Rival match: Kalin2:[8k] Vs Therookie:[8k]

A newsworthy rivalry

Kalin2 and Therookie have been rivals for a long time. Therookie however didn't acknowledge
Kalin2 until 2 days ago (february 12th) when Kalin2 beat Therookie by 13.5
Kalin has been steadily making ground. Just last month Kalin was 12k and hadn't beaten Rookie at all.
Here is a kifu of the exiting match(Kalin is black Kalin also had a 2 stone handicap and Rookie was simuling). Its exciting to see new players rising in the Go world. we have an exciting year ahead of us.

The importance of a go community.

While this may seem obvious, you can't go very far in go by yourself. If you don't have friends, teachers, competitors and other people you know who are interested in go, then you won't grow as fast as you could. This is one of the reasons I have so many friends on kgs. That, and having friends is fun and they are great people.
I suggest bringing your questions to sites like life in 19x19 their friendly forums have been a huge help to me.

A go study group is a good thing. Where would Hikaru be if he never joined Waya's study group? HnG refrence aside It's really helpful to be part of a group that meets regularly to study. As your group grows stronger you will too.

Or at least I THOUGHT a study group would be good until I tried studying with my sister.

Ikebrawler: The upcoming pro

A new face is appearing on the world of Go. On kgs under the psuedonym 'ikebrawler' a go legend is growing.
He started go a few years ago when his dad first brought him to a Go salon. since then he has been advancing quickly. big name players like MrHyphen are looking to him as their 'potential rival'
here is a kifu of one of his recent games against myself (he gave me 9 handicap stones)

He beat me by 46.5 well its always fun to be smoked by the future pros.
anyway watch out go world new players are coming your way.

Advanced Study Room

 Bensensei

Advanced Study Room or asr is a teaching room on kgs which has an ongoing League system. To join simple go to the advanced study room on kgs under the Lessons category. One of the best thing about asr is that the stronger players almost always offer to review the game.
       Another added bonus is the competition which is an added incentive to play go. At the end of the month scores are compared and the top players in each section move up. There are also various prizes awarded to players who did the best in their bracket as well as to the most outstanding players overall. for more info look at their website. (also if you are in gamma II bracket pm me username: dukedaniel I'd love to play you)

Nature vs Nurture GO style

Some people believe you can get to high dan rankings just by pure effort.
others believe this requires innate ability.
here is a quote from Guest1dan from kgs

DukeDaniel(me): would you say effort is the biggest thing? or is it natural ability
Guest1Dan: u need to be smart..like smart as mount everest

this seems to be up for some debate.
 wait for part 2 coming soon
Nature vs Nurture GO Style: The research

Killing 3,3

Okay, so any of us who have played go very long run into this all the time, you play a decent game and its about even and then at the very end someone plays the 3,3 right in the middle of your territory. Egadz.
fear no more today I will take you step by step and show you how to kill the ugly beast that has landed in your hometown. HOWEVER this will not work at the beginning of the game because you need a large influence in the area in order to make sure he cannot escape. Role film Jerry.

This is how the 3,3 usually works out in a game where the players are both unaware of blacks possibility to kill. black loses allot here and it isn't fun for him at all.

                                                        THE KILLING POINTS

 Number 4 on the left diagram is the killing move, after this black must prevent white from making 2 eyes
it can be difficult but if you think it through you can kill white.
On the right diagram move 2 does the same thing.

Knowledge is power! Test it out in some of your games till you get it down pat. soon people will be to afraid to play the 3,3 at all against you

Some simple suggestions

1. make sure white cannot escape through the top
2. don't let him get 2 eyes in the corner
3. don't play s5 or s4 in the beggining of the game or white will end up killing most of you and getting a large base