would be a padded sleeve for a 9x9/13x13 combo board (for indoctrinating newbies).

My stones and bowls would be carried in their original bag. I had modified it slightly with adhesive foam pads to better protect its contents. I think the fundamental design of this bag is right and it would just need better materials and padding to make it perfect.

Kyu Review: The GoBox

2006-07-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

For playing Go away from home, our most pragmatic options are smaller and lighter traveling sets which often consist of folding or roll-up boards combined with synthetic stones. I still have my Myung-In magnetic set for studying in the car while waiting for ChiyoChan to exit from classes.

But for some occasions, nothing really beats the aesthetics of playing on a full-sized table board with hefty 9mm stones pulled from a wooden bowl. It feels right. It feels traditional. That's why many of us pine for thick wooden table boards and for floor gobans, as large and pricey as these sometimes are.

Of course, the question becomes, how to safely tote your costly 22.2 pounds of gear with you when you want to play with these away from home. Yellow Mountain Imports's answer is the GoBox; an 80cm x 60cm x 18cm foam-padded ABS case with wheels (product link and specifications).

It is currently offered at an introductory retail price of US$98 but I had seen a couple of units auctioned on their eBay site last week at starting bids of about US$50 (probably as promotional auctions).

The GoBox has foam padding that is 4cm thick around the perimeter of the board. The padding on the bottom is 1.5cm thick. The padding on the top is about 4cm of egg-crate shaped foam. This image shows my goban inside the box; sitting just slightly below the top of the foam. As always, you can click on these images to enlarge them.

The GoBox comes with extra foam pads in case you want to add these to the bottom or carry multiple thinner boards (sandwiched between the foam). I think the 1.5cm of base padding in the case is enough since the weight of the board is displaced over a larger surface area. If you want, you can place up to 2cms of extra padding below the board. This raises the goban above the foam edge, as shown in the image above, but it still fits just fine when the case is closed.

My preferred configuration is shown above, with a 0.5cm pad between my regular goban and my 13x13/9x9 combo board. This allows me to take everything. Besides the space for the goban and bowls, there's a 9.5cm(L) x 15.5 (W) x 7.5cm (D) cutout section in the foam. This can probably be used to carry a game timer.

The case is meant to be wheeled about. The Gobox has a handle covered with a ribbed rubbery-plastic for when you may need to carry it.

The egg-crate foam on the top of the case does an excellent job of holding everything in place while providing protection. I tried shaking and jerking the case as violently as I could while it was fully-loaded (right-side up, sideways and upside-down) to see if the bowl lids might come loose and spill the stones. The lids stayed shut and my combo board didn't shift from its position.

As I had mentioned back on January 16th, I had placed felt liners on the insides and tops of my bowls. This is a good idea to adopt when you're transporting your stones in the bowls as it keeps the former from shifting too much and it reduces the stone rattle.

I plan on using my GoBox to transport my gear for matches with friends and, when I can, public exhibition games to help promote Go.

One question that comes to mind is whether the GoBox could be used to transport gear when traveling by air. It's too large to qualify as carry-on luggage and so it would have to be checked-in. I would have some reservations about doing this because of current security regulations and the latches on the case.

In the US, all checked-in luggage must remain unlocked unless they use special locks that are approved by the Transportation Safety Authority. The GoBox uses latches that use what looks like a universal latch-key; but I'm sure there will be TSA inspectors and check-in specialists who won't know that. My fear is that you would be required to submit it to the carrier with the latches unlocked. Checked-in luggage takes a lot of abuse and the only thing that would keep your contents from spilling out might be two unlocked flip-up latches.

I don't expect to take my Go gear by air so this isn't an issue for me. As it is, the GoBox nicely fits my needs for transporting my set to venues where I'd like to share the fun of playing on a full-sized equipment.

Restarting regular play

2006-07-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

Coming back from vacation, and a long hiatus from regularly doing problems or reading books, I tried playing on Kiseido Go Server and my rank fell back to 17k.

bitti had counseled me in an email (as many of you have similarly done) to ignore my rank and to avoid any mental blocks that might make one believe that achieving a higher rank isn't possible. One of my last posts expressed a sense of "unworthiness" of my earlier achieved 14k and that mental attitude, he warningly alluded, can affect one's progress.

Sound advice. I'm just going to get myself back on track with regular readings, daily tsumego and, hopefully, a more game reviews. See you all online!

Fuseki Quiz 13/20

White to play. I think Miyamoto would recommend a reduction in the
upper right. My problem is that I have no idea how D or E would
be applied; so instead I choose C.

Scoring of the previous Fuseki Quiz 12/20
(Jump to the last quiz!)

