Do you ever spend much of a day thinking about Go, doing tsumego, or repeatedly checking correspondence games while itching to play a live game, only to find yourself doing other things in your free time instead of playing Go?
For me this happens more often than I’d like to admit. When I realized this was a common thread in my time playing the game, I was confused with myself. I always enjoy a game of Go after I play unless I lose a game because of a mistake, and even then my frustration lies with my mistake, rather than with the game itself.
Playing Go is an immensely rewarding activity for me: it is challenging, I am always learning, and winning is a triumphant event. After a game I never think that I should have spent my time otherwise. So — why does it require such force of will to really dive in?
I think it is because it is a mentally demanding way to pass time. It requires focus, planning, and strategic elasticity. When mistakes happen, you are faced immediately by the consequences. Often, you fail.
And… the more I think through this maybe it's not so confusing that other things are more relaxing ways to spend an evening.
But I think that the challenge presented by the game is an important challenge to meet regularly if you are at all interested in (1) improving or (2) realizing benefits to your life outside the board as a result of the game.
For improvement, playing regularly is important because experience is the foundation to learning and getting better. As for benefits outside the board, in my case it has manifested as a battle with discipline and focus. I have sharpened both skills through Go in a way that translates to everything else that I do in life, and I can certainly afford to keep improving in these areas.
I’ll finish saying this, and I would do well to take the reminder myself: if you enjoy Go, no matter if you are a brand-spanking-new player or one of long experience, do not allow anxiety or lacksadaisicality to be an obstacle when playing games. Go into each match with a lightness—you are doing enough if you face the challenge and give it your best.
If you win, you win. If you lose, you learn