Yesterday I was playing a game against a 1k with a 6 stone handicap when I had an epiphany! He attacked on of 4,4 stones with 3,6 stone, I pincered him High Korean style and then he he played the 6,3 point on the opposite side.
At that moment I was filled with a haunting fear of this player. Every time I had been attacked like this by a strong player I ended up losing. Deep down inside I felt like I had already lost, 4 moves into the game. This was nothing but an unjustified point of view, a judgment that I had made.
How many times have you decided that you have lost a game? How many times was that true? There are an infinite number of possibilities. Every time you notice you have made a judgement, say to yourself "interesting point of view." because that's all it is, a certain point of view. Someone else might look at your same situation and think you have a distinct advantage, or perhaps someone else might think you are drawing a picture with black and white stones. Realizing that this is just a point of view opens up a whole new world of exciting possibilities.
Once you have eliminated your limitating judgments, you can start asking questions. What can I do here? What can I use to my advantage? How can I make this group live? What would this move accomplish? If I resigned right now, what else could I do with my time. Even if your questions lead you to resigning, you still don't have to feel defeated, knowing that you made the best decision you could think of.
Thanks for reading
~Nukermage
I've encountered this myself numerous times. Definitely something that we should consider as players when playing: letting go of our points of views.
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