Should I take games with much stronger opponents?

I sometimes try my hand in the game challenges. Although there are not many available for my rank, I do sometimes see open challenges from players much, much stronger than me (they are available to me, I check).
I’m not sure if they actually mean to leave the opponent bracket that wide and I don’t want to annoy anyone, so I’m reluctant to take those games.
Other than a teaching game (which obviously it’s not polite to expect each and every time) and a bad mood where someone just wants to crush another player (which to be honest wouldn’t hurt my feelings much as a target), would really strong players mean to play games against TPK?
Could I take one or two of those games or it’s good manners to leave them for a more balanced opponent?

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If they’re open for you to accept, feel free to play with them. Many players don’t mind playing against much weaker players. Some even intended it to be a teaching ge and offer a review after.

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Thanks, will do! :slightly_smiling_face:

Sometimes I run into [?] accounts who are probably DDK at the most, and my general approach is to play my best at first, since they could be any strength, and then, if I notice that they are clearly weaker and I am assured of winning, I’ll switch to a more teaching-game style, though the lead will probably be insurmountable at that point, and offer to review the game after (they usually don’t accept, but ahh well). It’s definitely easier to do a teaching game when it’s unranked and you know the opponent’s strength, though. :smiley:

My guess would be that stronger players than me would be able to recognize that they’re playing a weak player earlier in the game, and have more confidence in being able to still win a close game, and thus be able to provide a closer game by playing softer moves which they know will still be more than enough to win. Whereas I’m always worried that maybe the nonsensical opening moves were by someone around my strength who just likes weird openings, and the game could still swing by a midgame mistake.

Either way, I don’t mind playing weaker players, and usually feel a bit bad hoping I didn’t put them off of the game because I didn’t want to lose rating points to a player around my level who likes to mess around in the opening. Of course, Gia is already invested in Go and probably won’t quit over a lost game, so I can kill her groups as much as I want, right? :smiley:

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How can I phrase “destroy me, wreck my stones” in a nice way? :thinking:

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The simpliest solution is to participate in the OGS ladder and challenge the people you want on the level you want:

https://online-go.com/ladder/313

This way it solves your problem of finding challenges (the tournament takes care of that),
they are players willing to complete the game (else they wouldn’t have signed up)
and you do not have to overshoot in your choice of opponents.

Preferably a good idea is to pick opponents 3-4 ranks above you while in DDK ranks, if you aim is to challenge yourself and learn more while playing and having fun :slight_smile:

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I tried the ladder but I found it a bit anxiety - inducing :confused:. I might try again after I break the TPK barrier (=never).

There is nothing to be anxious about ladders or ranks. We are not going to be pros, so the ranking in the ladder is there to add a bit of a challenge and the go ranks are there to simply have an approximation of our level and of our improvement. Certainly not something to get anxious about. Every person has its own pace, so I do not think that we should really stress over the speed of our growth in ranks.

Going up the ladder and the rank is something that comes on its own, eventually, game after game. You do not even have to check where you are in the ladder. Just hop in, challenge the people you like and “job’s done” :stuck_out_tongue: It sure sounds simplier than waiting for a random open game to become available.

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I meant anxious because a game just pops up automatically when I’m not mentally prepared to face the swamp of my rank :slightly_smiling_face::cry:.
Tournaments and game challenges at least I put on my nice galoshes on first.

You could always cancel the challenges that people challenge you to. Then they will be annulled and you will move one spot down the ladder.

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But that’s half the fun, ain’t it? I’ll take the ladder when I can be there for my games, hopefully when my open correspondence games drop to less than 10 (overlapping tournaments are stressful).

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Oh? Good to know! :slight_smile:

@Gia I would agree that ladders are a good way to find stronger players you can challenge (even much stronger players, if you like!), but I get your point.

Generally, I think it’s definitely a good thing to play against stronger players as well as against players of your level. You’ll get experience with many different styles, and especially playing against stronger players can help to learn more about the basics and give you a good foundation. When I first started playing, I had many opportunities to play against players from 2k to 3d, usually with handicap, and I learned a lot from these games (even though many people here say it’s better to play without handicap, but I still think it’s good to try both).

If you are afraid to play against someone much stronger, maybe try playing with handicap, and/or play some unranked games. Or challenge players you already know (if that helps you). Remember that everybody once started, and after all, it’s just a game. :slight_smile:

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Did you want to do that against me? :slightly_frowning_face:

No! Of course not! :smiley:
(Sorry for playing so little at the moment, by the way. I feel too tired most of the time.)

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I play in tournaments regularly, lots of SDK and even dans to face!

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Maybe this is why the forums have been so quiet. I also can’t comment or like on the werewolf thread until nighttime, so I can’t post there as entertainment, and then I don’t know what to do on here.

Everyone Wake Up!!!

The forums need your attention!!! :slight_smile:


My emoji won’t be big :frowning:

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If you hate losing, no. If you don’t hate losing and want to get stronger ,yes.

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It is of course good playing stronger players. But unless it is a handicap game if your in the 20 kyu range and your playing a 5kyu or more what will u learn? If someone is still very much a novice you need to learn such basic things as shapes, eyes, reading a move or two ahead. How can u compete against someone who knows so much more? I am around 10kyu. And what kind of fun can so much stronger of a player have against such a weaker player.

I think it is better to play players near your strength and learn basics. If u review at least 1 or 2 things from the game you will improve.

Enjoy the game and the challenge!

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