Quote Mania 7

"Before I fall, I’ll look up to the sky with a smile." 

 From a song from the Prince of Tennis Musical

I am writing this right after I lost a pretty interesting game. I was white and my opponent played a cross-fuseki (well, I accidentally let him). Cross-fuseki's are my mortal enemy. I don't know why, but whenever one is played, either by me or my opponent, I start playing badly. That is not the topic, but I just wanted to throw my frustration out there.

Anyway, I felt like I was on the losing end the entire time, made some not-so-smart decisions (as if I ever make smart decisions) and he/she ended up with a big moyo that I had to invade. I almost lived, but almost isn't good enough so I lost. To get to the point, the game was frustrating, but fun.

In Quote Mania 3 I said that losing games is important to get stronger (which also happens to be general knowledge). But that's not the only thing. For most people, it would get boring to always win their games. Where is the fun if there is no challenge?
Sure, the best would be a game that is a challenge but you still win (for me anyway), but should I let that stop me from enjoying a game where I lose?

Not only did I learn something, I had fun playing and got motivated to do some more studying. Losing can, and should, be fun as well!

May Challenge

Yes, this is way overdue and I apologize! But, even though May already started a few days ago, there is still time to start this months' challenge!

This months' challenge will focus on something that I have been systematically forgetting and avoiding.
Reviewing my own games:

Learn from your mistakes

Game count: 10+5 

 For some, this will be no challenge at all, as reviewing their games is second nature. After you played it, you go over it to see what could have gone better, where you went wrong/where your opponent went wrong, what went well, etc.
For me though, well, I just don't do it. There is always this idea in my head that I can't find my own mistakes anyway. So, it's time for change!

For this month, I will go over all of the games I play (at least 10, but more is always better) and find at least one 'learning point' that I should work on. This doesn't have to take very long, just a quick look is enough. But, I have to review at least 5 more games in depth, and find 3 'learning points' per game.

Of course, if you don't already do it, I challenge you to do the same!

Do you accept the challenge?

You can change the game count to fit your playing schedule, so let me know if you join me!

April Challenge: Complete!

April has come to an end, and so has the April challenge!

Of course, the big question is, did everybody complete it?

As for me, well, I barely completed it. Between university assignments, travelling and training, I didn't have as much time as I would've wanted for go. The biggest issue being that I was gone for 2 weeks to travel (which, by the way, was amazing) and I got a bit sick before that. So I had to play 4 of my 5 games in 3 days, with a deadline for an assignment looming over me.
On the other hand, it's not a challenge if it's easy, right?

So, without further ado, here are my results for this challenge:

Losses: 3
Wins: 2

Actually, that is not too bad! I think I learned quite a bit during this challenge. The 3 losses all happened in the same way. My mindset was focused on one goal: 'Be aggressive!' I cut and invaded anywhere I could and ended up scrambling around, trying to take care of all of my own weak groups. Oops.
Then I changed my mindset. Sure, I had to be aggressive, but that doesn't mean I should be stupid about it. So I stopped cutting and invading everywhere, and tried to think about what I should attack, and how in order to get profit. Although I of course didn't get it right all the time, it proved to be a much better strategy than forcing myself into a blind rage.
I also noticed that my small, but (almost) daily go problem sessions are paying off. In one game, I saw that I could use a squeezing tesuji and killed a big group!

For now, I am quite happy that I can allow myself to go back to playing calmer games, but I also feel that I am less afraid to attack when I see the chance. I really hope that will benefit my go!

So, even though I hardly completed the challenge, I do consider it a success!!

Now, how did your challenges go?
So far, I know from the awesome bengozen that he completed his challenge, at a tournament even!!
I look forward to hearing how you all did and if you consider the challenge a success or not!


PS. May has already started, and there will be a may challenge, but it won't be up until tomorrow or the day after (because, uni..)! Of course, if you have ideas for challenges, they are still very welcome!