A = 2
B = 10, It's time to strike at the vital point of the corner enclosure. This is the biggest move on the board. The exchange of 2 for 3 in Diagram 1 is expected, but it is very important to divide the left side. It would be too big to let White play D12.
C = 6
D = 4
E = 8

Diagram 1

YMI brings in the Dragon floor gobans

2006-07-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

Peregrine was the first to alert the folks at GoDiscussions.com that Yellow Mountain Imports had brought in their Dragon floor gobans. Pong had mentioned his plans to add these to YMI's inventory when he was traveling in China months ago. These bamboo floor gobans are retail priced at US$950 and weigh over 70 pounds.

I have, however, already seen one at auction on eBay at a starting bid of US$599.

The detail is impressive and you can see some images of how these were manufactured at the Yunnan Weiqi Factory from a previous post.

The feet are shaped as a combinations of lion heads and claws. They make quite an aggressive statement.

Two other products make their debut

YMI has also added Wild Jujube Bowls for US$25. These are smaller than their regular jujube bowls and are best suited for stones that are Size 33 or smaller. I'm thinking that they might be suitable for the traditional single-convex Yunzi stones.

I'm still awaiting the arrival of their Go Seigen (aka Wu Qingyuan) style Rosewood bowls for larger stones. These should be rather impressive and will go well with their Super Yunzi.

They are now also offering a portable magnetic roll-up set for US$35. The description for this product says that the mat will not curl-up (like some vinyl mats do).

Hoping to Attend: The Northern California Open Tournament

The AGA-rated Northern California Open Tournament will be held this month in San Francisco's Japantown in the Union Bank Hospitality Room. I'm hoping to attend this one.

Jacob Brown provided me with these details.

Date: July 29-30, 2006
Fees: $25 for youth under 18, $30 for adults
Registration begins at 9am on Saturday morning.
First round begins at 10 am
There will be five rounds, three on Saturday and two on SundayThere will be one hour sudden death for each player.

I'm assuming that they will have enough boards for all participants but I'll be happy to bring my set if they need any spares (or for some side-games). I'm hoping to have my GoBox before then so I can transport my gear with ease.

New Summer Poll: Your Current Rank

2006-07-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

It's a week late but I'm launching the Summer 2006 Poll which you'll find on the right column. If you scroll down, you'll see the results.

This season, I decided to do a rank/strength poll. Admittedly, there are several ranking systems around the world and on different servers. Feel free to choose a category that you think most accurately reflects where you are. I'll cast the first vote using my Kiseido Go Server rank since it seems to be "comfortably conservative".

This poll will, of course, also help me get a better understanding of the readership of this blog so I can be on the lookout for news that may be relevant to most of you.

Results of the Spring 2006 Poll

Click on graphic to enlarge

The question of the Spring 2006 Poll was:

"When you talk about Go, the other person thinks you mean ... "

Tabulated results

Based on 237 responses, about 48.5% said that the non-Go playing public mistakes our game for Othello (which makes a lot of sense), 18.6% of you had unusual responses, and 7.6% said that folks mistook it for chess.

In Other News: Complete Waste of Time in Congress

It could probably be shown by facts and figures that
there is no distinctly native criminal class except Congress.
- Mark Twain

While on vacation, it didn't surprise me to hear that the GOP majority in the House was pushing a series of bills which included legislation that would "protect the Pledge of Allegiance from attacks by activist federal judges seeking to rule it unconstitutional" (i.e. take out the phrase "under God" from the pledge) and a ban on same-sex marriages. I was pleased to hear today that moderate members of the GOP in the Senate sided with progressives against these bills.

Admittedly, although these bills had little chance of passage, they were intended as rallying points for their more hard-line constituents; so from some of these congresspersons' perspectives, it probably wasn't "a complete waste of time".

Still, you'd think that they'd try to tackle issues like global climate change, health care, economic competitiveness, or perhaps even the deficit. I suppose that they, and the majority of their constituents, must consider these to be trifling matters.

Few people realize that the pledge of allegiance contained no mention of either "God" or "The United States" in its original form. Here is how it was used since 1892:

“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.”

The phrase, "under God" was added on June 14th of 1954 by Congress. The phrase is a modern addition that is only 52 years old.

The original flag salute when reciting the pledge of allegiance.
The salute is now an unfashionable faux pas.

Few people also realize that, along with the pledge, the flag was gestured with the Bellamy Salute up until 1942. The picture above will explain why that salute went out of fashion in the early years of the second world war. It was replaced with the hand-over-heart gesture.

Some traditions we keep, and some we drop. I suppose it's all based on what's vogue.

GoBox is now available

2006-07-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Oh, bother! There's a lot of blogging to do, Blogspot is having technical difficulties, and I'm a bit short on time. Let's just keep this first post brief and add the rest as the week goes by.

