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 Post subject: Re: Kirby's Study Journal
Post #1421 Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2019 4:41 am 
Honinbo

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The sequence in your Pandanet game is awesome.

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 Post subject: Re: Kirby's Study Journal
Post #1422 Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 8:09 am 
Honinbo

Posts: 9545
Liked others: 1600
Was liked: 1711
KGS: Kirby
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Day 5

I woke up with a bit of a headache - I felt a little groggy from the night before. I glanced at my iPod - it was around 8am - today was the first day I slept in past the usual 6 in the morning.

I had chat with Andy Olson the morning before about potentially participating in the Diehard Tournament (Andy is the TD)... But yeah, that wasn't happening. I cleaned up a little bit - showered, brushed my teeth, and shaved. I saw Josh Lee in the hallway as I walked to the dining hall for breakfast - I said hello, and continued to the dining hall.

Soon after I sat down for breakfast, Steve Stringfellow sat down next to me. I've seen Steve before in tournaments, and we weren't that far from each other when I lived in Seattle. Steve brought up my activity on L19, and I quickly assured him that I often play the devil's advocate on the forums - the opinions I express so strongly are not necessarily my own, and that I try to bring balance to discussions where I think they are leaning too much toward a particular viewpoint. Steve brought up the Transatlantic Go Championship arguments, and I agreed that this was one of those cases. We continued to have an amicable conversation ranging from go to my experiences with childhood cancer with my son. Steve had some background in the area as a doctor. I chat very openly about the experiences our family had gone through.

At some point, we realized that it was getting very close to 9am. Steve was participating in the diehard tournament, so he had to rush to his game. I was more laxed, since I didn't feel like participating today.

After leisurely finishing up my coffee, I headed to the playing area to check out some of the diehard go players. I saw one of my AYD friends (I think he's 4k) in a tough opening situation - he couldn't capture stones in a ladder, and it looked like his opponent would escape. But I noticed that he could solidify some stones, forcing his opponent to avoid a ladder, and then it became a ko on the bottom - it'd be a good result for him, but I couldn't mention anything. He didn't end up playing the sequence I imagined, but when I chat with him later, it seems that he won the game anyway - so that ladder/ko fun wasn't necessary.

After some time, I decided that it was time to go downtown. Inseong and others were participating in a baseball game, but I hadn't signed up for any of these activities. Instead, I wanted to get my wife and kids some souvenirs from a local gift shop. I checked out a map, and found that there was a gift shop about a 30-minute walk away. I scanned the directions (I don't have a smartphone, so I had to memorize them), and headed out. I got slightly lost on the way, but found that a farmer's market was on that street. I bought some cheese curds, because I heard that Wisonsin was famous for them. Eventually, I also found my way to a gift shop, and bought a few souvenirs for my wife and kids.

On the way back to the campus, I stopped by a game shop and also a bookstore, but didn't end up buying anything. Finally, I made my way back to my dorm room, and put some of the items I had just purchased into the refrigerator...

Now what?

I didn't have much else to do, so I decided to take a nap. I slept for a couple of hours, and it felt good to be refreshed. Then, I headed back to the playing area, watched a couple of games, and waited for folks to return from their Wednesday activities... For lack of anything better to do, I bought an affogato (coffee/ice cream thing). I've had affogatos before, but when I ordered them on campus, the dish I ended up getting was huge - lots of ice cream, lots of whipped cream, and so much coffee that I spilled some and had to clean it up. Anyway, eating ice cream was a way to pass time while I waited... Kind of a boring day.

Eventually, I ran into some folks from the Seattle Go Center, and they invited me to come with them to an Escape Room. Nick Sibicky, another Nick, Cat, and others from the Seattle area would be coming. Solomon, a long-time Go Congress attendee, would also come. I agreed, happy for something to do.

We split two Ubers, and made it to the Escape Room venue. There were about 10 of us in total, which made for an interesting experience. I'd done an escape room once in the past, but at that time, it was just me and my two sons - i.e. I was solving all of the puzzles. This time, we all could work together, which was both a hinderance, and helpful - probably more helpful overall, since everyone could work in parallel.

We solved all of the puzzles except for the last one, which was kind of a trap. We had about 15 minutes to spare, and suspected that the code we were going to enter might not be the right one. But we had only one chance, and we were getting hungry... And it was the wrong code. So we kind of got to the end, and kind of lost, since that last puzzle had the wrong code. I guess we could have spent more time trying to solve it since we still had 15 minutes, but oh well.

We took Ubers back to the campus area, and Solomon mentioned that he'd be eating at a poke restaurant nearby. That sounded tasty, so everyone in our Uber headed over to have poke. The meal was delicious, and we chat about various go related topics. A couple of the Korean pros happened to stop by the same restaurant, so I said hello. And then, we headed back to the campus. It was getting close to 7:30pm, when Inseong's lecture would be starting. Inseong's lecture was the only go lecture scheduled for the day.

I attended the lecture, and more than improving my go ability, it was just an interesting lecture. He talked about famous tesujis throughout go history, and gave some nice background on the history of go. It was a fun lecture to attend.

After the lecture, I headed back to the playing area. I saw Tony Cha and his wife, who was participating in the 13x13 tournament. Tony's wife is somewhat new to go, but it seemed that she was enjoying it.

Then, I happened to see Inseong in the hall, who invited me to go drink and chat with Korean pros. I enjoy practicing Korean, and I like hanging out with Inseong, so of course I agreed.

We ordered some drinks, and sat down at one of the tables there. It was Inseong, Kim Yoonyoung, Kim Hyunghwan, and Kim Hyunghwan's wife. It seems that Kim Hyunghwan's wife wasn't a native Korean speaker (she speaks Chinese natively, I think), but she was still pretty good at communicating in Korean. It was also interesting to find out that Kim Hyunghwan studied with Inseong when they were younger, though, Inseong is a little bit older than Kim Hyunghwan. Anyway, we chat about various topics - I mostly listened, and soon, the discussion came to be about the stuff that happened between Diana Koszegi and Kim Seongryong. There was the basic conversation about the event, but then also how there was some conflict/division within the Hanguk Kiwon that wasn't present before. Korean laws are somewhat lax, probably, compared to American laws in this area, and there were also financial aspects regarding how much money Kim Seongryong had brought in before all of this happened. Then of course, there's the general disgust for what happened.

This conversation went on for probably around an hour, and I concentrated to follow the conversation. Some of the lingo was a little hard for me to follow, though. I think I got the basic idea of what was being discussed, but I started missing some details with some of the specialized vocabulary they were using.

Then at some point in the conversation, they asked me about America's views on the #MeToo movement. I wasn't sure how to respond to this in English, let alone in Korean. I mean, people generally support the #MeToo movement, and they don't want people to be assaulted or abused. But those things seem obvious, don't they? I tried clarifying the question, to get a better idea of what they meant, "Are you asking me if I lean more toward Diana's side or Kim Seongryong's side?", but they just ended up laughing, because they were asking more generally about #MeToo. Kim Hyunghwan's wife mentioned something along the lines of people being killed for this kind of stuff in China.

Eventually the conversation moved on, and we talked about Inseong's go school, and compared participants of the US Go Congress and the European Go Congress. It was a fun discussion, and it was good practice for Korean.

After some time, it was getting late, again approaching around midnight. I headed back to the dorms, and saw that Christian was still up. He seemed particularly happy, so I asked him about his day. Apparently, he went on some sort of cruise on the water, and very much enjoyed it. I could tell by the expression on his face that he seemed pretty satisfied with his day.

I was tired, and figured that I'd better get some rest before Thursday, because the next game was coming up - we'd be back to tournament play tomorrow. So I said goodnight to Christian, and quickly fell asleep.

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 Post subject: Re: Kirby's Study Journal
Post #1423 Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 8:09 am 
Honinbo

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Day 6

I woke up at the usual 6am to the usual sound of construction. I felt somewhat refreshed - I had gotten a decent amount of sleep, considering my nap from yesterday. I did drink a little bit the night before, but not much compared to earlier in the week. So I felt pretty good, overall.

