Progress Report: -

Tsumego: Finished reading Graded Go Problems for Beginners IV (76.2% correct)
Games Reviewed: 1 lost game
Other: Joined the L19 Menotring scheme

Tsumego is continuing with some improvement, but nothing to really note on that front.

Have signed up to the L19 mentoring scheme as a student, though not yet managed to get a game, slight issues with time zones but hopefully nothing that can't be overcome.

Don't normally post up games I won, but sometimes it feels like successes need to be listed too





Oddly I felt like I'd just been running or something at the end of this game, felt physically exhausted!

PeterN

Here are some comments on the first game:


I don't feel qualified enough to comment on the second game much, but because it was so close, it is probably a good one to have reviewed.

Congrats on the win! Here are a few brief comments on the second game

was slow -- white just reinforced here, so take your sente and go somewhere big!

feels like the wrong direction, and seems slow --- your stones on the lower side gets separated from the corner so they become weak, and I don't see anything horrible white can do if is omitted

this cut is so small, white is happy to give you that stone in exchange for shape!

and what is white doing here happy times for black !

and onwards, you're pushing from behind and helping white make quite many points in the center -- maybe better to just play L17 instead, and take some territory on the top

not that it mattered in the game, but before starting the ko, E5 was 1 point in sente

1st
Unexpected, but I really like it. It might just be a higher level mistake, but I still like it.
This seems really, really bad for white. A solid wall facing a closed corner, with not that much territory in return. This can't be joseki ...
Seems a very tight place to invade. R11, then R7... white has no base, and must flee. Oh, that's exactly what happened, too.
H9 puts lots of pressure on the white blob, and builds a wall facing white's biggest territory.
+100
This is kinda slow. skydyr's G5 suggestion is lots better.
Aw, now it escapes. F10 was my first thought, too.
Fairly sure L3 works, but on the other hand, there's no real need for going in at full throttle now.
This would have been brilliant from white.
+200
White goes into full on goof mode. This move actually works, since black MUST respond to keep the ko fight alive, but now white can capture.
White should have analyzed what was bigger.
I would have played G19, here. White makes a mistake, though, and it's actually harmless to try if white responds at G17. Sometimes it really pays off to be a bit cheeky.

2nd
or must be a mistake? At least somewhere before white does a silly thing, given the outcome.
Well, that's ... unexpected. You have 3 corners, shut off. Against 1d, no less. I would be very happy with this.
WAY too small. Seriously, look at the bottom left corner. GO FOR A FULL QUARTET!
White secures that last corner. Probably would have lost much sooner without this, but still in trouble.
This isn't 100% wrong, but if you want to make white super nervous, invade the left side. I would probably go for C7. Not sure if this super nervous making move would actually be best, but I like my opponents flustered, especially when they are behind.
I do not understand, but hey, free points!
Would you be able to run away with a stone at H14?

You seem to cut a little bit more in general, which makes things more exciting.

That second game really shows how much it pays to capitalize on mistakes. The opening and white's loss after provided you with enough points to survive your losses at other times.

Thanks for the comments.

The first game was a little insane at the end with that monster ko fight.

Seems I still need to be working on those slow moves and direction of play.

And I was so happy with in the second game when I played it... oops .

@Sennahoj. On where would you go instead? I'm looking at this and the only thing I can think of is you mean I should tenuki.

PeterN

I'm not sure How about kosumi on the other side? Perhaps white will attach at and try to cut off the marked stone --- but that stone is relatively light (and might still escape later), and you can take sente to play first on the super wide left side.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . X X . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O O O . . . , . . . . . X . X . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y . . |
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . 1 . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . 2 . , X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . O . X . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Progress Report: -

Tsumego: Started reading 1,001 Life and Death Problems
Games Reviewed: 1 lost game, 3 won games
Other: Played through games 55-59 of Invincible, Finished reading Perceiving the Direction of Play, Started Reading Catching the Scent of Victory

Feeling good about my progress this week, moving closer and closer to that 3 kyu boundary, just haven't played enough games to push me past it yet.

Start of the tsumego book is the easy section, so little to note on it this week.

My first won game reviewed this week is probably the one to take the most lessons from, playing far too timid (more like cowardly....) when I have influence, being far to nice in not cutting my opponent off, and winning only due to a major mistake from my opponent. Oh, and I came close to a giving a game losing ko to my opponent which was thankfully missed. Was reviewed for me randomly by a helpful 4D



Played through a few more games of Invincible because I felt like carrying on with it and finishing Perceiving the Direction of Play has shown me I'm pretty much useless at said topic as soon as it's beyond the most simple of formations on the board.