Shortly after I returned from vacation, Pong Yen sent me an email that the GoBox was now available at the Yellow Mountain Imports website at a special introductory price of $98. I should have one hopefully in a couple of weeks.

Image from YMI

In addition to the GoBox, YMI is now also selling goban sleeves for $9 and $8. There are two sizes available to fit either the regular table gobans or the slimmer bamboo table gobans. This is an inexpensive way to protecting your board when it isn't in use ... if that should ever happen.

Fuseki Quiz 12/20

Black to play. Where is the biggest move on the board?
The wariuchi at B looks vital.

Scoring of the previous Fuseki Quiz 11/20
(Jump to the last quiz!)

A = 6
B = 4
C = 8
D = 10, Black pushing with Q7 and, afterwards, with Q8 (see Ref.Dia.1) is playing on a grand scale. Especially in handicap Go, the solidity of Black's wall is attractive. White will have great problems trying to find a way to reduce this territorial framework. On the other hand, if White gets to play 1, 3, and 5 in Ref.Dia.2, Black won't get much territory here.
E = 2

Reference Diagram 1

Reference Diagram 2

In Other News: Good Reads:
The Untied States of America: Polarization, Fracturing and Our Future

From Publisher's Weekly:

American history, both distant and recent, is troubled with violence and schisms that constantly threaten the foundations of the country. The country has endured a civil war, two world wars, slavery, genocide and now, of course, the raging battle between the red and blue states. Are we on the brink of dissolution? That's the question Enriquez poses in this fact-filled, statistic-laden book. For more than 200 pages, Enriquez, the founding director of the Life Sciences Project at Harvard Business School, gives readers as many reasons as he can for why America may be headed toward an un-united future.

I picked-up this book at the library just before my trip. It seemed rather interesting.

I recall back in my college History classes how fascinated I was about the Roman Empire, how long it had lasted, and how quickly it came apart. Back then, my professor had mentioned to our class that many of the countries that exist today will come apart and come together. The United States would be no exception. We have fifty stars on our flag today. Tomorrow, we could have more, or less.

The writing style will seem odd to some readers. One would think that it was laid-out like a huge marketing brochure. There are many one-sentence paragraphs and some whole sentences are presented in super-large or small fonts. I suspect that Enriquez was trying to make this book accessible to today's common audience that prefers to digest its information in soundbites. I didn't find the style to be a burden at all.

The first chapter of this book, short as it is, might turn-off readers if they don't have a rudimentary understanding of Economics. It is, however, one of the more important ones in my humble opinion as it outlines the financial pressures that drives the dissolution of nations.

The sixth chapter was particularly interesting to me as it outlined the political and socio-economic divisions within Mexico and how these could affect the United States as well.

One interesting historical snippet that I learned from this book was how the Reagan administration had tried to acquire Baja California from Mexico as part of a debt-restructuring deal. That would certainly have made a very visible change in the western profile of the US.

Back on the 8th of July

2006-06-28T05:35:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in last Saturday's post, I'll be out of town and this blog will resume on the 8th of July. I've informed all of my correspondence opponents and turned-on my vacation messages.

Keep sente!

Late breaking news

Yellow Mountain Imports has advised me that their GoBox will be available in early July (shipment is due to arrive on July 1st) and that their slate & shell stones will be available in mid-to-late July.

"My position is worse than yours"

2006-06-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Move 49. I'm white and I don't think I'm ahead.
Black doesn't think he's ahead either.

So I'm playing a correspondence match with xed_over. I had allowed him a double-approach on one of my corner stones and by move 48 I place my stone and comment that I'm beginning to feel the burden of a poor fuseki.

He writes back, "Ha-ha! And I thought I was having trouble catching-up!"

We're always our own harshest critics, aren't we? You could be marching nicely along the fourth line or walling-in your opponent as he or she desperately defends or floats eyeless on the side of the board; but you'll still think that you're on your way to losing the match. Only impartial eyes can discern the truth.

We're at move 72 of this rated game (so no comments on it please) and I think I've gained the initiative. But it's still difficult to tell.

My position still seems worse than his.

Correction: The Tsumego have solutions

A reader pointed out to me that the tsumego on Tom.com do have solutions. One needs only to click on the problem to launch an interactive Java applet that they can play against or use to display the solution sequence.

KGS Rating at 15k and I'm feeling better

Odd similarity.

A couple of losses on KGS brought my rank down to 15k and that actually makes me feel better. Of course, because rank-float had taken me up to 14k much earlier, and because I hadn't played any games for several weeks, my rank chart is looking like a Sedona desert skyline.

I do believe my friends when they tell me that I can play as strong as a KGS 14k but I'd prefer to do that on a consistent basis. Many of my peers have achieved 14k by playing more games and gaining more experience; that's a good way to earn it.

