My Weaknesses

Once again I lost the chance to represent Singapore for World Amateur Go Championship.

Either I really have no fate with this tournament, or I am just not strong enough.

Feeling sad about the result, I decided to list down my weaknesses so far, and I will try to work on it this year so that I can try to go for WAGC next year.

And my weaknesses are…

1. stubborn fuseki

In fuseki I only play out moves that pros play and I don't play moves that I thought of on my own. That's why I always think very long when a new fuseki appears.

2. very weak reading, hence weak middle game

This is very obvious. During middle game I always look for the easiest way out and try to avoid complicated situations. I don't really like fights and like to win the game naturally. Sometimes it's not that I don't want to read, but just that I'm lazy. Therefore the number of moves I read in an average game is really not a lot, and I tend to lose because of that.

3. very weak yose

Another major weakness. I can count the value of simple yose moves, but when it comes to real games I can't be bothered to count it. Most of the time I play by feel. I play wherever I think is big. This didn't really affect my games because most of my games involves big win or big loss, but it's still a major problem.

4. weak estimation and judgement

I always get it wrong when judging whether the situation is good for white or black. I always make mistakes especially when counting territory. In my deciding game during the selection, I thought that I was leading, but only nearing end game I realized that I was losing by more than 20 points.

5. time usage and byo-yomi

I always freak out when I'm in byo-yomi. And I still cannot manage my time properly. Using too much time in early game and not having enough time to read in middle game is what always happens.

6. Too few serious games

Not sure whether this is considered a weakness but I play really very few serious games. I have accounts in almost all the servers out there, but the number of serious games I play is very little. I realized this is a very serious problem because playing games is really important.

7. No time to study baduk

Just as what it says.

So basically, I'm weak in all areas.

To solve the problem, I've decided to do the following:

1. try to be more creative in fuseki

2. do tsumego every day without looking at the answer and forcing myself to solve it

3. do yose problems and calculate more in real games

4. this is difficult… I guess I just need more practice

5. try to spend more time in middle and end game rather than fuseki. tsumego also helps

6. play more serious games, if possible every day

7. delegate time for some baduk studying

These will be my goals for 2013.