I looked at your game and then verified some of my thoughts with Leela Zero.
My impression was that I didn't like the position at
, but I couldn't really say that there were any bad moves, as such. The latter part is confirmed by the engine, which thinks White's chances are steadily rising up to that point. Still, I think there are a few things that a human might want to play differently.
Engines in general seem not to like the
pincer all that much, preferring to just play a knight's move from your 4-4 stone. The pincer invites Black to take your corner territory. In the game your opponent chose a different line, and to me it looked like the position would have been much nicer for White if the bottom right stone had been white instead of black.
Here's an idea from LZ, instead of the two-space extension: put more pressure on the black stones. You can then follow up at 'a' to take away the eyes and force Black to run out, and you can extend along the top side.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc19
$$---------------+
$$ . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . a . |
$$ . . . . O X . |
$$ . O . O . X . |
$$ . . . . . . . |
$$ . . X . X . . |
$$ . . . . . . . |
$$ . . 1 . O . . |
$$ . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . |[/go]
After two more moves in the game, it's White who looks weaker to me.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc19
$$-------------+
$$ . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . |
$$ . . . O X . |
$$ O . O . X . |
$$ . . . . . . |
$$ . X . X . . |
$$ . . . . . . |
$$ . a . O . . |
$$ . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . |
$$ . . . O . . |
$$ . . . . . . |
$$ . . . X . . |
$$ . . . . . . |[/go]
LZ doesn't see a big problem in terms of win rate, but also thinks a move at 'a' here to both reinforce and hint at an attack wouldn't be a bad plan.
Here's an engine idea I found instructive: after Black plays the marked stone, trying to take a narrow territory in the upper right is fruitless (and the game move at
still leaves a weakness). Instead, split the opponent more forcefully:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc19
$$---------------------------+
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . |
$$ . . . 6 # . . . . . O X . |
$$ . . . . 5 1 . O . O . X . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . X . X . . |
$$ . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . 3 . O . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]
At
, I'd prefer not to strengthen Black, so as to leave the left side more open:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc19
$$ +------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . O . X .
$$ | . 1 . O . . . . .
$$ | . . a . . . . . .
$$ | . . X . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .[/go]
However, LZ sees nothing wrong with your move ('a'). It isn't considered, but the winrate is unchanged.
is within Black's sphere of influence. As I said above, my personal preference would have been to change
instead, but LZ points out the following alternative play:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc19m28
$$ +------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . O . X .
$$ | . . . O . . . . .
$$ | . . O . . 1 . . .
$$ | . . X X . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .[/go]
I'd interpret that as putting pressure on the two black stones at the top, and making invasion of the left side easier.
From there on the engine is mostly happy with your play, but here's another interesting idea:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc19m36
$$ +----------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . # . .
$$ | . . . . . O . X . . X . O .
$$ | . . . O . . O 1 . . . . . O
$$ | . . O . . X . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . O O O . . . . . . . . .[/go]
Black just played the marked point. That makes the top group the stronger one, so lean on it to attack the other stones, and once again don't worry too much about defending a small amount of territory.
Move
at O3 is perhaps slightly off-topic with several weak-looking groups on the board. But the first really bad move that jumped out at me when I looked at the game is
. Letting Black push out like that can't be right.
is a huge blunder, Black could descend and capture everything:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc19
$$-------------------+
$$ . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . X O . 1 . O 2 3 |
$$ X . O . X O O X . |
$$ . . . O X O X X . |
$$ . . . O O X . . . |
$$ . . . . X . X . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . |[/go]
After Black fails to take advantage, White has a won game (90% in LZ terms) for a long time. The sequence of moves starting at N3 doesn't look wrong to me or to the engine: it feels completely natural. Black's attempt to cut with
at K3 is way too violent, but White misses a few chances.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc19
$$ . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . 1 . . .
$$ O . . X . . . . .
$$ . . O O X X O O O
$$ . . . . O O X X X
$$ . . . . . . . . .
$$------------------[/go]
Why not this, at
?