Many of my students take my lessons in order to get strong as well as to have a high winning percentage.
Recently I’ve noticed that some people are missing a chance to have a higher winning percentage. Let me point that out, and then I’d like to make some suggestions.
Some of my students often do the following during a game:
1. Some Go players are too kind and allow “undo” often.
2. Some Go players chat during a game.
First I’d like to talk about “undo”.
Some people think that it’s a good manner or a friendly manner to let your opponent “undo” during a game. If it’s a teaching game, yes, I do that. But not in a serious game.
Please remember three thing:
A. If you let “undo” once in a game, you could lose almost all your games even if you’re two stones stronger than your opponent. This is true at any level, kyu level, 1dan level, 5 dan level, 8dan level.
B. At my level as an amateur 8dan, I can tell whether or not my opponent miss-clicks. But in most amateurs’ games up to 4 or 5 dan, it’s very hard, almost impossible even for me to tell which move was a miss-click. When it comes to kyu players’ games, I cannot tell which moves are miss-click. This means that you probably cannot tell whether your opponent miss-clicked it or not.
C. I’ve taught hundreds, probably a thousand of people in a Japanese Go club and Go school where they play Go face-to-face Those who improve have something in common. They never undo during a game. Those who do not improve Go often undo.
First you should know that “undo” is against the rule. If a pro does it in a face-to-face game, he or she will lose a game instantly. Recently there are internet tournaments for pros. Still undo is against the rule. That’s true in an amateur tournament as well.
Those who play Go as a hobby, undo in a Go club in Japan. But those who undo often get disliked. It’s against the rule and one of the worst manners.
Personally I don’t know the manners on the internet. But I think “undo” is made because some people do miss-click sometimes. Only sometimes. Maybe once in every 5 games. (Some kyu players seem to undo often.)
If someone asks you to undo once in every game, I seriously doubt that this person doesn’t care about a manner. At least he or she doesn’t really care about your feelings.
In fact I’ve seen many moves that are not miss-click, but a clear mistake, but still undo, and turn around a game.
Like I said, unless you’re a 5dan or 6dan, it’s almost impossible to tell whether one did a miss-click.
And if you let an opponent “undo” once in a game, you will most likely lose a game. One “undo” can be worth countless points. If you want to win a game, you shouldn’t allow “undo”.
You may worry about losing Go friends.
But think about this. Those who undo often don’t care about manners or your feelings. They may not even care about improving their Go. All they care about is win a game by any means. Would you rather have Go friends who respect you as a Go player, know manners, and want to improve Go?
It’s possible that no one ever told them manners and rules. In that case you might want to show them this blog.
If I miss-click it, I would never “undo”. Miss-clicking is one of the things I should improve. I’ll think about why I miss-clicked it, and I’ll try not to make the same mistaken again. It’s the same the mistake as forgetting to press the clock in a face-to-face tournament.
Sometimes pros miss a train, arrive late at a tournament place, and lose a game. But that’s a rule. Everyone has to abide by rules. They cannot undo.
If it’s hard for you to tell your opponent that you will not accept any undo from now on, you might want to say “my Go teacher told me not to undo yourself, nor should I allow undo. So I won’t undo, either.”
If you cannot say that, please feel free to show this blog. Then at least your opponent blames me, not you. So you won’t lose a Go friend.
I’ll talk about a chat soon on this blog.
via Go, Igo, Weiqi, Baduk. Kaz’s original Igo-advice & fundamentals of Igo http://ift.tt/1uO0jMP
June 10, 2014 at 09:01AM
Weiqi To Go 