Looking back now, I would never be able to deny how wonderful the game of go is. I’m not part of the elite, but I have carved my own path to get where I am today. And by living it, I think I came to an understanding.

Many people would draw the obvious relation between improvement in go and the way you play. “Wow look at this move… I would have never thought of that… This is why he (or she) is so good…” But I think that we lose a whole side of the story by looking this way.

It’s not just the moves we play that change, but go changes to. We are people and our behavior is directly related to how we see things and how we interpret them. An improving player realizes that his relationship with the game is forever changing. We don’t see go the same way now as we saw it when we started.

The go rules are universal, they are the same for all those who play the game. But the game of go, might just be one of the most personal things. This is the reason we never see an exact same game two times. Because we are all different people, we all play different go.

Example

When I started playing go, it was all about my friends. A couple of friends had introduced me to the game and I wanted a fighting chance to beat them. Because of this I could play a hundred games on KGS (an internet go server), not caring if I was winning or losing. I was studying the game for one reason. And the only games that got my heart beating were the ones against my friends. The first time I played against a friend on a real board my body was even shaking. Already then I realized that all go games were not equal. I would subconsciously put more effort in some games than I would in others.

Before ending I should also say that the improvement I talk about does not have to be a rise in level. For me any positive change in the relation one has with go should also be seen as an improvement.

Go is more than just a game, it’s a reflection of a part of our lives.

It’s possible though that I’m the only one that is thinking this way. I haven’t talked about this with a lot of people, it’s sometimes easier to write things down than to say them.

I hope that you can understand my thoughts a little. I think improvement is about working on our relation with the game.

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I made this post for Lee Hajin, to show her how she can upload her games very easily and post them at twitter if she want.

There is full screen button in bottom right corner of the flash player. I recommend to push it ^_^

Video is shared on the screencast.com. You may need to wait a moment after pushing play bottom to download flash player. I sorry for trashy mic. This was my 1st screencast. Next time I will do better :)

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