Akiby and MAF and Korea

So once again we got champion for SP Chess Challenge.

Or is it called SP Open now? Or Battle of the Wits? Whatever.

Our team won most of the rounds without any problems. Except the round against SP Team A. If Xiaojuhua had lost that game the result would be hard to say.

This competition was also a good chance for me to test out my new toy, the Akiby.

It's the EOS 7d which I bought in Japan long ago. I bought it in Akihabara, that's why I call it Akiby.

It's much harder to use than the previous one. The controls are almost the same, but the settings can vary a lot, hence it's hard to manipulate.

So far I'm still using the AV mode a lot.

I need to learn how to start using the manual mode.

I need to learn how to evaluate the correct settings in different situations by my eyes.

And also, how to compose better.

My friend told me post-editting is very important. But I think it's something which is very hard to learn.

I guess I'll touch on it when I have the time.

Yesterday was Mid-Autumn Festival.

I almost forgot about it until Lin Xi told me on Saturday that they were going HwaChong for MAF.

Had dinner with my parents yesterday at home.

MAF reminds me of friends.

It also reminded me something I seemed to have forgotten.

Perhaps I've been too engrossed in my own stuff.

Last time I used to organise gatherings a lot, but ever since the last holiday, not much.

This is quite a sad thing... Maybe I should've used this MAF to organise a small gathering.

Nowadays I'm losing motivation and determination to do stuff.

It's like I'm... tired.

But nobody cares... Life still carries on.

And I still have to fulfill my duties.

To study.

So, in the end, I still decided to go for the tournament in Korea.

Yes, I will miss school.

But I think it's a rare chance.

What if I don't get selected next year?

What if they don't hold it next year?

It's also a good opportunity for me to gain more experience.

What I need now is more experience.

That's what I lack most.

That's why I'm still weak in many areas.

I lack playing serious games.

Therefore, I chose to go.

Of course, I need to be prepared to face the consequences.

Which is much less time to study.

I suddenly realised I have 3 CAs coming up next week.

This week there are also many activities.

I need to start studying right away.

NOW.

SAF and Tickets and Form

Not much studying was done this week.

I was quite frustrated over many things.

One being receiving a letter from the SAF, asking me to report to NSCC for a charge.

Because I didn't clear my IPPT/RT in time.

Huh??

Ok, I don't even want to talk about this anymore. This is so ridiculous.

Luckily, I managed to contact my unit about this, and this kind lady said she will get them to withdraw the charge, and I won't need to report anymore.

And also the good thing is I would not need to do RT anymore. I just need to complete my IPPT before my next birthday.

Another thing is about air tickets.

Air tickets to Japan, air tickets to Korea, air tickets to Thailand...

So many air tickets to worry about...

Especially the one to Thailand and to Korea. Because Thai U-Go and KPMC are just after one another, this is the first time I'm travelling from a foreign country to another foreign country, so I'm not sure what it would be like.

Should I get 3 one way air ticket, or should I get 2 round trip tickets?

And just today I received a email saying that I can join another competition after the KPMC.

It's also held in Korea, and there is prize money involved.

Should I go for it?

If I go, I'll be missing whole 2 weeks of lesson...

Is it worth it?

But then, I'm already gone for 10 days, so another 3 days doesn't matter much...?

I guess I'll discuss this with Mikyung tomorrow.

She will most probably ask me to go though.

Third thing is my off-form-ness.

I still think I'm off-form.

Even though I beat Wei Ran and Xiaojuhua to get selected for the Thai U-Go, my game against Li Chao was very bad.

I didn't have any clear chance from the start.

Just played another tourney game against him today. It was also very bad.

I was leading at middle game, but at one point I played a gote move, and he managed to get more than 20 points in the centre because of that.

I still had time... Why didn't I think properly?

That's the bad thing about thinking ahead... If you already have the move in mind, you tend to play it and not rethink about it.

If I didn't think about it, I would definitely not play there and end up gote.

Haiz... So in the end it's still my own problem.

And the byo-yomi problem. I'm still very weak at byo-yomi.

The Thai U-Go, and the KPMC are all 30 seconds byo yomi.

I must try to do something before that.

One person on KGS actually gave me some advice. He said I should get enough sleep and exercise. Only then will my brain function well.

Yes, of course I agree. But it's just difficult for me to sleep at night... All these years of not sleeping early has made it almost impossible...

But then, that's not an excuse!

Working hard always come with sacrifice.

And I definitely think I should sacrifice some of my playing time.

Only by putting 100% effort, can the impossible be achieved.

Yes, I will do it!

Anybody wondered why studies is not in my list of things to worry about?

Well, I'm also wondering about that.

Library

Instead of staying at home, I decided to go to library to mug today.

