where did I mess up?

Ian Butler · Post by **Ian Butler** » Mon Jan 04, 2021 11:43 am

I just played on of those games where you're left not feeling very good about the game.
I made some stupid reading mistakes (

I don't know why I was imagining having a magical extra liberty that I obviously didn't have) but I think I recuperated well and by

I thought I had a won game for sure.
But, as it always goes, you make mistake after mistake and just got my ass kicked.

There's no point reviewing past :w138: as I was very disappointed and it was a lost game, I just kept playing a bit without reading, as is very obvious. But until then, I want to know where I made the gravest mistakes. Probably the way I handled the lower right was very bad, but I have a hard time pinpointing what I did wrong exactly.
As for the left side, black never should've lived, I'm pretty sure. I think the losing move was :w126:? If I just play B10 there, I think black can't live. Is that correct?

Bah, I really hate these kinds of games. Where you're not playing very well and keep growing more annoyed at yourself and start reading less and less. These are the moments I really wonder why I even play Go

jlt · Post by **jlt** » Mon Jan 04, 2021 12:38 pm

I don't have answers to your questions, but am just stopping by to say that by move

, I don't feel that "White has a won game for sure". I fact I feel that Black has a good position: big territory on the bottom, no weaknesses. White does have some potential on the left but Black can reduce it.

Shenoute · Post by **Shenoute** » Mon Jan 04, 2021 12:46 pm

I think

is a turning point of some sort. If white is interested in building the center, atari at J14 seems to be the easiest way (I'm not saying it would have won white the game though).

After that,

at L15 seems better. Shape-wise, 82 in the game means white glues himself to the black stones and has less liberties than black because he is pushing from behind. 82 at L15 also means white's stones are better placed to harass black's K16-17 stones after playing H18.
With black's stones floating in the center and black's K stones, white should be able to gain something. As white, I'd also be keeping an eye on the R12 area during the play in the center and around the K stones, either knowing that I can play forcing moves there in order to block the escape of the black K stones, or to invade after the fight around the center or the K black stones has made white stronger in the area.

Knotwilg · Post by **Knotwilg** » Tue Jan 05, 2021 1:48 am

A game you hated and which makes you wonder why you play Go at all, is probably one to forget about asap, unless ... you feel this game is representative for your approach to the game and you want to learn from it.

What I see in this game and its analysis is a kind of "borderline" attitude: at times you have an inflated image of this game (and yourself) where you believe it's a won game for sure (76) while it's rather balanced, or you believe you can gloriously crush the opponent without thinking (the lower right fighting). The next moment the opponent lives "where he shouldn't" or you make an "unbelievable mistake in counting liberties" and you are again that worthless piece of s*** that shouldn't even touch the stones.

Go isn't like that and life isn't like that either. We're not here to gloriously crush our opponents or cruise our way through life, nor are we here to suffer the fate of the poorest mind on earth. We must instead slowly and surely grind our way into the game and into life, regularly re-evaluating our options.

I have a formula for frustration: F = I - R; where F is frustration, I is the image we have of ourselves and R is reality. There are two ways to reduce frustration and they can happen simultaneously. The first is accepting reality and reducing image, like "as a go player, I sometimes make easy misreads". The second is working on reality, like "do tsumego to improve reading". This is a continuous process, with regular fallbacks, like still making easy misreads even after having done many tsumego.

If it sounds like I'm talking too freely about you, I'm of course talking about myself in the first place.

Now some technique:

28 - you probably played this move because it makes a kosumi+keima shape. This is a superficial application of shape. Your kosumi is actually a tiger's mouth, which allows for a sharper move. And you need a sharper move to surround Black. Your move is also a large knight from your lone stone and large knight's can be cut. You should at least read the keima at M6.

30 - when you touch this stone, it prepares for a sacrifice, hence allowing Black to live fast. Instead, keep surrounding to make him work for life.

38 - instead of reinforcing the stones after the sacrifice maneuver, taking the influence that would be the objective of the sacrifice, you again go for the kill, thereby provoking Black to break through your lines. This is inconsistent.

It's this last move that tells of an unbalanced Go mind. You shouldn't go all out on a group you have strengthened a few moves earlier, not at this point of the game. You should take the natural profit of your earlier choices, in this case influence, and move on.

Schachus · Post by **Schachus** » Tue Jan 05, 2021 3:15 am

I would like to add to that last comment that 38 does not seem to be sente to kill locally to me (if black tenuki, white o2 then black p4 makes a second eye, if white p4 than o2 makes miai of o1 and o4).

