Greetings

[tekesta]

Hello there. I am new to this forum. Although I have been learning Go since May of 2006, I have not had time to put in the hours and increase my playing skill. On DGS I am "tequesta2580" and on KGS I am "chincharra". On OGS I am known as "slashpine" and my rank is often 20-27k now, although before I was around 15k. I think I would have difficulty beating 90% of the members here.

Today on KGS I was playing as white against HelloBot13 (rank: 26k) and beat it by 112.5 pts. (6.5 pts. komi included). Also, I played an even game as Black against "bayi", another robot. White won by 49.5 pts.

It's nice to meet you. Looking forward to many pleasant and fruitful exchanges.

[xed_over]

robot killer.

[Phelan]

Welcome!

[EdLee]

Welcome.

[TheBigH]

Welcome to the board. Hope you like it here.

[karaklis]

Also, I played an even game as Black against "bayi", another robot. White won by 49.5 pts.

Bayi only plays even and non-rated games. 49.5 pts is quite a lot for an MC engine. I'd estimate bayi around 5k. I have seen that it has beaten some 1k players, but also lost against some 9k players.

Welcome to the forums.

[tekesta]

I won only once against bayi, by resignation. The rest of my games are losses by margins ranging from 30-70 points. In the game that I won against bayi, I pursued an aggressive opening strategy and attempted to maintain momentum throughout the game. One weakness of mine is that I often fail to spread my groups as widely as possible the opening and, after my opponent has built up influence across much of the board, I lack the inclination to invade and so fall behind badly. I definitely need to refine my opening skills. Even if I play the first 10 moves perfectly, I often fail to capitalize on the advantages offered by them.

Also, it looks like I'll have to go back to my life & death books. In my latest game against bayi, I tried an aggressive opening strategy, only to see my opponent form living groups where I expected to see them killed. As well, I still haven't learned how to deal with reductions. Invasions are a bit easier for me to deal with, but I still have not mastered how to handle them.

It's been a long time since I've played Go on a regular basis, so I've a lot of catching up to do.

[EdLee]

(1) I definitely need to refine my opening skills.
(2) Even if I play the first 10 moves perfectly, I often fail to capitalize on the advantages offered by them.

These two statements seem to contradict each other. Most likely, (2) is true, since that's a standard problem
at these levels, which means precisely that you do not need to refine your opening skills,
since that is not your biggest problem. Most likely, at these levels, the biggest problems are
in all the basics (fundamentals). Unless by "opening skills" you mean something else?

[tekesta]

Yes, there is a contradiction and thanks for pointing it out. Perfect opening play followed by poor early middle game play would indicate poor command of fundamentals. In any case I will have to refine my middle game fundamentals I know for a fact that I'll have to hit the life & death books again.

Wouldn't it be better if I just submit some of my most recent games on KGS for review? This might provide more information and allow stronger players (than myself) on this forum to detect any bad habits I might be displaying in play. For example, I think that I do not play globally enough in the late opening. I have only begun to try correcting this.

[EdLee]

tekesta, yes, you can post a game here for review.