The result? I wouldn't say it's much more effective. Only slightly better than at home.

Why? Because I don't have my annoying laptop beside me, which is my main distraction.

My iPhy is also good enough to be a distraction, but it is not as strong as my Asy.

I can look at my Asy all day if I'm at home, but if I'm in the library, I would be slightly motivated to study and stop looking at my iPhy eventually.

That's the slight difference.

I really miss the days I spent in Beijing.

Those days were so carefree. Playing Go and other stuff everyday.

But holidays don't last forever. And they have already ended 4 weeks ago.

Reality is harsh. But you have to face it.

A cup of coffee really works. It drove most of the laziness away and brought me some determination.

I hope this determination will grow, and last me through the semester.

And I will visit the library more often now.

You know what? It closes at 9.30 pm!

Today's Tsumego:

White to kill.

What's the best white can get?

Attacking on the 2nd Line

From a professional game. Iyama Yuta (White) VS Kono Rin.

Black wanted to live inside white's moyo by playing at A, but white immediately played at 70!

An amazing move.

I never knew this group could be attacked this way.

If I played this kind of move I definitely would be scolded by my teachers.

Normal moves I would consider are maybe C9 or B13.

I think Iyama found this move the most effective.

I think he's really a prodigy.

I'm already officially his fan. :)

Moving onto last day of the long weekend.

Today is Hari Raya? Omg I didn't realise.

No wonder so many people stayed at home to facebook instead of going to school.

Selection for Thai U-Go this year is held this weekend.

I really hope all the NTU guys could go, even though it's quite hard to achieve.

After losing to Xiaojuhua by time, I realised I really must buck up on my time management.

Let's see how it goes in this selection...

Today's Tsumego

White to live.

The usual problem made slightly more difficult and much more interesting.

Time to Update

I just realised that I haven't updated this blog for sooo long!!

It's almost becoming non-existent...

Year 2 Sem 2 has started, and is already moving onto its 4th week.

Before I start intensive mugging, I think I should update about my Beijing trip this time.

On the whole, I would say the trip was really fruitful. Even though there weren't many strong players, and there was only one guy whom I lost to other than the professionals, I have to say I learnt a lot. I learnt how the pros think, how they play, and most importantly, I learnt my weaknesses.

One of my main weakness is learning to play fast. One of the teachers, Peter said that if I play a game without time limit, I will play well, but if there's limited time then I have trouble playing. If I play 10 second Go with them I think they can give me 3 handi.

That's a problem I always had. Not being able to read fast enough. I always use up too much time in competitions and end up losing. In WAGC this year, I was also leading in many games but in the end lost due to Byo-yomi. What I tried to do was to reduce my thinking time in easier situations and use more of opponent's time, but that's not easy to achieve. I always end up using time at the wrong place. Time management, is really important.

But then, thinking about it, that's just making up for my weakness. I'm not solving the root of the problem, which is not being able to read fast. I can do tsumego, but sometimes it takes very long. I think being able to play fast like a pro really requires vigorous training. All the shapes are already etched in their mind, and hence they just need to find the first and read for a few seconds and decide where to play. It's amazing.

I know that I will never learn to read as fast as them, but I can at least try. Now that I know my weakness, I'll start working hard on it, other than thinking of ways to make up for it. Many people say playing on the internet is detrimental, but I think since many people play fast game on the internet, it is a good place to train my byo-yomi skills. Last time I was scared of losing hence I didn't play a lot. But now I know that I need to play. I need more experience, so that I can learn.

Of course there are other parts which I need to work on, such as fuseki, middle game, and yose. Actually that's everything, lol. My another weakness is attacking. I am always unable to attack opponent's group effectively and end up losing. Everytime when I'm required to attack or kill I always don't know how to play. Therefore from now onwards I will try to play more messy games so that I can learn how to attack.

And yose. I have trouble counting territory everytime, and if it's a close game I always count wrongly. Sometimes I think I'm winning, but in the end I lose by 1.5 points or more. That's quite a serious problem. Because if I knew I was losing, then I should've tried harder to win instead of playing normally. The teacher told me they always do a rough estimate within 20 seconds. And it is often done through comparison. That's one thing I need to learn. And of course, calculating the value of each yose and finding out the best sequence. I also need to train on that.

I think that's about all I want to say. Will update more next time.

By the way, Singapore has a new President now!

P.S.

Since this blog is called "Easy Go", I think I should post something related to Go everytime. Hence I will post a Tsumego in every post. They are all taken from my facebook page.

Tsumego of the day:

White to live.

100%

I don't know why I haven't updated for so long.

I think it's becoming a bad habit of mine.

And there's so much spam!! ------>>

Anyway, I think I'd better update before I fly off again...



