Igo ego agogo

[pasithea]

I've been studying a lot of Go recently. Actually checked out a book from the library and read it and I've been doing studies of go problems nightly and playing with Stacey, people at work, on SecondLife, and KGS. I'm finding that it's a very good game for me. It spurs me into deep meditation. Also, as a microcosm of my behavior, it's proving useful as an analysis tool for my broader behavior.

Very often, I can see when I've made a bad move or a series of bad moves or a move that will hurt me later. At least at this stage, they are all various forms of ego or carelessness. I've observed myself more than once fight over a few points while leaving a high-pointage issue very vulnerable. I've also seen myself leave something unresolved to go do something else that seems 'more important' for that moment but because I haven't paid enough attention to the task I was working on, it falls apart. Overconfidence is definitely my weak spot. Particularly in KGS games (which are timed) I play considerably better against someone who is 15kyu than I do against someone who is 20kyu because I don't feel challenged by them and that causes me to get very overconfident and leave myself open to failures that just should not happen. This easily translates to normal life. Often in working on projects, I'll procrastinate on some easy task because I'm more interested in something 'more challenging'. Then the easy task comes do and I'm finding myself scrambling to catch up.

On Tuesday, I went with Stacey and Avona to the Sunnyvale Go club. Was rather fun, though I got beat by a four year old. ... Actually, I could have beat him quite easily. He was only playing at about 20kyu but I started feeling bad about my first game at the club being one where I mashed a toddler. So I backed off my assault a bit and he won by 4 points. ... I look forward to playing his brother who is 7 both in age and kyu rating but at the moment I'd be no challenge for him. :)

Of course, never let it be said my I don't do something with total passion. Over the past week or so, Stacey and I have also watched almost the entire series of Hikaru No Go. ... I must say that even ignoring my obsessive tendencies, this has been one of my favorite anime series. It stays very focused on telling a good story. While it initially employs a supernatural element, it never really becomes a dominant part of the story. It stays rather focused on the real world. ... I found that quite refreshing. Also, there aren't any 'bad guys' in it. There are adversaries, yes, and people who don't play fairly, but save for a few one-episode side plots, everyone that seems like a bad guy or who has supernatural talent is revealed to be just another person who has some character flaws and may or may not be a good person but they aren't patently GOOD or EVIL. ... I honestly can't remember the last time I've seen that in a show aimed at children.

And finally... It would seem Go is everywhere in my life lately. It's even invading my politics. Per http://www.usgo.org/news/ President Obama gifted a custom Go board to Hu Jintao. ... Now I'm left wondering how well each of them play. :)

Comments

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

Go is a very, very addictive game.

It's a wonderful game, though.

Where is the Sunnyvale Go Club?

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

Sunnyvale of course. :)

http://www.sunnyvalegoclub.org/

I'm only being elusive because it's at a private home and I feel like at least until I know them better, the host should do the invites.

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

Oh. There's also a Go Center in SecondLife. It's rather nice. I like it. :)

[cortezopossum.livejournal.com]

I might have to start going to that. I started playing Go a few years back but kind of lost most of my go partners. I never played very much though so I don't know what 'rank' I'm at.

[zeeth_kyrah]

I'll have to check that out. Watching a board game is much easier on my computer than watching a crowd in motion.