Qiuping + Inter-house Weiqi

hihi...
I juz did a reflection on the Qiuping Cup (An Annual Weiqi competition)... haha... its LONG... happy reading...

Ah! At last, the Qiuping Cup has finished. Finally, I can rest my mind a bit from Weiqi, can’t I? Well, to me it was certainly “exciting” and “eye-opening”. I did better than last year by getting an individual 5th (didn’t get anything last year) and team 2nd (3rd last year). It was definitely an achievement. Looking back now, I could not believe my luck. I hadn’t been training much Weiqi recently due to the piles of homework and exams I had. Ok... But that’s for the later part. Let’s go in chronological order. Ok... I was sick on Friday, down with coughs, so I didn’t go for the RICO Camp. AHAHAHAHA... Well, I was fresh an well on Saturday and we met at Yio Chu Kang MRT station. There, we had a team briefing or what I call the VERY VERY motivational speech by Shi Hao. Haha... He talked about the fact that our team was actually very strong. He talked about Yang asking who we had in our team. Shi Hao said he didn’t reveal his careds... haha... And then I asked him to stop his English translation without noticing that Viet did not understand Chinese... ahhaha... sorry Viet... Well, now to the match... The first match, I faced Goh Huan or something like that... haha... She went with me for the Shanghai Weiqi trip and I forgot her name... haha... Well, the first match went well, although I had a few scares too. Then, when we had a very big da jie and I thought this was her biggest chance to win me... she tou zi... haha... I also don’t know why... haha... But, well, I immediately kept the seeds before she said she wanted to continue haha... Heaved a sigh of relief... Then to my second match... Against this HCI guy who knew me but I didn’t know him... haha... lol... Well, that match went well too... And I killed his whole piece... YAY!!! Haha... Then the third match I came up against Qi Xu... I still remember last year I won him in Qiuping by a few seeds. This year, I didn’t know why I wasn’t thinking properly and so I lost to him by a lot... haha... The teacher said I had a big chance of winning him after I hate his whole jiao + a bit of bian... But I thought I was losing so I anyhow attack his di4 and died... haha... So, I lost... Hm... Yup... So second day, I went up against this RGS girl... At first, I sat on the wrong table and faced another RGS girl first. It was only after the match ended and I knew I had won that I realised I was sitting on the wrong table... haha... so pai sei... haha... So went to the other table to face another RGS girl... She was much stronger and I only had 30 min instead of 45 min because of my mistake of sitting on the wrong table... haha... Well... still managed to beat her because she made a few mistakes... haha... I only realise now that my kai ju is very bad and can only rely on my opponent’s mistakes to win them... haha... This is again shown in the next two matches... The next match I faced Ernest, who hasn’t played Weiqi for at least 6 months... Still very strong though... He was winning me or should I say thrashing when he made one mistake... From that mistake, he didn’t kill me and the match was very close ever since. I saw him move a few wrong or should I say smaller guan zi... and I punished him by winning him only by a few seeds... Think around 5... haha... Till now, he’s still very pissed with me... Then, the next match was the hardest one I had in the competition... I faced Goh Bin from HCI... Though he isn’t really the strongest in HCI, I felt this immense pressure on me right from the start as I had to beat him... He only started learning Weiqi when he was P5... and I just couldn’t lose to him... As normal, I fell back in the kai ju... And the desperate me went to da ru in his big wai shi... haha... I knew I was losing from then... Yup... So, I managed to escape my da ru seed but he had also attacked my land on the way.. So I knew I was still losing... Then came the big risk... I knew that if I lian my daru seed back, he would be able to go into my land, and I would lose... So, I took the risk... I saved my entire land and let him duan my da ru seed... It had now become a chang long2 and I knew if it died, it would be a thrashing... I spent 10 min thinking how to save this chang long, and finally it paid off... I killed 4 of his seeds and huo2ed.... haha... well... However, I knew I was still losing... Luckily in guan zi, he did’nt take the bigger ones and I managed to grab them... haha... And I won him by 9 seeds... haha... Though I must state also that I was only left with 2 min of my time... Phew... haha... Well, from then on, I was very relaxed as I knew I had achieved the “5 wins I had aimed for”. The next match I faced xiao mo from HCI and I lost to him without much fight... haha... Probably because I was exhausted from the last game and the fact that xiao mo is pro... Well, so ended the 7 games and we had the prize presentation... I got individual 5th, HB got