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How to force yourself to do tsumego?
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Author:  Krama [ Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:32 pm ]
Post subject:  How to force yourself to do tsumego?
We all must do it right? In order to get stronger.

I did read that tsumego should be treated as something not related to go, like a crossword puzzle or sudoku.

So I have used many apps and websites that offer different tsumego puzzles, even downloaded those famous Cho Chikun life and death problems and bunch of other books on tsumego.

The problem is it is simply not fun for me and I find it not only hard and stressful but after a while it starts to bore me.

I know I will not improve much if I don't study life and death and tesujis, so I am looking for help. How do you make it a fun activity and not a chore?
Author:  Shenoute [ Fri Jun 03, 2016 11:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
Krama wrote:
We all must do it right? In order to get stronger.

Yes, but unless you're planning to become a pro there is nothing saying that you must become stronger :-)

Krama wrote:
How do you make it a fun activity and not a chore?

Easy problems, lots of them.

Because they are easy I know I can solve (i. e. read every sequence, not just find the vital spot) them so I stick to it.
And since they are easy I can solve them in a rather short amount of time which means that I do not spend too much time on each problem. Variety helps keeping the exercise fun.
Author:  Kirby [ Sat Jun 04, 2016 12:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
I agree with doing easy problems - that can be fun.

OTOH, getting strong is something special since it is not easy for everyone to do. If doing tsumego and getting stronger were easy, everybody would be strong... so nobody would be strong. It would not be special.

If you want a special result, you should do some special effort, right?

So I would say, you "force yourself" by observing that unusual effort leads to unusual result (average effort should lead to an average result, right?).
Author:  oren [ Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
It helps to start with good quality books and tsumego. What are you trying to do?
Author:  jeromie [ Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:43 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
My tips for enjoying tsumego:
  • Only work through high quality collections of problems. Problems with an uneven quality are frustrating. This often means that paying for a decent book or e-book is worth the cost.
  • Find problems at the appropriate skill level. Too easy and they're boring, too hard and they're frustrating.
  • Collections of tesuji problems also train your reading and are sometimes more fun than life and death problems. Even if you have trouble solving a particular problem, you can often learn a new technique that opens your eyes to future problems in the game.
  • Find life and death problems in your own games and play through variations until you're satisfied there was a better solution (or not) than what you played in the game.
  • Try out different formats. Working problems on a computer, in a physical book, or on a phone all have a very different feel to them. They also can put you in a different mindset (It's harder for me to be truly attentive when I'm playing on my smartphone; it's a device designed for distraction.)

Krama wrote:
I did read that tsumego should be treated as something not related to go, like a crossword puzzle or sudoku.


I disagree with this. At the very least, tsumego are a way to enjoy go when you're unable to play a full game.

Krama wrote:
We all must do it right? In order to get stronger.
...
The problem is it is simply not fun for me and I find it not only hard and stressful but after a while it starts to bore me.

Go problems are probably one of the most efficient ways to get stronger, but at our level they certainly aren't the only way. Since this is a hobby, we have the luxury of taking a more leisurely path to improvement than professionals. If you truly don't like doing them, find another way to study.
Author:  Krama [ Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
oren wrote:
It helps to start with good quality books and tsumego. What are you trying to do?


I have been doing general L&D and tesujis.

Free booklets written by Cho Chikun, Intermediate Tesuji
for the Aspiring Kyu Player, and Get strong at Tesuji book.
Author:  oren [ Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
Krama wrote:
oren wrote:
It helps to start with good quality books and tsumego. What are you trying to do?


I have been doing general L&D and tesujis.

Free booklets written by Cho Chikun, Intermediate Tesuji
for the Aspiring Kyu Player, and Get strong at Tesuji book.


There are no free booklets by Cho Chikun. There is a copy of an old MS-DOS program onto PDF that is around. I don't know the aspiring one. Get Strong at Tesuji could be good but may be above your level? I would recommend starting with Graded Go Problems for Beginners and work up from there.
Author:  Krama [ Sat Jun 04, 2016 12:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
oren wrote:
Krama wrote:
oren wrote:
It helps to start with good quality books and tsumego. What are you trying to do?


I have been doing general L&D and tesujis.