At 76, I agree that your position improved dramatically by blacks moves 65-71 taking small profits nexts to an already invincible group. I would look at this as a 50/50 game at that point.
As black I would be annoyed that I took a position, where I had a clear advantage and then taking more profit (additionally in a slow way) and thus staking it all on reducing the center, which may well fail, instead of just reducing whites potential earlier, go to the endgame and bring home my advantage.
As white, I would be happy I got a chance to win the game by ending up with a huge center/left side and thus I would probably have tried to kill everything simililar to what you did, thinking it is my shot (which is probably a weakness in my play). I would not by any means think it is guaranteed to work though.

Edit: admittetly, maybe blacks advantage at 46 wasnt as big as the sequence starting from 30 makes you think, because the black sequence in the lower left before that was very strange...

Post by **Joaz Banbeck** » Tue Jan 05, 2021 1:35 pm

IMHO, things went wrong at move 24:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W Slack, IMHO $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , 1 . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

N4 might be a decent extension off of the wall if there were no black stone nearby, but when black is already in there, it seems too loose.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W A stronger attack $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Then the follow up at move 28 is not very severe either.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W Another slightly slack move which allows black to make shape $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . O X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , O . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This move at 28 would have threatened black more:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W White has to take the shape point himself $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , O . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Harleqin · Post by **Harleqin** » Tue Jan 05, 2021 2:39 pm

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W Enclose $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . a . . O X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . O . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . b . X X . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , O . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'd just enclose. Compare with the game move 'a', which allows an escape with 'b'. While this leaves a cut, I feel that black should be too busy living inside to threaten the surrounding groups. There is also a peep at 'c' that could be useful to prevent the corner group from being closed in.

Knotwilg · Post by **Knotwilg** » Tue Jan 05, 2021 5:08 pm

I analyzed the position with Katago

First of all, White should consider the cut

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W Victory $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2 4 . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 X 1 3 . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X 7 . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This is a very good result (+10) for White

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

However, Black can fight and this becomes very complex even though White should come out victorious.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W Pincers $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , a . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . b c . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

After the marked exchange, all the pincers are available, but again Black can move out his stone and fight with the aji of the cut. This result is still about +3 for White

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W Honte / slack $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . | $$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . 1 . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

We can also consider the slack move / honte here. Even though Black is getting away with his overplay now, the game is still even when White takes sente and approaches the lower left.

This may be suitable for Ian, who tends to get caught up in fighting.

Later on ...

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W Kata's move $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . 3 . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , O . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . a . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

... Kata suggests

aiming for A later, to connect underneath, or surround.

I won't publish more variations. The fighting should always favor White here but I thought the slow move was worth mentioning, as it is basic and probably easier to understand for all of us.

Post by **Joaz Banbeck** » Wed Jan 06, 2021 10:07 am

Move 36 is another in a series of moves which all suggest that white is on autopilot.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wc Aji keshi $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , O 1 2 . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

It is not a blatantly bad move, but it is aji keshi. It could be saved for a ko threat.

Black has two eyes, so it is best to leave it alone and concentrate on more profitable moves on other parts of the board.

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

My favorite would be to start making shape on the lower side, and simultaneously threaten his D4 stone:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wc Aji keshi $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , O . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . 1 . . . . O X . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The appearance of white being on autopilot continues with move 38:

Moves 'a' and 'b' are miai, so black survives, even if he ignores your move

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

That means that P2 is gote, and small.

Again, something around 'c' looks better. If you really feel that you must grab eye space in gote, 'd' is bigger, and closer to being sente.

White continues the slackness with move 40:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W Too passive $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . 1 O . . O X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . 2 X . O . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , W W X . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . W X . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O X . X . O . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This gives black just the edge that he needs to endanger the three white stones.

Any time that your opponent plays a 1-on-1 contact move, the hane should be on your short list of replies. In this particular case, it looks better:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W Moves 40 to 40 $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . 1 X . O . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , O O X . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . O O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O X . X . O . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Ian Butler wrote:... I want to know where I made the gravest mistakes. Probably the way I handled the lower right was very bad, but I have a hard time pinpointing what I did wrong exactly.

As my comments in this post - and other similar comments by other reviewers suggest - you really did not make any 'very bad' moves. There were no 'grave mistakes'.
Instead, you made a series of suboptimal moves. None of them were serious mistakes, but the collective effect of several in a row is the same as one really bad move.

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