I'm trying to get ranked on KGS so I got matched with a [?]. I've figured that he's at least my strength by move 40, and the halfway through the game I asked what was his KGS rank. He said that he's new to KGS but he's AGA 6d.
That explained why the game felt very close and why I fell completely behind after a couple very bad moves.
Overall, I think I held up very well. The highest I went percentage wise (leela zero) was at move 74, I was at 62.7%. The game was between 40 and 60% back and forth for 100 moves and then went rapidly downhill for me.
The game started this way. I start almost all of my games as black with this keimajimari and komoku. But the opponents rarely bump into me if they approach high and I attach. I thought I was about to get into an avalanche variation (I know the main variations of small and large avalanche, but not all the variations), but he decided to settle it in the modern way.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . B . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
Luckily I have studied this opening a bit back when it was popular. I think it was after the Alphago vs Lee Sedol games. I recall many pros play this opening.
So here comes the first big decision.
I pretty much had only 2 move candidates in my head:
A - the one I saw in pro games in this potiion
B - classic shape point after bottom left joseki
C - it wasn't on my radar during the game, but I guess it could be a possible move according to the old opening theory
I chose A in this case, and Leela disagrees with me. She says B is a bit better for black (53% against 50%).
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . c . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . b , . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O X . O . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
And again I got sente. After the somewhat standard exchange on the upper right. But I thought that this exchange is better for me, because this "sabaki joseki" is generally used when black has both "wings" to his keimajimari. Which I didn't have, so I thought of it as a sente way to remove most of the corner aji (attachments to komoku) and even get a keima in.
At this point, there are several moves that I've considered:
A - standard shape point (58%)
B - a key point between A and aji at E, I think it could be playable and Leela agrees (58%)
C - I know that this exchange ends in sente, but I never know when to take it; Leela says that it's ok to play it right now (57%)
D - the move I chose; I thought that it almost encloses the side + I wanted to be a bit more cautious against an unknown opponent (54%)
Turns out my move was pretty slack, but I think it was reasonable to yield a bit against an opponent of unknown strength. In the end, it was the correct strategical call I think.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . c O X X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . W . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . a , b . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O X . O . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . . . . . e . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
Just a couple moves later white handed me sente yet again. At this point I thought to myself that perhaps white just plays out sequences from the book without much regard to the rest of the board. I think it was weird giving away sente to often, but his direction was correct regardless.
Since not that much has changed, the candidate moves are similar:
A - the good old shape point that I have been ignoring for too long (57%)
B - another good shape point on the side (55%)
C - my move (51%)
My reasoning for this move was to settle a group on the side before reducing white on the bottom. If I end in gote here and white plays something like B, I don't think it would be the end of the world for me. I would still have this floating group to aim at and white's last move would be easy to reduce.
Leela disagrees and says that bottom is the most important area. I can see why and I agree that the upper left was too early to play out.
This was my first mistake that I've recognized after the game (before reviewing with Leela).
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O c . . . . . . . . O X X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . a , b . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O X . O . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
White decided to push on top instead of blocking the corner, which is reasonable I think.
Here black has 2 choices:
A - go towards the side and give up the corner; or retain the corner if white chooses so (57%)
B - take the corner and give up the side (40%)
Since I know that both end in gote, I thought that it would be reasonable to take the corner. It was white's corner, and now white takes questionable outside influence by leaving that cut. In my mind leaving the cut there while having that group on the upper right would be a good position to play as black.
Leela disagrees, and I disagree with her. She says black needs to make one exchange at A and then come back to the corner, but this way white doesn't have a cut (but it's still peepable). I don't like that, but I can't see how it's almost a 20% difference with my variation.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . b . X . . a . . . . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O X X . . . |
$$ | . . . W O O . . . , . . . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . , . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O X . O . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
Instead of reducing on the bottom, I decided to jump and push from the side. I thought that white would need to make a choice - defend the bottom side or keep growing the left side. He chose the latter, so I decided to play out this standard exchange and got sente here.
I was deciding only between 2 moves:
A - obvious move that removes white's base (64%)
B - a move that defends the stones on the top (42%)
This was a huge mistake in reading. I chose B because I didn't want white to cut my stones and get a good shape there, but I was very mistaken.
If white cuts at C, I can extend at B anyway and white completely collapses - if he ataris the stone then I extend at D and then white needs to run out with his stones while giving me a lot of territory on the bottom.
So A was the only move in this position. This was probably the biggest mistake in this game. It wasn't clear to me even after the game, but when I checked the variations with Leela I realized that I had a huge blind spot there, and now that the position is clear to me I can see why my move is so bad.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . O . . . . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O X X . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O . . . , . . . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X d . . . . . O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . X c . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O W O X b . , . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O X O O . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O X . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
A bit later I had to make a decision:
A - get some forcing moves but at the risk of getting cut off (81%)
B - for sure disconnect white's stones while connecting myself up (53%)
I chose B because I thought that maybe I could run white's stones into his own territory and reduce white at the same time, but it didn't really work out.