PeterN

Progress Report: -

New rank: 3 kyu!
Tsumego: None
Games Reviewed: 1 won game
Other: None

On the bright side I finally managed to climb up one more rank to the dizzying heights of 3 kyu! (Now let's see how long that lasts before dropping back down to 4 kyu) On the down side it's essentially impossible for me to hit my stated goal by now, not that I was expecting to hit it anyway.

Also been a really busy week at work, so haven't done any studying this week, other than having another game randomly reviewed for me (Thanks!). Still problems with small moves, still problems with diving into end game too early (it's not double sente if there are still larger moves about... ).

PeterN

Progress Report: -

Tsumego: Continued reading 1,001 Life and Death Problems
Games Reviewed: 1 lost game
Other: None

PeterN

Progress Report: -

None

Easter week, so nothing done this week.

PeterN

Progress Report: -

Tsumego: Continued reading 1,001 Life and Death Problems
Games Reviewed: 5 lost games
Other: None

Ok, the last couple of updates were a bit sparse, so time to add some text at all this time.

Briefly dipped back down into 4k this week, but fought back and regained that 3k rating, if only barely.

Have now finished the first 600 problems of this tsumego book, with 51 of them incorrect so far, but the difficulty is ramping up, still, on the last attempt at this book I think I simply abandoned the attempt somewhere around this point.

Quite a few ASR League games this week, which did not go too well, two of which I can point to areas of stupidity which cost me the game (though to be fair if it wasn't for them a different move of stupidity would probably have done it).



Aside from the weird play on the upper left (Yay... I captured a stone... -_-) the main issue on this game was the lower right corner. This is the first time I think someone has properly attacked it when I've had it and I got caught by surprise. I also completely misread that he had one eye when he really had two.



Fighting and me not knowing how to form a moyo, but no individual blunder of instant loss.



N16.... Why oh why.... Also got told P9 was a really bad move



I thought I was doing really well with this one, the lower right is a joseki I have somewhat memorised up to a certain point and it seemed to be going good, then disaster struck when I played T5, I think just capture the stone and I win the capture race.



4D's hurt to fight.... Every bit of weakness revealed pretty much instantly, still, these types of games are the only ones which might make it get through to me that I should play sensible defending moves instead of weird attacky-defencive moves. Also J16 was a deliberate overplay as he assumed I wouldn't find the correct response starting with N15 (which he showed me in the review).

And one further game I played this week which looks at the start to be a great example of attacking but is really an example of not having a clue what to do when it fails. And reading failure, that too: -



PeterN

Progress Report: -

Tsumego: Continued reading 1,001 Life and Death Problems
Games Reviewed: 2 lost games
Other: None

Continuing with this seemingly never ending tsumego book, running at about 10% incorrect for the current section I'm in which doesn't seem too bad as it's in the later half now.

Both reviewed games were from the ASR League, both against dan level opponents, both of whom can outfight me (what a surprise there....).

PeterN

Progress Report: -

Tsumego: Continued reading 1,001 Life and Death Problems
Games Reviewed: None
Other: None

Progress on tsumego has crawled to a crawl now I've reached the 850+ problem range, difficulty has increased to beyond what I should be doing probably, but hopefully I will finish this book next week.

Work is also getting busy so not having much brain power left to spare for go once I finish.

PeterN

Progress Report: -

Tsumego: Finished reading 1,001 Life and Death Problems (85.9% correct)
Games Reviewed: None
Other: None

Finally finished that tsumego book, last 50 or so problems were a disaster for getting anything right, mixed in with a few where I got the right moves but the wrong order. Time to move back to a book not so long next.

Again a week where I've done nothing else, and only managed to play two games at all this week, the second of which I did not really deserve to win but my opponent ignored a move which shorted him one critical liberty. Still needing to work on my largest moves ideas.

PeterN

Progress Report: -

Tsumego: Started and finished reading Graded Go Problems for Beginners III (95.2% correct)
Games Reviewed: 3 lost games
Other: Played through games 60-64 of Invincible, Started reading Otake's Secrets of Strategy

There was no update last week as I was ill, but have recovered some motivation for this week, playing a crazy number of games yesterday (16! Yeah, I didn't do too much else yesterday ).

