6k in need of outside input

[Dusk Eagle]

It will be interesting when I reach the rank (1-3d?) where games aren't decided by mistakes.

Trust me, you've got to get stronger than that for games to not be decided by very basic mistakes (basic relative to the level of the players).

[Shaddy]

I have occasional games (tournament ones) which are not decided by basic mistakes. They are extremely stressful.

[papabob]

Just as I start feeling pretty good about myself, I run into a couple brick walls. It's healthy. USGO.org quoted Korean pro Moonyong Choi as saying, "I myself have played more than 20,000 games and lost half of them." It's as much about losing as it is winning. If not more so. Your reviews have been immensely helpful in turning those loses into something meaningful. Something important.

I've attached two games I lost this past week. Variations are from my own review.

Thanks again for your support.

[Magicwand]

game 1 comment
18: you should feel very uncomfortable to play such move. we call it willingly headbuttin brick wall. usually not good shape.
50: what are you protecting? back door is open. you should build middle influence.
52 ~~~ : i am sure you dont see anything solid by this sequence of move... patience is a virtue.

edit:
game 2:
145: you dont need to save everything... i think this is losing move

[mitsun]

Comments on game 1:

As MW noted, is bad shape. There is a Go proverb "hane at the head of two stones", which is good shape. This proverb should have a corollary "do not headbutt into your opponents hane". A better alternative is to simply connect at D8. B still has to defend, so W gets sente to take the important extension around K4. (Note that even around move 100, this bad shape is still haunting W -- B has the aji of a cut at D8 which enables a ladder at G6.)

Later in the game :w136: is the same bad shape. In this case, W could probably switch to R17 and steal part of the corner, using the aji of S15.

would be better at D13, cleanly cutting off the upper B stones. W would still have miai of capturing the C13 stone or blocking at C18, so the corner would be safe. In the game, B got a good result by connecting underneath the W stones.

Another Go proverb is "kikashi before living". More generally, when you have to answer your opponent submissively, look for any worthwhile forcing moves which you can play before the required response. A prime example of this is the peep at Clearly W has to answer by connecting. But first W has a nice forcing move at N9, which temporarily defends against the cut. After B connects around P8, W still has to answer submissively at Q10, but the previous exchange strengthens the W center considerably, and with this timing it comes for free.

Pretend the position after :b129: is in a tesuji problem book. I am sure you can find the killing move for W.

[mitsun]

Comments on second game:

The opening sequence in the upper right corner was great for B. Did you try to read out the ending position as a life and death problem? If B reduces W eye space with a hane at S18, can W live? If W can live, would any nearby moves strengthen B enough to permit a kill?

The sequence through was excellent, making full use of B strength here. This could be a textbook example of how to attack an invasion. However, in the continuation, I think B should have placed more emphasis on maintaining strength rather than attacking directly.

is a little unsatisfying, as it lets W run out in good shape, without doing much to strengthen the B group or threaten the W corner. Is there some way B can lean on the W corner first in order to build up strength? How about the sequence E2-D2-E4? It seems unlikely that W can afford to start a ko here. If W connects, B can play F6, which is much better than F5 for both defense and attack. As the attack progresses, B is likely to be able to block at C6, keeping this group strong.

through is the wrong direction, weakening the left group. It would be better to block at C6, then extend to make a base if W defends the corner. This is quite large territorially, and it would keep B ahead of W in center strength, assuring future profit from the attack on the weak W running group.

is much too submissive. Extending to H9 would make good shape. If W takes the ko, B can add a defensive move around M10 to protect the cut. The W ko capture does not make an eye, so W would not be accomplishing anything. (Note that if B had peeped at E8, it would be different. Then might be a good kikashi, forcing B to connect, before coming back to answer the peep.)

and might be necessary defensive moves, but first B should atari at H10. This kikashi is sente now, forcing W to make the awkward connection at G9, but later on (after B defends at L7) W might not need to connect. Timing is important.

through are very bad locally, forcing W to split the two B groups and pushing W in a direction which hurts the large group to the left. (http://senseis.xmp.net/?SqueezingOutTheToothpaste). Unless this builds enough strength to kill the W group to the right with a move around N12 (actually quite possible, but I don't think that was the plan), this sequence helps W more than B.

[papabob]

Thanks for your great comments on my last two games. I made 4k last Friday, and won my first even game this morning. Guo Juan has helped tremendously with the fundamentals, and I believe that's what has been carrying me.

I've provided specific responses to your comments below. Thanks again for your support.

Magicwand

Game 1:
18: Thanks to your comment, I've noticed I have a tendency to "willingly head butt brick walls". I'm not sure where I picked up that habit, but I'm working on changing it.
50: I was hoping someone would comment on this move. I was trying to attack those two black stones, but those can easily live, and I squeezed those stones into my middle influence, which was my last hope for the game.
52: I agree. It didn't help much at all!

Game 2:
145: This comment really got me thinking; I was leading, and could have easily sacrificed a piece of this group in order to save the rest and take the game. I played someone at the Arlington Go Center a while back who compared it to a lizard dropping its tail when attacked.

Mitsun

Game 1:
18: Thanks for reinforcing this. D8 is sente and just better shape. Not sure where I picked up this habit, but I'm working against it.
136: As you can see, it's a bad habit. The aji of S15 gave me some interesting variations to play with, thanks for mentioning. Didn't even see it.
36: D13 is arguably the only move locally, and I remember reading this out and thinking there was some way he could cut and not moving there. I was wrong.
Kikashi before living: I don't have a strong grasp of this concept. I'd heard of it before, but your comment made me look it up again, and realized I still don't fully get it. Not that I don't get it, but that I have troubles looking for it/using it in a game. The example helped tremendously though. Before making a submissive move, look for a sente move (often locally) that strengthens your position.
129: Nobi at H19 instead of hane at J19 would kill. Thank you for highlighting. Completely missed it.