Today would be the day that Inseong would be leaving. It was Thursday, and he had to make the trek to Brussels for the European Go Congress, which was coming up on Saturday. Around January of this year, Inseong spent some time training in Korea. I didn't know it at the time, but he said later that this was in preparation to participate in the 2019 US Go Congress Masters' Tournament. But later in the year, he was asked to be one of the main instructors at the European Go Congress, so he opted to do that instead. As a result, it meant that he had to leave a couple of days early from the US Go Congress, in order to make it on time. Inseong said that he'd be participating in the Master's tournament at the US Go Congress in 2020. Time will tell if that actually happens - it'd be fun to see him play.

Anyway, since it was the last day he'd be staying at the Go Congress, I met up with Inseong for breakfast at the dining hall. We sat off to the side where fewer people were eating, and we chat for a little while. We talked about the tournament, and I told him that I'd do my best to win the next few games. We chat about this and that, and eventually, it was time to prepare for the tournament. Inseong said he'd be leaving around 1:00, so I could see him off before he left. I said I'd try to make it, depending on how long my game went.

It was time to head back to the playing area, so after eating, I got ready, and headed over. A lot of people were already there, since it was almost 9am, and I checked the pairings. To my surprise, I was paired with Nick Sibicky. For those who don't know, Nick is a popular YouTuber, but I also know him from the Seattle Go Center. Shortly before I moved to Seattle, Nick started teaching a double digit kyu class at the Seattle Go Center, and he would tape his lectures. As time went on, he started publishing them on YouTube. His channel grew in popularity, probably because of his teaching style, and as a result, a lot of people have come to know about go. Probably partially due to this, Nick won the AGA's teacher-of-the-year award this year.

Up until now, even though I had lived in Seattle for about 5 years, regularly frequenting the Seattle Go Center, I had never played Nick in an even game. That's because Nick is an AGA 4d, and I've never reached that level. I've reached 3d in the past, but due to poor results at last year's Cotsen, this year at the US Go Congress, I was playing as an AGA 2d. So I was a little bit intimidated by this. Nick seemed to be a solid player, and I can't say that I'm in good shape this week - I haven't been sharp, and I've messed up a lot. Even the games I won were somewhat sloppy.

I made my way over to Nick, who was standing among some other people, and apparently, he had already seen the pairings. He told me, "Don't get too excited - they are redoing the pairings. MAYBE we'll play each other, but we don't know, yet." So I calmed down a little bit, curious about who I would actually end up playing.

Up until today, pairings had gone pretty smoothly, but for whatever reason, there seemed to be issues today. It was almost 9:30, and pairings still weren't up. I was getting kind of anxious, so I went to buy a coffee. I saw my old rival from college, Matt, and we chat for a little bit about our games up until now.

After that, I headed back up to the playing area, and saw that the real pairings were up, now. I went over and scanned for my name. Who would my opponent be...? Still, Nick Sibicky.

So I wandered over to the table where we'd be playing, and said hello to Nick. I was very nervous because of his rank. Technically, I had beaten Tony Cha in a casual game earlier in the week, and Tony is also AGA 4d. But that was kind of a fluke, and again, I haven't been in good shape this week.

Anyway, the game began, with me as white. Things started out in a usual way, and I felt pretty comfortable. Upon reviewing the game, I don't feel that there were many major issues, up until this point:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 11 to 15
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , 2 . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 3 4 . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Black had approached the upper left white stone, and I ignored to approach his 3-4 stone. I think it's a reasonable idea. But given that a double approach on the 4-4 is somewhat painful, I think I should be more concerned about getting sente.

Given this, I think something like the following would be reasonable:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O W . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Given some of the other threads, black might ignore, but this leaves a stronger follow-up for me at 'a'. And if white decides to answer, I think this progression is very reasonable:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 11 to 15
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , W W . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X X W . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Then I don't get the double approach. Black can attack the marked white stones, but it seems hard to be that severe. I think it'd be a reasonable opening for me.

But I was more casual than that, and I allowed the double approach:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 16 to 20
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . 1 . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . 3 . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


It didn't seem that bad for me at the time, but I realized that I don't know the variation that I played that well.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 21 to 25
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 a . X . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . 5 b . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


At this point, I know that playing a move like 'a' is OK - I've seen this kind of shape before in pro games. But I kept being kind of worried about the cut at 'b'. What do I do in that case?

In the game, I didn't really know. And that's why I ended up playing this weird mistake:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 26 to 30
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O 1 . X . 2 . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . 5 . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


My idea with :w3: was to protect the cut in sente. But upon review, I realized that this is just making black stronger:

1. The cut isn't a bit deal, because my upper left white stones can live even after being cut.
2. If I keep pressure on the black stones, then even if white cuts, my cut stones in the center aren't that weak.

Given these points, I think it's better for me to just keep pressure on the two (still weak) black stones:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 26 to 30
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O 1 . X . 2 . 3 . . . . W . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Something like :w3:, above, keeps the two black stones weak, and also helps the marked white stone on top. Simply put, I think it's a stronger move.

At this point, I was starting to kind of freak out, so I spent quite a long time on moves. I felt a little bit behind, and my opponent was Nick Sibicky, famous YouTuber and 4d. In retrospect, I think I freaked myself out a bit too much, because even this early in the game, I was getting close to being in byo-yomi.

With all of the middle game and endgame to go, I don't think being in byo-yomi so early is the best of strategies. Nonetheless, I was freaking out and using too much time.

The moves that followed seemed a little passive by black, so I felt like I had gotten a little bit back into the game:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 31 to 35
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O 1 . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


My attackable corner group was getting stronger, and now it was black who was low on the left.

Maybe that feeling of confidence was what led me to overplay here:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 41 to 46
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . . O . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X O X . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . 1 . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 6 X O . 3 . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . 4 5 O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X 2 , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Somehow, I misread here, even though I spent a lot of time. I read various ladder variations, and it seemed that I could escape with ladders on the outside, despite the weaknesses. If that were true, then I could kill the black stones on the left.

That would make me feel a bit more comfortable about this game!

But as the case may be, this was a misread, and Nick simply captured me in a net:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 50 to 55
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . . O . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X . X . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . O X O 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X . 6 . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . 2 O 4 . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . 3 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Uh oh. My fealing of failure returned, and I again feared losing the game:
1. I had failed to kill black on the left.
2. My group in the top left could be pressured.
3. It wasn't like I was really leading on points.
4. Living in the top left in gote seemed so... blah.
5. How can I make up this deficit?

So, I adopted a new strategy:
1. Try to get sente to make big points on the board.
2. As Inseong might say, play my moves in a way that say, "Catch me if you can" to Nick.

That's why I aimed to play these point taking moves in the top and bottom right:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 68 to 72
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X O . . X O O . . . . 5 . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . X O X . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X . X . . O X O . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . . . O X . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X 1 . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . O X O O 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . 3 . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


In retrospect, if my strategy were really to take a lot of points, maybe :w3:, above, should be the 3-3. If I'm going all in on that strategy, I might as well maximize it. In the game, I thought the 3-3 would damage the point potential on the right side. While that may be true, I get the points in the corner, and black still doesn't have a base if I play the 3-3.

Anyway, my thought was that I gained a bit on points - now just don't lose that much when Nick attacks me.

And so the attack began.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 73 to 82
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X O . . X O O 8 . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . X O X 7 . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X . X 0 . O X O . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . 6 . O X . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O . 9 X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . 2 1 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . O X O O X 4 3 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X . X . 5 . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 83 to 92
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 2 X O 1 . X O O O . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . X O X X . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X . X O . O X O . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . O . O X . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O . X X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X O 4 5 9 . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . O X O O X O X 8 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X . X 6 X . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . X O X . . 7 0 . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 93 to 102
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X O X . X O O O . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . X O X X . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X . X O . O X O . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . O . O X 7 . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O . B B 8 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . O B . . . 9 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X O O B B . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . O X O O X O X O 6 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X . X O X 1 0 . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . X O X . 2 X O . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O O . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Suddenly, I saw some semblance of a chance: the black stones were weak - if I could capture them somehow, then I could avoid the pains of living in gote in the top left.

So it came down to a do-or-die fight: I capture his stones or break out to avoid living in gote in the top left - or I live in gote and he wins the game.
As the game progressed, I played very direct moves, which was probably a problem: since those moves are kind of aji-keshi, they strengthen black, and take away my potential.

