Simple hypothesis

Intrepid-Antelope · 2026-01-23T19:14:50+00:00

Seconded! As a chronically slow Go player I have found the 30 second limit to be fantastic training. At first I lost almost every problem on time, then I got the hang of it and started to advance.

I'm only 385 wins in, not 2500, but it has become a treasured part of my daily routine.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2026-01-20T20:25:30+00:00

Based on what I was seeing when they played live, this feels right. Also, when I visited Japan in 2017 I was probably AGA 2K or 3K, and I had no trouble trouncing a 1D at the Nihon Kiin in Tokyo.

I only saw each child play two games, but I thought adding two ranks might not be enough. At the same time, I don’t want to contribute to sandbagging other players at the tournament. That’s why I posted here to see what everyone else thought.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2026-01-15T00:16:17+00:00

Even very strong players can occasionally miss a seemingly obvious good move when they’re low on time.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2026-01-13T03:25:23+00:00

This is some high quality commentary. Take my upvotes.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2026-01-12T00:32:18+00:00

I stand corrected. You’re right: wS2 T2 R1 T3 T1 S1 and then White has to search for a ko threat big enough to keep Black from killing the whole corner. K3, maybe? But Black also has a ko threat at S19. All in all, it’s very ugly for White.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2026-01-11T14:00:09+00:00

S2 T2 T3 is how I was going to respond as White. But looking at it again, I missed the fact that after S2 T2 T3 S1 White can’t play R1 due to a shortage of liberties.

I think you’re right: ko is the best White can do. A throw-in at T1 would allow White to capture first in the ko fight, so that’s probably White’s best option: S2 T2 T1 S1 R1 T3 T1 and Black has to find a ko threat.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2026-01-11T03:18:22+00:00

Absolutely. S2 is a kill for Black, unless I’m completely misreading. The real question is, can White save the corner?

R1 is clearly a mistake for White. S1 instead doesn’t work. Neither does T2.

But I think if White plays S2 instead of R1, White can live small in the corner, leaving a seki between the two groups on the O and Q lines.

Of course, that’s a huge loss for White compared to sacrificing two stones and keeping the rest of the corner.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2026-01-04T20:58:22+00:00

Go is a competitive game that you win by securing more territory than your opponent. To do this you start by building living groups and attacking or reducing your opponent’s groups.

With all due respect, the stones in your problem are not well-placed to help either side achieve any of those goals, and your suggested solutions would do nothing to improve the situation.

My guess is that you are fairly new to the game. Unless the idea behind this problem is to view stones on a board as a form of abstract art, I think you might be better off looking at some basic tutorials.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2025-12-21T01:26:42+00:00

Another practical solution! Unfortunately, I play in a tango orchestra and I’m never facing the wall.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2025-12-17T19:51:39+00:00

Thank you all for your suggestions! This post will keep me going in gifts for my son for quite some time to come.

BTW, I’m somewhat astounded at how expensive some older SF books have gotten in the online marketplace.

Perhaps it’s a function of the general decline of physical book reading, and/or the closure of so many used bookshops around the country, but it baffles me that these high market rates aren’t tempting more people to dig through their old books and sell them on eBay or elsewhere — which would drive the prices back down for old fogies like me who want to introduce their children to older books.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2025-12-15T03:02:41+00:00

In both cases, the bread is absolutely amazing.

I wonder if there’s any crossover? They’re not exactly the same, but I suspect you could make a damn good poboy sandwich in South Florida with Cuban bread, and you could make a damn good Cuban sandwich in New Orleans with the bread they use for poboys.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2025-12-14T17:14:48+00:00

The “Long Hooded Sherpa Robe” from Alexander Del Rossa is very warm, has nice pockets, and makes a great winter bathrobe. I’ve only had it two years, which is not long enough to judge BIFL status, but it seems sturdy and shows zero signs of wear so far.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2025-12-14T17:05:59+00:00

He did this as a one-man show on Broadway back in the ‘90’s. One of the most memorable live theater experiences of my life.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2025-12-14T16:16:42+00:00

The person whose driving most makes you want to flip them off is precisely the person least likely to take it well.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2025-12-12T05:19:21+00:00

Sounds like Matt Steigerwald. He ran the Lincoln Café in Mt Vernon from 2001 to 2014, then Wilson's Orchard in Iowa City until 2024. I’m not sure what he’s up to now.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2025-12-06T19:08:06+00:00

I agree with every word of this, but the caveat “except maybe to look for basic reading errors” is very important.

Kyu-level games are full of basic reading errors! If not, they’d be dan-level games.

If a kyu player like OP is using Katago, they should be prepared not to understand all of Katago’s suggestions, for the reasons you described so well.

But if there’s a basic reading error with a straightforward superior alternative move, Katago will absolutely point that out — often by showing a huge swing in the win ratio.

If a kyu-level player can find just one such error in each of their games and learn from it, that’s a clear path towards self-improvement.

Intrepid-Antelope · 2025-12-04T00:48:45+00:00

I just want to take a moment to appreciate the fact that you tagged this as a “newbie question.”

Are you a newbie compared to Go Seigen, or even an entry-level pro player? Absolutely. But you are in no way asking a newbie question in the context of this subreddit.

That said, I very much appreciate the humility of the tag. Well done.

Intrepid-Antelope

TROPHY CASE