To Improve at Go, Play a Lot of Games
This is part of my "how to improve" advices.
This used to be "Play a lot of fast games" - but I found that so many readers were confused, that I decided to change the title. I discussed this briefly recently with Tei Meiko 9p, one of the official instructors during the period when I was insei in Japan - he suggested to change the title to something like "Play many winning games" to turn it into an advice everybody will enjoy following :-)
There are several aspects to this advice:
- One has to play a lot in order to gain experience.
- One has to push himself to play faster in order to be successful in competitive Go.
Among the first things that my sensei, Kobayashi Chizu 5p, told me when I became insei in Japan was: "Play a lot of fast games with the other insei - never mind the results, just play!". (As insei, "fast games" meant 10 seconds per move, no extra thinking time.)
I don't think anybody questions the "play a lot" advice - after all it is common sense that one gets stronger with experience. But several people asked me "Why fast games? What is wrong with normal, or even slow games?".
There is of course nothing wrong with playing slow games, but one mostly benefits from gathering experience fast, and playing fast games is the simplest way to do that. Just like athletes are pushing their physical limits, one can gradually force themselves to play with slightly lower time limits than comfortable. This will improve one's reading skill and think more efficiently.
Nothing wrong with playing only within one's comfort zone, but the benefit of doing that is for enjoyment, not for improvement.