This study journal is meant to be a continuation of the journal I've been keeping here: https://forums.online-go.com/t/studying-journal/4329. My inspiration was this video from Andrew Jackson about deliberate practice. In particular, I was struck by his comments about the importance of immediate feedback, and decided I wanted to implement this by forcing myself to review every game that I play. As an add-on, I've also decided to try to force myself to note something useful that I take away from any other study that I do (videos, replaying games, etc.).

As you can see from the prior version, I've been collecting those reviews in individual posts, and so far I've found it pretty helpful. I have been focusing my play on IGS (which was easiest to get working on my Mac) and Tygem (where I tend to struggle with the over-aggressive style that commonly appears), and have recently been promoted to 5dan on both servers. However, I've decided to move my journal over to L19, since the community here seems much better developed than in the still fairly new OGS forums.

Wish me luck in my continued efforts of deliberate practice!

Tonight I played a reverse komi game against an IGS 4d. I felt I played reasonably well initially, and built a winning position, but then a combination of greed and lack of concentration led me to squander it entirely. I'm trying to focus on the first part, but losing a won game is always frustrating. I'm not sure if there's much to be done, however, to build the ability to continue concentrating throughout a game, other than practice. In any case, the review (via GoKibitz) is here: https://gokibitz.com/kifu/VJvNDs6I Or the embedded version is below. (The disaster happens at moves 122-28.)

Game 27
Here's my first game as a 5dan on Tygem. Like the game above, I managed to build a winning position, but this time I felt I did better with keeping my concentration and maintaining my lead. There was one bad endgame mistake that still shows I need to do more to maintain focus, but overall, I was happy with my play. Here is the review: https://gokibitz.com/kifu/N1uyngxw I've also embedded the sgf below.

Other materials
Recently, I've also had the time to watch Haylee's Game 90 and Go Game Guru's Review of the final game of the 53rd Judan. For Haylee's game, I was particularly impressed with the way she handled the rather unorthodox opening of her opponent, by simply making simple shapes and playing normally. The kind of plays by Black in that game would have left me very flustered. And for the 53rd Judan, I really liked the analysis of the lower side fight.

Embedded game review:

Game 28
I played an even game against an IGS 5dan tonight, and was pretty pleased with the result. However, I found the game pretty difficult to self-review, but my general thought was that I got more out of my attack on Black's weak group than I probably should have. In any case, the game is here: https://gokibitz.com/kifu/VJTsBJ7v

When you invaded with 56 at 1 below, how did you plan to answer 2? The usual hane at 3 doesn't look so helpful to me.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . 9 8 . . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . X . . X . 7 6 . 1 . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . O X X . . . 5 4 . . . . |
$$ | . X X X O . . . X O O . . 3 2 . X . . |
$$ | . . X . O . O O X X . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O O X X X . X O . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O X X O X . O O X O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The other question would be what about the Black hane at 1 below?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . X . . X . . 1 O O . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . O X X . . . 4 2 X . . . |
$$ | . X X X O . . . X O O . . 5 3 . X . . |
$$ | . . X . O . O O X X . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O O X X X . X O . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O X X O X . O O X O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

It seems to me that Black responded very weakly in the game to White's invasion. When White played 66 in the game, it feels like you were better and could look forward to tormenting the Black stones.

_________________
Dave Sigaty
"Short-lived are both the praiser and the praised, and rememberer and the remembered..."
- Marcus Aurelius; Meditations, VIII 21

That's a great point about Black's play here. I was definitely surprised by these choices.

To answer your questions, my thought was that Black's connection to M7 was going to be awkward enough, and that having M2 made White strong enough, that I could just move R7 out in either instance. If Black played the usual attach, I was thinking something like:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . X . . X . . 3 . 1 . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . O X X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X X O . . . X O O . . . 2 . X . . |
$$ | . . X . O . O O X X . O . 4 O 6 . . . |
$$ | . . . X O O X X X . X O . 5 7 O 8 . . |
$$ | . . O X X O X . O O X O . . . . 9 . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Now I felt Black still need to do something to fix his connection, and I could attack R9. (I also was considering jumping with Q6 and N7 instead.)

If Black played hane at move 59, I planned to attach, leaving Black with the choice of giving me the side or again letting me move out in the face of the weak connection:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc White gets the side.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 9 . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . 0 3 X 8 . |
$$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4 5 . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . X . . X . . 2 1 O . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . O X X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X X X O . . . X O O . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X . O . O O X X . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O O X X X . X O . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O X X O X . O O X O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc I think is necessary
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4 . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . 3 X . . |
$$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . X . . X . 6 2 1 O . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . O X X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X X X O . . . X O O . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X . O . O O X X . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O O X X X . X O . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O X X O X . O O X O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Game 29
Back to Tygem for my latest game. Even though I won, I was pretty disappointed with my play. I felt overly intimidated by my opponent's strange fuseki, and then had a number of reading mistakes. Fortunately for me, my opponent also made a reading mistake that proved decisive. If I'm going to improve, I'll need to stop counting on things like that to win. Here is the review: https://gokibitz.com/kifu/VJcbbX8v

Game 30
I feel like I'm in a bit of a slump. I played another game on Tygem today, but like with Game 29, I was disappointed with my play. I had another series of reading mistakes that made the game very close, and I felt lucky to squeak out a 3.5 point win. But even before those mistakes, I felt like I got behind in the fuseki, which led to a reckless invasion. Here's the game in all its ugliness: https://gokibitz.com/kifu/EJtbqy_D

I have made a review of game 30. You can look at all my comments as questions.

and 29 ...

