For the second Monday Go Meditation of 2014, I thought it would be great to feature the game where my sensei (frozensoul) and I played a game together online. While this was not rengo, it was a really interesting experience to have frozensoul's input on the game while I was playing. You very quickly come to realize how differently high dan level players actually think. I hope that you enjoy this game and see the difference I'm talking about. =D

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After much thought and motivation from readers like you, I am happy to announce that Monday Go Meditations is coming back in full swing for 2014! And seeing as how this is the first post for 2014, I thought it would only be appropriate that I feature my first ranked game of 2014!

I had played a free game the night before, but as I sat there on KGS, I admit that I was a little hesitant at playing a ranked game. After all, what if I played poorly? Or what if I lost? Or worst case, what if I had gotten weaker? But after a minute of doubt, I realized that I would gain nothing by sitting there worrying. So without concerning myself with the results and useless negativity, I challenged a 4 kyu to a game.* In the spirit of starting the new year with vibrant energy, I think you'll agree with me that this game is very fitting. Enjoy!

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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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