Poll: How do you improve?

General Go Discussion
1

Recently vox pops seem to be the hype on this forum, so I’ll butt it with an on-topic poll.

What ways do you use to improve your Go playing abilities?

Please choose only those things that you do regularly. Let’s say, at least weekly.

  • I read books
  • I browse internet resources (e.g. senseis)
  • I watch videos / streams
  • I watch professional games
  • I study / memorise professional games
  • I study / memorise AI games
  • I practice tsumego
  • I study joseki
  • I memorise joseki
  • I review my games on my own
  • I review my games with a stronger player
  • I review my games with AI
  • I frequent a go club
  • I have a teacher / attend class
  • I play teaching games with a stronger opponent
  • I play games against myself
  • I play, like, a lot. I mean, really a lot…
  • I don’t try to improve

0 voters

Same poll, but now single choice for the one you do most / learn most from / like most:

  • I read books
  • I browse internet resources (e.g. senseis)
  • I watch videos / streams
  • I watch professional games
  • I study / memorise professional games
  • I study / memorise AI games
  • I practice tsumego
  • I study joseki
  • I memorise joseki
  • I review my games on my own
  • I review my games with a stronger player
  • I review my games with AI
  • I frequent a go club
  • I have a teacher / attend class
  • I play teaching games with a stronger opponent
  • I play games against myself
  • I play, like, a lot. I mean, really a lot…
  • I don’t try to improve

0 voters

9 Likes
2

Also, please discuss at length why your way of studying is superior to every other method :slight_smile:

1 Like
3

I fear that I’m incompatible with your poll methodology. I do quite a lot of things (I feel) but certainly not weekly so the only option remaining is that I am not trying to improve, although I do feel I am trying to improve, just not very quickly.

2 Likes
4

You’re assuming that I improve …

5 Likes
5

Well, there’s improving and there’s trying to improve

3 Likes
6

Feel free to relax that condition, and read it as “a large part of my time spent on go is spent on …”

1 Like
7

You forgot

I LAUGH AT GO RELATED MEMES

14 Likes
8

Ok, and since I’m clarifying the criteria can “I play, like, a lot. I mean really a lot” mean “I play so much that the wife gets cross about how much I play” even though I suspect that half a dozen concurrent correspondence games is not that much playing?

2 Likes
9

It is not. It is fully customized to my laziness. :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
10

I guess your wife would agree that that’s a valid criterium then

1 Like
11

To me, this poll is missing some notable ways to improve:

  • I teach others
    This is the explanation effect. I haven’t really learned something until I can explain it to someone else. I attribute most of my improvement after 6k to this.

  • I practice
    This is distinct from playing games. It’s repetition, trying things, and making adjustments until you get it right.

  • I discuss Go with others
    Like teaching, talking about Go stuff and listening to others on this forum and elsewhere helps refine my own understandings.

12 Likes
12

Do you know if I can add options later without ruining the vote?

I wanted to allow others to add options, but it didn’t seem possible.

1 Like
13

I did it before in a poll, press enter, * with a space and the option you want.

Edit: maybe it’ll ruin stuff and it was just a work around.

14

I’d be careful with that - I share Vsotvep’s suspicion that ths will lose the votes…

4 Likes
15

There, tonybe fixed it.

2 Likes
16

I tested in a PM with discobot: it does lose the results, but when you try to vote again, it does remember your original vote, so you only have to look at the new options…

Edit: No it doesn’t, the vote vanished after reloading the page.

2 Likes
17

In any case, these are some very good points :slight_smile:

3 Likes
18

Most of all, I like to goof off on a go forum (post memes, make polls, rules pedantry, etc).

One day, I discovered that I could remove the word “forums” from the URL and go directly to http://online-go.com, which is a nice little website that has an interesting game involving black and white stones.

11 Likes
19

I followed the “weekly” stricture in my reply, but I have read go books and hope to again (when I retire, perhaps in a year and a half). I have read a lot in SL, but not recently. And I do self-review all my games; however, I don’t play much online, and my IRL games are not recorded. After the IRL games, we generally discuss the major points in the game.

2 Likes
20

“Playing Stronger Players” is a great one - especially with Analysis Off (and definitely unranked, so you don’t have any silly psychological pressure and can just learn)

I want to tip my hat to @Kosh who has been my teaching-partner in that: it’s been awesome.

8 Likes