I had my first BIBA review this morning. I took notes in the SGF file for the game, and included them here:
I learned a lot, but here are a couple of particularly interesting tidbits:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . 2 . . 3 , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . 1 X . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
I treat the sequence above almost as a combo. If I'm going to kick, I kick - they extend, then I play the two space high pincer. Just about every time.
Blackie noted that this is kind of old fashioned, because black's not in a hurry to jump out. Black can just play this:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . . O , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . B . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
And then black has a nice shape - and I'm not really threatening the stones much. He prefers something like this for that reason:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . 2 . . . , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . 1 X . . . 3 . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
If it's like this, black's strategy there isn't as effective:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . 2 . . . , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . 1 X . 5 . 3 . 4 . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
I can still attack black, I get more territory, and black's extension with

isn't as good as in the other variation.
Very interesting!
---
The other thing was, Blackie noted that it's pretty big to defend here:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . . O , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . W . . . . O . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
1.) It puts more pressure on black
2.) It helps to make black's invasion (as in the game) less relevant.
I don't often think of my own weaknesses - so I don't see this kind of move usually - it seems so slow to me.
But it's a nice shape and pressures black. So it must be a lot better. Blackie said it was quite big.
---
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . X . O . O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . W . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . X W , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . X O O . X . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O X X X O O O . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X X X X X O X X . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O X X X X O O X . . X X , . . . |
$$ | . . . O O X X X O . X X . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O X O O O X . X . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O O . O X X . . X . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
All of these moves I'm making are bad exchanges. Blackie noted that I should just try to make good shape in the middle.
Looking back, why did I play these, psychologically?
- The reason is that I wanted to kill black. I figured I lost, so I needed to kill.
The problem is, it's very hard for me to kill black anyway. I did in the game, but I was really lucky...
So what can I take away from this?
- When I'm behind, I have to refrain from trying to catch back up immediately
- I need to think of my *own* weakness and bad shape - not just my opponent's!
---
There are some other goodies from the review (notably, the aji in the top left, which I hadn't noticed earlier). But these are some of the biggest takeaways I had. The pincer thing is good knowledge to know; I need to value "defense moves" a lot more than I do right now; and I need to pay attention to my own weaknesses and bad shape more than just my opponents.
If I simplify a majority of this content into one takeaway, I think it might be this: "don't be blind to my own weakness". I think I am already actively looking out for stuff I can do to my opponent. But I'm blind to what they can do to me!