I don't really know if it's a mistake in judgement or just lack of reading. Leela says that this is a mistake, but I can't really understand what could lead me to think that this is without knowing exactly how this position will play out.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . O . . . . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O X X . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O . . . , . . . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X X a . . . . O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . O W . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O b X O X X X . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O O X X O X . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O X O O O . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O X O . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
Eventually I managed to separate the bottom side, then I decided to go in, but first created some cut points with my last move.
Here I was deciding between 2 options
A - seems like an obvious reduction point and I have my stones on 2 sides to run to (53%)
B - the cutting point which I chose to create earlier, this could give me some forcing moves nearby or maybe I'll even be able to settle a group inside (54%)
I chose A and this was a mistake I regretted just a few moves later. It's one of those moments when the teachers tells you "nah, this is too deep" and then shows you exactly why. Except in this game I still didn't know my opponent's strength, but he showed me perfectly why this was too deep.
Leela's suggestions for this position are C (61%) and D (58%). I completely overlooked the shape issues at C so I never considered it in the game - it was my blind spot.
And D felt too easy on white, so I didn't consider just the jump. But in reality even D was better than what I've played.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . O . . . . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O X X . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O b . . , . . . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . a . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . d . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . O , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . W . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O X O O X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X X . . X . O O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . O O O X . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O X X O X X X . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O O X X O X . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O X O O O X . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O X O . O . . . . c . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
This was the stupidest move I've played. The clamp was ok and the timing was good, but for some reason I thought that this move was sente. It wasn't sente at all, and I regretted it half a second after playing it.
Leela's move is A (47%)
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . O . . . . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O X X . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O . . . , . . . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , a B X . O , . X . X . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O O . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O X O O X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X X . . X . O O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . O O O X . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O X X O X X X . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O O X X O X . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O X O O O X . O . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O X O . O . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
At this point I felt like I completely wasted 3 of my moves inside of white's territory. White started yose with this enormous move that both defends his stones and sets up big endgame against my corner group.
Unfortunately, for some reason, I felt a big urge to defend against this move. Not because I felt that my corner could die (it can't and I knew it), but because I thought that it would be the next big yose thing to do. I was very wrong.
I played D as a fancy way of defending against white's 2nd line peep, and it was a passing move. Does it help against a monkey jump? No. Was this the biggest thing on the board? No. Was I at a threat of being disconnected there? No. Can this move make any points later? No, the entire area is dame.
I guess you could call it a blunder, but it was really just a pass. If I played one intersection to the north, it would have changed almost literally nothing.
Leela's condidates are:
A - to try and settle inside (51%); it never occurred to me during and after the game
B - to use the cut weakness and maybe settle the group inside (45%); it was on my radar until white's descent
And C was my personal candidate for trying to pull out that shoulder hitting stone, but it's a bad and a small move.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . O . . . . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O X X . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O . . . , . . . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . a . . . . . c . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . b . . . . . . O O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . X X . O , O X . X . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O O . O X . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . W O O O O X O O X X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X X . . X . O O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . X d . . O O O X . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O X X O X X X . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O O X X O X . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O X O O O X . O . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O X O . O . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
I got this big sente yose in and at this point I felt that I'm behind on points. I estimated being about 10 points behind (it was a no komi game).
At this point I've played B for some big yose, but the rest of the game was just yose. Leela says to play A here (10%) and maybe try to settle inside.
Maybe Leela's idea was correct - it was a cutting point that I wanted so badly and in the end I never even played it. I looked at this cut at this point too, but I was sure there can't be anything inside anymore.
Here I asked the opponent about their rank, and during the exchange following B they told me that they're 6d AGA. So until this point I didn't know the strength yet, but I actually didn't feel like I was being "botted" either.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . O . . . . b O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O X X . . . |
$$ | X X . O O O a . . , . . . . O , X . . |
$$ | X O O . . . . . . . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | O W . . . . . . . . X O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . X X . O , O X . X . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O O . O X . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O O O X O O X X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X X . . X . O O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . O O O X . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O X X O X X X . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O O X X O X . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O O X O O O X . O . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O X O . O . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
Final result: W+25.5
Full game:
Overall I was happy to play this kind of game. I didn't really blunder, but I did make a few really bad moves. On average I think it was a quality game by me. I think my opponent went too easy on me and therefore gave me many chances to actually get ahead in the game. Unfortunately, although Leela have put a lot of faith in me throughout the game, most of the game consisted of textbook variations that I happen to know, so it looked like I'm a good opponent for white. But whenever I had to make an actual decision, it was always a mediocre one, at best.
Also as for my move at q11 (move 39), it was a right call because if I got invaded there instead I would probably get into a more difficult fight and therefore collapse even faster than I did in the game. It wouldn't have given me 100 moves to review, but instead I'd probably resign by move 65 or so.
For the good news, I've had a few good 2k-3k games on OGS recently and I almost got 1 kyu there (1.2k currently). Maybe I'll be playing a bunch of OGS 1k games for the rest of the week.