I ended up driving black into the right side, making my own stones weak. It became possible to get a seki, or to die myself. My chances of killing him faded away:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 143 to 152
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X O X . X O O O . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . X O X X X O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X . X O . O X O . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . O . O X X X X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O . X X W W W X W . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . O X X . X X W W . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X O O X X O X . . W . W . . |
$$ | . O X O O X O X O O O X X . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X . X O X X O O O X . X X 1 . . |
$$ | . X O X . O X O X O O O X . . O O 2 . |
$$ | . O O . . O X . X X O X O O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . O X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . O X . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Later, I reviewed the game with Tyler Okawa, and he pointed out that I didn't always need to play in such a direct way.

For example, earlier in the game, instead of the direct hane, maybe I could play away a bit:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 110 to 119
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X O X . X O O O . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . X O X X X O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X . X O . O X O . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . O . O X X X X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O . X X O O O X O . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . O X . . X X O O . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X O O X X O X . . . . O . . |
$$ | . O X O O X O X O O O X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X . X O X X O . a . . . , . . . |
$$ | . X O X . O X O X O . W . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O O . . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


In the game I played the tight move at 'a', which gave black more forcing potential. Maybe playing further would have given me a better chance. I don't know if there's a way to definitely catch black, but Tyler's suggestion falls more aligned with Inseong's advice about not trying to "catch a fish with your hands" - if I want to get the group, I should play back more, maybe.

In any case, I lost the game. I played two stones on the board to resign, and thanked Nick for playing. We briefly reviewed the game there, which seemed OK, since we were the last players playing in that area. Then, I checked the time - it was past 1:00pm, which meant that Inseong was already gone. Shoot - I didn't get to say goodbye. And furthermore, I had lost this game.

Nonetheless, compared to my game against Brady earlier in the week, I felt OK about this game. I had some misreads, and I handled the double approach in the top left poorly. But it was a fun game to play. Besides, a 6-0 record was no longer on the line, so I didn't feel so bad.

After reviewing the game with Nick, I went to have lunch, and then decided to attend one of Yilun Yang's lectures on joseki. It was a fun lecture. As he typically does, he gave some general principles about making choises in joseki. We went over several 3-4 joseki variations with pincers, and talked about the principles behind choosing what move to play.

I headed back to the playing area, and quickly checked out the go bookstore. I scanned the selection they had - I don't have all of the books they offer, but I already own all of the ones that I'm interested in. So, I didn't buy any books.

After that, I recalled the thoughts I had earlier in the week about BIBA. Through the AYD and doing problems on my own, I already can have a lot of what BIBA has to offer. But one thing was still missing: games against stronger players. So i signed up to play in a simultaneous game against a pro. I don't usually do this, because it seems hard to win against pros, and they're often just handicap games. But maybe this lack of playing is something that's hindered my progress. So I played this game:



At this point, a Chinese translator told me that the pro wanted to stop playing: it was already about 4:50pm, and they had to leave by 5:00pm. I agreed, and cleaned up the board. I asked for some tips, and through the translator, she said that I played well, but there was some aji in the bottom left - I knew about the aji already, but was still thankful for the game.

I found dfan, again, from the L19 forums. We chat for a little while. Like me, dfan often spends awhile on his games, so I had seen the end portion of a number of his games throughout the week. We were able to chat about that a little bit.

It seemed that dfan had plans already for dinner with his friend - I think Dave - from the Boston area. They were going out to a restaurant by car with Dave's wife. They let me tag along, and we walked to the hotel where Dave and his wife were staying (they had opted not to stay in the dorms). The valet pulled out Dave's car, and we all got in. I sat in the back with dfan, and Dave and his wife sat in front. We had some technical difficulties with the car - somehow, the key wouldn't turn. Dave checked the owner's manual, and figured out how to get the car started, and then we were off to the restaurant.

Dave was a friendly guy, and nice to talk to. His wife is from Taiwan, I think, and they had plans to travel there next week. Apparently, everyone there except for me had known one another through music in the Boston area. I was in band in high school, but that's the last time I played a musical instrument, so I didn't have much to contribute to the discussion. We had a nice dinner together, though, the waitress gave me the wrong drink. It turned out OK, because she gave me a new one for free, and I handed it off to dfan.

Dave is vegan, and we talked about being a vegan in Taiwan. Apparently, things have gotten a lot more accommodating toward vegans in recent years, which is good, I suppose, if you're vegan.

Eventually, we headed back to the playing area, and I chat with folks around there. Inseong wasn't around, so I didn't have any real plans for the evening. I tried to find folks who were doing something, but didn't have that much success.

I headed back to the dorms, chat with Christian a bit, and went to bed.

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 Post subject: Re: Kirby's Study Journal
Post #1424 Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 10:39 am 
Gosei
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Kirby wrote:
Looks like better shape than what I played in the game. Does the book have a follow up for the hane?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc Go Seigen approves (via A way of Play for the 21st Century)
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . O X . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O X O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . 1 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


My gut instinct is to crosscut, but not sure.


Full disclosure, Go Seigen talks about this position:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc Starting position
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . O X . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O X O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . W . . . . . , . . . . . B . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


He does not give any variation for the hane but points to two explanations why he thinks the following result is good for Black.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc Continuation
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . O X 8 O . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O X O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . b . . . 2 X 7 9 . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . 3 O 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . W 5 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


First of all, White's territory is not small but it is concentrated in one area. It is also painful for White to see her marked stone "go bad".

Furthermore, :b9: is a probe, making miai between 'a' (for White, Black would like to play fourth line here) and looking at the aji at 'b'. So Black will either get fast development (the four stones at the top are light) while White defends her one area or Black will poke around and "give [White] an eerie feeling".

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 Post subject: Re: Kirby's Study Journal
Post #1425 Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 6:06 pm 
Honinbo

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Liked others: 3651
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Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 93 to 102
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X O X . X O O O . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . X O X X . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X . X O . O X O . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . O . O X 7 . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O . B B 8 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . O B . . . 9 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X O O B B . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . O X O O X O X O 6 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X . X O X 1 0 . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . X O X . 2 X O . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O O . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


I found a tesuji for W102. :)

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm2 Tesuji
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X O X . X O O O . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . X O X X . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X . X O . O X O . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . O . O X X . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O . X X O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . O X . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X O O X X . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . O X O O X O X O O a . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X . X O X X . . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . X O X . O X O . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O O . . O X . 1 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


I would not have found it in a game. I would probably have played at a.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm2 Black takes
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X O X . X O O O . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . X O X X . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X . X O . O X O . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . O . O X X . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O . X X O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . O X . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X O O X X . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . O X O O X O X O O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X . X O X X 3 . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . X O X . O X W 4 5 . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O O . . O X 2 1 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


:b7: connects at :wc:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm8 Black takes, continued
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X O X . X O O O . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . X O X X . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X . X O . O X O . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . O . O X X 2 4 . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O . X X O 1 3 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . O X . . . X 5 . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X O O X X . 6 7 . . . O . . |
$$ | . O X O O X O X O O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X . X O X X O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . X O X . O X X X O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O O . . O X X O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


White has a strong attack.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm2 Main line (?)
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X O X . X O O O . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . X . X O X X . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O X . X O . O X O 7 . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . O . O X X 5 . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O . X X O 6 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 4 X X O . O X . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X O O X X . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . O X O O X O X O O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X . X O X X 3 . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . X O X . O X O . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O O . . O X . 1 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . X X O . . . . O . . X . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Black has to scramble in the top right, and the Black center group has not made two eyes yet. :)

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

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 Post subject: Re: Kirby's Study Journal
Post #1426 Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 6:58 pm 
Honinbo

Posts: 9545
Liked others: 1600
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KGS: Kirby
Tygem: 커비라고해
I like it - thanks for sharing.

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 Post subject: Re: Kirby's Study Journal
Post #1427 Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 8:24 am 
Honinbo

Posts: 9545
Liked others: 1600
Was liked: 1711
KGS: Kirby
Tygem: 커비라고해
Day 7

I woke up around the usual time, cleaned up, and headed to the dining hall for breakfast, as per my usual routine. After getting some coffee, I scanned the dining area for a place to sit. I found a spot near some go players, where two tables were next to one another, separated by a small wall. Across from me, at the same table, was another AYD member, who I hadn't met before. He was playing in the US Open as a 6 kyu, and so far, had a perfect record. Maybe he was under-ranked. But word on the street was that there was another 12-year-old girl "6 kyu", who had been improving rapidly, and also had a perfect record. They'd probably meet one another in a match soon. I wished my fellow AYD-er good luck, and eavesdropped on the two go players chatting on the table next to us (separated by the small wall).

