Comments on: Zürich Go Tournament 2009 – Day 2 http://blog.swissgo.org/zurich-go-tournament-2009-day-2/ If you don't know ladders, don't play Go Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:38:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: VincentV http://blog.swissgo.org/zurich-go-tournament-2009-day-2/comment-page-1/#comment-443 VincentV Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:11:21 +0000 http://blog.swissgo.org/?p=394#comment-443 @ Djaian: Firstly, thx for the comment, it's appreciated. I already know the quote you citet and try to remind myself of it before every game. However it doesn't always help. For me it's not really "fear" that corrupts my game. Probably "incertitude and doubt" are more suited to describe my dilemma during these kind of games. Additionally I tend to focus on the things I don't know instead of the things I do know, which doesn't help either. I'm still looking for a way to get rid of this nuisance ^^ @ Djaian: Firstly, thx for the comment, it’s appreciated. I already know the quote you citet and try to remind myself of it before every game. However it doesn’t always help.

For me it’s not really “fear” that corrupts my game. Probably “incertitude and doubt” are more suited to describe my dilemma during these kind of games. Additionally I tend to focus on the things I don’t know instead of the things I do know, which doesn’t help either. I’m still looking for a way to get rid of this nuisance ^^

]]> By: Djaian http://blog.swissgo.org/zurich-go-tournament-2009-day-2/comment-page-1/#comment-438 Djaian Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:48:16 +0000 http://blog.swissgo.org/?p=394#comment-438 All results are available here: http://www.zuerigo.org/results/zur2009.html About the fact you mentionned before the tournament: you were not sure to play in the tournament, since you were not sure about your strength. I think one should never be afraid of participating in a tournament. It is true that you did a 2 - 3 win-loss, which is supposed to be a negative result, however I think that is not important at all. Like some professionnal player said once: "I am 5 dan pro player now, who cares about how much wins or losses I had when I was 5 kyu? Don't be afraid to play, you can only learn by playing." I also understand the "fear" of playing against someone stronger (or better-ranked). I have played against Sebastien Koch 3 dan in a tournament and I was only 5k. I knew from the beginning I would lose, and I was totally crushed. I couldn't play at all. I was so nervous to play him that I couldn't think properly. A few rounds later, I met his brother, Laurent Koch who was 1 dan. I actually won this game, which made me think that it was not impossible to get a good result against better-ranked players. My point is, next time I will have to play Sébastien Koch, I won't get as nervous as I was in our first encounter. I respect his strength, but he better should get prepared to respect mine, otherwise he might only follow his brother's mistake. There are many "strong" players in Switzerland, whom I might be afraid to play against in a tournament. But I actually learn a lot from such games. And the fear can only disappear if you meet these people several times, and slowly realize that it is possible to beat them. So, of course, participate to all tournaments you can, if you want to get stronger. This is the only way, even if it might be painful to sometimes have 2-3 or 1-4 result. Djaian All results are available here: http://www.zuerigo.org/results/zur2009.html

About the fact you mentionned before the tournament: you were not sure to play in the tournament, since you were not sure about your strength. I think one should never be afraid of participating in a tournament. It is true that you did a 2 – 3 win-loss, which is supposed to be a negative result, however I think that is not important at all.

Like some professionnal player said once: “I am 5 dan pro player now, who cares about how much wins or losses I had when I was 5 kyu? Don’t be afraid to play, you can only learn by playing.”

I also understand the “fear” of playing against someone stronger (or better-ranked). I have played against Sebastien Koch 3 dan in a tournament and I was only 5k. I knew from the beginning I would lose, and I was totally crushed. I couldn’t play at all. I was so nervous to play him that I couldn’t think properly.

A few rounds later, I met his brother, Laurent Koch who was 1 dan. I actually won this game, which made me think that it was not impossible to get a good result against better-ranked players.

My point is, next time I will have to play Sébastien Koch, I won’t get as nervous as I was in our first encounter. I respect his strength, but he better should get prepared to respect mine, otherwise he might only follow his brother’s mistake.

There are many “strong” players in Switzerland, whom I might be afraid to play against in a tournament. But I actually learn a lot from such games. And the fear can only disappear if you meet these people several times, and slowly realize that it is possible to beat them.

So, of course, participate to all tournaments you can, if you want to get stronger. This is the only way, even if it might be painful to sometimes have 2-3 or 1-4 result.

Djaian

]]>