I'm currently around 10k AGA, despite having played for seven or so years now. So you were (or are) a stronger player than I. :-) A lot of what you're describi

I'm currently around 10k AGA, despite having played for seven or so years now. So you were (or are) a stronger player than I. :-) A lot of what you're describing is "philosophical" Go, which for me is the most interesting aspect of the game. The game is so expansive, with so many different winnable strategies (and, it seems, every strategy being vulnerable to at least one other strategy), and that makes it the most intriguing game I've ever played. That's why, despite being so offensively bad at it, I'm still playing it -- it feels like the game teaches life lessons. For instance, a dan player during a recent analysis said I was too aggressive (for my rank). I was taken aback, I thought I was playing defensively. But, I was playing defensively everywhere on the board, not leaving enough room for my opponent to live comfortably anywhere, and this was causing life-or-death skirmishes. I got to be a slightly stronger player by giving my opponent a little bit of breathing room. If anybody on HN is interested in trying it out, drop me an email. I'll get you started on KGS, one of the major international Go networks.