The guy doing most of the talking at the next table is someone who I've seen before at go tournaments, but I had never really gotten to know - his rank was somewhere around 4~6k, if I recall. He mentioned that he was friends with Keith Arnold, and I guess, from around the Baltimore area. As such, he indicated that he was obligated to say that the Maryland Open was his favorite go tournament. I've never attended that tournament, so I asked him why. But I guess it was mainly since he was from the area. He and the other person sitting at the table started talking about go servers - KGS is a lot less active than it used to be, Tygem can be annoying to use on non-Windows operating systems, and how a lot of folks are playing on Fox now. We chat about different playing styles between various go servers, and the like. I was getting bored, so I thought about leaving for the playing area. I cleaned up my things, and started to leave. But it was still early, so I got another cup of coffee, and returned to the table to chat some more.

Eventually, it got to be closer to playing time, so I started to head back to the playing area. On the way out, the person I was walking with pointed out that there was some sort of fire. I looked to the left, and saw billows of smoke pouring out of a nearby building. Firetrucks were there, and it looked like some sort of big fire. I felt fortunate that the fire hadn't caught onto the dorms where I had slept for the last several days.

After tidying up a little bit, I headed over to the playing area. It was close to time to get started, so I checked the pairings. I recognized the name of my opponent - he was someone I had chat with briefly at dinner a few days back. He had also attended Kim Yoonyoung's lecture on capturing races. If you recall, I had treated this lecture as a bit of a game - I would try to call out the answer to problems faster than anybody else. A lot of the time, I succeeded, but occasionally, there would be others that beat me to a solution. One of the guys who called out answers faster than me occasionally was the same person I'd be playing today. I had never played him before, but apparently, he was decent at capturing race problems! From our discussion a few days ago at dinner, it seems he also trains with a pro teacher, so he was probably serious about studying go.

Compared to yesterday, it looked like we'd be starting on time today, so our game began shortly after 9:00am, per the schedule. I was white, so I didn't have a special opening strategy - I'd try to be flexible, and play according to how my opponent played. In particular, I planned to play in such a way to avoid an opening strategy that my opponent had prepared (kobayashi, mini-chinese, etc.), and then black would be in more unfamiliar territory in the opening.

Here are the first few moves:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 1 to 10
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , 7 . . . . , . . . . . 2 . . . |
$$ | . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . , . . . . . , 0 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 11 to 20
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . 0 . . . . . . X 6 . . . . |
$$ | . . . , X . . . 9 , 8 . . 7 . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


I didn't analyze this with a computer or get it professionally reviewed, but my feeling was that the game was somewhat balanced in the opening. :w20:, above, might have been a bit of an overplay, but my attention was to use the stone to help :w18: in settling. Maybe it's better to simply jump out.

Anyway, whether or not that was a mistake, I regret my response to his 3-3 invasion here:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 21 to 30
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . 5 7 8 . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O . . . . . . X O 6 3 . . |
$$ | . . . , X . . . X , O . . X . O 4 . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . 9 . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


I didn't feel like I had a strong attack on his stones, so that's why I didn't descend in response to his 3-3 invasion. But in retrospect, I think his stones still don't have a base, and it could have been a decent option:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 21 to 23
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O . . . . . . X O . X . . |
$$ | . . . , X . . . X , O . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


I'd still say my pressure on his two stones is not that great, since my stone on the 4-th line on top is still somewhat high. but I think I like this type of spirit better than the passive way I played in the game - allowing him to get points easily.

Anyway, the game proceeded, and the next move I really regret is this one here:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 39 to 41
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O . . . . . . X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . , X . . . X , O . . X . O O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . X . . . . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . O . . |
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . . O X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . a 1 . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


My thought was that my white group on top was somewhat safe, so I could make the left group stronger. I kind of get that reasoning, but black's turn at 'a' is just TOO nice. I think I should at least push one more time. Besides, black isn't totally settled yet, even, even though, the group is pretty strong.

Anyway, black eventually got that great turn, and it resulted in me playing moves to try to live on the top, quite passively, and giving several good exchanges to black:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 49 to 58
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 4 6 . 8 O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O 7 3 2 . . 9 X O O X . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . X , O . . X . O O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . X . . . . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X O O . X . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . O X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . 1 X . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


I didn't feel that great about the game, but I was able to get a bit of a better feeling after attacking his stones, and being able to push through here:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 69 to 78
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X O O . O O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O X X O . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . X , O . . X . O O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . X . . . . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X O O . X . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . O X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 3 . O X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . X X . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 9 . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . 5 8 X . O . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 7 6 4 O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . X O , O . . X . O . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


My diagonal move, above, aimed at pushing through on the left side, and that was pretty cool.
I don't recall many other super interesting parts of this game. I didn't attack his group on the bottom that well, and the furthest I can remember from the game is this position here:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$ As far as I can remember
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . O X . . . . X . O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . . . X O O . O O X X X O X . |
$$ | X O X X . . O X X O . O X X O O . O . |
$$ | O X X , X X . . X , O X X X . O O . . |
$$ | O O O X . O O X . O . . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X O X . O X O O . X . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . X O . . X O X . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . X . O X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . X X . . . X O O . |
$$ | . O . , . . . . . , . X . . . X O X . |
$$ | . X X . . . O O . X . O X . . . X . X |
$$ | . X O X . O . X . . . O X . . . X X . |
$$ | . X O O O . . . O X O . O X . . . . . |
$$ | X . X X O O . X X . X O O X X . . . . |
$$ | . X X O O . O . . X . O . O O X X X . |
$$ | . X O O O . . X X , X . . . . , O O . |
$$ | . O X O O . . O O X O . O O . O . . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . O X . O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


But in the endgame, there is something significant that I can describe with words, but don't remember the actual moves:

1. As usual, I was in my last period of byo-yomi - I'm not that great at time management in tournaments.

2. Though I was in byo-yomi, I did a quick count of the board, and counted that I was up by about 5 points.

3. My opponent played what seemed to be an overplay - it didn't seem to work, and I thought I could cut off the endgame move that he played.

4. Even if I accepted his endgame move, I should still be ahead by about 2 or 3 points, by my count.

5. I became worried - in my game against Brady, earlier in the week, I also counted that I had a lead, but in the end, I actually lost by a half point - evidence that my counting is subpar.

This led to an interesting dilemma: I had about 5 seconds left on my clock, and I had to decide what I trusted more - my reading, or my counting.
- If I trusted my counting more than my reading, then maybe I should let him have this endgame move - maybe I miscounted something, and cutting him off could cost me the game. And just being passive would let me still win.
- On the other hand, if I trusted my reading more than my counting, I should just cut off his endgame move. If I just play passively, and let him have this point, there's a chance my counting is off, and I lose the game from being too passive.

With just a couple of seconds to go, I cut off his endgame move. My conclusion was that my counting sucks, and I should just trust my reading that his move didn't work. He continued to play out the sequence, and for a split second, I doubted myself, "Oh no! I didn't think through the variation completely, and his move actually worked! I lost the game!". But then I realized that I was hallucinating. His move, indeed, did NOT work, and I was safe.

We continued through the variation that was not working for black, and when it was played out, my opponent resigned. I suppose that he had counted, too, and felt behind. Nonetheless, it seems to have been a close game, though, I cannot remember the sequence of endgame moves - most of them were played while in byo-yomi, anyway.

I felt exhilarated, and after cleaning up the stones, stood up to walk around. I wanted to check on how my friends were doing. I made my way over to dfan's game, and took a look at the board. He was playing a girl who goes by "Cat", from the Seattle Go Center. I've never played her, but she seemed to attend the go center a lot while I was in Seattle, and I have the impression that she's been improving.

I counted the score on the board, this time trying to count by 2s, using DrStraw's method. I should get used to that method more, but for some reason, I'm afraid to use it on my own games in tournaments - if I'm off by a little bit, my error will be multiplied by 2. On the other hand, it's a lot faster, so who knows?

