In naher Zukunft wird Pinguschaf mit mir als Handlanger sich einen Kindheitstraum erfüllen und auf KGS eine Liga für die deutschsprechende Gojugend leiten, die diesen Text verstehen und in der Lage wären, eine sinnige Antwort zu verfassen.
Da wir noch keinen hirnigen Namen für dieses Projekt haben, nenne ich es vorübergehend die Imba Ninja League.
In der Imba Ninja League werden die auserwählten Kids, die in der Regel U20 sind und eine sinnvoll adäquate Spielstärke haben, aufgefordert, circa einmal die Woche eine ernsthafte Partie untereinander auszutragen. Pinguschaf und ich stellen uns das so vor, dass Kinder, die auf KGS aufwachsen, genau das gut können, was wir nicht können, und dass wir sie das, was sie nicht können, anständig lehren können.
Zusätzlich haben wir vor, bei vorhandenen Ressourcen Lektionen und Lehrpartien anzubieten. Bei Fragen stehen wir auch zur Verfügung, sofern deren Beantwortung wir mächtig sind. (Da wir selber nicht so dermaßen stark sind, verlangen wir natürlich kein Geld.)
Des Pudels Kern zum Stärkerwerden liegt aber auch beim intensiven Selbststudium. Darum haben wir derweil nicht vor, obligatorische Hausaufgaben zu geben.
Je nach Anzahl und Spielstärke der Auserwählten wird es evtl. mehr als eine Imba Ninja League geben. Wir hoffen, dass wir beides effektiv steigern können, wenn mehr Lehrmenschen dazukommen.
Vorschläge, Ideen, Beschwerden, Spenden u. Ä. bzgl. der Imba Ninja League werden immer gerne entgegengenommen.
Update: Man hat sich auf den Namen "Lerngruppe der deutschsprachigen Jugend" (LDJ) geeinigt.
Samstag, 25. Februar 2012
Samstag, 31. Dezember 2011
An Interview with Schayan Hamrah, Austrian Champion 2011
from http://eurogotv.com/
The Austrian championship finals, a class A tournament, took place in mid December and I proudly present to you an interview with the winner, Schayan Hamrah, conducted and translated by the sandmann!
sandmann: So, how does it feel to be the Austrian champion?
Schayan: It’s somewhat cool to be the Austrian champion (the youngest of all times:D). It’s a pity though that the previous champion didn’t make it to the finals, I’d rather have seized the title from him than winning it in this manner.
Schayan is the youngest champion in Austrian Go history at 16 years and 3 months, beating the previous record by 8 months. Coincidentally, Schayan is also the current Austrian youth champion.
s: How did the finals go?
SH: It was exhausting and enthralling! After I lost the first game from a favourable position by 1.5 I didn't imagine that I could pull myself together and win the remaining games since I had yet to face the toughest (imho) opponents, but with a good bit of luck and endurance I somehow did it after all.
s: Which was the hardest game?
SH: The one against Lothar Spiegel 4 dan. I ended up viktorious after 4 and a half hours, by 3.5 points.
s: I watched the live relay on KGS. I saw there were many close games.
SH: Indeed! This shows that the best players in Austria are very close in strength.
s: Did you prepare for the finals?
SH: I replayed a few Korean games every day to boost my fighting spirit. Sometimes I had too much of it in my games though.
s: Do you play on the internet?
SH: I do, but I rather play in real life (preferably with shell and slate stones in the Go club which are actually not free to use).
s: How is the Go situation in Austria?
SH: The game is not as widespread as in e. g. France or Germany or the Czech Republic. As a result there are fewer strong players. The Austrian champion is only 3 dan compared to the 6 dans of the above mentioned countries. We need to work on this still.
s: Are your friends more interested in Go than before you won this prestigious title?
SH: Nay, they're more into partying than mind sports.
s: Do you want to say anything else?
SH: Nah.
s: Thank you!
Happy New Year everyone!
The Austrian championship finals, a class A tournament, took place in mid December and I proudly present to you an interview with the winner, Schayan Hamrah, conducted and translated by the sandmann!
sandmann: So, how does it feel to be the Austrian champion?Schayan: It’s somewhat cool to be the Austrian champion (the youngest of all times:D). It’s a pity though that the previous champion didn’t make it to the finals, I’d rather have seized the title from him than winning it in this manner.
Schayan is the youngest champion in Austrian Go history at 16 years and 3 months, beating the previous record by 8 months. Coincidentally, Schayan is also the current Austrian youth champion.
s: How did the finals go?
