A New Perspective on Handicap Go

Over the last couple months, one of the things I’ve been really wrestling with is my aversion to handicap games: regardless of which side I was on. I can’t really pinpoint the reason for this fear of playing handicap games, but it was leading me down a path where I was starting to avoid playing handicap games all together.

There’s a quote that my brother has on his phone: “Life begins where your comfort zone ends.” Although I was not thinking of go when he first showed it to me, it recently dawned upon me that “getting stronger in go begins where your comfort zone ends.”

At that moment, any negative emotions I had about handicap go was instead replaced by excitement for the possibilities that lay beyond the world of handicap go. It’s not such much that I want to become an expert in handicap go, but there is so much to be learned through playing it that it could mean wonders for my growth. Oh the possibilities…