Hi Knotwilg,

Thanks for these excellent comments. I'm working through the Game 30 comments (and I'm excited to turn to Game 29 next), but I did have a couple of reactions:

• Your alternate sequence at and looked like a great geta (I did not see it in the game), but looking at it more, I worry that it makes Black's push at H13 sente, while it was gote in the game.
  
• Thanks especially for pointing out the mistake in my variation at .
  
• To answer your question about the variation at Black-159, I think you're right. Phew.

Really, thanks again for taking the time on this review!

h13 will indeed be sente for black but that would not worry me all that much because it's not a particularly good move, is it?

It will force you to reinforce your connection and its effect towards the top left is not so big.

Maybe I'm making less of that move than there is to it.

BTW, as you seem to like it (and I do too) here's 28, with a focus on the possible big kill in the centre. No comments after 160/
Mind you I wouldn't come up with all this in a real game myself.

Knotwilg,

Here are my reactions to your once again excellent comments (for Game 29):

• Thanks for pointing out the error in my variation at . I knew something was off, but couldn't remember what.
• Your variation for is an interesting idea. I wonder if the fact that Black has the tengen stone makes a difference?
• Your proposed is excellent. I think I got too greedy here.
• I'm not sure I agree with your variation for . What if is at N12? White can still split, but is left with a weak group himself.

Thanks again!

Game 31
Today's game on Tygem shows a lot of what I've come to expect from players on that server - lots of overplay, forcing me to be very careful about how I attack and punish such moves. It got pretty tense for awhile at the end, but fortunately worked out:


Other materials
I realized I've been slacking on posting my reactions to other materials I've been studying. Lately, it's been pretty much just Haylee's videos:

• Game 93 - Here, Haylee plays the famous opening from the Game of the Century, which lends itself to a more influence-oriented style than I think is typical in most modern go. The amazing thing, though, was how, little by little, White ended up with almost no territory at all.
• Game 94 - This was the kind of moyo game that terrifies me, and it was comforting to know that it was hard for her too. Also, a good reminder that while it's important to push for every point in the endgame, one mistake can lead to collapse.
• Game 78 - This was interesting because it's Haylee's only game on IGS. I found it useful to watch just from a psychology standpoint, as she managed to make the game very close despite an early mistake. I think it's a good caution against being too passive after building an early lead.

I've also been working a bit on another go-related project that I'll hopefully be able to announce soon.

You're right about the clamp at in game 29. I always neglect that suji.

Here's 31. If you have information overload, just ignore

Game 32
I played an even game on IGS tonight. I was going to again say that I was disappointed in my play, but after several games of saying that, maybe the better analysis is simply that I've hit my current potential. (Working up from 3dan on Tygem may have given me the unconscious idea that I should be walking over all my opponents, instead of being fully challenged by them.)

In any case, the game was rather moyo based, and I struggled to avoid panicking about the size of my opponent's territory. That only made things worse, and I was forced to start a desperate capturing race to try to win. Fortunately, I actually played that race pretty well (it's usually an Achilles heel of mine), and my opponent made a mistake that meant I was able to still get a win. Here's the game: https://gokibitz.com/kifu/419K1GnP


And, yes, I realize I still owe answers to questions and comments from Knotwilg's last two reviews.

Black's hanging connection at 27 is not normal. I think that 2 and 4 below would leave him unable to play 5 as in the game. Instead Black will need to protect against an invasion with something like 'a' perhaps. That will result in a much flatter position than the game. Black definitely gained a tempo here in the game.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X 2 |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 X O . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O X . X . . . . . . . X . . O . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

White 46 feels like White is trying too hard. White can't reasonably expect to cut Black off so the direction of 46 seems small. If Black had just kept jumping in the game, what would White have done? Should White have played 46 around 2 and forced Black to live small while building some outside influence?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . 3 . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . 2 . 4 . 6 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . O O O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O X . X . . . . . . . X . . O . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

_________________
Dave Sigaty
"Short-lived are both the praiser and the praised, and rememberer and the remembered..."
- Marcus Aurelius; Meditations, VIII 21

Thanks, ez4u. I had forgotten the first shape you show here, but hopefully it'll be more obvious to me next time around. As for the attack on the Black stones, I'm coming around to the idea that White should just seal Black in. That thickness makes it both much easier for White to invade the bottom, and harder for Black to expand the upper right. I still need to train myself to better appreciate the value of influence/thickness over pure territory.

Games 33 and 34
I played two reverse-komi games on IGS against 4dans today. The first was probably a good example of the parts of the game where I struggle. As is often the case, I feel like I don't get sufficient profit off of my attacks on weak groups. And, more particularly, I seem to have a bad habit of jumping in the middle of large-knight groups, when I have a nearby weak group. It never ends well. The result was a narrow loss at the end. https://gokibitz.com/kifu/Vy20IBZu



I then made the mistake of playing a second game. I knew I was tired and it showed, particularly in the opening. I was way too willing to give me opponent thickness in exchange for a few points, and it meant I was playing catch-up throughout most of the game. I'm somewhat reluctant to even post this game, but the idea behind the study journal was to review and post all of them, so here it is in all its ugliness. https://gokibitz.com/kifu/EkCB9BWd


It looks like I've settled pretty well into the 5dan range on IGS, which at least gives me a baseline to try to improve from.

Game 35
Another loss on IGS today, this time playing Black against a 5d+. On the one hand, I'm happy with myself for experimenting a bit in this game, on the other hand, the result isn't what I would like. That said, the major mistakes that I found in my review (73 and 119) seem more attributable to playing to quickly rather than conceptual misunderstandings, so hopefully there's still room for improvement with better self-discipline. Here's the review: https://gokibitz.com/kifu/NkcELdGO