First, let me give you some background on who I am. I became European Champion when I was 19 years old, at that time (1981), the youngest ever. Later, I went to Japan and studied as an insei and for the next 20 years or so, I was one of the best players in Europe. Even two years ago, when playing in the Prime Minister Cup, I was the best Westerner.
I was always a good fighter and loved fighting and I think all top players in the world are like that.I believe that if you want to become better in go, you just have to love fighting. I think that’s a state of mind.
When I was 2-3 kyu, I had a sudden breakthrough during a game. I loved fighting but I wasn’t very good at it. But during a specific game, I understood that my next move was crucial: it was either him or me who was gonna die. So I started reading and found myself in the midst of thick brain fog. But I really wanted to win, so I told myself not to give up and just kept concentrating - my goal was to just read JUST one move extra. And suddenly, the fog started to clear a little. I believe that because of that, I won my game. Of course, that was a huge positive reinforcement that I needed to study tsume-go (life& death problems).
This type of exercises help you clear your brain fog and visualize. That will give you confidence to fight and with more confidence you will start loving it. Once you acquire the still of visualization through exercise, it will stay with you for a long time.
And one of the most important skills to advance is to have more fun.
So have fun!
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Wow, thank you, what a great story, and nice to meet you and thank you for writing. I have a question for you–do you think using game “analysis” where you can try all the variations you want and the computer keeps track of them for you–what’s your opinion of that? I can imagine you going either way–it helps you to find the variations before you’re good at it yourself, or, it weakens you ability by using a crutch that prevents you from needing to concentrate?
Thank you again, it’s so interesting to hear about!
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This is go
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