My path to Go [Watashi no Kido]

To the beginner, the game of go appears as a jungle of confusion, full of pitfalls past which only Providence could possibly guide him.

With this blog, I intend to keep a public register of the path I clear for myself with my go stones. A difficult and tortuous path in order to achieve the summum bonum that all go players seek: the flow of the stones on the goban, unhindered by anything else but the purpose of finding the best move for each situation, the solution for each problem that arises as each player exposes his views, silently, on the board.

I am a lowly 30k, that can barely solve the easiest tsumego, and stand perplexed by the complex patterns that stretch across the board. I know very little about connecting techniques, and where and when to apply them. I forget to count liberties, and watch in calm despair as my group stands surrounded, dead. I have no sense of shape. I can't open a game properly, let alone understand the patterns that arise from joseki. I can't effectively counter invasions. I can barely find my way through the 19x19 lines.

Still, I feel the calling of the game. I grasp the fundamentals that underlie the philosophy of Go, that inform and provide meaning for each move, be it a move played by a weak amateur or one played by a strong dan player. I stand in awe as each stone is placed in the board, working together with every other stone to delineate and carry on a strategy.

This blog intends to serve the purpose of a public register as well as glossary and a study tool.

To everyone who decides to stand beside me in my journey, I hope to learn much from everyone who walks the same path as I do, and to teach as much as I can to those who stand behind me.