In other news

Contrary to popular speculation, I'm not an IT person, but I am rather sympathetic to my many colleagues who had found their jobs outsourced.

One of them sent me this humorous animation. It has audio so you may want to adjust your speaker volume.

Playing on correspondence servers

2006-06-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

I now have five ongoing games on Dragon Go Server, the most well-known of the Go correspondence servers. These are one's best alternatives when one cannot find a solid hour (or more) to play a real-time game on the real-time Go servers.

Two games are rated and the other three are meant to be "teaching" or "sparring" games; ChiyoDad as punching bag. I've been on the receiving end of a lot of teaching games and reviews in the past. Sometimes the best way to repay an act of kindness is to pass it on.

I don't really know how to play a teaching game so I opt instead for what I call a "learning" game. I try to openly discuss (via comments) how the game is progressing, what risks I see, what looks stable and what doesn't. I also encourage my opponents to use Sensei's Library or books to look-up some of the positions and ideas that we're applying.

Feel free to counsel Peter (aka Ash), trevoke and Marta (aka Aurian). All of them are working hard to improve.

No comments on the rated games until they're finished, please.

Goin' fishin'

2006-06-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

I'll be out of town so the weekly fuseki quiz (and my regular blogging) will continue on the 9th of July.

I managed to play two games on KGS on the 23rd. The first was against a bot to solidify my rank. The second was against hftsang (14k). I lost both but it felt great to again play real-time games. shygost offered me a third match but I had reached my "quota" for the day and opted to spend the rest of the evening with my family.

My return to real-time games on KGS wasn't as anxiety-ridden as I had thought it might be. I'm feeling more relaxed about just letting my rank adjust according to the results of my games. That might change if I go into an intense competitive frame of mind, but that's not the case right now. I have to deal with a job transition and possible layoffs at my company; so there are bigger things to worry about.

Tsumego galore!

In case you hadn't noticed, becci's and wchen's blog about studying weiqi in China has been updated on almost a daily basis, and often with photos. In their latest post, they provided a link to Tom.com which contains all of the tsumego that they have been studying as exercises. There seems, however, to be no solutions page for these problems.

Some of you can't wait

... and frankly, neither can I with regards to Yellow Mountain Import's upcoming summer offerings. I had given you folks a sneak-peek of their GoBox (almost overdue since June's nearing its end) and their plans to sell slate/shell stones as well as "super yunzi".

Now their latest store banner indicates that they will be selling dragon-relief floor gobans. I know a number of you had been interested in these ever since I posted Pong Yen's photos from his trip to China back on February 27th and February 28th.

Photos of a Go Salon in Kyoto

Image courtesy of The Irish Go Association

Steve of the Irish Go Association had recently blogged about his visit to a Go Salon in Kyoto. It's a fun read and you can find it here.

Fuseki Quiz 11/20

Black to play in this 3-stone handicap game. I chose C as a solid move.

Scoring of Last Weekend's Fuseki Quiz 10/20
(Jump to last week's quiz!)

A = 4
B = 6
C = 8
D = 2
E = 10, It's a big move to grab the lone white stone. Should Black neglect to play this, White will jump out to O14, causing a lot of trouble. Playing P12 makes everything secure for Black while gaining big profit.

Another Go Tournament & Solomon Choe's China Trip

2006-06-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

Temple of Go Dojo 1k-14k Tournament

Morpheus has announced that the Temple of Go Dojo on Kiseido Go Server will be holding a summer 1k-14k tournament from June 30th to July 2nd.

I've added this event to the GoDiscussions.com Community Calendar.

Solomon Choe takes off to China for Training

GoDiscussions member Solomon Choe will be participating in the Go'n'Games 2006 China trip. He's promised to keep us updated 1-2 times a week via his new blog so be sure to bookmark it.

Invasions and reductions beginning as attachments

2006-06-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

We often hear the advice about not attaching to stones that we want to attack, as the proverb goes. Also as kyu players, many of us have become familiar with the jump into the 3-3 point for an invasion as is illustrated in the joseki below.

This jump into the 3-3 works best when the opponent has no supporting stones nearby. It can be played to claim the corner or the side depending on the opponent's responses. The situation changes however after a shimari, an enclosure, is made and the opponent has extended from it.

I was recently introduced to invasions and reductions against enclosed corners while reading Takemiya's The Enclosure Josekis. The book focuses on how to deal with corners after a shimari and extension have been formed. Interestingly, Takemiya show that one of the best approaches is with a probing attack that uses a tsuke, an attachment.

This is the approach outlined in Takemiya's book for what he classifies as Star-Point Pattern Six.

The same approach is applied against an enclosure made with a 3-4 stone; 3-4 Pattern One in Takemiya's book.

