Big day tomorrow.

Hi again.

I haven't been writing for a couple of days, because I've been trying to get over a summer flu or heyfever or something that's been clogging up my sinuses lately, and also trying to prepare myself for the tournament we are hosting tomorrow. It's going to be an early wake up so I'll be hitting the bed quite soon now. It wouldn't do to play tired, after all.

Just sayin' I'm so going to get beaten this time, being a mere 7 kyu or whatever, going up against some 1 to 3 dan players.

Wish me luck! :)



^^

"For the Meijin, there is no such thing as Joseki."

So I watched this wonderful game tonight, between Takemiya Masaki 9p and Goto Shungo 9p.

I have very little time now before going to bed, but I just had to link to the video. The game was very exciting, and while I am dead tired, I just couldn't take my eyes off the screen. If you were wondering, Takemiya is the one who plays the "cosmic style". The video is subtitled in English, not sure if they work in embedded videos or not, but if not, you can always go directly to YouTube and watch it there.

I hope you liked it as much as I did. These guys really make the game look simple, and by listening the commentators you can learn a good deal of new tricks.

Good night, and have good games, as always!

^^

Kylmä kivi – Cold stone (tournament)

25th July, is the name day of Jaakko (Jaakonpäivä, illustration from Google doodles). (From Wikipedia:) According to an old Finnish legend, Jaakko throws a cold stone in the waters on 25th of July, on his name day, symbolically freeing himself of the burden of sins. (Which in turn refers to the religious myths of St. James' Road to Santiago.)

The myth of Jaakko and the cold stone was believed to be the reason for the cooling of waters, and generally marked the end of mid-Summer and nearing of Autumn.

Cold stones, indeed... We actually think they need warming up. So...

Interesting review

Just watched this excellent video stream review made by xhu98 (of the Nova League) and theduddha2 yesterday. Here they talk about the last public game of the Meijin, Honinbo Shuhei 9p which he played against Kitani Minoru 7p. A fine example of true dedication in the game. A must watch for anyone who likes Go. Go ahead and watch it if you have the time!

Practice #1

Don't do too many tsumego in a row. Especially if it's 2 o'clock in the morning.

Just sayin'.

Here's a simple one just for you:

My friends are too strong. ;)

I went to the go club today, and surprise surprise took Leo there with me. He seems to enjoy coming there and even played one game, slowly. (I'm puzzled if the old Batman re-runs that can be seen on the big screen there have something to do with his apparent enthusiasm though.)

Blogging about Go

I noticed there is a trend.

Parenting and go.

Improving one's skill is a gradual progress. No one is born a master, and while some definitely have the capability to learn faster, it certainly doesn't mean the rest of us couldn't learn the same things, or that the fast learner didn't put in any effort in what they learned. Even prodigies like Mozart had to spend time and effort into learning their trait.

Normal club night.

Since the bar owner doesn't seem to mind it, I took Leo to play some games and drink lemonade at the club today. There were three regular members attending tonight. Pretty normal, down a bit from our heyday, but enough to make a game.

Leo got to play two games on the 13x13 board, against a 1dan, and me. He did lose to our friend with 13 stone handi by 12 points, but managed to beat me with 9 stones by resignation. So... I Finally got to see some real determination in his play!

Kids and Go

In my previous blog post, I forgot a lot of what I was supposed to be writing about. Blame time constraints for I'm a father of two lively children. (Yes, Two! I never got around to telling about that either. Oh my.) Leo, whom about you already know if you had read some of the earlier posts, and Miro who was born in September 2010.

They both play Go.

Well. This is not a story about them, actually. It's more of a story of how kids ultimately get interested in stuff like Go.