Anyway, by my count on the board, it appeared that dfan was ahead by 5~10 points. They still had several endgame moves to play, but he had a good amount of territory - his capture of one of Cat's groups certainly helped, and accounted for a large chunk of territory. I wandered to some other games, but kept coming back to dfan's. It got to the counting stage, and sure enough, dfan had won the game.

I went to have lunch, and later decided to attend Kim Yoonyoung's lecture on tesuji. She went through several problems in the popular tesuji dictionary by Segoe Kensaku and Go Seigen (https://senseis.xmp.net/?SegoeTesujiDictionary). According to Kim Yoonyoung, pro go players have gone through this collection several times. And she said that if you solve all of the problems, you're probably at least 5d - and if you apply all of those techniques in your game - probably at least 7d. The problems had themes, which made them easier to solve. Again, I treated the lecture as a game, trying to solve problems faster than others. Sometimes I made some mistakes, but overall, it was a lot of fun trying to solve problems quickly, and see the entire variations.

At some point - I think this was actually earlier in the week, I also attended a lecture by Heyang Zhou 9d, a professional from China. He was a friendly guy, and I liked that he was always smiling. They had a translator translating for him. The lecture was fun, but it was mostly about the history of go. It was interesting, but mostly familiar to me already. I had hoped for more technical information from such a strong player. One thing I got from his lecture was this, though:
1. Level 1 is seeing the correct move in a local area
2. Level 2 is knowing how much the move is worth so you can compare it to other local areas
3. Level 3 is AlphaGo and other strong Go AIs :-)

Anyway, back to what happened on Friday. I met up with my friend, Jack, from the AYD - he was playing at 4k, I think. He seemed to be in a much better mood than earlier in the week, because his result in the US Open had improved compared to before. He invited me to eat dinner with him, along with Peter Schumer. I'd both heard of Peter, and I've seen him at previous go events. So his name and face were both quite familiar. We headed downtown to find a place to eat. We ended up walking too far, and Peter got directions from somebody, so we made our way back on track. Somehow, we got on the topic of age, so for kicks, I asked Peter how old he thought that I was - 39 years old was his guess. I'm actually 35, so maybe I look older than I actually am - I'll blame drinking.

Anyway, we got our food, and had a nice chat. Jack used to work for a company, but now does mainly freelance work - his wife does, too. It means a bit less money, but he has a lot more time to do the things he wants to do. In addition to the US Go Congress, he's been going to events in Japan, and he'll also be attending the 5 day go camp organized by the Canadian Go Association: https://canadiango.org/event/display/6111 - seemed like a nice lifestyle to me. Earlier in the day, it had been announced that the one of the big final games of the Masters' Tournament would be held in the main playing area. We were allowed to bring drinks and socialize. So after eating, we bought a pitcher of beer, and headed over to the playing area.

At the playing area, we started replaying the game that was being broadcast. I explained my thoughts to Jack about some of the reasons behind moves that were played (as well as I could). After a little while, Christian came by, and sat down next to me. He asked if I had reviewed my game from the morning.

I hadn't reviewed it yet, so Christian kindly gave his thoughts on my game, as I replayed it for him. We also went over yesterday's game against Nick Sibicky. It was a lot of fun. At some point, Tyler Okawa saw that we were reviewing my games, and came over to give his thoughts. Tyler had some nice ideas, and pointed out how I often play too directly, and don't leave aji to exploit later.

I spent most of the night reviewing my two games with Christian and Tyler, and after it got quite late, I headed back to the dorms to go to bed. Though I still drank, I had studied a lot more than previous nights, where I had been mostly socializing. It was quite refreshing, and I felt good about the study I had done through the game reviews.

With that good feeling in mind, I quickly fell into a deep sleep.

_________________
be immersed

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 Post subject: Re: Kirby's Study Journal
Post #1428 Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 10:40 am 
Honinbo

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Pardon me for sharing, but your really wussed out on the top side.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm49 Wuss out
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . b 5 4 6 . 8 O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . W 7 3 2 . c 9 X O O X . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . X , O . . X . O O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . X . . . . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X O O . X . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . O X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . a . O X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . 1 X . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


You could have simply jumped out to a, but living is fine, n'est-ce pas? By doing so you made use of your earlier invasion at :wc:. :)

:b55: would have been better at b.

What's with :w56:? The natural c would have been fine, right? At least it sucked :b57: out of your opponent.

:w58:? Puleeze! Just jump out to a. It's not like Black has a strong attack or anything.

Courage, mon vieux! :)

----

I applaud your decision to trust your reading. Faith in yourself is important. :clap: :clap: :clap:

_________________
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At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

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 Post subject: Re: Kirby's Study Journal
Post #1429 Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 11:20 am 
Honinbo

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Thanks for your comments, Bill.

For :w56:, c didn’t occur to me. I tried to read out a path to live, and when I thought I found one, I just went with it. Probably I should have aimed for not only living, but for living in the best way.

Regarding jumping out, I remember consciously making the decision to try to live. The choice may be based on a misunderstanding.

My thought was:
- If I move out, I am not making points with those exchanges, and black can get center moves for free. If I just live inside, there are some local exchanges that benefit black, but the center profit wouldn’t be there.

I take it that eg. K11 is not a big deal if I jump out at ‘a’? I’d probably answer it, and then it seems black got some profit? Not sure...

Thanks about the reading. Too bad I don’t have the same confidence in my counting ;-)

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Post #1430 Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 12:50 pm 
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Conclusion: Day 8

I woke up refreshed, as I had gone to bed relatively early the night before. It was the last day of the US Go Congress. Sad in some ways, but I also missed my family. Some feeling of satisfaction remained after having studied my games the night before.
As usual, I cleaned up and headed to the dining area. Again as usual, after getting my breakfast and coffee, I scanned the dining area for somebody to sit next to.

I noticed off in the corner that Vincent, another AYD-er, seemed to be chatting with some of the older folks that are part of the group that has been coming every year from Japan. I'd been practicing Korean earlier in the week with all of the evenings I had spent with Korean pros, so I thought it'd be a good opportunity to practice my Japanese.

So I headed over, and started a conversation. Aside from Vincent, there were four Go Congress attendees from Japan who I could talk with: a husband and wife, and also another man and woman who weren't married, but knew one another. They were all quite friendly, and seemed surprised that I could communicate with them in Japanese...

But I stumbled a lot more than I expected. I haven't used Japanese in a long time, and I could tell that I was making many mistakes. Periodically, in the middle of a sentence, I'd accidentally the Korean word for something, rather than the Japanese word. I caught myself doing this a few times, and I corrected myself, but there may have been times that I missed, too.

Nonetheless, the group was very kind. The woman there without her husband was married to a man who also happened to be American, and who also happened to be named Brian. We talked about Japan, and how I studied there for a year back in 2004~2005. I talked about aspects of Japanese culture that were interesting to me - the married woman there kept asking me about my Japanese cultural interests, and she seemed quite happy when I gave her examples. One of the men there was ranked as a 3d, but he was having a tough time in terms of his record. I wished him good luck in the upcoming game. We also talked about our kids; I explained how my younger son seemed more interested in go than my older son, but that my older son liked reading. One of the men there had a son that was very into shogi. I don't have much knowledge about shogi, but it was interesting to know, nonetheless.

At some point, I excused myself, because it was getting time to head over to the playing hall. We exchanged goodbyes, and I headed over to see the pairings. I didn't recognize the name of my opponent, so I didn't really know what to expect. But I'd be playing as white.

It got to be around 9am, and we were starting on time... But my opponent hadn't showed up, yet. The TD told us to start our clocks, and so I did. I wondered if my opponent had forgotten to wake up in time, or if he had perhaps dropped out of the tournament.

After about 5 minutes had elapsed, my opponent showed up. We exchanged quiet greetings, and began the game.

The game started out peacefully, and I felt things were somewhat balanced, until my opponent played the knight's move, below:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 21 to 27
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . O . . |
$$ | . W . X . X . . . , X . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . 1 X . . |
$$ | . . 4 X . . . . . , . . . . O , O 2 . |
$$ | . . O 3 . . . . . . . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Normally, this would seem like a typical move to me, but with the marked white stones, I felt it was an overplay. So I pushed out and cut:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 28 to 30
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . O . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . . , X . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O 1 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . O , O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Later, I asked about this to Heyang Zhou 9p, and he thought that the cut seemed severe.