Played successfuly with an understanding of the joseki, both will end with three possible outcomes.

White lives in the corner and Black seals her in.
White lives in the top and Black seals her in.
White escapes to the center.

These studies have become necessary as I've progressed and, sometimes, opted to play as White. I'm finding reductions and invasions to be a growing part of my arsenal as I move from big-moyo games to a style that must apply and counter amashi and shinogi.

toastcrumb Launches Her Summer Blog

Well, summer vacation has started and that means lots of time for the younger Go players to really get into the game. How I envy all of them!

toastcrumb is kicking-off her summer with an ambitious agenda to achieve shodan. However she fares, it'll be interesting to watch her progress so drop by her blog and wish her luck!

Father's Day

Last weekend was Fathers' Day. After dinner was over, I spent its eve pretty much vacuuming the house, scrubbing the bathrooms, doing laundry, dusting and polishing the wooden furniture, et cetera.

It's worth it!

The Last Emperor's Weiqi Set

2006-06-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

Puyi (溥儀), the tenth and last emperor of the Qing Dynasty to rule over China.

Some of you might have seen the movie entitled, The Last Emperor. It was a dramatization of the life of Puyi (溥儀), the last emperor of China.

Pong Yen of Yellow Mountain Imports shared with me three photos he took of the emperor's weiqi set. Surprisingly, it was a rather simple one that included a pragmatic folding board.

I imagine that the emperor may have had a few weiqi sets. This may have merely been the one that survived the cultural revolution.

Notice the beautiful gold artwork on the bowls. The colors for the stones were dark and light blue.

This side-shot shows some interesting flecks within the stones themselves. Perhaps they were made of glass or some semi-precious stone? The bowls are also different from the Japanese Kitani-style.

The star points were not marked with a dot but with emphasis lines. In this photo too, you can see what is either flecking on the stones or the remnants of some design.

Back to KGS matches

I'm going to try to get in a few weekly games on Kiseido Go Server. I haven't been playing much for a long while thanks to all the hullabaloo at work. I expect to be clobbered but it would only get worse if I don't play. I also want to experiment with some new ideas and advice that I received.

Fuseki Quiz 10/20

Black to play. Miyamoto-sensei says to use your intuition.
I chose E.

Scoring of Last Weekend's Fuseki Quiz 9/20
(Jump to last week's quiz!)

A = 6
B = 2
C = 8
D = 10, A severe move. Note only does it attack the Black stone in the lower right but it also threatens W-H3 as a follow-up move. Black would be forced to play H3 himself.
E = 4

First Temple of Go 15k-30k Tournament

2006-06-14T21:15:00.000-07:00

Morpheus sent me an invitation to The First Temple of Go Dojo 15k-30k Tournament which will be held in the Temple of Go Dojo on Kiseido Go Server. I added the dates and times to the GoDiscussion.com Calendar. If you're registered on that forum (and if you've completed your profile), the dates for the tournament will auto-adjust for your timezone.

Although KGS ranks me at 14k, that rating is more likely due to rank float. If I played six games tonight, I think I would get knocked down to 15k or even 16k in a pinch. I know some of you think that I'm as strong as my rank indicates but I don't have the same confidence level. Besides, I've hardly played any games recently.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to participate in this tournament since I need to do extended work over the weekend. On top of that, ChiyoMama will be returning from her overseas business trip on Sunday night and we'll be driving to San Francisco International Airport to pick her up.

I'm really eager to get back into regular matches on KGS even though I expect to be clobbered. I don't know how I'll perform since I have been playing mostly teaching games on Dragon and quick games at 20k on IGS.

Drago's New Website

Gilles Arcas has registered a new domain for his freeware SGF tool, Drago. You'll now find it at www.godrago.net. Drago remains my favorite editor and GnuGo interface because of its ease-of-use, printing options, and its clean interface.

Final Version of Skype 2.5 Released

For all of you Go players who use Skpe for internet telephony, the final version of 2.5 for Windows has been released. You may want to download and install it.

Blog About Studying Wei-Qi in China

You might have already read that two of NannyOgg's friends have launched a new Go blog on the eve of their departure to China. Guo Juan had arranged for them to study over the summer with her teacher there. It should be an interesting read.

I only hope that they will be able to update the blog from China. I was told twice that Blogger could sometimes not be accessed from China because of state censoring.

Coming from YMI: Are you ready for Super Yunzi?

2006-06-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

Pong Yen at Yellow Mountain Imports had confirmed that they will soon be stocking Japanese slate and shell stones from Hyuga in Japan. If you've recently visited their website, you probably saw their teaser ad shown below.

Teaser ad from YMI.

They will offer Yuki (Snow) and Jitsuyo (Standard) grade stones made from Mexican clams. I had touched-upon these grades in an earlier post.

