There are times when I am playing a game and I marvel at how I have come so far and yet can make such huge mistakes. And then there are games where I am reminded that my opponent can do the same thing. A game I played last night allowed me to experience both extremes in the same game.
I was playing a 1 kyu player on OGS, and I made a significant mistake in the opening. I was trying to capture a group that would let me save a large dragon, but it was looking bleak. AI analysis after the game says I was behind by nearly 30 points. But then my opponent blundered, and I captured
their dragon. It was an 80 point swing, and I was 50 points ahead. But I messed up my defense to a late corner invasion, and the game got very close again. I ended up winning by only 1.5 points.
After the game, I was left with a question. How do I review a game like this? I decided that I can focus on two things in my review: errors in
mindset (I had the wrong idea at a particular point in the game) and errors in
preparation (there is a move or shape that I should know from study, and I missed it). There are a few such moves that stand out to me in this game.
Here's the first:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . 2 5 6 . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O 3 4 . 8 1 . , . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
After the pincer at 1, I played the pressing move at 2. This came from reading Shibano Toramaru's
Fuseki Revolution. He says that the pressing move is never bad against the pincer after a low approach to a 3-4 stone. But he also showed
why, specifically using the high 2 space pincer and I forgot the follow-up entirely. Instead of the sequence I played, I should have played like this:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 6 . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . 5 4 X 3 8 . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . 7 O 1 2 . . O . , . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
I'm okay with getting it wrong in the game, though. It's a good chance to learn, and to review the joseki asking myself if I understand the reason behind all of the moves.
Still, the fighting went reasonably well for me, and I was ahead up to here:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O b . a . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . X O X . O . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . X O . X X . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . O . . X O O . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
I played a when I should have made the simple extension to b. And I missed fixing that group several times over the next few moves. This is a mentality mistake, one that I make fairly often: it is not good to fight with a group that is weak. Of course, that requires good reading to see that the group
is in fact weak. But this is a situation where I think that's obvious, and it's what put me into a dire position shortly thereafter.
Here's another position I should have known.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . X O . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . X O . X . . . . . W X . |
$$ | . . . X O X . O O . . . . X . O X O . |
$$ | . . O O X . X O . X X X . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . O . O X O O O . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . a . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
I studied the 3-3 invasion josekis recently, and I know that after the marked move I should play the hane at a before responding at b. Well, I thought I knew. I forgot in the game, and it gave me a cramped position in the corner.
There are quite a few more moves where I made similar knowledge and mentality mistakes, but I'm going to stop there for now.