Deliberate Practice

[ez4u]

I think you were lucky when Black played 37 at the top instead of against the two stones at the bottom. White 38 was a good choice IMHO. However, look at the board. White has played 18 stones in a row on the second or third lines up to this point. This can't be good.

$$Bcm37
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . X . . , . . . . X X X O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . 1 . . . X X . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . 2 . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . X . O . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm37
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . X . . , . . . . X X X O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . 1 . . . X X . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . 2 . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . X . O . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

[Bill Spight]

White 38 was a good choice IMHO. However, look at the board. White has played 18 stones in a row on the second or third lines up to this point. This can't be good.

Worth repeating.

[studying]

White 38 was a good choice IMHO. However, look at the board. White has played 18 stones in a row on the second or third lines up to this point. This can't be good.

Worth repeating.

Absolutely true, although I still fault for this situation. If I had been able to approach Black's corner first, I think I could have created a more balanced position. That said, it's a good reminder that I shouldn't be *too* indulgent of my love of territory.

[studying]

Game B-10
Another weekend, and another 2-1 performance. I'm feeling a bit frustrated since 6-dan continues to be tantalizingly just out of reach. I reviewed the lost game below, but it basically boils down to a series of reading errors in the first major fight, and then me trying unsuccessfully to catch back up. I was pretty happy with my second win, though, and I'll try to find a chance to review/post that soon.

Here's the review: https://gokibitz.com/kifu/NkRAFvOlz

[studying]

Game B-11
I had the time/energy for two serious games this weekend, and managed to win them both. Neither one was a work of art, but it got the job done. That puts me only two wins away from a promotion (which also makes me a bit nervous to keep playing). Hopefully next weekend I'll have the courage and time to play those games well.

I've also spent a fair bit of time watching a variety of youtube videos by strong players (Haylee, and yithril's translations of NHK videos), hoping that I can pick up a few pointers, or at least slowly improve my sense of shape. It's a nice way to keep go at the forefront of my mind when I don't have the energy to play.

Here's my review of the first win: https://gokibitz.com/kifu/VyUUybzWf

[studying]

I played three games this weekend, and unfortunately went 1-2. It's the second loss that I'm most upset about, because I played it on tilt immediately after the first loss. I think a large part of why my record seems to be improving is that I've been able to minimize playing emotionally, but this was a failure in that respect.

However, in an effort to try to keep a positive attitude, I'm posting the one win. I haven't had a chance to do a full review, but I'm hoping to get around to that later. For now, I think the common thread I noticed in all three games was a tendency to press too hard in the late-middle-game. It's most obviously seen here with White-148, which is an obvious overplay/mistake. (In my first loss, I tried to kill a group that I should have just reduced.) I think this can also explain things like the errors in Game B-6 (Black-143) and Game 7 (W-148). I feel I've gotten more patient in the opening, but I need to carry that through to the middle-game and have more confidence in my endgame skills.

A few other notes:
-For those following my thread about a joseki variation, you can see an example here (at Black-83)
-I don't think I agree with Black's decision at move 133, although it's an interesting positional judgment question.

In any case, here's the game:

[studying]

Game B-12
I didn't have time to play any serious games over the Thanksgiving holiday, and was generally disappointed with the casual games I played. Then this past weekend, I managed to play and lose 2 games in characteristic fashion. Despite my comments above about needing to stop over-reaching in the late middle game (especially as White), I did exactly the same thing here again (with White-144). Here's the full review: https://gokibitz.com/kifu/N10luBlXz



These two losses mean I've lost 4 of my last 5 games, and any hope of reaching 6dan anytime soon is now firmly out of reach. To be honest, I'm pretty disappointed and frustrated. I think my plan is to take it easy through the Christmas holidays, and hopefully I can come back in the new year with renewed dedication and focus.

[studying]

Game B-13
Comparing this afternoon's game to my previous comments here I think is pretty interesting. First off, I'm happy to report that, even playing White, I think I managed to avoid over-reaching in the late middle game (although White-148 is questionable). Instead, I did manage to push the game to counting, where... I lost. Except that my opponent made a last-second mistake that ended up switching the game from a 2.5 point loss, to a 2.5 point win. All that said, I think the game was really determined by some misplays in the upper right. Clearly, there is more work to be done.

Here's the (somewhat difficult) review: https://gokibitz.com/kifu/NkjRYPr7z

[studying]

Game B-14
After some recent success on Tygem, I decided not to press my luck and instead switched over to KGS for a game. I felt like neither my opponent or I played up to par, but in the end, I won, and that was enough to bump me up to 4dan there. I still don't feel like a true KGS 4dan, but it's a nice confidence boost nonetheless. Here's the game and review: https://gokibitz.com/kifu/N1GmFzYXM