I am struggling, my rank has dropped from 19k to 20k. I wanna improve my game, but it seems like each game I play, I’ve gotten worse. I need help. Any suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks in advance
Here’s a review.
Don’t be too hard on yourself for feeling weaker. At your level you should just seek out and absorb as much new information as possible. I tried to highlight a variety of info that could help your game in hopes that one or two ideas might stick.
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Connect your groups. Previous good moves mean nothing if the whole group gets cut and is unable to survive on its own. (The corrolary to this is: don’t leave cuts behind.)
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Do not make any effort to save single stones that perform no useful function. Take sente instead, which is often worth much more than single stones.
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Fight back a little. If your opponent is pushing you around like a bully on the playground, give him a taste of the same medicine.
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Shape is important. At your level it may be enough to avoid empty triangles. But eventually (12k or so) it’s not enough just to do that much. You also have to avoid patterns that lead to empty triangles. (There was one of these right at the start of the game.)
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Be aware that to kill a group, most of the time you want to start by closing in from the outside. It’s not good to start by plopping stones on the inside while the group wiggles to freedom.
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