Thoughts on KGS Insei League

This post is a little late, but it has to be done.

Last month I decided to play as much go as I could have, because I knew that I would soon (currently) be in school. I should probably mention my goal of shodan by euro congress, more specifically KGS shodan. Anyway to help motivate myself to play and study I joined Dinerschtien's league.

I managed to play 12 games in the league, another 25 or so on KGS and another 30 or so in person. While its not exactly as much as I could have, its still about 2 games a day. I did not utilize all of the resources of the league as I could have, but I did play the minimum required amount of games, and I did watch 3 or 4 lectures by Alex.

I found the lectures very interesting, and by far the best part of the league, the sgf game reviews were not as helpful. The main point of the league was motivation to play and it definitley did that for me. I was able to play much more seriously than I could previously, and I managed to bring my KGS level from almost 5kyu to the cusp of 2kyu. I might not have actually become stronger per-se but I learned a bit of self control.

The league would definitely benefit from having sections based on Time zones. Not having opponents who slept and worked at similar hours to me was by far the greatest inconvenience.

My school has started now and I noticed that between work, school, and Karate there is very little time for Go. As sad as this is I promise, (If you guys care at all ^^) that I will play at least one game a week so as not to forget the rules.

Oh and of course life and death on the train.

Breakfast's Insei League!

A few weeks ago Alexander Dinerschtien announced the opening of the "KGS Insei League"

It is basicly an online league/tournament/study group that imitates the style of the Korean younguseng (insei) leagues held by the Hanguk Kiwon (Korean Go Association)

Participants of the league will be broken up into several groups where they play games against themselves and the teachers.

This league starts in the New Year. It will cost $95 USD to participate each month.

There will be prizes as well, to give aditional incentive for the players.

A group: 1-place: 200$, 2-place: 100$, 3-place: 50$

B, C, D groups: 1-place: 100$, 2-place: 50$

Currently there are 40 people registered.

At the end of the year the person with the best record gets $1000 grant money to study in Korea.

Full information is here

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Honestly, I really recommend this league for anyone who wants to get better at go quickly, its not by any means a shortcut, as far as I know there are none, but its a the best way to improve that i know of. If you couple it with daily life and death of course.

Though its fun, this will be a time consuming league, prepare to devote a lot of your time to this if you seriously want to get the most benefit from it. It costs close to a hundred bucks but its a great deal. You will be getting your games reviewed by a Professional player/Go instructor as well as light commentary on your league games, teaching games, and audio lectures.

This is how we studied when i was in Korea, this is how the younguseng study. Pro's are a little different, but what they play can be called a whole other game...

Please go check it out, email backpast@gmail.com for more details

Goh Ju Yeon 2p.

A few weeks ago, the week after congress, Goh Ju Yeon 2P visited New York. I had the pleasure of showing her around. For three days we went to see various tourist attractions. For me it was a bit challenging because I had to use my very limited Korean to its limit, and for her it was likely the same. It was also very tiring walking around all day, going to bed late, and waking up early for work. However I really enjoyed her company.



On Friday, before leaving she played a few games with some of the people at the New York Go Center. Michael Fodera 2d was defeated with 4 stones, and I managed to get a win with 8 stones.

Will Lockhart, Ben Lockhart, Joshua, Kim Chaelim, Lee Hyang-mi, Goh Juyeon, Andy Liu, Lisha Li, Michael Fodera and myself got some snacks and drinks together and had ourselves a little going away party for Juyeon.

Around midnight, after having a some beers and some snacks, Andy and Juyeon decided that they would play. Apparently they had played two games earlier, with her winning both.

They were happy just to play, but we decided to make an event out of it. The kaya board was pulled out. We went to the tatami room. The two sat down and started to play. Ben and I broadcasted the game live on KGS, while everyone else came and went alternating watching the game online and live.

Although we announced it just 5 minutes before starting, over 280 people watched.

B+ 1.5