Update 19

Been pretty busy with my new job working night audit at a hotel. So I haven't been making it to go club lately and not doing a whole lot gaming-wise. I have plowed my way through most of the Shuei book. I finished his games. There are just a few supplementary games at the back that were by other players that he commented. I have also been reading the Janice Kim Learn to Play Go series. This is a series that is for beginners and lower rated players. I bought the second book a long time ago (like 2004 or so). But just recently decided to complete my collection. So I read the first book which is really basic but there was one item that I did learn from it which was that in capturing races you are supposed to fill the opponent's outside liberties first because when you fill shared liberties you are decreasing your own so you will lose the race if the opponent fills your outside liberties with their moves. I probably had heard this rule of thumb before but it struck me as a fresh piece of knowledge that I hadn't internalized yet. So then I reread the second volume which was nice. Then the third volume was a bit more interesting. And the fourth volume is definitely teaching me some stuff even though none of it is really stuff I hadn't heard before. So I have a positive impression of these books because I feel they are gentle and easy to read but contain quality knowledge at the same time. So, I mentioned in a previous post about a guy named Jackie that goes to the club that is a fair bit weaker than me. He is not an absolute beginner or anything though. So like I said, I am learning things from this series so I thought I would lend him these books. Actually, the fourth volume arrived damaged and when I asked Amazon for a refund they said that I didn't actually need to return the book. Jackie is really into recycling and getting full value out of stuff so I thought he would appreciate being gifted this damaged one (still totally readable just kind of bent and scuffed). But I thought the fourth one was slightly advanced for him so l lent him the first three as well. So, I feel happy about that. The king of value personality I have talked about before is happy that I am getting more value out of these volumes by sharing them with someone for whom they might have more impact. I did mention to my boss at work that would like to have Sunday afternoon off and it looks like that will be the case starting in June. So other than that there hasn't been a whole lot going on gaming-wise. I have felt some interest in video games again but haven't really done much of anything about it. I would like to post more often here on the blog. I mentioned to someone the other day that I thought maybe 10 posts a month would be a good target. But it just feels tough to do that. And I don't want to post just for the sake of posting. I want my posts to be good content. So we will just have to see.

Go Club 5/3/26

So I managed to make it to the go club again and had a really good time. There weren't a lot of people this time. Just four of us and Chuck only hung out for one game with Jackie. I played a number of games with Michael, the club organizer. So actually it was a really interesting experience. First off, just as we were starting the first game he was mentioning to the other two guys that he was kind of sick of playing star point (the 4-4 point) josekis which is what you have to do when playing with handicap stones. I happened to mention then that I mostly play komoku (the 3-4 point) in my even games. So then he eagerly suggested that we play even but he would spot me forty points (usually handicap stones are valued at about 10 points each.) He claimed that going first was worth roughly five or so points (which I guess is right if you believe in komi). So that was about correct for a five stone handicap. So anyways we played that way. I am kind of unsure what happened but I might have resigned. Then he had another interesting suggestion, which was to play even but the handicap would be that I could play two moves in a row on three separate occasions during the game. I agreed to try it but it felt a bit too much like cheating so I kind of ignored it in the first stage. But then I did try it in order to break into an area he sealed off. Which I think was a good decision. But then I think I used the next two on some small potatoes captures and end up allowing him to reseal the area I had broken into. So then I can't remember whether we played one or two more. But somehow the topic of playing too fast came up. So Michael got out the clock and said that I had to spend at least 10 seconds per move. He tried to hold himself to the same rule. The result was that I played dramatically better and the score was quite close in an even game. What I mean is that it was quite close before any handicap points were added. So he said that I played much better when I slowed down. And so that felt really good.

So some other interesting things were that I got to mention my favorite go author John Fairbairn and recommend his books to Michael. Also the games where Michael and I played even featured some pretty interesting josekis. So he wanted to play the Taisha, which is really old and is known as the joseki of a thousand variations. So I actually got some use out of a joseki that has appeared pretty often in the Shuei book. There is some discussion of whether this joseki is actually a bit suboptimal for my side, but like I say, it was getting a lot of play among pros during Shuei's time so it can't be that bad. Anyways, it is a way of avoiding the deep complications of the mainlines of the Taisha. So then he also started off on the Avalanche joseki which is another ultra complicated joseki although this one dates from the 20th century. Again, I played a bailout line that might be slightly suboptimal but which is definitely not terrible. Michael expressed some disappointment. But I said I don't like to memorize those variations but he said he doesn't either, he just likes to read it out (calculate) as best he can. So then I guess I kind of got the spirit because I played the high two space pincer to the high approach move which is an invitation to the Magic Sword of Muramasa which is another 20th century hair raising calculation fest. I think he actually didn't play the key move so we played some kind of other variation. Anyways, it was interesting. 

So basically I am kind of warming up to this Michael guy pretty well, he seems to be a good combination of friendly and strong that is motivating me to want to play more and try to catch up with him. It is interesting to discuss some of this stuff with him.

But then I had another interesting experience in that Jackie and I were leaving at the same time and we were going in the same direction so we walked together. Then he suggested that we have dinner together. He is a really interesting guy. He is into deep ecology and thinking about the total energy that goes into producing things from the very start of the process to the end of the lifetime and disposal of the item. He is really passionate about things like cycling and public transportation. He really has the courage of his convictions because he has really been in two major devastating accidents while cycling. Ironically one was with a bus that basically did major damage to his left arm. And the other he actually showed me traffic cam footage of where he just gets totally blasted from behind by a car and goes flying. But regardless he still rides his bike and is still an advocate for public transportation. I find it interesting though because he was railing against the bike lanes the most recent mayor has installed saying they are terribly designed and very poorly maintained. But I guess he has been really active in local politics and has participated in guidance meetings for the mayor about transportation. He also said that he ran for mayor once. So we actually sat and chatted for quite awhile before I decided to head home. So overall I feel it was a real success.

I guess the only slightly negative thing is that I am feeling a bit torn in some ways. Part of me is really grooving on go after this last session and in some ways I am wanting to kind of double down on it and like really focus on it. But I did sign up for another roleplaying session at Kaiju next weekend that would mean no go club or only a bit and then rushing over to Kaiju. The ticket is only 8 so it is not like a terrible waste if I decide not to go. (No refunds). But I just feel mixed because in some ways I was also really grooving on some of the roleplaying ideas and games lately. So part of me feels like it is good to maintain some diversity and try to avoid burnout. But there is always this impulse in me that really wants to focus obsessively on one thing. And I really do feel positive about the go club. One further issue is just that I do feel kind of weird about the roleplaying being at a bar. So just kind of mixed. Another dimension is that reading that weird stories anthology has gotten me kind of hipped on writing and like part of me thinks I would like to make writing my main focus. But that obviously pulls in a different direction. So anyways, I guess the reality is that I am not in a position where I really have to make some final choice that sets my course in stone for all time, but that is another feelings I am always tempted by.