He also informed me that they are working on stocking Super Yunzi which are Sizes 38 and 41. Their regular bi-convex Yunzi stones are Size 34 (9.5mm thick) as shown in the image below.

A Size 34 Yunzi from YMI.

By Japanese standards, Size 38 is 10.7mm, but YMI's would be 10.8mm. Size 41 is 11.7mm. To give you an idea of how thick these stones would be, take a look at the image below from Kuroki Goishi Ten which compares the sizes of their thick clam-shell stones.

Comparing Sizes 34 through 40.

Understandibly, not everyone likes fat stones but I know that there are many (including myself) who love their heft.

To accomodate these stones, YMI will be offering a larger-sized Kitani-style bowls made out of Indian Rosewood. Guitarists are familiar with this wood as its veneers are often used by luthiers.

An example of a guitar made from Indian Rosewood veneers.

Virtual Conferences with a WebCam

Logitech's QuickCam Fusion

I acquired a Logitech QuickCam Fusion to experiment with video telephony and have been enjoying long-distance video conversations with some of you via Skype.

My long-term goal however is to highlight the effectiveness of virtual meetings which can be used to augment the functionality of Go clubs and allow them to expand memberships beyond their immediate geographic areas.

Currently, video telephony apps like Skype and MSN Messenger only allow 1-to-1 video telephony. Apple's iChat offers multiple-user connections with a beautiful virtual conference table interface.

Apple's iChat in action.

An experimental application, WigiWigi, allows up to nine conferees on Windows XP and Mac OSX; all with super-smooth video (as long as the camera can support the frame rate). In its current form, WigiWigi establishes a direct node-to-node connection so users need to provide each other their IP address which can be looked up using online services.

The application itself is quite simple and uses only one file; you download it and run it. There is no install procedure except for allowing the application access through Windows XP's firewall.

WigiWigi in action with eight conferees and room for one more.

Fuseki Quiz 9/20

White to play. This one seems really hard.
I chose A as an urgent move but I think it's sub-optimal.

Scoring of Last Weekend's Fuseki Quiz 8/20
(Jump to last week's quiz!)

A = 6
B = 10, B taking J3 is a big move which threatens a follow-up invasion at N3 as illustrated below. If W takes is able to extend to H3, then this opportunity would be lost.
C = 2
D = 8
E = 4

Core Library Materials and Supplements

2006-06-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

It's now been a year since I started taking this game seriously and I've learned quite a bit since June of 2005 when I started reading Janice Kim's Learn To Play Go, Vol.1 while my family was on vacation in Las Vegas.

I'm obviously the sort of Go player who learns from both books and actual play. I have collected quite a few over this year and I've decided to name the best of the best; the books that I would have wanted someone to have recommend to me a year ago.

I've divided the books into two categories and selected only those that are in-print.

Core Library - These are the books that you should have at the appropriate level. For this post, they are highlighted with a blue background.
Supplements - These are books that you don't need, but are very good and could infuse you with more ideas for faster development.

Serious Introductory Stage: Core Library

If you want just a quick introduction to the game that will get you to, technically, about 35-kyu, then you just need to use the online site The Interactive Way To Go. To achieve about 28 to 26 kyu strength on KGS, these books are recommended.

Learn To Play Go, Vol. 1 (by Janice Kim) or Go for Beginners (by Kaoru Iwamoto) - The former is, in my humble opinion, the easiest and most convenient introductory book to start with (it also comes with cardstock boards and pieces) and may work best for some younger players. The latter is a more robust introductory book with more content.
Graded Go Problems for Beginners, Vol.1

Serious Introductory Stage: Supplements

These are books that you might want to turn to for a few more ideas that could power-up your game. None of them perfectly address all the needs of advancing beginners, but all three are very good. Any would probably serve you well through your teen-kyus. If possible, try to browse all three to see which might best cover the areas you would like to improve upon.

The Second Book of Go (by Richard Bozulich) - A people's choice book. It's very popular among beginners although some senior players feel that it touches too lightly upon its subjects. The book is meant to be seminal; not comprehensive.
Basic Techniques of Go (by Isamu Haruyama and Yoshiaki Nagahara) - This is my preference because it reminds me of a textbook curriculum. I like its broader coverage of handicap Go. Some of its material may be a little difficult for beginners.
The Fundamental Prinicples of Go (by Yilung Yang) - The most difficult of these three recommendations, it is still a good book which offers more coverage of invasions and reductions (used in the middle game) as well as fundamental strategies.

Beginner Stage: Core Library

These books are good to get at about 26 kyu on KGS but the first two will probably serve you well until you have become a single-digit kyu.

