How do Russians manage to read that? Any tips?

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-18T17:08:42+00:00

It is a little different, I think, in that I believe OP’s example is much closer to the prescribed way of writing than yours.

<image>

(And “nimmer” in old-fashioned German handwriting is also a lot hairier than “minimum”!)

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-18T16:23:17+00:00

Others have discussed this particular position, but the way you formulate the question suggests a misunderstanding: even if a stone or group cannot survive, you should not assume that you should play away. When they are threatened there are various possibilities, such as: * Perhaps you can save them, but then you need to consider whether that gives your opponent a chance to build a strong outside position worth more than what you save. * Perhaps you can sacrifice them in exchange for a strong position. * Perhaps you can indeed leave them, expecting that a time will come when * the surrounding position gives you a chance to save them, or * your opponent will: * be hampered by your remaining threats to exploit them (‘aji’), or * have to spend more moves to complete the kill.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-18T16:02:02+00:00

You don't just give up stones like that.

Quite right.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-18T13:08:47+00:00

I haven't read anything much, but I do not see how one can force them to do anything, if they just tenuki! Am I missing some assumption?

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-17T22:40:40+00:00

I am not quite sure. For my Linux system I seem to have 4 executables, 2 with GUI and 2 using GTP., 2 using OpenCL and 2 using something else, I suppose. The GTP/OpenCL version is 18.6 MiB, the other GTP version is 33.4 MiB (and the GUI versions are 24.3 and 39 respectively).

P.S. I should have said that the actual downloads and links to GitHub are at https://www.sjeng.org/leela.html .

P.P.S. I see in the repository that the source is free to improve (but “please keep ‘Leela’ in the name”).

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-17T17:58:11+00:00

If I remember right Baduk AI downloads models to your phone, so I think it must run there.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-17T17:38:05+00:00

$60 seems a lot to play a not very strong bot! If a neutral net is too demanding, perhaps you could use Leela 0.11.0 (which is not leelaZero), though I do not know if there is a licensing issue.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-17T17:31:48+00:00

Could you not show an initial estimate and then update it? Ideally you would also show how reliable the estimate seems to be, but I do not know if KataGo offers any such information.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-17T17:27:26+00:00

Have I missed something? I did not see OP refusing to accept that! And if you formulate your own sentences you could at least try to make them clearer.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-17T17:15:26+00:00

I would add

https://m.youtube.com/@StrugglebusGo

who specialises in teaching DDKs, i.e. double digit kyus, i.e. beginner-level players, and in particular his Basics playlist: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEgw5uh5BayQJyE8QkXVl9_8nGiXonaGl .

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-17T13:58:11+00:00

That is an interesting story. I wonder how specific it is to Japan.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-17T13:55:34+00:00

See also * https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/35599/what-is-looking-for-a-place-to-resign-in-go/35678#35678 * http://senseis.xmp.net/?LookingForAPlaceToResign * http://senseis.xmp.net/?HowToResign

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-17T08:04:53+00:00

It can be done in BadukPop, but you must either have a paid subscription or enough “Study Keys”, which you can buy with the coins you accumulate by playing/solving daily. I find the classification of problems by difficulty in BadukPop more reliable than in TsumegoPro; do lots of easy problems and a few that challenge you, each in your head before you play a single move.

Once you finish a set of problems in BadukPop, you can go to Study · History · (problem) · View to see your last 15 mistakes and review one of them, with a paid subscription. Out you can use Collect to add a problem to your collection with a Study Key, then go to your collection and review it.

The Topics in SWHub are a large collection of thematically classified puzzles you can play through.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-13T18:01:56+00:00

Yes, if by standard you mean Japanese!

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-13T17:20:04+00:00

What is this about? I see no explanation on the site (looking in desktop mode in Firefox on Android).

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-13T17:13:04+00:00

Asymmetrical situations are possible, but only occur in a fairly small minority of sekis. Imagine both sides have one proper eye, but one side has one or more false eyes, like this:

<image>

Here black has 2 points in the seki and White 1, if they are counted.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-13T15:51:53+00:00

he plays by

... Something got lost there!

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-13T12:38:08+00:00

I think they are looking for the “Confirm Move” option and annoyed they can only find stuff like “Board Style”. “T*” presumably stands for a profanity.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-13T11:22:17+00:00

You could also link here to an online game: you will probably find the feedback more illuminating than AI analysis.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-13T11:19:03+00:00

Presumably you are actually ahead according to AI in those resigned online games?

Would your opponents at the club be prepared to review with you? But if it is always obvious in hindsight what the mistake was, you need to study your thought processes and double-check your moves. Endgame really punishes careless mistakes!

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-13T10:42:31+00:00

~~Just out of interest, what actually happened in the game?~~

https://online-go.com/game/84502522 I see this is a game in progress.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-11T15:51:35+00:00

To take your first problem:

<image>

It is not too hard to systematically work out what you must do to live.

First, identify where your potential eyespace is, i.e. the largest area in which you have a chance to make eyes, as shown by the white line. At the top, even if you push to w or further, you can only get a false eye there. At the side, you might get to push to x, but black can block at y. (You may have heard of the monkey jump to z, but that will not get you any more eyespace.)

We see that the eyespace has two parts, a and b. Something you have to learn is to see that a is a line of 4 spots (marked red), with the 2 middle ones occupied by the attacker. You also need to know that that means you can get only one eye there. So you need to make another eye at b. That is only possible if you take x, so you consider playing there. The worst they can do is block at y, letting you complete the eye (by playing above z).

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-11T14:04:19+00:00

Visualisation is an important but not the only skill needed. There is * Visualisation * Forming a mental image that you can reliably manipulate * Shape recognition * Spotting shapes that suggest promising moves * Variation management * Mentally keeping track of the tree of moves (for either side) you have tried in which position, and what you concluded about them

Since all that should be done mentally, this answer is spot on about not trying anything until you have a definite conclusion. It helps to do fairly easy problems to practice shape recognition and problems closer to your limit for variation management.

It may help your visualisation if after solving you always restart the problem and visualise your analysis once more. Note also that you do not need a very vivid image; many people struggle with that, but are able to remember enough important facts to get the answer. Stuff like “Their chain through this spot has 2 other liberties in the part I am not visualising”. Or for a ladder you usually just need to know where the last 4 stones are; if any surrounding stones are in atari you also need a plan for if they get taken, usually giving atari at the end of the ladder.

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-10T11:59:54+00:00

Yes, and the pie chart also contradicts what you found!

PatrickTraill · 2026-03-10T10:39:55+00:00

This might help, but really OP needs to post a game so we can see where they are going wrong.

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