Arcane and I went to Go class Tuesday night! It was amazing- the Romanian champion was there, because there's an International Go Congress in the area, apparently, and he was awesome! He put the stones down so fast, I couldn't even follow what was happening.^_^' I noticed while watching their game, however, that they were both holding the stones the "right" way. The first time Arcane and I came to the clubhouse, the only other people playing were picking up the stones with all their fingers and placing them on the board in the way that most people would naturally pick up a stone and put it down. According to an anime series which we'd watched, however, you're actually supposed to use only your first and second fingers- kind of like chopsticks. It's a much more elegant means of placing the stones, and apparently makes you look more experienced. Arcane and I had abandoned working on this technique when the first "real" players of the game which we'd seen weren't using it- it's so hard to figure out what in the series we'd watched was actually real, and what was created for visual effect. I'm finding out, though, more and more that the vast majority of the things shown in that series are the real deal, and I'm getting better at placing the stones.For a while I was worried that Arcane and I might not get a lesson, because everyone was so focused on this young Romanian (I think he was maybe 25-30? But I'm bad at ages^_^'), but the instructor from Berkeley, who was also visiting, noticed us and tutored us late into the night. He says that we both have considerable talent, and me especially!^_^ ^_^ ^_^ He says we're incredibly strong for beginners, and that he'd played thousands of games before he was as good as I am now. I wonder if it's because of all that Hikaru no Go we watched?^_^ I haven't mentioned the series to anyone at the club, though- I'm afraid that they might laugh at us.^_^' LOL
Our instructor wanted us to know how highly he thought of us, and so he told us that when he plays a beginner, he usually starts them out on the small board with four stones as a handicap. Then when the student can beat him at that level, he'll go down to three stones, then two, then one, and then move up to the medium sized board with 13 stones. Then work down to 12, 11, 10, and so on, until they're ready to move on to the full sized board. He started Arcane and I off on the medium sized board at 9 stones. We lost, certainly^_^', but he says that he was really impressed at how hard we'd made him work for it.
For my part, I was really amazed at how he kept slipping out of my traps despite the huge advantage I had at the start of the game. I figured that all I really had to do was to box him in- and I already had a latticework of nine stones placed across the board- and then there wouldn't be anything he could do and I could just pick off the straggling pieces at my leisure, as I would normally try to do against Arcane (though he's getting fairly proficient at getting around my walls, too- they need some improvement). So I began to box him in, more or less- I couldn't seem to get the walls completely filled in and he just kept eating away at my territory from the inside. It was bewildering- here I have someone who should be at a complete disadvantage, and they're just clawing away at my walls as though the concepts of strategy and tactics were completely reversed and being surrounded by the enemy was actually the best situation to be in.O_o It was so clear that he was able to read so much further into the game than I was- for my part, I felt as though I was playing through a haze. Every now and then I'd make out a vague shape in the distance and head for it, but at my best I could only really see 2 moves ahead of where I actually was. Still, for most of the game I was on the offensive, and he was forced into responding to my moves rather than making his own. If I had the experience and the tactics to support it, I may have been able to lead him more effectively into a situation which was conducive to my own purposes.
I want to go back for another lesson.^_^ It'll be nearly a month before I'll have another Tuesday off to spend there, though- and on that day I'll be working opening shift the next morning, so I won't be able to stay as late as I did the last time. Perhaps, though, Arcane and I can make a simple visit to the club to use their boards and play against one another, though- even without a lesson, Mr. Doughty has given us plenty to think about in order to improve our games. We have a board here at home, but it's a travel board- and it didn't come with enough stones to play out a game unless you agree to only play on a certain portion of the board. I keep meaning to buy another game so that I can get some more game pieces, but that's pretty annoying. Also, since it's so small, we can't practice placing the stones appropriately.^_^' And it's just more fun to go to the Go club- I only wish they had a little more parking.