The game proceeded in a way that felt beneficial to me:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 32 to 41
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . O . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . . , X . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 2 3 8 . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 6 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X O 1 . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . O , O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


After the exchange on the bottom, I cut!
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 42 to 51
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . O . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . . , X . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X 0 . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X X 3 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X 9 4 6 8 . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X O O 7 O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . O , O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . 1 X 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


The game felt like it was going great, and I proceeded to capture his stones, giving me a thick group:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 52 to 61
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . O . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . . , X . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X 3 . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . 5 X X O O 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 9 X O X X X 2 . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X O O O O 7 8 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . 0 6 4 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . O , O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


After discussing with Heyan Zhou, he recommended capturing the stones, but to add some aji, first, and exchange the moves below before playing 'a' and 'b':

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 52 to 61
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . O . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . . , X . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X 3 . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . 5 X X O O 1 0 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . a X O X X X 2 9 . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X O O O O 7 8 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . b 6 4 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . O , O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


But nonetheless, the game felt good. I felt very confident at this stage in the game, and was happy with the feeling that I'd end the US Go Congress on a good note, with a 4-2 record. I'd lost to Brady and Nick, but winning the rest wasn't all that bad.

Here's the game a few moves later:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 62 to 71
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . a . . . . X . . O . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . . , X . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X O . . , . . . . 9 , 7 . . |
$$ | . O X X O O O . . . . . . . 0 . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X X X . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . 1 X O O O O O X . . . . . 8 5 6 . . |
$$ | . O O X . X X X . 2 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . 3 X X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , 4 . . . O , O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


It's questionable whether my shoulder hit at :w5:, above, was good since black may not have answered, but nonetheless, black did. So I had points on the top right, I had a thick group on the left, and points in the corners.

Black had around 30 points on the bottom, but that was about it after I'd invade at 'a'.

And indeed, at this point of the game, during the review with Heyan Zhou 9p, he told me that, if white invades now, there is no way that white can lose the game. A quick look at LeelaZero put me at around 84% somewhere around here in the game.

But alas, my greed and confidence overtook me. I became worried about a peep around 'a', and black taking away side points around 'b'. So I wanted to make these stones just a little bit stronger before invading on the top. And I expected my opponent to answer.

But of course, he didn't. And then he had the chance to protect the top, where an invasion would have been so simple:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 72 to 77
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . O . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . 6 , X . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O X X O . . , . . . 5 O , O . . |
$$ | . O . . O O O . . . . . . 3 X 1 . . . |
$$ | . O . O X X X X . . . . . . 4 2 X . . |
$$ | . O . O O O O O X . . . . . X O X . . |
$$ | . O O X . X X X . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , X . . . O , O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


My positive feeling turned sour, and suddenly, I felt bad about this game... Why hadn't I simply invaded the top? Why did I think my weird moves on the right were sente?

I became depressed.

In review with Heyan Zhou 9p, he told me that things weren't yet lost for me, and that I still had a good position, given the capture on the left. Here's a sequence he suggested:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Heyan Zhou 9p suggestion
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . O . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . X , X . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O X X O . . , . . . O O , O . . |
$$ | . O . . O O O . . . . . . O X O . . . |
$$ | . O . O X X X X . . . . . . X X X . . |
$$ | . O . O O O O O X . . . . . X O X . . |
$$ | . O O X . X X X . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , X . . . O , O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . X 1 . O . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Yes, it's true that black has sizable points on the bottom, and with the defense on top, a lot of that is real territory. But white's capture and territory on the left was not small, and the right side was developing nicely for white. He told me that this way of playing would still give me a great shot at the game.

But I didn't see things so optimistically in the game. Due to my failure to invade, I felt a great loss - a loss that I needed to overcome. But I couldn't find a way to invade properly on the top.

Despite this... I played there anyway!

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 78 to 87
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 8 0 . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . 6 5 . 3 2 7 X . . O . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . X , X 1 9 . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O X X O . . , . . . O O , O . . |
$$ | . O . . O O O . . . . . . O X O . . . |
$$ | . O . O X X X X . . . . . . X X X . . |
$$ | . O . O O O O O X . . . . . X O X . . |
$$ | . O O X . X X X . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , X . . . O , O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


I was looking for a chance for my opponent to screw up - a way to break into the top with a bad move on his part. I was putting the fate of the game into his hands, hoping that he'd make a mistake.

Continuing:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W What is this?!?
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . X O . O X O X . . O . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . X , X O O 2 6 O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X 0 . 3 4 8 9 . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . 1 . 5 7 . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O X X O . . , . . . O O , O . . |
$$ | . O . . O O O . . . . . . O X O . . . |
$$ | . O . O X X X X . . . . . . X X X . . |
$$ | . O . O O O O O X . . . . . X O X . . |
$$ | . O O X . X X X . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , X . . . O , O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Obviously, the result is bad for me: I didn't break into the top, and black destroyed potential territory that I could have had on the right. We played the game to the end, but I lost by 7.5 points. I have more recorded in the game, but it's less interesting to me.

The question that remained in my mind for quite some time was, "WHY did I play in this way?"

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 78 to 87
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 8 0 . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . 6 5 . 3 2 7 X . . O . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . X , X 1 9 . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O X X O . . , . . . O O , O . . |
$$ | . O . . O O O . . . . . . O X O . . . |
$$ | . O . O X X X X . . . . . . X X X . . |
$$ | . O . O O O O O X . . . . . X O X . . |
$$ | . O O X . X X X . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , X . . . O , O O . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


It wasn't a mistake in reading - I didn't read out a variation that worked, and then be surprised by a move that I didn't expect. The fact is, I didn't read out a variation that worked. But I wanted to play there anyway.

Why? The question is exceedingly interesting to me. Why did I want to play a sequence that I hadn't thought to work?

In the days that followed the US Go Congress, I came to an answer: I am not confident when the game becomes close - and in these cases, I succumb to overplay in hopes that my opponent will make a mistake.

Here I had a reasonably close game that I could very well have won if I had just played in a normal way. I didn't require special moves. But my lack of confidence when the game is close led me to want to overplay - I wanted to break into the top, whether it worked or not! I had an expectation that my opponent could likely make a mistake, and then I could set the score such that the game wasn't close anymore.

More than the moves themselves in this sequence, the psychological state that I was in to decide on making these moves was, and remains, very fascinating to me.

To overcome this, I need to be more confident when the game is close. I need to be willing to play normal moves when I'm just a couple of points ahead - and not something weird to give my opponent a chance.

---

Anyway, after losing the game, I was pretty disappointed and confused - things had gone so well at the beginning, and I had thrown it away. For what? At this point in the day, I hadn't contemplated as much about *why* these things had happened - I was just confused and sad.

I wandered around the room and checked on games that my friends were playing. I overlooked dfan's game, again, and also a couple of others.

Then, since I was so confused about my game, I decided to get it reviewed. Inseong was already gone, but Heyan Zhou 9p was doing reviews on the 2nd floor. I headed over to the room, but it was still locked - I was about 15~20 minutes early. I saw some of the Tennessee go club folks - Anthony and Jake, and chat with them for a little while as we were waiting. I asked Jake more questions about BIBA, and found that he played against pros about once a day while he was in BIBA - Monday through Friday - yes, games against pros definitely seemed like something I needed more of.

Eventually, Heyan Zhou 9p got to the room, and my friend Vincent did live translation. I volunteered to have my game reviewed, and was the second one to get a review. I asked questions throughout the review, and some of the comments Heyan Zhou 9p had for me can be seen above. Near the end of the review, he asked if I lost the game. I acknowledged that I had, and he told me that it was a pity. I agreed.

