Life In 19x19

A fun game I won with a bit of luck.
A few quick comments:
-For , this feels like pushing White into your moyo, and I think you want White to take the small move of connecting under. Did you consider something like J4 or K4 to try to seal off the middle?
-Did you consider what happens if White ...

Game B-14
After some recent success on Tygem, I decided not to press my luck and instead switched over to KGS for a game. I felt like neither my opponent or I played up to par, but in the end, I won, and that was enough to bump me up to 4dan there. I still don't feel like a true KGS 4dan, but it's ...

Game B-13
Comparing this afternoon's game to my previous comments here I think is pretty interesting. First off, I'm happy to report that, even playing White, I think I managed to avoid over-reaching in the late middle game (although White-148 is questionable). Instead, I did manage to push the ...

Game B-12
I didn't have time to play any serious games over the Thanksgiving holiday, and was generally disappointed with the casual games I played. Then this past weekend, I managed to play and lose 2 games in characteristic fashion. Despite my comments above about needing to stop over-reaching ...

So based on the above joseki results, white losing the outside stone is not the end of the world if you get the corner. So here's a simple way to answer that solid connection. So how would I judge this? White has a bigger territory than dia 5 and can even slide at a later. However there's no ...

I played three games this weekend, and unfortunately went 1-2. It's the second loss that I'm most upset about, because I played it on tilt immediately after the first loss. I think a large part of why my record seems to be improving is that I've been able to minimize playing emotionally, but this ...

In my recent Tygem games, I've come across an interesting variation in a joseki that I was hoping to get opinions on.
$$Bc A modern variation
$$ ------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 6 a . . . . .
$$ | . 8 X , O b . 1 .
$$ | . . . . 3 4 . . .
$$ | . . 7 . 5 ...

Game B-11
I had the time/energy for two serious games this weekend, and managed to win them both. Neither one was a work of art, but it got the job done. That puts me only two wins away from a promotion (which also makes me a bit nervous to keep playing). Hopefully next weekend I'll have the ...

Game B-10
Another weekend, and another 2-1 performance. I'm feeling a bit frustrated since 6-dan continues to be tantalizingly just out of reach. I reviewed the lost game below, but it basically boils down to a series of reading errors in the first major fight, and then me trying unsuccessfully to ...

White 38 was a good choice IMHO. However, look at the board. White has played 18 stones in a row on the second or third lines up to this point. This can't be good.

Worth repeating.
Absolutely true, although I still fault for this situation. If I had been able to approach Black's corner first, I ...

Game B-9
I played three games this weekend, and (again) went 2-1. My overall winning percentage also seems to be settling around 66%, but unfortunately I need 75% to move up to 6dan. Also, I seem to continue to struggle playing as White. Both of my wins were as Black, and my loss was as White. Any ...

I can't really criticize p11, but if you want to strive for greater efficiency and learn about the big shimari you could 3-3 attach as a probe and if black hanes then tenuki to make your own shimari, and if he extends to 4-4 then you don't mind slightly slow p11 because you have easier corner aji ...

Game B-8
I played a rather eye-opening game last night. My opponent had recently been demoted from 6-dan, but he was clearly more skilled than me. I was outplayed across the board. It's been awhile since I played a game where I felt so overmatched. Hopefully I can use it as motivation in the ...

From 78 White makes a series of strange moves IMHO. At 78 I think the diagonal play is normal when we want to continue on the left. Don't give Black any help strengthening the bottom.
Yes, I'm really not sure what I was thinking here. If I recall, I was focused on trying to make eyes by pressing ...

Game B-7
I actually ended up playing three games on Saturday, which is probably more than I should play in a single day if I want to keep the quality up. But, after I lost the first game quickly due to an early reading mistake, I went a bit into tilt-mode and wanted to keep playing. Fortunately, I ...