World Amateur 2011 is over.

The result was far worse than I expected.

When somebody interviewed me on the first day, I said I was aiming for at least 6 wins.

Bulls**t.

I didn't even know how difficult it was to get 6 wins.

And I just said that without any determination.

In the end? Only 4 wins.

And the worse thing is, all my opponents are those that I should've won.

I'm not saying I'm definitely stronger than them. I'm just talking about the games.

Almost all the games I lost I was leading at one point. But one stupid mistake and the lead is gone.

And I only realised that I was losing until near the end.

What am I becoming?

Someone who just plays for fun and doesn't care about win or lose?

Someone who just randomly places stones on the board?

Getting this result made me very upset.

However, being upset doesn't solve any problems.

I had to make a decision: Give Up? Or Continue?


After much hesitation, I decided that I would

Continue.

I would continue to put in my best effort to learn Go for another two years.

BEST EFFORT.

If within these two years, I still do not get any decent results in international tournament, then I will give up, and just be a Happy-Go-Player.

Somebody told me, that if I just aim to get into top 10, I will never get champion.

Maybe that's why I got such lousy results.

I didn't aim high enough. I wasn't preparing to give my best from the start.

I didn't put in enough effort to prepare.

I overestimated myself.

From now on, I will acknowledge the fact that I am weak.

And since I am weak, I must put in more effort to study.

Play every game seriously.

Never play a move without thinking.

Through this Beijing Trip, I will build up my 100% determination, and 100% concentration, to continue this tough path.

And of course, 100% courage.

Jump and Body and World Amateur

Finally, the day is here.

For me to take my RT-IPPT.

However, to my huge disappointment, I failed again...

There goes my plan of passing my IPPT before my Japan trip.

And I have to call up the NS Call Centre to extend my RT cycle because I'm not able to complete in time.

All because of the stupid Standing Broad Jump.

I passed it last time, why did I fail it this time!!??

Maybe it was due to a wrong choice... I shouldn't have left it to the last... I should have done it first...

Yeah, that was the losing move.

Now I don't know what's going to happen.

I'm just waiting for my unit to call me.

It's impossible for me to complete the remaining RT sessions within these few months.

Let's just hope I don't get charged...

I know I've said this so many times.

But really... something is wrong with my body.

I can feel it.

I can feel something going on inside my body.

Just that I don't know what it is exactly.

Puberty?

I sure hope so.

Flying off to Japan for World Amateur really soon.

Sorry for not uploading so many of the photos...

I'll get them settled either in Japan or after I come back.

I don't really think I'll do well this time.

My Go really sucks recently.

I don't know my level drop until where already.

If I can play every game seriously and enjoy them, I'm happy enough.

I wish myself good luck.

The Battle

Starts.

And I'm MORE unprepared than usual.

Mug

Zen is in the process of mugging.

Please do not disturb.

Please disturb, however, if you discover he's not mugging.

Please also disturb him in the morning so that he'll wake up.

Please also celebrate together with him when his exam ends.

Because he may only enjoy the happiness for a while.

Before the results come.

Exam, Knife and Love

Had my last CA for FE1007 today.

Screwed it up.

Maths is supposed to be fun.

But careless mistakes always ruin the fun.

I forgot to do a simple step, and just sat there for 15 minutes without knowing how to start the question.

How stupid can I get?

I have another speech and Korean listening test coming up.

After that it's the finals.

I look forward to the life after exams.

Only if I'm in the mood to enjoy it, though.

I was going to draft my speech before I sleep.

But two things caught my attention.

One is the news of an NTU student attempting suicide today.

Apparently she was found with knife inside her head.

KNIFE INSIDE HEAD??

That's like some horror movie.

Now she's in the hospital.

I wonder what caused her to try to die in such a gruesome way...

Stress?

I don't know...

But I hope people can treasure their lives more...

You only get to live once...

Another thing was Miaojing's updates on her birthday event.

Sadly, I have been so busy mugging that I forgot about her birthday.

Apparently I haven't been checking facebook recently.

I don't know why but I'm just bad at remembering people's birthdays.

And names.

The only thing I'm good at remembering are faces.

Anyway, so she shared some pics taken during her birthday party.

Apparently her bf had given her a very huge surprise.

And she was touched.

Yeah, it was just like a scenario that I thought would only happen in a love drama.

If I were a girl, I'd be touched too.

Not to mean anything, but she really became very beautiful after finding a bf.

So it's true that women get prettier when they are in love.

I feel happy for her finding the right guy.

At the same time, I'm also a bit envious, despite me being a guy.

I don't think I would be able to do to someone I like what her bf did.

Thinking about it made me a bit sad.

Once again, congrats!

And happy belated birthday!