After my review was finished, I left the room, and looked for a lecture. I saw that there was one going on in the basement by some Korean pro (I forgot his name). He was just reviewing one of the games he had played against Park Junghwan, where he had lost by a couple of points. The review was mildly amusing, but he didn't do much of an actual lecture. He kind of just expressed his thoughts. I don't think he's an experienced go teacher - just some kid that recently turned pro in Korea. After he finished going over his game, he wanted a picture of the lecture hall, so he could send it as proof to the Hanguk Kiwon that he did a lecture :-p

After the lecture, not much else was scheduled. Things were somewhat boring - the boards in the playing area were being cleaned up, and the congress was generally wrapping up. At some point - maybe on that day, I sat out on the terrace with dfan and chat about the week, and also a little bit about chess - comparing chess to go, and how chess has some different classes of problems that could be useful in go - but maybe aren't there, yet (e.g. whole board problems where there's one solution).

I tried to find something to do, and saw my friend Chanseok from the Seattle area. My wife knows his mom, so we've kind of gotten to know one another. At one point Chanseok was in the AYD, but since then, he went to Korea for about a year just to study go. He got to about 5d, and then returned to school.

Chanseok said that there were still boards in the youth room, so we headed over there. I hadn't been to the youth room, yet, so I had to figure out how to get there. Once we were there, some go players were hanging out. I saw my friend, Benjamin, from the AYD, and also Tyler Okawa. I saw Yoonyoung Kim, and showed her my blunder from today's game. She seemed disappointed, but there was nothing I could really say to excuse myself for screwing the game up.

I hung around the youth room for awhile, and basically waited for the end-of-congress banquet to start - things were so boring with all of the boards taken away, and a lot of people had already left the building.

Eventually, it got close to time for the banquet, so I headed to the dorms to change into slightly nicer clothes (i.e. polo shirt + shorts instead of t-shirt and shorts). On the way, I saw Jennie Shen and chat with her a little bit. I told her about blah record of 3-3 in the open, and expressed how I wish I had done less remodelling, and more studying before the tournament. She replied bluntly, "That's what you say every year, huh?" I didn't have a good reply.

As we approached the dorm, Jennie continued to the banquet area, and I went to the dorms to change into my polo shirt. Christian had already left for LA, so I had the room to myself, now. After getting ready, I headed to the banquet hall.

When I got there, several go players were hanging out, waiting for the doors to open. I wandered about until the doors unlocked, and then everyone started to flood in.

I tried to find a spot to sit, but wasn't sure where. I saw Chanseok sitting at a table with a bunch of teenagers, and asked him if the spot next to him was taken. He said no, and I started to sit down, but then some girl told me someone else was coming, and that I couldn't sit there.

So I wandered off to find another spot to sit. I saw my friend Jack, and sat next to him - he was one of the only ones at the table. And after I sat down, I was joined by my friend Solomon, Benjamin, and also Kim Yoonyoung came to sit. So as it turned out, there were several folks to talk to.

We chat about various things as the banquet proceeded. The food was good, and there were also drinks and cake. Everything was nice. The annual go board auction seemed to go quite well - the board sold for over $2000, which I think, they said was a record. Proceeds would go to the American Go Foundation, which does various things, including go scholarships for kids.

The banquet proceeded with awards - of course, I didn't get one with my blah performance. The book vendors were also there, but I had already checked: there were no books that I wanted. Finally, the banquet came to a close, and I wondered what other folks were doing.

It seems that my friend Satoru, who lives in the Chicago area, had a similar idea. When I chat with him and Yoonyoung Kim after the banquet, he invited us both to join him, his wife, and Nakano Yasuhiro 9p + family for drinks on the terrace. We both agreed, and once Nakano and his family were ready, we all headed together back to the terrace to enjoy the evening.

As we approached the terrace, it became clear that I had misunderstood a little bit - Nakano and his family weren't joining - they were just walking with us back to the campus area near the dorms. So we parted ways with Nakano heading off to wherever they were staying, and the rest of us heading back to the terrace.

We got some drinks and found a table, and before long, other go players who had stayed this long joined us. There was some sort of pictionary-like game that a lot of folks were playing at the table, that was through the computer, but it required a smartphone, so I couldn't really play.

I just chat with friends like Kim Yoonyoung, Andy Olsen, Satoru, and others, until it got rather late. At some point in the night, Terry Benson showed up and sat next to me. I chat with him a little bit, and asked about Bill Spight, since I know they knew one another. Upon hearing his name, Terry began chatting about button go and AGA rules - it was a topic he seemed very enthusiastic about.

I began to get tired, and at some point, without giving others much noticed, I decided to head back to the dorms. I packed my things up - the US Go Congress was coming to a close. After packing up, I set my alarm to go off in the morning, and I went to bed.

---

The next day: I woke up to my alarm, checked out of the dorms, and ordered an Uber to the airport. I arrived early, because the airport was closer than I expected, and had breakfast at the airport. Others probably had similar plans, and now and then, I'd spot a US Go Congress attendee in the airport. I saw an AYD friend who was on his way to Chicago, and then to New Mexico, and I chat with him a little bit about next year.

Then I headed to my gate, waited for boarding to begin, and got on the plane for the brief flight home to Michigan.

And that was it. The 2019 US Go Congress was over.

---

This concludes my summary of the week.

_________________
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This post by Kirby was liked by 6 people: dfan, Dusk Eagle, ez4u, lightvector, mhlepore, Shenoute
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 Post subject: Re: Kirby's Study Journal
Post #1431 Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 11:37 am 
Honinbo

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KGS: Kirby
Tygem: 커비라고해
So a couple of things have happened in my life since the US Go Congress in July. I'll give a quick recap.

After a week of go in Madison, I was pretty enthusiastic about playing. I played on KGS somewhat regularly during lunch breaks. Meanwhile, one of my coworkers who is into running organized a 5km race for folks to participate in. I used to run back in the day, but I'm very rusty. Somehow, given all of the discussion about running, my enthusiasm was sparked.

So I got into a new routine for about a week - I'd wake up earlier than usual (6:30am), and go for a run. I'd do some go problems, go to work, then play a game of go at lunch - review if I had time - and then when I got back home, I'd play with kids, then do some remodeling work on our new house. Then I'd repeat.

Things were going well, and I had some consistency with this schedule. But then, we had our annual canoe/kayak trip at work. The kayaking went fine, but after that, I brought my family to the picnic, and there happened to be alcohol there - pretty strong stuff at that. To make a long story short, I drank too much, acted pretty silly, probably annoyed a lot of coworkers, and didn't give my family the attention they deserved.

I didn't like how I acted.

Reflecting, I thought about my drinking habits as of late, including the times that I drank at the US Go Congress. To date, I've thought of alcohol as something that I just like to drink - it's fun, and I enjoy it. But thinking about it more, and comparing my behavior to others... I think I have a problem with it. It's very difficult for me to enjoy just a little bit of alcohol. When I decide to drink, I like it. And after drinking a bit, I want to have more - and more and more and more. It's an unhealthy cycle, and it leads to me acting in ways that I don't like. I act differently (sometimes silly), and I don't like that.

So I made a resolution to stop drinking. It's been about 2 weeks now, and I don't feel like starting again. The good thing is, I've gotten back into the habit of running in the mornings, and today, I resumed my lunchtime games.

So let's get into things. Here is today's game, which I played on KGS:


During my own review, it was not clear to me that I was definitely ahead when my opponent left, but LZ seems to suggest that I had a lead. I need to study the pattern that occurred early on on the bottom of the board, because that one keeps biting me. But my opponent gave me some stones in the corner, and that was pretty helpful.

Here are some highlights of the game:

Position 1
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 7 to 10
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . 2 1 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


The cut at :b4: is a common scenario - one that I've not learned that well. There are ladders involved, and while I can try to read things out every time, this type of scenario is common enough that I think it'd be worth my time to study it better.

Anyway, things ended out OK after I captured stones in the bottom left:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 29 to 31
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O X O X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . X X O , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . 3 O O O O O X O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . 1 X X X X X O . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 2 . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


But it was too risky for what I'd like.

Later in the game, I remember not being exactly sure what to do here:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 50 to 50
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . e X . . . . . . . . . O . a . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . b . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O O X O X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X X X O X X O , . . . . . , c . . |
$$ | . O O O O O O X O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | X O X X X X X O . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . X O O O O O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


I thought about points a~e a little bit. But it wasn't clear to me what would be good. I just ended up extending on top, and I thought it'd be OK.