Opening Theory Made Easy (by Otake Hideo) - I have yet to hear one Go player say anything to suggest that this book is non-essential. It provides key ideas that will power-up your opening and lay the strategic foundation for more successful matches.
Cho Hun-Hyeon's Lectures on Go Techniques, Vol.1 (by Cho Hun-Hyeon) - In addition to strategy, one must develop tactical skill. This is a book that you will want to turn to after you have lost a few games because of inefficient moves. While it may seem a little dry at the start, it is actually very good material for showing the why's behind efficient moves, good shape, and elementary joseki.
Graded Go Problems for Beginners, Vol.2

Beginner Stage: Supplements

I very much enjoy these two books and I get a lot of ideas out of them. At this stage, both are at the borderline pf being core library materials.

Proverbs: The Nihon Ki-in Small Encyclopedia Series, Vol.1 - This book is great for down-time reading that can still improve your game.
Fuseki: The Nihon Ki-in Small Encyclopedia Series, Vol.2 - Explains the strategies behind the popular openings and gives a basic introduction as to how they should be played - and how they should be countered.

Intermediate Starter: Core Library

For many Go players, these are the holy trinity of intermediate Go books. DrStraw (AGA 5D) considers them to be absolutely essential and the ones he would recommend if he were limited to only three books. There are those who attest that these will truly lay the foundation for achieving shodan.

Make no mistake, the material in these will be difficult even in one's teen-kyus and you will not absorb everything quickly. They are meant to be read and re-read to get their full benefits.

Tesuji (by James Davies)
Life And Death (by James Davies)
Lessons in The Fundamentals of Go (by Toshiro Kageyama)

Understandibly, some Go players may need supplements that go beyond this list to address specific areas that they're trying to develop. Before you do that, you may want first see if this list might suffice.

More information relating to book selections can be found on GoDiscussion.com's Books section and its Go Product Database.

Fuseki Quiz 8/20

Black to play. I chose D as a big point.

Scoring of Last Weekend's Fuseki Quiz 7/20

A = 6
B = 4
C = 10, Because the black positions on the lower right and left are strong, the invasion at Black 1 is just the move. If White jumps to L5, Black keeps up the pressure by jumping to J5. If Black fails to make this invasion, White will play H4.
D = 2
E = 8

Coming up on my Go anniversary

2006-05-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

The next weekend will mark roughly one year of my having taken Go as serious leisure. I'm working on a touchstone post to celebrate the occasion.

ChiyoChan has a slight cold so I'm doing a shorter blog post. She's been watching DVDs of Princess Nine while resting in bed.

A peek into my corner of the world

Yes, this is where it all comes from. Nothing special.

VincentV had collected photos of several Go players' study spaces in their homes and you can see the whole gallery on his blog.

One of them is mine. It's easy to recognize since you can see my two gobans from Yellow Mountain Imports. I've recently been using the small one to study hamete from Goama.

I like to think of my spot as The Corner of Deep Contemplation but it was, and still sometimes is, The Corner of Poorly-Played Hawaiian Ukulele Music.

Fuseki Quiz 7/20

Black to play. I chose C because seems to server a dual-purpose of
attacking two weak groups simultaneously.

Scoring of Last Weekend's Fuseki Quiz 6/20

A = 8
B = 6
C = 10, The way to nullify White's six-stone wall is for Black to first cap at J5. White must answer at L4, after which Black can start to build his own large territory on the left side with D11 (Move A). Black cannot allow White to be the first to play on J5 as it is the ideal way to make use of her wall on the right.
D = 2
E = 4

DrStraw gets me thinking about 3-4s and 3-3s

2006-05-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

DrStraw (aka Steve Fawthrop) has been an active contributor to GoDiscussions.com and he recently started a Fuseki study thread. It would be good for both beginners and intermediate players so you might want to drop by.

DrStraw mentioned that he disliked moyo games (where one plays on the star-points) which implies that his openings are probably more territory-oriented. I have a bit of an aversion right now to 3-4 openings and that's because I have no clue as to how to use them effectively. The closest thing that I play is the Chinese Opening.

He posited this sequence for analysis on the Fuseki study thread.

Is this supposed to be acceptable for White?

My immediate reaction was, "Ugh! How can White play such a slow opening? Isn't she already at a disadvantage here? What's with the 3-3 of White 4?"

Now, my assumption is that White's next move will have to be an approach to Black's Q3 stone with at either Q5 or R5. That could set in motion plays for a base to the right, a left-facing wall, or even a pushing action against Black on the lower side. The big question is how the 3-3 could fit into all this. Maybe its an intentional mistake to illustrate bad fuseki?

But the more I look at that 3-3, the more I wonder if there isn't some inherent strength in it. It's already taken the corner. It's centralized and and extension to either the left side or along the bottom is possible. Cho Chikun himself has been able to play the 3-3 with success and has written a whole book about using it in contemporary openings.

