Life In 19x19

To 1: can you give an example?

To 2: connect!

To 3: read very carefully.

I can't quite remember the corner-taking move though I think it was something like the following (below ...

I've played a couple of face-to-face games with a friend who was around amateur shodan several years back, at a 9-stone handicap and finally won a game!

I've noticed that I:
* am not totally sure when my defences are secure, particularly near the corners
* leave lots of cutting points
* make small ...

I like Kawabata's quotation of Sanjugo Naoki: "If one chooses to look upon Go as valueless, then absolutely valueless it is; and if one chooses to look upon it as a thing of value, then a thing of absolute value it is." That's a nice quote -- is there a reference (e.g. book name, etc.) ?

It's in ...

I like Kawabata's quotation of Sanjugo Naoki: "If one chooses to look upon Go as valueless, then absolutely valueless it is; and if one chooses to look upon it as a thing of value, then a thing of absolute value it is."

A pleasant game from KGS; I lost by 40 due to a toothpaste attack on move 94 that I had trouble handling.

[sgf-full]http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/download/file.php?id=747[/sgf-full]

Here's my first "proper" (non-AI, not my friend who barely knows how to play) "win" against on KGS - my opponent resigned after move 84 but I'm not sure I had a certain victory. (Maybe he thought he did!)

http://lifein19x19.com/forum/download/file.php?id=733

Aside from walking into a ladder at ...

I like to think that my guesstimated rating of 25-kyu isn't generous enough, but you wouldn't know looking at the following KGS 6-stone handicap game.

http://lifein19x19.com/forum/download/file.php?id=703

I messed up a ladder ! I really important one!

By the end of this game, I was mentally ...

Thanks again for your advice, jts.

Though logistically more difficult, human play is definitely superior; I hadn't thought of the point that the AI may use techniques a human can't really copy.

Your tips about move 16 make a lot of sense: I was attacking without banking territory, and leaving big ...

This was a frustrating game against AI; I thought I was going well until White started living and my groups started dying.

I think this came down to two major mistakes - attempting to pincer White in the South-East without enclosing the corner, and not playing against White moves in what I thought ...

This is just for fun, but I tried Thomas Frech's approach against GnuGo and lost - 4 times (3 with a two stone handicap...)! I suppose the unthinking intuition of a dan-level is still pretty strong...

2 stone handicap.

http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/download/file.php?id=674

No handicap ...

Thanks for the tips jts.

I think what you wrote about bad pattern recognition is very true; I've read (what feels like) a lot of Go theory, but have trouble putting it into practice. I have to spend more time on each move and look at the whole board more. And get into the habbit of assessing ...

I played another game on KGS, this time with a mysterious silent player who only plays Free games.
http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/download/file.php?id=670&sid=957143a048f5594c4f419df9fd16dec3

I've been trying to get my head around the idea of "thickness"; in this game I got some early on but ...

I have participated in two of these Math Trades on BGG and know the general theory (it's about finding cycles in a directed graph where vertices represent trade items and arrows represent wants). Usually people use programs to work them out in an automated fashion, but if the volume is low enough ...

jts wrote:Shaddy, what's the suggested follow up to your move 63?

The S9 capture?

Edit: Ugh, at least I'm in good company!

Yeah, to my consternation I repeatedly "lost" 4-4 corners to 3-3 invasions before a little book/article reading revealed that this was expected and frequently advantageous (as you describe). This was completely unexpected for me, and a head-exploding moment!

Move 21 was a bit of a shock but it's ...