Hi friends,
I just registered on this forum to have a place where I can keep a study journal. I learned the rules a few years back, but I never really did more than solve a few tsumego and play a couple of games on KGS getting wrecked by DDKs. I have a background in chess, and enjoy that game a lot, but lately I wanted to have a second look at Go and try to actively improve at it. I will keep updating this thread at least once a week.
Starting earlier this month, I now seem to have stabilized at 8 kyu on KGS. It feels as if I don't really have a clue what the game really is about, and that the board is a vast sea where monsters constantly keep popping up from nowhere.
So far I have read "Elementary Go Series: In the Beginning" but I fear it was mostly a waste of time, as the book is way too esoteric, and the examples way too few, for the material to have any effect on my own games. On the other hand "Life and Death" from the same series has surely been useful, as the material I learn there keep showing up in practice.
My motivation is simply to get stronger. I try not to think too much about whatever rank KGS says I am at, but what I do know is at 8 kyu people - myself included - keep making ridiculous mistakes, like forgetting about cutting points, wasting ko threats, falling for cheap tactical shots and on the whole lacking whole board vision. I am definitely still in the beginner category as a Go player.
My plan for May 2015 is as follows;
1. Complete "Life and Death". By doing one chapter (which are fairly short) a day, this should be doable. I have had great success with spaced repetition software (in my case Anki) for language learning, and I might experiment with using it for go as well, starting by inputting basic shapes from this book into a dedicated Go deck.
2. Complete the first 8 chapters of "Elementary Go Series: Tesuji". I might need to revise this goal if it turns out the book is significantly easier or harder than I expect though.
3. Play at least 4 "long" games on KGS each week. (25min + 5x25 sec byo-yomi) Luckily I have a couple of stronger friends (2-4 kyu) who can help me with a little bit of analysis. I will post whatever interesting games I get in this thread as well.
Later on I aim to complete "Tesuji" and "Attack and Defense" as well. There are so many elements to Go that I need to take a slow and systematic approach to my own learning I feel, rather than going all out and risk forgetting things as soon as I learn them. As I have a full time job I need to manage my time as best I can.
Thanks for reading!
you should either set up opposing ladders, or make it so that tengen become a very good move. As it was, it certainly wasn't bad, but it's not what you would have played usually either, am I right?
is terrible, though. It's cowardly, pointless, and you should feel bad for having played it. There are cases where taking the ko can be bad, of course, but it isn't such a situation. At worst, you will answer his ko threat and then play H16. It will be exactly the same, but it will have wasted one ko threat.
: I think the best would be an approach of the lower left corner. Your wall is at a good distance of your stone is the upper-right, so a move on the upper side would be over-concentrated. Playing on the right side could be big, but it wouldn't really affect white at all, and more importantly there would still be too many entry points in your framework (the first one being the 3-3, which would be a good play by white if you played at Q10)
kicking at P17 would be better if you want to attack white. Q17 isn't terrible, as it totally kill the possibility of a 3-3 invasion, but it doesn't put as much pressure on white.
Q14 was also possible. The problem with P14 is that the fifth line doesn't secure territory well.
I like O14 personally. M18 would likely have been better than M17, because after M17, you really want to connect at L17.
I don't think it's what I would have played, but I can't find anything to fault this move.
You should enclose white group with something like M13
Premature
Defending was here is too small at this point of the game. Attack.
Why not Q15?
Well, it killed off quite a bit of aji in your P3 stone. It would need one more move to kill off completely, though. Given the fight at the top, though, it is certainly not the time to play something like this.
I think I would prefer to connect at L17, as white will have trouble to escape (if M13 for example, he will have to abandon half of his group, and I don't think other moves can succeed in breaking through). If you're fine with the ko, though...
White should at least take the time to do a real ko threat.
White N13 is nothing to worry about, so you were right in finishing the ko.
Good.
I think K13 would be better. White can't escape, and M14 would only make one eye (if J17, you can play J18-K18-J16) and make his eye false
Yeah, you're lucky to get away with this.
A bit sad that you had to kill by ko here.
115 : I think H3 would have been better. E6 would have been good. M10... I think instead of M10, playing O11, cutting off his lump of stone for further attack would be better.
I'd have been sorely tempted to start mirroring the opponent! 
- How about F16 instead? Cut through that weakness
- This move is tiny, no need to play it
- So is this though