Single Digit Kyu
After a year of study and effort, I have successfully achieved a ranking of 9 Kyu in the game of Go. Here's a nifty chart representing my progress over the last 12 months:
For those unaware of the ranking and rating system used in Go, here is a brief summary:
"Kyu" stands for student ranking, and counts down from 30. Hence, a player who has just learned the rules would be ranked at 30 kyu. Lower kyu rankings indicate more advanced playing. A new beginner would find himself rated somewhere between 30 and 20 kyu, while a casual player would find himself rated somewhere between 20 and 10 kyu.
I've finally broken into the single digit kyu rankings, indicating my status as an intermediate amateur.
After advancing beyond 1 kyu, a player is given a "dan" ranking (as opposed to "kyu"), which counts upward from 1. Thus, after 1 kyu comes 1 dan, then 2 dan, and so on, up until 7 dan. A dan-ranked player is a serious amateur, and a high dan ranking can indicate the potential to play professionally (which has its own, parallel system of ranks, also called "dans," and ranging from 1-dan to 9-dan).
This ranking system is similar to the colored belt ranking system used in martial arts. The kyu ranks are then analogous to various colored belts, and 1 dan is equivalent to a black belt. The ranking system also makes it easy for players of different ranks to play on an equal playing field together - the less advanced player simply receives a handicap of X number of free turns at the start, where X is the difference in ranks.
My rank, and the above chart, are calculated using the games I play on the KGS Go Server, one of the most popular on-line Go-playing communities. The rank is continually adjusted, both as I play and as my previous opponents continue to play, so that rankings can accurately reflect each players' skill with respect to one another, using the history of all games played on the server, between all opponents.
Admittedly, I did take one or two breaks of a month or so. This is reflected in the smooth portions of the chart above, where my rank continued to increase automatically, as my previous victories against opponents counted more since my previous opponents continued to improve. The jittery portions are when I was more active, reflecting the constant fluctuations in my calculated rank as I both won and lost games.
Reaching single-digit kyu has been a specific goal of mine for a while, as it now puts me within striking distance of several advanced players that I know in person. My next specific goal is to reach a level of 5 or 6 kyu. Though my ultimate long-term goal is to be as good as I possibly can, for now I think I would be quite satisfied to reach 1 dan, even if I never improve beyond that - so that can be my specific long term goal for the time being.
Reaching 5 or 6 kyu will not be easy - it may take as long as it has taken me to reach 9 kyu (from 30), which was about a year. And reaching 1 dan may take 2 or 3 years.
But the progress is enjoyable, so I think I will be able to stick with it. You can always check on my most recent progress by clicking the link on the right menu, and if you would like to play, I can be found on KGS - my username is just my first name.
For those unaware of the ranking and rating system used in Go, here is a brief summary:
"Kyu" stands for student ranking, and counts down from 30. Hence, a player who has just learned the rules would be ranked at 30 kyu. Lower kyu rankings indicate more advanced playing. A new beginner would find himself rated somewhere between 30 and 20 kyu, while a casual player would find himself rated somewhere between 20 and 10 kyu.
I've finally broken into the single digit kyu rankings, indicating my status as an intermediate amateur.
After advancing beyond 1 kyu, a player is given a "dan" ranking (as opposed to "kyu"), which counts upward from 1. Thus, after 1 kyu comes 1 dan, then 2 dan, and so on, up until 7 dan. A dan-ranked player is a serious amateur, and a high dan ranking can indicate the potential to play professionally (which has its own, parallel system of ranks, also called "dans," and ranging from 1-dan to 9-dan).
This ranking system is similar to the colored belt ranking system used in martial arts. The kyu ranks are then analogous to various colored belts, and 1 dan is equivalent to a black belt. The ranking system also makes it easy for players of different ranks to play on an equal playing field together - the less advanced player simply receives a handicap of X number of free turns at the start, where X is the difference in ranks.
My rank, and the above chart, are calculated using the games I play on the KGS Go Server, one of the most popular on-line Go-playing communities. The rank is continually adjusted, both as I play and as my previous opponents continue to play, so that rankings can accurately reflect each players' skill with respect to one another, using the history of all games played on the server, between all opponents.
Admittedly, I did take one or two breaks of a month or so. This is reflected in the smooth portions of the chart above, where my rank continued to increase automatically, as my previous victories against opponents counted more since my previous opponents continued to improve. The jittery portions are when I was more active, reflecting the constant fluctuations in my calculated rank as I both won and lost games.
Reaching single-digit kyu has been a specific goal of mine for a while, as it now puts me within striking distance of several advanced players that I know in person. My next specific goal is to reach a level of 5 or 6 kyu. Though my ultimate long-term goal is to be as good as I possibly can, for now I think I would be quite satisfied to reach 1 dan, even if I never improve beyond that - so that can be my specific long term goal for the time being.
Reaching 5 or 6 kyu will not be easy - it may take as long as it has taken me to reach 9 kyu (from 30), which was about a year. And reaching 1 dan may take 2 or 3 years.
But the progress is enjoyable, so I think I will be able to stick with it. You can always check on my most recent progress by clicking the link on the right menu, and if you would like to play, I can be found on KGS - my username is just my first name.
posted by Zaid Alawi at
1:35 AM
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