BlindGroup wrote:Bill Spight wrote:An impressive game.

It shows a good feel for the game. You need to learn some tactical finesse, but you will.
Main focus: Avoid strengthening your opponent.
Bill, thanks as always for your comments (and the encouragement!).
Question on the review motivating move:
$$c
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O X . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , a . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$c
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O X . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , a . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
I agree with your comment that this both starts a base for my stones and prevents white from getting one. That was the original motivation. So, that's good. Did you mean to suggest though that my original move is better than A? After the game it seemed like surrounding white and forcing him to live in the corner might be better.
I think it is better than "a", for two reasons. First, suppose that Black plays at "a".
$$Bc
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O X . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 2 . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , 1 . . . . , 5 . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O X . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 2 . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , 1 . . . . , 5 . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
This diagram may not represent actual play, take it as a rough indication. After

White will live in the corner, making a fair sized territory, but taking gote, OC. Next, Black will make a nice moyo on the bottom side, and then White will take the last big place on the right side. (The top is big, but second tier.) Black is still ahead, thanks to White's earlier mistakes. But with

Black has pretty well shot his wad.
It is not just that your play makes a base for your stones while preventing two eyes in the corner for White, it is that you get a
sustained attack. In that attack you should be able to solidify several points on the bottom side and keep sente to take the last big place on the right side.
That's my judgement. OC, I haven't played millions of games. What does Leela think?
Edit: Also consider this:
$$Bc Bad shape
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O X . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 2 . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O X 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc Bad shape
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O X . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 2 . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O X 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
After

in the game,

was forced to make bad shape. That's a clue that this sequence is not good for White.