game1:

I think that's a bit early to resign.

p18!

Game2:



I stopped recording at the last move shown, but at some point in the endgame white's lower group died and my opponent resigned.

For 21, I want to play C5.

_________________
be immersed

Yeah. I have to stop that. Here's the deal in a nutshell: I can't count well even in basic time and in byoyomi I can't count at all. So I sometimes resign based upon my sense of the game. This is worthless, and I have sufficient evidence that's it's worthless that I have to reset my theshold for resigning.

So let's look at that. First of all, I had a strong desire to play that as well. I do play on Tygem, remember and this kind of situation appears a fair amount. However, there the question of what to do about this

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B The inside hane
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . 1 2 . . . . . . . . . . X O X X . |
$$ | . . O , X . . . . , . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I was lazy to read it out but felt that the ladder is good for me so it's probably okay. These days I'm trying hard not to play by spidey-sense, though.

First of all, those who suggested this move are awesome and will be pleased to learn that you agree with Stephanie (Mingming) Yin 1p

Obviously, black must cut. Stephanie said that if white plays then white's idea is to capture Fair enough. Let's say it goes like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B follow-up
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . 6 1 2 . . . . . . . . . . X O X X . |
$$ | . . O 3 X . . . . , . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . 5 O X . . . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 7 O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

White gets sente. I'm not too keen on that. Well, black doesn't have to atari at Black can extend instead, but the variation is a) longer than can fit in 1 diagram here and b) further than I read. It does, however, depend on the ladder, which is good for me, so my spidey sense was okay. I'm still wary of it. Stephanie showed me the variation, but I cannot reconstruct it now. Maybe stronger players here can help.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Read, my pasty friend!
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . 5 1 2 . . . . . . . . . . X O X X . |
$$ | . . O 3 X . . . . , . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Do you mean this?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B The inside hane
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . 6 4 9 . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . 5 1 2 0 . . . . . . . . . X O X X . |
$$ | . 7 O 3 X . . . . , . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . 8 O X . . . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B The inside hane
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . X X O O 3 . . . . . . . . X O X X . |
$$ | . X O X X . . . . , . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . 2 O O X . . . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

_________________
be immersed

Or this?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B The inside hane
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . 7 4 9 . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . 5 1 2 0 . . . . . . . . . X O X X . |
$$ | . 6 O 3 X . . . . , . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B The inside hane
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 2 O 1 . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . X X O O 3 . . . . . . . . X O X X . |
$$ | . O O X X . . . . , . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

_________________
be immersed

Although, with the first one, maybe white does this?

Do you mean this?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B The inside hane
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . 6 4 9 . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . 5 1 2 0 . . . . . . . . . X O X X . |
$$ | . 7 O 3 X . . . . , . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . 8 O X . . . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B The inside hane
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 3 . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . X X O O 2 . . . . . . . . X O X X . |
$$ | . X O X X . . . . , . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . O O X 4 . . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

To be honest, I didn't really read any of this. The shape just seems like it needs to be pressed down.

_________________
be immersed

Stephanie further said that even if I had a hard time reading this (and she said even pros do in more complicated versions of this, which I find a bit hard to believe, but well, there you go) even this is sente:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B The lazy way
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X X . |
$$ | . . O , X . . . . , . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Another thing she said about game 2 that I need to reflect on:

Stephanie: "You really like to attack. You're an aggressive player."

Me: How do you know that? It's true, it's a kind of bad habit, but from this game?

Stephanie: [Move 45] is the first defensive move you've played.

I didn't know what to say to that.

Just say you're a regular on Tygem

_________________
be immersed

Shall I share Yilun Yang 7p's comments on game 1? Or more of Stephanie's comments on game 2? I usually try not to bias people. I looked at both games a fair bit myself, but I could add my comments as to what I was thinking (or not thinking) at the time...

Often I am not in bad shape in the opening. Most people don't comment on late middlegame or endgame, but I lose most games that way. The usual advice there is "eh, do more tsumego." It's not bad advice, but are my plays in that part of the game lacking? Probably, but I have no idea.

Handicap games with you as black might be useful practice. You skip the opening and go directly to middle game.

Maybe find someone who can give you 9 stones and try to beat them. Maybe one of the 600+ attendees will practice with you

_________________
be immersed

Also, my time management in the Open...

The U.S. Open is 90 minutes main time + 5 periods of 30 seconds byoyomi. It's...luxurious. I spend my extra time walking around and getting water and such, usually when I have a difficult situation that I need some space from. I did get some advice from Xuefin (Shirley) Lin 1p some time ago. She said with 90 minutes main time, spend 30 on the opening. So I do. At the 30 minute mark I check to see if we are near move 50.

After that, I probably defer from her advice because I dislike byoyomi...

In a 240 move game, if you have 60 minutes main time, that's 60 * 60 / 120 (your moves) = 30 seconds per move. This is assuming you want to finish in main time and don't consider byoyomi to be part of what you are given rather than an emergency allotment. (Cho Chikun and the like my think otherwise, but I'm not Cho Chikun.)

Now I know I can't really take 30 seconds per move. For example, I took 12 minutes on move 77 in game 2:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B For 12 minutes, this better at least be sente...
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O O . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . O O , O X X X . , . . X O . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X X O . . . . O . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . X . . . . . O . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . X . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . O O O X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X X . O . X O X X . |
$$ | . . O , X . . . . O X O O X . X O X . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . X X O . O . . X 1 . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So because of this stuff, I pretty much blitz through most moves, even in the open. I don't know if that's optimal.

game1 with Yilun Yang 7p's comments as I remember them:

game3: I have included some pro commentary from Liao Guiyong 9p.

game4: with comments from Stephanie (Mingming) Yin 1p

For Game4, I thought your opening was pretty good. I really like Stephanie's comment for .

In the opening, white made a decent and pretty efficient formation on the right side. If you cap and attack his group, you get power in the center, and it keeps the right side from getting big.

Where the SGF file ends, it looks like white has some potential in the right/center. Outside of this, white's only sizable territory is in the bottom left, and you have 3 big corners... I think if you can attack with cap and reduce the right (for example, maybe R8 will work in the future), game will be in your favor.

_________________
be immersed