SH: It was exhausting and enthralling! After I lost the first game from a favourable position by 1.5 I didn't imagine that I could pull myself together and win the remaining games since I had yet to face the toughest (imho) opponents, but with a good bit of luck and endurance I somehow did it after all.
s: Which was the hardest game?
SH: The one against Lothar Spiegel 4 dan. I ended up viktorious after 4 and a half hours, by 3.5 points.
s: I watched the live relay on KGS. I saw there were many close games.
SH: Indeed! This shows that the best players in Austria are very close in strength.
s: Did you prepare for the finals?
SH: I replayed a few Korean games every day to boost my fighting spirit. Sometimes I had too much of it in my games though.
s: Do you play on the internet?
SH: I do, but I rather play in real life (preferably with shell and slate stones in the Go club which are actually not free to use).
s: How is the Go situation in Austria?
SH: The game is not as widespread as in e. g. France or Germany or the Czech Republic. As a result there are fewer strong players. The Austrian champion is only 3 dan compared to the 6 dans of the above mentioned countries. We need to work on this still.
s: Are your friends more interested in Go than before you won this prestigious title?
SH: Nay, they're more into partying than mind sports.
s: Do you want to say anything else?
SH: Nah.
s: Thank you!
Happy New Year everyone!
Donnerstag, 26. Mai 2011
To all those Westerners out there spending time in asian countries who think that all the natives are looking at them and that it is annoying that all
(title too long... I forgot what the rest was that I wanted to convey in the title)
I look Asian, so I don't have that problem. While staying in Taiwan I noticed that even me who is used to seeing Westerners (since I live in central Europe) takes a glance at foreign-looking people, and it is very hard to surpress wanting to take a glance when I spot someone who doesn't have black hair.
After noticing that, I noticed that I do the same with the natives. When I think someone resembles or might be someone I know (or good-looking), I look back in order to check whether it is really someone I know (or good-looking). Also when the person does something strange like crawling the way up to the metro station in prayer, or that dude riding a bike which transports more stuff at once than it could possibly fit into a car.
Dear Westerner, if it bothers you that people keep looking at you, well, they also look at themselves. You are not all that special:) The hair colour is the only thing standing out.
Keep in mind that there are Asian people who dye their hair in order to deliberately catch the people's glances.
If it really annoys you that people look at you because of your hair and face (or so you think), I suggest you wear a hat, that kind of hat that people wear who work on rice fields (looks like and also serves as an umbrella without the stick), and one of those mouth covers, available in various colours and designs, which got really popular especially in Japan when swine flu broke out and are still en vogue. The hat covers quite a part of the head (wearing it correctly you might not see who or what you are walking into) and the mouth thing gives your style the finishing touch. If that is not enough, you can also wear a mask or something more creative, then the people will really have a reason to look at you!
I look Asian, so I don't have that problem. While staying in Taiwan I noticed that even me who is used to seeing Westerners (since I live in central Europe) takes a glance at foreign-looking people, and it is very hard to surpress wanting to take a glance when I spot someone who doesn't have black hair.
After noticing that, I noticed that I do the same with the natives. When I think someone resembles or might be someone I know (or good-looking), I look back in order to check whether it is really someone I know (or good-looking). Also when the person does something strange like crawling the way up to the metro station in prayer, or that dude riding a bike which transports more stuff at once than it could possibly fit into a car.
Dear Westerner, if it bothers you that people keep looking at you, well, they also look at themselves. You are not all that special:) The hair colour is the only thing standing out.
Keep in mind that there are Asian people who dye their hair in order to deliberately catch the people's glances.
If it really annoys you that people look at you because of your hair and face (or so you think), I suggest you wear a hat, that kind of hat that people wear who work on rice fields (looks like and also serves as an umbrella without the stick), and one of those mouth covers, available in various colours and designs, which got really popular especially in Japan when swine flu broke out and are still en vogue. The hat covers quite a part of the head (wearing it correctly you might not see who or what you are walking into) and the mouth thing gives your style the finishing touch. If that is not enough, you can also wear a mask or something more creative, then the people will really have a reason to look at you!
Dienstag, 3. Mai 2011
Völkerkundemuseum
Bei der Benefizveranstaltung für Japan im Völkerkundemuseum musste Go natürlich auch präsentiert werden.
Da war auch dieses aufgeweckte japanische Kind. Wir dachten schon fast, es wollte unserem Zoltan im Fuseki Vorgabe geben, leider hat er eine Leiter verlesen und konnte danach nicht mehr aufholen. (Es hat im Museum übrigens Geld verloren, wir wissen nicht genau, wie viel, entweder 6 Euro 30, 36 Euro oder 630 Euro. Ehrlicher Finder bitte melden.)