individual 6th and Ernest individual 7th... haha... I beat them all... HAHA... Well, I thought I was quite lucky because I didn’t face FCC or xun kang, unlike HB and Ernest... YAY!!! Haha... Well, so after the prize presentation, we took photos and had a debrief by Shi Hao... He said that we had to use the online resources to improve on our Weiqi which is what I am trying to do right now... Have been going on KGS for the past 3 days... haha... But I know it will take more than this to improve my Weiqi... It takes determination and persistence which is what I have learnt from this Qiuping 2006... The biggest takeaway... Determination and persistence... This was shown by me in the Goh Bin match when I knew I had to persist to be able to win him... And I could tell that he didn’t persist from his face as he didn’t really think before moving... He did try thinking but I could tell he didn’t really cared to count... I thought that match... I won him not by my skills, but by my determination to win... and that is what I have taken away from this Qiuping... Winning in Weiqi is not all about skills... It’s about the determination and patience to sit down and think... This is what I really think the sec1s should learn... I know that for the last 4 matches, I was always the last to finish... I know my brain was about to explode... But, I persisted... I knew, if i thought more, I would win somehow... Like in Ernest’s match... I knew it was going to be hard to beat him... But after his 1 wrong move... I took the opportunity, got as much land as I could... and won... Like in goh Bin’s match, I knew I had more determination and persistence than him... I knew I could win... I was thinking for 10 min and he was staring at other ppl’s matches... I knew that I could beat him through determination even if my skills were not as gd as him... and yes I did... the biggest takeaway from Qiuping... determination, persistence, patience, and the willingness to sit down and think of your every move... That’s what I’ve taken away and I hope the Sec 1s will also learn this... This after seeing them playing at such quick speeds during training sessions... It’s not about the no. of matches you play which make you better in weiqi, its the amount of time you take to think about it... thinking about the possible moves, the possible attacks, the possible defences, the biggest place on the board... Even guan zi... Its about the willingness to sit down and calculate the value of each one of them, whether you will get a xian shou from it, whether your opponent will get a xian shou from it... Its about that... The skills I think we already have enough... Now is the time to start sitting down and thinking about your every move... I hope the Sec 1s will really learn this... Because it was with this that I won Ernest and Goh Bin... Even though I have to admit my Weiqi skills are definitely not as gd as them both... Not trying to say that Goh Bin and Ernest do not have persistence and determination... I think that Ernest definitely has both... Even more than me... I’m also not trying to say that I have a lot of persistence and determination... I’m just trying to suggest that now that we know we have enough skills, its time we sit down and think of every move we play, and not just get it over and done with like what I sometimes do during Weiqi training... Just anyhow play and see what happens... Because I dont think that that’s what Weiqi is about... Weiqi is about the thinking process... Thinking about each and every move you play... whether there is a better move... which move is more important or carries a highr value etc... Its this which makes up the beauty of Weiqi... I suggest that from now on, we play Weiqi not with a limited amount of time, but with a minimal amount of time to think of every move... Though this may not seem logical, I surely think its the way to go...

Yup... Thats the end of the Reflection... HAHA... Have u gone blind yet?? Well, I also recently participated in the RI Inter-house Weiqi Competition... It was a nice experience though it was a bit screwed cuz there were only 11-12 ppl participating.. HAHA... Well, it still takes talent and skills to win the competition... AND I DID IT... <<<>>> Hullett won 1st for inter-house weiqi with me winning all 4 games n my junior winning 3... YAY... Managed to beat Jia Hong, Yi Heng n Hong Bo though I must sae I was quite lucky too... haha... Well, my junior did well too... Losing out to Alan onli by time... So, the standings were: Hullett 7, Bayley 6, Buckley 4, Moor 2, Morrison 1... However, u have to give credit to Moor... They onli had Yi Heng in the team n he was a sec 1... I was rather impressed with him as he managed to beat Jia Hong and make Buckley losing one point, thus making Buckley second and Hullett first instead of a joint first... Must really thank him... haha...

Well, thats all for now... Another weiqi competition coming up on sat/sun... Hope i have the luck and concentration to see me through... haha...

Patrick