9k Game - Where did it all go wrong?

[NomadMonad]

Hi everyone,

I just played this game as black - I'm not really sure what went wrong, but I lost by 18.5 points, so I must have messed up somewhere. Any comments/advice would be appreciated!

My counting (or lack of it, rather) might be part of the problem - I actually thought I was slightly ahead, so the score at the end came as a bit of a shock.

Looking back on it, there are a few moves I was iffy on:

I wasn't really sure how to handle white's opening, so I just defaulted to making a base for myself. Would moving into the corner be better? Or jumping out?

I felt like that white stone on the 4th line was screaming "slide under me!", but after , , I feel like white got the better deal here - that's a huge corner. Should I have done something different? Maybe S6 would be better, but I'm not sure it would make much difference.

Should I have just blocked downwards? I was trying to stop his lower right from getting too big.

http://files.gokgs.com/games/2014/4/18/foldr-NomadMonad.sgf

Thanks in advance!

[Joaz Banbeck]

9: Why are you in such a hurry to do anything with F17? It is light. If he pursues it too strongly, you invade at the 3-3 point, let him kill it, and you come away with a corner.

Think on a large scale: the board is big, and F17 is light, and the universe is young.
Let it sit. Let him worry about it more than you do.

I'd play the double approach at C14 or D14 or maybe even D13. It then is not only a double approach against his corner, but it is an extension off of your shimari in the lower left.

11: You should play F16 here.

12: So should he.

17: Your hoshi stone is not a territorial stone, so quit trying to make it one unless that is the best option left. Think attacking first: R14 or L17.

[Joaz Banbeck]

27: Let's step back and consider the influnce vs territory that you have. You have played 13 stones. Two of them are on the forth rank. Ten of them are on the third, and one on the second. Now you want to place another one on the second.
I'm not saying that those figures mean that your 27 is necessarily a bad move, but they should lead you to consider how low your positions are.

If you must play low, O17 is important. Your right side has plent of room to run if it gets attacked. But if he plays O17, your corner is in danger because it cannot run.

[NomadMonad]

Hi Joaz, thanks for the comments! To be honest, the thought of tenuki-ing for hadn't even occurred to me. I think I'm too possessive of my stones - I'll need to work on that.

17: Your hoshi stone is not a territorial stone, so quit trying to make it one unless that is the best option left. Think attacking first: R14 or L17.

To clarify, would R14 be an attack on the O16 stone? It doesn't look like it's in much danger to me, it's got lots of space to run into.

[EdLee]

Hi Nomad,

I wasn't really sure how to handle white's opening, so I just defaulted to making a base for myself. Would moving into the corner be better? Or jumping out?

The problem with has little to do with F17. It is that the exchange ( - K17 ) is good for W and bad for B.
Yes, either 3-3 or jumping out is better than your .

Since you didn't know how to deal with W's opening, you tried --
this is good. You tried it, and now you're getting feedback that it's bad.
Next time, you try something else. Experiment and improve, this is good.

[EdLee]

Should I have just blocked downwards?

Yes, is bad for similar reasons to -- the exchange ( - K3 ) is good for B and bad for W.

[EdLee]

the thought of tenuki-ing for hadn't even occurred to me.

Don't worry about that. That is not a problem at your level; it's only confusing you.

That and are bad; that should be at F16 instead -- actually, these mistakes are not so easy
at your stage. But they are basic shapes. (F16 is the local vital point for both B and W --
it is a big shared local vital point, and both of you missed it. You missed it on
and he missed it on . And both of you made bad moves like and . )
Some more experience will be helpful.

[gostudent]

the thought of tenuki-ing for hadn't even occurred to me.

Don't worry about that. That is not a problem at your level; it's only confusing you.

That and are bad; that should be at F16 instead -- actually, these mistakes are not so easy
at your stage. But they are basic shapes. (F16 is the local vital point for both B and W --
it is a big shared local vital point, and both of you missed it. You missed it on
and he missed it on . And both of you made bad moves like and . )
Some more experience will be helpful.

May I ask why F16 is a local vital point? How would that compare with, say, E18? Thanks.

[ez4u]

11 seconds, 10 seconds, 14 seconds.
End of comments.