Da war auch dieses aufgeweckte japanische Kind. Wir dachten schon fast, es wollte unserem Zoltan im Fuseki Vorgabe geben, leider hat er eine Leiter verlesen und konnte danach nicht mehr aufholen. (Es hat im Museum übrigens Geld verloren, wir wissen nicht genau, wie viel, entweder 6 Euro 30, 36 Euro oder 630 Euro. Ehrlicher Finder bitte melden.)
Samstag, 30. April 2011
Tournoi de Paris and whatever else happened
Let's start with the conclusion from my tournament games:
I am improving at getting lucky and making my opponent mess up. And I started talking English with French accent.
Otherwise there is not much to say. Three Chinese pros participated at the tournament (including MilanMilan and smartrobot, I don't know the third one but I think he resembles Lee Changho a bit). The tournament was held in Antony, in the outskirts of Paris. Rumors have that next year it will actually take place IN PARIS!
sad news: La Maison du Go ("Hugo c'est qui?!"*) had to close a few days after the tournament due to bankruptcy.
random facts: if you get caught fare-dodging (not buying tickets in the Metro) in Paris, you should tell them you are a foreigner (or pretend that you only speak Chinese) because they pay only the half of the penalty (25€ instead of 50€). ;)
There is a Book-Off in Paris! When you go to the Metro station of the Aligré club Troll Café, which is called Ledru Rollin, get out at the wrong exit and you will find it. They stock e.g. Manga for 2€ each.
*the joke is that La Maison du Go sounds the same as La Maison d'Hugo. In French when a word starts with a vowel or an h (which is not read, so pronounciation-wise it still starts with a vowel), the last sounding consonant of the preciding word is linked to the word's pronounciation. Take a guess how the first RER train station after Paris CDG airport "Parc des expositions" is pronounced.
Nichtgospielervernichtung am Ottakring
Da waren Schulklassen. Da waren Stände mit Go, Schach, Boxen, Essen, ein Kasperltheater und ein kaputter Wuzler. Dann waren die Schulklassen weg. Ich spielte Schach. Was war das überhaupt für eine Veranstaltung?:) Ist ja auch egal, Hauptsache, die Schulklassen wissen jetzt, was Go ist.
I am improving at getting lucky and making my opponent mess up. And I started talking English with French accent.
Otherwise there is not much to say. Three Chinese pros participated at the tournament (including MilanMilan and smartrobot, I don't know the third one but I think he resembles Lee Changho a bit). The tournament was held in Antony, in the outskirts of Paris. Rumors have that next year it will actually take place IN PARIS!
sad news: La Maison du Go ("Hugo c'est qui?!"*) had to close a few days after the tournament due to bankruptcy.
random facts: if you get caught fare-dodging (not buying tickets in the Metro) in Paris, you should tell them you are a foreigner (or pretend that you only speak Chinese) because they pay only the half of the penalty (25€ instead of 50€). ;)
There is a Book-Off in Paris! When you go to the Metro station of the Aligré club Troll Café, which is called Ledru Rollin, get out at the wrong exit and you will find it. They stock e.g. Manga for 2€ each.
*the joke is that La Maison du Go sounds the same as La Maison d'Hugo. In French when a word starts with a vowel or an h (which is not read, so pronounciation-wise it still starts with a vowel), the last sounding consonant of the preciding word is linked to the word's pronounciation. Take a guess how the first RER train station after Paris CDG airport "Parc des expositions" is pronounced.
Nichtgospielervernichtung am Ottakring
Da waren Schulklassen. Da waren Stände mit Go, Schach, Boxen, Essen, ein Kasperltheater und ein kaputter Wuzler. Dann waren die Schulklassen weg. Ich spielte Schach. Was war das überhaupt für eine Veranstaltung?:) Ist ja auch egal, Hauptsache, die Schulklassen wissen jetzt, was Go ist.
Freitag, 18. März 2011
Blubblablaaahablubb
The European Youth Championship took place in Brno last weekend. Just in case you are wondering, I did very badly, losing games I could have as well won, if I wasn't as weak as I am, and not winning games that I could not have won.
Btw, the EYGC 2012 has no host yet. This is a good opportunity if you feel like
supporting European youth!
Just two days after the tournament, Czech Republic faced Germany in the Pandanet European Team Go Championship. Since I missed the last train hanging around in a tea house (which was totally worth it, see below), I considered staying one more night to help the local commentator comment the games (who got sick in the end and couldn't come). Thus it was decided that I stay one more night to help him comment the games.
This brings me to the topic I have been pondering about ever since.
Instead of commenting just the first board (which seemed like a pretty one-sided game), I switched between the four boards to check the situation and explain a bit what had happened. The second board was a fighting game which involved a lot of reading, exchanges and finally also dead groups.
