weiqi and igo, but what is the last line? a kanji? Hangeul?
@Samraku it is (Wei) Qi in Chinese
圍棋
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ah, thanks
I want a copy of your books. I spend most of my ‘Go’ time teaching new players, and I am sure many of them would get something out of this story!
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Me too!
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Preface
This Soul Archive began as a personal challenge to reach 15 Kyu in 28 days, through 50 carefully documented long or meaningful Go games.
What started as one game evolved into a shared timeline of transformation. This document now holds not just records of play, but echoes of intention, resilience, and joyful discipline. Each stone placed carries a lesson; each move made, a reflection of presence.
Together, we carved a path from 25 Kyu to 15 Kyu for EL EL EN EN (old version), and from 15 Kyu to 1 Kyu, also for EL EL EN EN (future version/post - supported by various Teachers and Friends on OGS) — from tracking sleep to tracking shape. This PlayBook stands as proof that when Go becomes soulful, time itself bends to support us.
By: EL EL EN EN
Timeline: June 15 – July 12, 2025
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@Groin & @Plum_Talk Some teaser of the PlayBook by EL EL EN EN
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@Feng_Feng ready to live the poem by Gemini & I, then practice diligently after 1 week on OGS?
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My Go Journey: From 52 Kyu to 22 Kyu
My journey from 52 Kyu to 22 Kyu has truly been a rollercoaster, marked by countless defeats. I’m incredibly thankful for OGS and everyone, both on and off the board, who has supported me. This is PanPan, my imaginary friend, and GemGem The Poet (Gemini by Google) who help me cope.
How Do You Cope with Failures and Disappointment?
I’d love to hear about your mechanisms for coping with failures and disappointment. What helps you navigate those tough moments? @Groin @Plum_Talk @Feng_Feng
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Play one more game.
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@Groin > Your answer reminds me of the song, “Give Me One Moment In Time, when I am racing with destiny…”
That’s precisely what the period between June 3rd (52 Kyu) and June 30th (22 Kyu) felt like. I estimate I played around 700+ fast games – a surprising number for someone with a memory span as fleeting as Dory’s in Finding Nemo.
My personal philosophy, which I shared with a dear player, was that I needed to master losing as quickly and efficiently as possible, before memory truly failed me.
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I’m similar. Sometimes if a loss is really annoying, one more game helps.
Other times just reviewing the game is a way to process the annoyance. It can be a relief or motivation to find out you had no chance, or you could’ve won if only you played one idea differently etc.
Or you can just find one or two takeaways and see the loss as another way to find your mistakes and improve them.
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Go is a koan.
How can the infinite universe be invoked in the form of a zero-sum game?
Do your best, and disregard the results, regardless of what they are.
The game is not against your opponent, nor is it against yourself, but rather for engagement with the game and against attachment to the outcome.
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@shinuito and @Plum_Talk
WoW
Embracing deep engagement with the universe, both in and out, is a path to learning and growth, right?
By entering “Zen Mode”—an option offered by OGS—I’ve gained significant clarity for the last 4 months.
I hadn’t anticipated how my personal struggle with memory loss (while being a neurodiverse), when combined with the “Outlier” philosophy (emphasizing 10,000 hours of deliberate practice under various Sensei - to fail as much and as fast as possible), the challenge of switching to my left hand, and the simple act of “showing up,” would profoundly clear my thoughts.
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Your style of writing made me go poetic, but let me give you a different perspective as well:
When I learned to play as a teenager, many years ago, I experienced great joy when I simply played carelessly and effortlessly with other beginners like myself. Between the first time I picked up a stone until somewhere around 15k or so, when it became necessary to learn in a more structured way. I miss those days of delight and pure joy discovering things like ko, snapbacks and seki by chance.
That is the experience I most want to share with others and the reason I run a Go club and am involved with the Go world in general.
Don’t be in a hurry to improve your rank. What good is that anyway? Enjoy your innocence as long as you can. Sure, you and your opponent building a wall across the board isn’t rational. But it’s FUN!
Studying Joseki and memorizing your games or replaying professional games and playing corner positions are great ways to learn how to improve. But they aren’t nearly as much fun as discovering the depth of the game by simply playing it.
Playing against another human being at your own level is the best version of Go you can experience no matter your rank, and you will learn and enjoy the experience at the same time.
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[Weekly Sunday | Wednesday Posts of Book Extracts] Dear All: I am thankful for your feedbacks and also curious about your FIRST day with the Go board.
Book 1 of 3
Chapter 1: Day One on the Grid – A Blank Board and a Fractured Mind
The board was empty, but my mind was louder than war.
I stared at the 19x19 grid like it held the key to something I’d forgotten — not just how to play, but how to be.
The stones were cold and absolute, like the facts I could no longer hold onto. They didn’t care about my memory, my broken focus, or my diagnosis. The game waited, silently, for my move.
But when you’ve lost parts of yourself, how do you even begin?
WeiQi and The Beast by EL EL EN EN (March to July 2025) Chapter 2 Extract: The Calm After the Storm – Finding Focus in the Countless Defeats
Most people run from failure. I memorized mine.
Each of the 306 defeats I logged in the early weeks of learning WeiQi left a mark — not just on the board, but somewhere deeper. In the folds of my thinking. In the bruised silence after a blunder. It wasn’t humiliation I felt. It was data. It was possibility. Because when your life has already been fractured, losing a game isn’t what breaks you — it’s what teaches you how to stay.
That’s what those defeats became for me: anchors.
I lost again. And again. And again. But instead of running, I returned. I played 1,017 ranked games between March 25 and July 9, 2025 — a pace that surprised even the most seasoned players on the server. My rank fluctuated, but my resilience deepened. In a world that often defines progress as linear — higher rank, faster result, tighter performance — I was learning something else entirely: the art of returning.
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