The tsumego problem book was finished in a single week's worth of train journeys, so somewhere between 150-250 minutes. Tsumego seems a whole lot easier when the problems aren't quite so hard, but time to shift up to book 4 again next week.

Played through some more of Invincible just because I felt like it and haven't for a while.

Beginning to read Otake's Secrets of Strategy I'm definitely seeing myself falling into the traps it mentions; blind faith in josekis and wrong direction, mixed in with a dose of preferring to live small locally rather than head towards the centre. The first of which I wasn't even realising was a problem, more thinking I just didn't know enough josekis. I have started to try to correct these in my play, though whether I manage to keep that up remains to be seen.

Games this week started out feeling like a disaster, feels like I have a lead and then it just slips away from me inexoriably until I lose (though to be fair I haven't lost every game by any means). I still have major issues with large points.

Two of the lost games where on ASR League, while the other was a normal game. ASR League games where largely bad fighting, while the third was one of the ones where the lead slips away: -



- Attempts to head towards the centre commence.
- And thinking about stopping black from getting there.
- I think this was a mistake, the intention was simply to stop B from connecting, but I don't think B can even without this move.
- Don't know if this sequence is a good idea or not, but I can't see anything else I can really do.
- My moyo feels much reduced now but this is still the best I can come up with.
- Overplay? B could simply cut this and there's nothing I can do about it that I can see.
- Slow, but what choice do I have?
- I'm glad that wasn't on the other side; H11 say.
- R18 larger?
+100
:w0: - Should have defended B8 first I think, if B atari'd at B7 it would have been worse for me.
- Small I think. L13 or O5 are pointed out soon by B.
- M15 larger?
- Small again. N2 or N6 perhaps?
-

There was also this game which I haven't got around to reviewing yet, but was one where I also attempted to move towards the centre, and looking back at this game, it doesn't look like one of my games to me: -



So lessons learned this week: -

1 - Blind faith in joseki = bad
2 - Move towards the centre
3 - Attack from the right direction
4 - My ability to play large points is... poor.

PeterN

Progress Report: -

Tsumego: Started reading Graded Go Problems for Beginners IV
Games Reviewed: 2 lost games, 2 won games
Other: Continued reading Otake's Secrets of Strategy

Well, this is the first week in a long time I've reviewed a game that I won against someone a lot weaker than me. Feels strange looking at it from the point of view of trying to teach someone in the review (most of my won games that are reviewed are only against someone a stone or two weaker than me), and I am so not used to doing that. Come to realise that I don't exactly understand what I'm playing or why, I just sort of do because it looks and feels right and is what I'm used to (or it's just flat out reading some of the time).

PeterN

Progress Report: -

Tsumego: Continued reading Graded Go Problems for Beginners IV
Games Reviewed: 2 lost games, 1 won game
Other: None

A bit of a bad week for playing games, I feel I'm slipping back into trying to kill everything mode instead of thinking about how to play in a more sensible manner. Playing time is also speeding up and auto-playing moves are re-appearing.

Need to kick these habits not just linger where I am.

PeterN

Progress Report: -

Tsumego: Finished reading Graded Go Problems for Beginners IV (82.6% correct)
Games Reviewed: 3 lost games
Other: None

Well, interestingly in the tsumego book I believe I encountered the exact position from a problem the day before I found it in the book this week. Unfortunately I did not succeed in solving that problem (supposed to be at the top of the board, but my diagram may be wrong):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$---------------
$$|...O.X...
$$|....OX...
$$|.OOOXX...
$$|.OXX.....
$$|.X.......
$$|..X......[/go]

Had three lost games on the ASR League this week, one of which I essentially lost from move SIX , although more accurately from the horrible spiraling out of control that just started with move five. I don't think I have ever felt so utterly outplayed.



PeterN

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$|---------------
$$|...O.X...
$$|....OX...
$$|.OOOXX...
$$|.OXX.....
$$|.X.......
$$|..X......
$$|.........
$$|.........[/go]

Took me longer than I care to admit (hope it's correct at least) and I actually finished that book not so long ago :p Got somehow confused by a similar shape that results in Ko.

_________________
My "guide" to become stronger in Go

Yeah, this is not an easy tsumego to read out, certainly beyond my level, though I'm hoping to just flat out memorise the right answer. Bent fours are a bane of my reading.

W should live if you 1 where you do, 4 should be at C19 in diagram 1, and then A19 if you capture. I can say this with certainty only because that's the wrong answer the book gives

Also thanks for showing the correct version of how to do my diagram, I do them so rarely.

PeterN