Third board was pretty one-sided as well, but in the end the unfavoured party managed to cheat spectacularly, spotting a mental weakness of his opponent who was probably like come on, resign already (which I would have been thinking too).
On the fouth board the local Brno hero played in the Czech team, he was particularly stressed about the game. After some kind of investive fuseki where he gave his opponent many points, Germany started to get too hooked on a ko and finally had to spend 4 moves there. In the meanwhile, Czech dude had mapped out his own piece of territory and cut off a group. Unfortunately he didn't manage to attack the group in a cool manner and was behind after the fight. This resulted in the first loss of Czech Republic.
Luckily for that guy, it remained the only loss. One by one, result windows popped up saying that one of the players had resigned or so, and finally we could confirm the result of Czech Republic beating Germany 3:1!
just imagine me standing there, holding the wine glass and blathering
This was exactly the way I commented the games. I didn't get much into detail, but explained the games in a way that the audience could follow who was ahead and stuff like that. It was not quite educative, but probably easy to follow and we could kind of watch all games. My question of this week, what makes you a good game commentator? And subsequently, what makes you a good Go teacher?
For starters, I think that a good teacher doesn't need to be a good Go player. (Of course it would be preferable if he wasn't a bad one.) I've heard that someone who couldn't swim had produced medal winners (in swimming). Nevertheless, this doesn't work with e.g. English language teachers.
I think that Go is something inbetween which required skills of both directions.
Consequently, if a Go player is strong, he is not necessarily a good teacher.
I don't know yet what we can conclude from this.
And thus ended my weekend on Wednesday.
Places worth visiting (cont.)
Brno
Brno is a city where very cool people live and thus a cool place to hang around. I was particularly impressed by the tea houses. It seems that the Go players meet there regularly to play Go and drink tea. And to eat wasabi nuts, which I totally recommend, and smoke waterpipe. (And I won at Settlers of Catan while the last train home left without me:D)
Another reason to go to Brno is that the beer costs less than 1 € in clubs. (compare with 8€ in a Swiss club)
(I particularly liked the kids' disappointed gaze when it was pointed out to them by the opening ceremony dude that Brno and the South Moravian region were known for the wine, but unfortunately they were too underage for that.)
Cha no ma (Vienna)
The one thing the tea houses in Brno didn't have was Matcha. I cannot explain its taste, it's just delicious and Cha no ma (it roughly means house of tea) is a totally Japanese place to hang around.
Targu Mures/Romania
It seems a lot of cool people are going to Shusaku Cup next week.
http://www.shusaku.ro/ecupa2011.html
Linz
The tournament in Linz, which is one of the top 5 Austrian tournaments, will be held on 2-3 April. Linz is where I go to university and I have to admit that the people are nicer than in Vienna.
This time there will be a seperate 13x13 tournament for there are many beginners who don't trust 19x19 yet.
Don't hesitate to join even if you are one of them!
http://linz.goverband.at/
Japan
The recent catastrophy has made me think that humanity is doomed to extinguish itself one day. The industry just wants to get money so badly, it neglects dangerous stuff like this. Let's take genetically manipulated food as an example (or air pollution, it's not as if there hasn't been any technologic stuff invented to make emissions of factories less harmful, it's just that it costs). Food is adjusted on a genetic basis to make them more lucrative for the people who do that. Nobody knows what might happen to people in the future who eat that food. Or to their children. The best and hopefully most likely scenario is that nothing will happen. Though thinking of worse cases doesn't require a great amount of imagination.
However, the situation is already quite *beep*ed up if the best thing that can happen is that nothing happens.
(Don't get brainwashed by me)
Btw, the EYGC 2012 has no host yet. This is a good opportunity if you feel like
supporting European youth!
Just two days after the tournament, Czech Republic faced Germany in the Pandanet European Team Go Championship. Since I missed the last train hanging around in a tea house (which was totally worth it, see below), I considered staying one more night to help the local commentator comment the games (who got sick in the end and couldn't come). Thus it was decided that I stay one more night to help him comment the games.
This brings me to the topic I have been pondering about ever since.
Instead of commenting just the first board (which seemed like a pretty one-sided game), I switched between the four boards to check the situation and explain a bit what had happened. The second board was a fighting game which involved a lot of reading, exchanges and finally also dead groups.
Third board was pretty one-sided as well, but in the end the unfavoured party managed to cheat spectacularly, spotting a mental weakness of his opponent who was probably like come on, resign already (which I would have been thinking too).
