This is more of a complaint than a question, but I was just watching In Sente’s video from January:
In this video, Using Influence to Beat the AlphaGo Metagame, two games are reviewed.
Here is my complaint: in both games where the influence is made, Black plays old-fashioned or plain bad 3-3 invasion lines. These lines have hardly been played in the middlegame, even at SDK level, since the 2016–17 AI revolution – let alone in these supposed dan-level games from 2020 or 2021!
So what is the instructional value of demonstrating how to capitalise on your opponent playing in a way that is unrealistically weak?
03:24 for the first unrealistic line, when Black enters the “pre-bot 3-3 invasion” from Play Go at online-go.com! | OGS, by proceeding with the weak hanetsugi marked C rather than the hypermodern second push A, which would go into the “hane wall mark I” line.
17:24 for the second one. This time Black plays the very bizarre and poor variation shown below:
Neither time is the strangeness of these lines occurring in the 5k+ ranks remarked on.
My impression is that these strawman games, with odd and poor play by the “territorial opponent”, are being presented as a fair example of the so-called AlphaGo metagame, when they really represent a cackhanded implementation of post-bot ideas.
In my goclub there was a rule for blitz that when you capture more as 3 stones, you can freeze the clock then remove the stones.
What is the procedure in the world of pros? With other time settings?
They EGF tournament rules say:
Clock neutralisation The clock may be neutralised, with both player’s timepieces being stopped simulaneously, in the following circumstances:
…
By a player - after having placed one’s stone - to remove three or more stones without liberty while in overtime or playing under finite thinking time rules.
… https://www.eurogofed.org/egf/tourrules.htm
@StevenageTony If you live in Stevenage in England, can I ask what Go club you attend?
Do you go into London or up to Cambridge, or just not at all? Or is there a club in Hertfordshire?
I live in Essex, and lately @teapoweredrobot and I have been talking about the sparsity of clubs in East England and the possibility of starting a new one.
English Go clubs are still prohibited to meet irl due to lockdown.
The only way to get around that would be to meet outside, like in a park or beer garden. Even then, I still don’t think a meeting of more than six people would be permitted.
Well then let’s hope for some warm and sunny afternoon! Go activities were even prohibited in parks here, but now it’s getting better.
Note that I read some scientists said that the chance of contamination outside is so much lower that there could be no reason to wear masks… Not that I want to polemic but to make everyone feel a bit safer
PS: 6 ppl? Already nice, makes 5 different people to play with, enough for a afternoon.
As @Groin says 6 for a Go club is fine and frankly I’ve yet to go to a club night where this limit would have been a problem! Most clubs are a couple of mates who play Go and call themselves a club…
Plus not long to wait now, 6 will be able to meet indoors from mid May and and 30 outside. So that wouldn’t be a problem. The issue will be about guidance for distance (how far do Go players sit from each other?) and hand and stone sanitisation requirements.
In the UK we (politicians) talk a lot about following science. The rule is that you don’t have to wear a mask outside, unless you are going to the pub beer garden, in which case you do need a mask but only if you are standing up. No masks needed if you sit down. Not sure how the Rona knows if you are standing or sitting but that’s how it is.
Hello, bugcat. Yes, our club is based in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. Teapoweredrobot knows it well, having been welcomed here on several occasions. You can find full details on our web page at:
If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me at the email address given there.
According to the British Government’s ‘roadmap’ out of pandemic special measures, there should be a possibility of meeting in real life again after 17 May. That will also depend, for us, on our host venue’s policy and whether we need to seek an alternative venue.
Our online group was established to keep our local club meeting through the pandemic. I can’t really see the point of establishing a new, geographically-based online group. If you are looking for an open online group with Discord connections, spluko has such a group. I haven’t got the details to hand, but you can search on that name on OGS and PM him for further details.