Yes, folks! There is a 214-page book on using the 3-3 in one's fuseki.
This book was $12 at Games of Berkeley.

I don't believe any of the Korean professionals use the 3-3 to a great degree in their openings but that doesn't invalidate its use. Whatever the case, the good doctor has gotten me thinking about territory-oriented openings and I may experiment with them - after I have had a chance to read-up on their proper application.

Expanding Don's Database

I've been busy helping out with GoDiscussions.com's Go Product Database. I've been adding products, typing descriptions, scanning covers, correcting images ... the works. If you've read and have an opinion on some of the items listed there, feel free to submit a rating and your comments.

You'll find a list of my product ratings on the left-hand side of my profile page there.

Another beginners' tournament coming in Berkeley?

On their website, the Berkeley Go Club has hinted that they may set up another beginners' tournament in June 2006.

ChiyoMama will be travelling to Southeast Asia in mid-June so I'm anxious to find out when this tournament will be scheduled so I can determine if I'll be able to participate. I need more real-life games under my belt.

Big Center Moyos

2006-05-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

It was Tokimaru who made me aware of Takemiya Masaki (9P). In one of our first matches, he spoke of trying to play a "cosmic style" and I looked it up. An example of this style is to build a large framework in the center of the board while one's opponent takes all of the corners.

This 1974 game between Cho Chikun (B) and Yoshio Ishida (W)
illustrates this "big moyo" style.

In two of my recent games, I found myself unable to claim the corners and won by taking large center moyos. It very much turns the old proverb, "If you lose all four corners, resign", on its head.

Toshiro Kageyama also seems to understand that the proverb is false. In page 106 of Lessons in The Fundamentals of Go, he writes:

Actually, when one side has given up all four corners he (the other side) usually has a good thick game; the only reason he loses is that he does not know how to use his thick outer walls.

Moderator on GoDiscussions.com

Don asked malweth and I to help out as a volunteer moderators on GoDiscussions.com and we both accepted.

Thus far, I've only had to take two actions; deleting spam threads. Funny how some folks will go through all the trouble of registering with a forum just to spam it. There must be good money (or great desperation) in spamming.

Fuseki Quiz 6/20

Black to play. Should you be concerned about White's large area
on the lower side? I chose "A".

Scoring of Last Weekend's Fuseki Quiz 5/20

A = 10, Because White is strong in both the upper and lower left corners, a two-point extension to C12 is the most concise and stead way to play. Black will be able to secure a position on the left side no matter from which direction White attacks.
B = 8
C = 6
D = 4
E = 2

In other news

One of you had suggested the movie, Akeelah and The Bee, to me. The Chiyo-clan watched and enjoyed it last weekend. Laurence Fishburne (aka Morpheus in The Matrix) was the producer and co-starred as Dr. Larabee.

ChiyoChan liked this movie since she herself had made it to the regional finals for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. It inspired her to play Scrabble again; and she recently beat me in four games in a row.

Thanks to Don at GoDiscussions

2006-05-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

GoDiscussions.com has turned into a vibrant online Go community since it was launched by Don back on April 3rd. He created it as a family-friendly alternative to rec.games.go (i.e. minus the spam, flames, odd off-topics et al) and he has, thus far, succeeded.

Don is only 20k on KGS and he doesn't have as much time to play or study because he's busy maintaining the forum. I saw in his bio that he had only three beginner's books in his library.

As it turned out this week, I had extra copies of James Davies's "Tesuji" and "Life & Death"; the original versions as they were published by Ishi Press. I had received them as part of a bundle of Go books that I had won on eBay when I was shopping for Nagahara's/Bozulich's "Handicap Go" and Eio's "Modern Joseki and Fuseki, Vol.2" (both now out of print).

DrStraw, Robert Jasiek and many higher-ranked players that I know consider the two Davies books to be among the very best English books for improving one's rank. I mailed my extra copies to Don as thank-you gifts for all the work he has put into the forum. Someday, he'll trounce me in a game.

Helping out with product reviews

GoDiscussions also has a fledgling product review section where forum members can add, rate and comment upon Go products. I'll probably be putting my book reviews (aka The Kyu Reviews) there from hereon so readers can compare my opinion with those of others.

You'll be able to see a list of my book reviews on my GoDiscussions Profile page.

14k, ... but don't believe it yet.

The KGS ranking system promoted me to 14k after playing only four games of which I won three. Having played few rated 19x19s since April 13th, the KGS calculations probably are more weighted towards my most recent games. I am, however, encouraged that I won even matches against kevinwm (15k) and saswiz (16k).

I won't believe my rank until after the results of six more matches.