May 100$ tournament is over. 15 players participated in it, including 2 non-russian players. I hope in future we'll have a more international format.

Final standings:

Since all games were played even, Happylook 5d, Pugovka 4d and  quaigon 4d were the main favorites to win the tournament.

Round 1.

Shaper 1d challenged quaigon 4d and unexpectedly won the game. He was even surprised himself that he managed to defeat a 4d players.

Round 2.

Most exciting game was between balabala [-] and SH1NIGAMI 3d. The result of the game was decided in the big semiai fight, SH1NIGAMI's group eventually had more liberties and he won the game.

Round 3.

Shaper 1d who already unexpectedly defeated a 4d player, now had even more serious player, HappyLook 5d. After big fight in the middle game, Shaper 1d managed to capture big white group for 50 points! But the game was far from being over. White got some compensation and managed to enclose big territory on the bottom. White had a little advantage and the result of the game should had been decided in yose. But Shaper 1d made a blunder maybe due to a time pressure and Happylook 5d advanced to finals.

Finals.

It turned out, that Happylook 5d and Pugovka 4d are married couple and they both made it to finals. The victory was awarded to Pugovka 4d and main prize of the tournament 100$ was transferred to her accordingly.

Next tournament: June 100$.

There will be some changes:

1. The time control will be extended to 30 min main time 5x30 sec.

2. Previous winner cannot participate in the next tournament, to make it fair for other players to compete for the prizes.

3. Tournament style will be swiss system.

How to Enjoy Your Game

By Nam Chi-hyung (from Korea Times)

"To win a game is just one of the many joys you can get from Baduk. Don’t let your desire to win take the joy from the game itself. People also hate to memorize josekis and opening formations. You want to imitate what professional players do, but if you don’t know the meaning of a brilliant move, it’s better not to play it. A joseki you don’t understand often causes complicated situations you cannot handle. 

Imitating professional moves can make you unable to know exactly what’s going on. The opening stage, where you usually need to know josekis and formations, is a white canvas where you can draw your own sketch. 

This is a unique phase in a game when you can spread your dream for the future of the game. The middle game and the endgame depend on what you do during the opening. Therefore, it is really important to be sure of your opening move.

All the difficult sequences of Baduk are not the object of memory but comprehension. If you think it is too difficult to understand a certain sequence, then just leave it and play your own move.

Perhaps the above-mentioned things can help you enjoy Baduk better. However, the most important thing for fully enjoying the game is to put all your strength and ability into every single game. You may say that you don’t have that energy after a hard day at work. But, just as you will feel healthier and refreshed after a powerful game of tennis or a long run, I’m sure you will feel your brain being recharged and invigorated after a serious two-hour game of Baduk."

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That is why I strongly believe that tournaments games are very helpful to get stronger. Playing a serious game in the tournament you put all your strength into the game. No matter what the result is, you definitively get stronger.

FakeDeath

Some updates. We have 11 players registered so far. The tournament is scheduled for 6 rounds in case there are 64 players registered. I don't think that we'll get to this number, so right now there are 4 rounds.

I'd like also to mention that activation code should be sent to your email within 10-15 min. Sometimes there is a problem with russian emails. So if you didn't receive your activation code within 15 minutes, please contact me and I'll activate your accaunt manually.

On a side note, you probably noticed that once you registered you received a certain amount of ladder bux. They are required to participate in the tournaments. The entry fee for this tournament is 100 ladder bux. 

Getting started

How's everyone? I believe we had a good start so far. Already 7 players registered for the tournament. I know the registration is not easy, thanks for your time and patience.

 I understand it will take time till more people will get to know about this project, so we'll have more activities. So far I arranged with Kim Sungrae 8p, that most exciting games will be reviewed by him. I will publish the reviews in the Sport Center.

I know the fact the tournament will be held in Russian speaking room and that most of the people that registered speak Russian but I decided to have all features, including this blog, in English so that more people could join us.

Welcome to MiM!

Welcome to MiM!

I'm organizing a series of online tournaments along with Russian Room on KGS. The registration for the first tournament is already opened. 

Besides the prizes for the winners, we'll have additional prizes to the players. Furthermore, I'll post here most exciting games, news, interviews with players. Some of the games will be commented and posted here. I also plan to have a live commentary for the final game of the tournament.

Stay with us for more news!