One thing that I didn't think of during my own review, which LZ suggested for black was something that I found interesting:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 52 to 52
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O O X O X . . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . X X X X O X X O , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . O O O O O O X O . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | X O X X X X X O . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . X O O O O O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Above, my opponent played :b1:. But LZ recommended this:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 52 to 52
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O O X O X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X X X O X X O , . . . . C B . . . |
$$ | . O O O O O O X O . . . . . O C . . . |
$$ | X O X X X X X O . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . X O O O O O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


This surprised me a little bit, but my thought is that this is an unusual situation - black can make white overconcentrated on the bottom, perhaps, with a move like the marked one above. Normally, e.g. pushing against the stone with one of the marked moves might give white the better end of the exchange, but here, I don't know if those moves help white as much, given that white is already thick on the bottom.

I dunno really, but it's interesting anyway.

Anyway, the game ended early since my opponent left, so that's all I have for today.

_________________
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 Post subject: Re: Kirby's Study Journal
Post #1432 Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 9:49 am 
Honinbo

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I did a speed workout (for running) this morning, and I didn't really wanted to. It was early, and I was tired. But then I tried to remind myself that consistency matters. So I got up early and ran. I felt good about it, but was tired. During the commute on the bus, I did some go problems - also didn't want to do it, but oh well.

Then it came to be lunchtime, and I didn't really want to play a game. But I did anyway.

Here it is - I played on KGS:


I lost the game.

I think early on, I made a mistake in choosing this option as black:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 11 to 20
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2 . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . 1 O 6 O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 4 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . 5 8 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


White got a lot - corner and everything. I don't have a solid base. I pushed white up a little bit, but my shape is weird. It can't be right.

So I think I was behind a bit by this time. I'll check with LZ in a bit - I just want to get down my own review thoughts before being brainwashed by the computer.

Subsequently, I think approaching was too far... I should try to recover the shape and play on the side. Game is still early, but I push up the stakes unnecessarily.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 21 to 27
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . X O . . . . |
$$ | . . O , 1 . . . . , . . . X O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 4 . . . . . 2 3 X O X . . |
$$ | . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Instead, i should accept a minor loss, I think, and play on the side calmly:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 21 to 21
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . B O . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . X O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . X O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


The move above doesn't feel good - and I think the marked exchange was bad for me. But given that board position, I should try to calm down a little bit. Acquiesce and let him have a little bit since I was outplayed already.

The game seems about over when I misread this part later at the end:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 76 to 78
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O X . X X O . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . X X O X X . X O . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X . . X O O O X X X O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O O 3 O . O O X X O X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . X O X O . O O X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . X 1 2 O . X . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


I wish I hadn't misread, but I'll work on that with the problems.

The bigger takeaways I want to get from this game are these points:
1. Be careful about choices in the opening - I often fall behind in the opening, even in games that I win.
2. If my opponent *does* outplay me in the opening, there's still a lot of game to play. ACQUIESCE, and let him have a little bit. Then wait for a chance to come back.

---

Now, I'll open LZ. See what the computer says...

Skimming through LZ, one point is this move:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 28 to 29
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . X . . . . . . . X O . . . . |
$$ | . . O , X . . . . , . . . X O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . O . . O X X O X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


I was anxious to do this, but LZ recommended this, first:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 28 to 29
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . X O . . . . |
$$ | . . O , X . . . . , . . . X O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . O . . O X X O X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


I like this idea, because it makes white less likely to play as in the game. Now..

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W Moves 28 to 29
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 3 . X . . . . . . . X O . . . . |
$$ | . C O 4 X . . . . , . . . X O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . O . . O X X O X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


White is less likely to play down like in the game, because there is aji for me to pull out :b2: to connect. So I can more easily get the type of shape that I wanted in the corner.

Noted.

Considering only win rate change, my win rate seemed to drop a lot at this move:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 45 to 45
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O X . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . 1 . . X . . X O . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X . . X O , . . . X O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O O . O . . O X X O X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


LZ recommended this:
Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B Moves 45 to 45
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O X 5 . 6 . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . X 3 2 1 4 X . . X O . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X . . X O , . . . X O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O O . O . . O X X O X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


But I don't really understand it... :scratch: I feel like my groups are split this way. I'll ponder it for a little bit.

But anyway, LZ's first recommendation seemed pretty good.

So again, to review, the high level points I want to take away from this loss are:
1. Be extremely careful not to fall behind in the opening - I'm prone to this.
2. If I do fall behind early on... ACQUIESCE! If it's middle game or endgame, maybe not, but at least in the opening, there are several chances, so it might be OK for me to give a little bit in an effort to recover.

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Post #1433 Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 11:33 am 
Lives in sente

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I know I haven't been on L19 a lot lately, but I popped in and happened to read your study journal. I just wanted to commend you for noticing that alcohol was becoming a problem for you and taking immediate action on that observation. A lot of people try to convince themselves it's not really a problem until it's much harder to make that decisive action, and your choice says a lot about your character. May all of your go games be filled with similar insight and decisive action.

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Post #1434 Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 5:11 pm 
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jeromie wrote:
I know I haven't been on L19 a lot lately, but I popped in and happened to read your study journal. I just wanted to commend you for noticing that alcohol was becoming a problem for you and taking immediate action on that observation. A lot of people try to convince themselves it's not really a problem until it's much harder to make that decisive action, and your choice says a lot about your character. May all of your go games be filled with similar insight and decisive action.


Thanks, jeromie! I appreciate your support. I want to be in control of how I act, so I'll see how it goes without drinking for now.

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Post #1435 Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 7:06 pm 
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Today was go club day, so I didn’t play an online game.

I played against a regular at the club - I think he is around 2k or something, maybe?

I was white, and I won the game.

Here it is:


He quit after playing the move above.

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Post #1436 Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 6:10 am 
Gosei
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I still like to play around with Lizzie a bit, so some comments on the opening : )


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Post #1437 Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 7:02 am 
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Thanks for the review. The most interesting part for me is at move 10 - I considered playing the recommended 'A' (E4) in the game. I don't think I considered 'C' (Q5), but it seems to be a normal move. But what I didn't expect was the idea of 'B' (D4). That's not a move that was even on my radar!

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc Moves 10 to 10
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . c . . . |
$$ | . . X b a . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . 1 . . . . . X . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


The other surprise is that O16 is so bad - seemed pretty natural to me.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc Moves 18 to 18
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . X . . , . . . W . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O . . O . . X . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]


Obviously, I didn't get how big it was to extend from the kick on the bottom right - that seems to have kept coming up in your review.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . X . . , . . . O . , O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . W , X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O . . O . . X . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

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Post #1438 Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 7:28 am 
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A couple of comments about LZ's comments:

:w8: With 5-3 against 3-4, bots love the press. :)

:w10: A is a probe. It also may prepare to support a possible fight in the bottom right. My guess for the main continuation: White E-04 (A), Black D-04, White Q-05 (press). Now, how does Black reply?

:w14: Yeah, White A fer shure. "I let Black secure two corners and all I got was this lousy base on the side." ;)

:w18: As for the possible play in the top right, I think that the relative weakness of White's enclosure on the right side versus the top side is reason enough to prefer B.

:w20: Yeah, the descent leaves a weakness for White at A, while a White play at A threatens to push through and cut.

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Post #1439 Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 10:10 am 
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Still don’t really *feel* the point about :w20: - white’s shape seems totally strong to me, and it gets more territory. LZ disagrees, so maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t see it.

I guess after black answers the descent, white’s shape is a bit weaker. Dunno - the proposed move seems over concentrated to me.

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Post #1440 Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 10:45 am 
Gosei
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A couple of Lizzie's variations.

:w8: I let this run until over 300k playouts because Lizzie constantly came up with other variations. Seems to be quite the "turning point" of the opening so far.

:w10: With more playouts Lizzie does prefer the press over the probe. By comparing the two (via Lizzie's variations) I guess the probe does not really "probe" anything. Black defends the bottom left anyway and a White stone in the vicinity doesn't really help White, it seems.

Although, compare this to the variations Lizzie gives on move :w8: . There was quite some play to be had in the bottom left corner for White.

:w20: My reasoning would have been the same as Bill Spight's. More on the "push through and cut"-side but anyway : D

A comparison in numbers: Lizzie has over 100k playouts with Q16 but only 173 with S16.


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