On the fouth board the local Brno hero played in the Czech team, he was particularly stressed about the game. After some kind of investive fuseki where he gave his opponent many points, Germany started to get too hooked on a ko and finally had to spend 4 moves there. In the meanwhile, Czech dude had mapped out his own piece of territory and cut off a group. Unfortunately he didn't manage to attack the group in a cool manner and was behind after the fight. This resulted in the first loss of Czech Republic.
Luckily for that guy, it remained the only loss. One by one, result windows popped up saying that one of the players had resigned or so, and finally we could confirm the result of Czech Republic beating Germany 3:1!
just imagine me standing there, holding the wine glass and blatheringThis was exactly the way I commented the games. I didn't get much into detail, but explained the games in a way that the audience could follow who was ahead and stuff like that. It was not quite educative, but probably easy to follow and we could kind of watch all games. My question of this week, what makes you a good game commentator? And subsequently, what makes you a good Go teacher?
For starters, I think that a good teacher doesn't need to be a good Go player. (Of course it would be preferable if he wasn't a bad one.) I've heard that someone who couldn't swim had produced medal winners (in swimming). Nevertheless, this doesn't work with e.g. English language teachers.
I think that Go is something inbetween which required skills of both directions.
Consequently, if a Go player is strong, he is not necessarily a good teacher.
I don't know yet what we can conclude from this.
And thus ended my weekend on Wednesday.
Places worth visiting (cont.)
Brno
Brno is a city where very cool people live and thus a cool place to hang around. I was particularly impressed by the tea houses. It seems that the Go players meet there regularly to play Go and drink tea. And to eat wasabi nuts, which I totally recommend, and smoke waterpipe. (And I won at Settlers of Catan while the last train home left without me:D)
Another reason to go to Brno is that the beer costs less than 1 € in clubs. (compare with 8€ in a Swiss club)
(I particularly liked the kids' disappointed gaze when it was pointed out to them by the opening ceremony dude that Brno and the South Moravian region were known for the wine, but unfortunately they were too underage for that.)
Cha no ma (Vienna)
The one thing the tea houses in Brno didn't have was Matcha. I cannot explain its taste, it's just delicious and Cha no ma (it roughly means house of tea) is a totally Japanese place to hang around.
Targu Mures/Romania
It seems a lot of cool people are going to Shusaku Cup next week.
http://www.shusaku.ro/ecupa2011.html
Linz
The tournament in Linz, which is one of the top 5 Austrian tournaments, will be held on 2-3 April. Linz is where I go to university and I have to admit that the people are nicer than in Vienna.
This time there will be a seperate 13x13 tournament for there are many beginners who don't trust 19x19 yet.
Don't hesitate to join even if you are one of them!
http://linz.goverband.at/
Japan
The recent catastrophy has made me think that humanity is doomed to extinguish itself one day. The industry just wants to get money so badly, it neglects dangerous stuff like this. Let's take genetically manipulated food as an example (or air pollution, it's not as if there hasn't been any technologic stuff invented to make emissions of factories less harmful, it's just that it costs). Food is adjusted on a genetic basis to make them more lucrative for the people who do that. Nobody knows what might happen to people in the future who eat that food. Or to their children. The best and hopefully most likely scenario is that nothing will happen. Though thinking of worse cases doesn't require a great amount of imagination.
However, the situation is already quite *beep*ed up if the best thing that can happen is that nothing happens.
(Don't get brainwashed by me)
Samstag, 5. März 2011
ZzzzZZZZzzzzzzz...
I sincerly apologize for slacking off and not writing much in near past. I am really demotivated to do anything besides sleeping. I am not even motivated to go to university (I planned this term really awesomely and I am supposed to like the courses I have).
My KGS-mom told me that this is a symptom of sleeping too much. :O Now I am supposed to cut my sleeping time and do weird things as jogging and doing the laundry in the morning.
I've always seen sleeping as a kind of honte. Honte is a move that you just can't do without or without which you are extremely limited in your possibilities. A honte improves the further developement and although seemingly slow, it is worth spending the ressources of one move for it.
So too much honte is no good either. Or so it seems. I'll try getting up earlier tomorrow. But not jogging in the morning or anything alike:) Let's see if it helps.
My KGS-mom told me that this is a symptom of sleeping too much. :O Now I am supposed to cut my sleeping time and do weird things as jogging and doing the laundry in the morning.
I've always seen sleeping as a kind of honte. Honte is a move that you just can't do without or without which you are extremely limited in your possibilities. A honte improves the further developement and although seemingly slow, it is worth spending the ressources of one move for it.
So too much honte is no good either. Or so it seems. I'll try getting up earlier tomorrow. But not jogging in the morning or anything alike:) Let's see if it helps.
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