Toshiro Kageyama’s comments in his book are so true. I am at this barrier and can’t seem to break through.
Stronger players are beating me because they are stronger and weaker players are catching up to me so I have trouble dealing with them now.
Does anyone have any advice on how to break through?
It depends on what you’re hung up on. I’d suggest making some review requests on the forum for games you’ve played so people can point out your weakness.
Go isn’t just one skill. It’s a collection of skills. Usually when you’re stuck it’s because there’s one particular area you’re not improving in.
Yes. In my oppinion, the number one aspect of a ddk-player that can improve is the safety of your groups…
Its very easy to feel like you are falling behind if you play “safe” so they try to play everywhere, resulting in many weak groups.
If you just stick to the rule “only have one weak group” and dont play elsewhere until that group has a margin of safety so that you can always make life if you need it, you will see a quick increase in strenght. the thing to remember is that the benefits come later in the game. you will notice that as the game progresses, your groups strenght will eat away on your opponents weakness.
Remember, safety first!
Are there any rules when requesting a review in the forum eg. Asking if opponent agrees?
I don’t believe so. All games on the site are matters of public record.
Yeah I’ve been paying a lot of attention to that but also to trying to keep sente as well. Trying to find the right balance.
well you cant keep sente. thats whats making your groups weak. i suggest you try to not take sente as soon as you can and be ok with a defensive gote move… what you will see is that your oponent tries to keep sente and leaves weaknes behind. and then, whenyou natualy get the initiativ back because some sequenceends in gote for opponent, you have lots of weak spots to attack =) .
the thing about sente is not to leave a situation prematurely, but to try to initiate sequences that end in sente. if you are already in a sequence that ends in gote, its a mistake to omit some move just to play elsewhere… especially in the beginning, because then you probably just create another group you have to defend and you suddenly have two groups you have to worry about … its worth the patience