Quote Mania 2

‘There is no certainty, there is only adventure.’

It’s time for the second quote mania! This was said by Roberto Assagioli, an Italian psychiatrist. I honestly have no idea who he was or in what context it was said, this is one of those quotes I just saw floating around on the internet.

Regardless, I think it is quite applicable to go.

You never know where your opponent is going to play. You might have an idea, you might even be 99% sure, there is always a chance that your opponent will play elsewhere.

I think everybody gets surprised by moves now and then, whether they are good or bad.

To me, it’s exciting when that happens. A little frustrating, but exciting. It is what makes go fun, because you’re always learning new things. When you find out that the unexpected move is bad, you have learned that it doesn’t work. When you find out it is good, you have learned a new way of playing.

I think it gets frustrating when you start judging the surprising moves as bad. ‘Nobody has played that before, therefore it is a bad move.’ Admittedly, I have done that too. Some 150 moves later  I realized that maybe, it wasn’t such a bad move after all and I should have thought about it more. Result: I had lost a very frustrating game.

So, I changed my mindset. When I play an opponent who consequently makes surprising moves, I do not get frustrated anymore, but excited. Because I will get to experience something new. Because I can learn from it. Because I can go on an adventure!

Unrealistic goals

I am seriously considering signing up for the ‘World Student Go Oza’ championship preliminaries.

Technically I meet all of the requirements to participate, so why am I doubting?

Because I obviously don’t stand  a chance.

The thing is, I don’t mind not standing a chance, but wouldn’t I be wasting somebody else’s time?

I am not even a high kyu, so it would be weird for me to participate in something like this, right?

On the other hand, they don’t mention an indication of a minimum strength anywhere, so maybe they don’t mind?

I’m probably just over thinking this.

Anyway, I have given myself time until the 23^rd of November to decide whether or not I will sign up, since registration closes the 24^th.

Until then, I am going to do some ‘semi-intense’ studying, and if this is effective,  I will sign up. If not, I probably won’t sign up either. No matter what the outcome, at least I'll be motivated to study.

As for my studying, I want to do at least one hour of problems every day, watch one lecture of ‘Becoming 5 kyu’ (GoGameGuru’s Baduk TV English service) every day, play one game (including review) every day, spend about half an hour on go theory.

That should total to about 3 and a half hours of go studying a day.

This does not include things that I do for enjoyment (e.g. watching Baduk TV reviews, replaying pro games, watching high dans play online), because I honestly don’t think that actually helps me improve, but I’ll keep doing it because it is fun J.

Quote Mania 1

I have mentioned this before, but I am a communications student. I chose that study because I'm quite into words, writing and, obviously, communicating. Although I wouldn't call myself a great communicator, I am interested in how others communicate.

Anyway, this whole blog happened because I like writing (and go, obviously). 
While I was thinking about content for this blog, I suddenly thought of a file that I have had on my laptop that I made a few years ago. It contains quotes and phrases that I think are interesting, either because they inspire me, motivate me or just because I liked the way they were written/said.

They come from all over the place.

Even though none of them were written with go in mind, some can easily be related to go. So I will try and connect these quotes about everyday life and motivation to go. Perhaps they can even be useful, but I doubt that. 
The quote for this week will be:

 'People are only what they think of themselves.'

The source is NANA (either the manga or the anime or both, I don't remember) by Yazawa Ai.