Free booklets written by Cho Chikun, Intermediate Tesuji
for the Aspiring Kyu Player, and Get strong at Tesuji book.


There are no free booklets by Cho Chikun. There is a copy of an old MS-DOS program onto PDF that is around. I don't know the aspiring one. Get Strong at Tesuji could be good but may be above your level? I would recommend starting with Graded Go Problems for Beginners and work up from there.


https://tsumego.tasuki.org/

I was thinking about this.

Get strong at tesuji is actually easy, Intermediate Tesuji
for the Aspiring Kyu Player is where I am mostly having a hard time.
Author:  oren [ Sat Jun 04, 2016 12:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
Yes, that link is the PDF copy of the MS-DOS program.

I still suggest Graded Go Problems For Beginners.
Author:  jeromie [ Sat Jun 04, 2016 1:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
I'm also KGS 5K, and graded go problems for beginners volume 3 is a good collection, and on the east side. Volume 4 gets quite challenging about halfway through.
Author:  Bantari [ Mon Jun 06, 2016 6:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
Krama wrote:
We all must do it right? In order to get stronger.

Depends, but I would say the answer is: NO. How strong do you intend to become? I can attest that it is possible to get to 5d without doing virtually any formal tsume-go. This does not mean you don't solve problems - but the problems you solve are the ones in your own games. Or in the games of your friends when you discuss with them. Or in pro games which you analyse.

You heard it said that you need to do tsume-go to improve. It is not true. It works for some people, others can get the with other means. Everybody is different, and I think such cookie-cutter advice is often more harmful than productive.
Krama wrote:
The problem is it is simply not fun for me and I find it not only hard and stressful but after a while it starts to bore me.

Same with me. I hate doing tsume-go. So, since Go is supposed to be fun, I never really did them. Oh, I tried as a kyu player... but like you, I quickly realized how boring they are. And so I stopped. I play Go for fun. If something is not fun, why do it? Its like saying that reading the encyclopedia from cover to cover teaches you the most. Might be true, but its a torture. You can learn what you need by other, more enjoyable, means. Reading fun books instead. Or analyzing games. Or talking to people and learning this way.
Krama wrote:
I know I will not improve much if I don't study life and death and tesujis, so I am looking for help. How do you make it a fun activity and not a chore?

Get involved in your own games more. Think harder, and longer. Same things as tsume-go... trains reading and concentration.

My opinion is that if something is fun, it teaches you the most and you retain the most. If something is a chore, you can force yourself to do it, but your mind wonders, you have no fun, and you don't get much out of it anyways.

So just have fun. Skill will come naturally in its own time.
Author:  Krama [ Tue Jun 07, 2016 3:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
Thanks, I will try your advice.

In the meantime I got my hands on graded go problems for beginners and volume 3 is quite enjoyable.

However one thing I like to do even more than playing go is analyzing pro games. For example now that I have Relentless I will study it with joy.

However wouldn't most pros tell you that doing tsumego is the most important and unless you are a strong dan player you shouldn't study pro games at all?
Author:  Cassandra [ Tue Jun 07, 2016 4:32 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
Krama wrote:
Thanks, I will try your advice.

In the meantime I got my hands on graded go problems for beginners and volume 3 is quite enjoyable.

However one thing I like to do even more than playing go is analyzing pro games. For example now that I have Relentless I will study it with joy.

However wouldn't most pros tell you that doing tsumego is the most important and unless you are a strong dan player you shouldn't study pro games at all?

Tsume-Go has the advantage that you can study many (different) shapes in a short time.
Repetition matters (i.e. pattern recognition).

This kind of time efficiency is impossible when studying complete games (either yours, or from professionals).

But whatever road you try to becoming stronger, it is very important to walk this selected road with joy !!!

When replaying professional games, it will help your progress to ask yourself about the meaning of the moves. This is possible even if you do not have a commented version.
Your explanation does not need to be the "correct" one. "Thinking" is what matters, even if it is at a Kyû-level.
If you have a commented game, much the better. You will be able to compare your thinking with the professional one ;-).
Author:  sybob [ Tue Jun 07, 2016 3:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How to force yourself to do tsumego?
Perhaps the answer to this topic is embedded in the topic question itself?
'... force ...'
Forcing does't always work.
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