For this week's go meditation, we take one last stroll down memory lane when I gain one more stone and become a 12k! Unfortunately, my level of play in this game seems to be far weaker than the game I showed last week, but it should still be a great example of DDK level play.

I hope that you've enjoyed this month's theme of Novice November and was able to pick up a few things along the way regarding DDK play and how to try and fix them. If you have any questions at all, please don't hesistate to leave a comment below or contact me! Till next week!

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For this week's go meditation, we continue our walk down memory lane. I am a 13 kyu this week and played a game that was very surprising for me. To put it in another sense, I had a hard time believing that I had really played such a game as a 13k! In fact, this game puts some of my games as a SDK (i.e., single digit kyu) to shame. Haha. It makes me wonder what has happened to my go and whether there is something to be said about how I used to play versus how I play now. So much to think about… Anyhow, I hope that you will enjoy this game and find this game as surprising as I did! It seriously is an impressive game for two 13 kyus!

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For this week's go meditation, we continue our journey down memory lane! Last week I was a mere 15 kyu, but this week we jump ahead to when I gained my first stone! Kageyama says that one of the greatest enjoyments of go is gaining a stone in strength (which obviously becomes far less frequent as one gets stronger); but I do remember the excitement of seeing my rank tick up a number. Haha. Anyways, I hope that you'll find humor and enjoyment as you watch my past self flail around the board. =D See you next week!

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For this month's go meditations, our theme is Novice November! For many of you, I'm sure you found this blog when I was already a solid single digit kyu and working my way up the ladder. However, this was most certainly not always the case. xD So to remind some of you who only see where I am now, I thought it would be fun if we did a throwback of games back when I was a fledgling double digit kyu. With that said, let's turn back time to when I had just started go and played my first KGS game against a human opponent as a 15 kyu. Enjoy!

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For this week's go meditation, I am pleased to share with you another game from my friend and rival Nate. In this game, there is a huge struggle between both players to take the lead and resist each other's intentions. In addition, though this game is won by resignation, I cannot stress enough how challenging this game was. I can definitely say with confidence that I gave this game everything I had that night. I can only hope that you can appreciate this incredible game as much as I did. It was quite an amazing journey.

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For today's go meditation, I will be featuring a second one of my games from Tygem with another 3 dan! This time I am playing White and actually manage to legitimately win! (Though last week's game is technically a legitimate win, I feel like I was lucky with the capturing race on the right.) This game is a great example of how losing whole board vision for even just one move can make a huge difference in the outcome of the game. Fortunately for me, it didn't cost me the game this time; but it very well could have. Enjoy!

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For today's go meditation, I am featuring a momentous moment in my go career: making a dan opponent resign in an even game. Now to clear up some things, it is important to remember that Tygem 3 dans are not equivalent of KGS 3 dans. So before everyone starts tossing sandbagger comments, let's also remember that this is just one game of many. I have lost more games to 3 dan players on Tygem than I have won. Nonetheless, I still feel like this game record was worth mentioning since it was an important milestone to me. Enjoy

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For today's go meditation, I am happy to feature a new player to the reviews: RisingStar! At his request, I will be going through an even game that I played with him recently. Overall, RisingStar played very well and surprised me numerous times with his decisions to take critical points and to give me an easy win. In fact, I would have to say that there were a number of times where I was at a rather disadvantageous position and might have lost if he had just been a bit more aggressive. Nonetheless, a job well done to RisingStar and I hope that you enjoy this review.

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For today's go meditation, I thought we would go ahead and take a break from even games and feature a handicap game! This game features my friend Bonscott and a very difficult game for White. In fact, if not for a few crucial moments, Black had played remarkably well and was not allowing White any easy opportunity to catch up. Though the game is decided by a cut that both of us initially miss, it was a tough game for White and Black should be very proud of the game below. Hope you enjoy!

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For today's go meditation, I am featuring an opponent who was rather unique. Before he accepted my challenge, the first thing he asked was, "Do you play fast?" And the reason this is significant is because it launches us into a discussion during the game about kyu players' tendency to make automatic responses. And after some back and forth, I suddenly felt very compelled to not make any automatic responses. So in a number of ways, I definitely have to thank my opponent for forcing me to raise the level of my game by slowing down. In addition, though I was a bit saddened by the fact that I lost after having a commanding position, I definitely learned a lot from it and have no regrets.

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