Close handicap loss. Fighting help?

Post your games here for other members to critique your play.
Post Reply
User avatar
Applebaps
Dies in gote
Posts: 64
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 9:26 am
Rank: DDK Life
GD Posts: 0
Universal go server handle: Applebaps
Online playing schedule: Evenings M-F UTC-9, Saturday mornings
Has thanked: 129 times
Been thanked: 27 times

Close handicap loss. Fighting help?

Post by Applebaps »

I appreciated the insightful feedback I got on my other game very much, so I figured I'd ask for more!

My brand new copy of "Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go" by Kageyama 7d arrived in the mail last night, and what I'm hoping is that some of my early study of that text actually shows in this game, haha. My opponent played fast and loose and I struggled to keep to my own rhythm, but I think I still could have won this one had I read out either of the fights we got into in the late game a little better, i.e., not lost so much of my lower side and center, or succeeded in killing the group on the right (where my opponent says "you coulda taken me!!" Coulda I have? :oops:

Mostly, I'd like some help (please) with better variations I could have pursued at or around moves 124 and 230, though obviously feedback on the rest of the game would be appreciated also. Avoiding those complicated situations is best, after all.



Something I noticed on my own: My opponent's :w67: is a ladder breaker. They played their corner kick at :w57: to prepare for it and distract me. I probably should have just captured and then come back later, since I didn't end up making anything of the stones I put there in response anyway.

Something else I'm realizing is that, if your opponent is territorially-minded (like me), forcing them to play for the outside by just diving in can be enough of a psychological shock at these strengths to put them on the back foot and maybe take a win. A lot of times, there's no good way to get back into the corner or the side once someone dives inside like that. I wonder if I should just start playing san-san openings, lol.
Attachments
close loss.sgf
(2.94 KiB) Downloaded 740 times
Joseki (n): 1. Japanese term meaning "when Jo lives in seki."
User avatar
Dusk Eagle
Gosei
Posts: 1758
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2010 4:02 pm
Rank: 4d
GD Posts: 0
Has thanked: 378 times
Been thanked: 375 times

Re: Close handicap loss. Fighting help?

Post by Dusk Eagle »

Focusing on a few basic mistakes starting at move 124:

136: It's essential to be able to recognize at a glance that this move doesn't work. This second-line capture technique will appear multiple times in every game from now until you're 7d.

142: This works only if you've already completely surrounded white on the outside. Otherwise, this move is a waste, and white will just make a second eye while gouging out more of your territory. Compare how this stone looks on move 177, vs if you had played at N5 on move 142.

208: What are you defending from? Can white cut here? Similar to 136, you should try to internalize this shape so you recognize it a glance.

240: Do you see now how to capture white and win the game?

These are the moves that stood out the most to me. They maybe weren't the biggest mistakes of the game, but they're ones that occur in shapes you're most likely to see again in game after game.
We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are.
Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness.
We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before,
No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.
User avatar
EdLee
Honinbo
Posts: 8859
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 6:49 pm
GD Posts: 312
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Has thanked: 349 times
Been thanked: 2070 times

Post by EdLee »

:b8: B3 big, locally and globally.
( White could take B3 himself on :w7:, but he missed it. )
D5 also possible for :b8: .

:b12: D6 can be a candidate: split W; fight.

:b22: Needs reading and planning. Did you read the cut at all before you hane'd here? Otherwise R8 extend, unless you're very sure the hane works for you globally.

:w23: If W cut, what was your plan, if any?

:b26: Big, but not urgent. D18 a candidate.

:b30: What if you cut at R10?
W shortage of liberties problem.
:b32: Not good.
Why squeeze W between your groups?
D18 still a candidate.

:w35: P11. (Why squeeze W between your groups?)

:b42: Did you see S11 is atari?
User avatar
jlt
Gosei
Posts: 1786
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2016 3:59 am
GD Posts: 0
Has thanked: 185 times
Been thanked: 495 times

Re: Close handicap loss. Fighting help?

Post by jlt »

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc Position at move 135
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . X . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . . O X . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O O . X . . . O . O X . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . O X X . . X O . O |
$$ | . . X . O O . . . O . O . X . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . X X . O . . . . X . X . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . O . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O O O O X . X X O O . . |
$$ | . . X , X X O O X O X . . X O O . . . |
$$ | . . . X O X O X . X X . . b X X O O . |
$$ | . . X O O O X X X . . . . . . c X X O |
$$ | . . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . O . . O O . X . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . O O X X . . . . . . . . d X O . |
$$ | . O O X X . . . . , . O . . . X O . . |
$$ | . X X . . X . . X . . O X X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . a . O O X . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
If I were Black, I would play "a". Then White can't make an eye on the edge, and it seems very difficult to make two eyes in the center given that there are many black stones around. Just pay attention to the cuts at b, c and d.
Post Reply