Game 2:
Opening: It's funny you say that, because generally I'd prefer white's position here. It may be a factor of strength; I've seen dan players make tremendous use of thick walls, but I'm still learning how to play them.
Upper right corner: I tried reading it out in the game and thought white was alive.
39-51: Thanks for confirming that attacking that white stone was the best way to take advantage of that thickness. I was hoping someone would comment on this sequence; as you can see from my variations, I wondered if I extended too far attacking the white stone, instead of a smaller low extension.
53: Great suggestion; these are sequences I would never think to play. He does get out with great shape, and I played around for a while in my review trying to find a different way to attack.
59-62: I completely agree. The black group on the left is extremely weak, and at 64 white could've cut those three stones off and lived, which I believe we both missed.
67: I played a move differently last week thanks to your comment here, doing what you suggested. No reason to fill that in at all. H9 should've been automatic.
71-73: Great move, and another example of a "kikashi before living" that I just don't think of automatically. Need to spend more time letting this sink in.
83-87: Looked up "Squeezing Out the Toothpaste" and "Small Gaps" after this comment, and they were very helpful. If something's going to escape, give it room. Or in another application of I believe the same type of concept, don't attach when attacking. No need to jump on its back.

[papabob]

I've played well against 4kyus, but collected a loss this morning. Today's loss followed Guo Juan's teacher's tongue-in-cheek advice: "Lose a few stones, and you're ahead. Lose a big group, and you've won the game." I focused on killing a medium sized group, he focused on attacking my then multiple weak groups, and outplayed me the rest of the game.

I'm keeping up my initial 2013 study schedule -- one Guo Juan lecture, one game, one self-review, 5 days a week -- and it's going well. I'll keep that up until it doesn't.

I've posted two losses at 4k below. Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated. Variations are from my own review.

Thanks again for your help.

[Buri]

Greetings,
I am a much lower level player than you (11kyuu) so I can't comment on your games as such. I was intrigued by your remark that you were watching five or six
Guo Juan lectures a week. I have been a student of Guo for some time and my one year membership of her school expired last week. For those who don't know, the one year membership is fairly cheap and allow access to hundreds of superb lectures on all aspects of the game by Guo and various other pros. Of them Guo is probably the best teacher - teaching is her 'Jones' as it weren. During my time as a member I wa slide a kid in a sweet shop, working through different courses on a huge variety of subjects and I don' regret it one bit. It was magical for me. However, with reflection I decided it was not the best method of using this school and now I work differently. Now I think carefully and consult Guo about what lectures suit me best. Then I pay a one month rental fee and study it in depthl. What I mean by this is I copy a the branches of the examples onto sgf files and write Guuos comments with them. I review them constantly and play the variations from memory on a real
board. I feel this study is having a much more profound effect on me at this stage.
Best wishes,
Buri

[mitsun]

The latest two files are not visible, at least in my browser. Some download problem?

[papabob]

Thanks for the heads up; I've updated the post with what should be working links.

Let me know if you're still experiencing problems.

[mitsun]

A few comments on the opening of the first game:

W normally blocks on this side only if there is already a W stone in place around D10. The reason is that B ends up with sente and can then play on the side to prevent W from making an ideal extension.

is the right idea, but too close to W thickness; B is being greedy. If W had a free extension, the right distance would be around C10. Anything B does to get W to make a shorter extension is good. B could play D10 for example to get a better result. If W approaches from the direction of the wall, the result is over-concentrated, while if W approaches from the upper side, B has room for a comfortable two-space extension toward the wall.

is good. An immediate pincer around D10 is tempting, but the weakness at G4 would make the attack difficult for W.

is a bit complacent, trusting B to answer passively. Suppose B ignored this move and pushed at H2? Pushing from behind is generally bad, but here it seems likely that B could push a few times to live in sente, then come back to D10, making a great position along the side. Capturing at C2 might not be enough compensation for W.

is perfect. The game looks fairly even now, or perhaps a bit easier for W, with good attacking possibilities.

A few comments on the fighting:

should consider blocking at J15. Reading required ....
should consider blocking at J12. Reading required ....
is aji-keshi -- not needed for defense, and later the other atari might be useful.

- is a nice capture, but unfortunately B gets more than adequate compensation in the center. Maybe this would be a good time to switch to J7, attacking the other weak B stones. If W gets strong in the center, the E13 cut starts looking better.

really must be F10 I think. W may still be able to salvage the center position. W still has a big lead in territory if the center can be settled without a big loss.

gives up too much territory. The tesuji here is J5, giving up the three lower stones on a smaller scale (J5-J4-K4-J3-H5-J2-L6. But B would still be ahead.

[papabob]

Great comments mitsun. Thanks again for your support. Couple specific responses below. I lost twice this morning due to horrid misreads, but fought back in the second game and made it close.

Mitsun - First Game
8 - My opponent's play was the example to your theory. While 13 is too close, it was the right idea, and made the wall a clunky thing to deal with the rest of the game.
14 - I was almost certain this would be another "do not headbutt into your opponent's hane," but you're right that G4 weakness would haunt any immediate attack.
20 - Black absolutely didn't have to answer here; odd move on my part.
62-72 - This was the story of the game wasn't it. As you noted, black's compensation in the center influenced every section of the board, and the game quickly slipped away from me.
74 - Guo Juan's "Important Stones" lecture is on my horizon, as it may have reinforced how important it was to hold onto those center white stones and try to settle without a big loss.
80 - Thanks for pointing out J5.