PlaySlow

[Knotwilg]

By 42 the opening is so good for White that I would exceptionally call it over already.
At 44 you should attack from the weaker side towards the stronger side
At 54 you lose tempo. This leads to an exchange which should not have been necessary

You have a good sense of direction.

[PlaySlow]

Thank you for your comments as always Knotwilg! But can you upload the sgf? I have read your comments but might have missed your variations, i guess something had gone wrong with the upload:)

[Knotwilg]

Done!

[PlaySlow]

Another game against 8 kyu. This month program is hard. Tesuji is too much time consuming.. and i also become both project and production manager of the factory because of financial issues hit our recruitment plan. Still trying to keep up with the plan though.

*there is an error about uploading the sgf, cannot fix it;(

[Knotwilg]

Not such a hard game to win this time, with an opponent who's constantly overplaying. An error one easily makes in those circumstances is to attack the oveplays on a small scale. Overplays can even sometimes be punished by almost ignoring them.

That's the theme of this review: attack on a large scale / attack from a distance / ignore the bait.

[PlaySlow]

Thank you knotwilg! Your comments are absolutely eye openers, i have made so many unnecessary moves like connecting already alive groups and thought on a very small scale.
I understand almost all of the comments but got one question, regarding can you show a continuation after hane at the top? I always continue pushing blindly on the 3rd line territory go get a wall in these kinda situations. I know i should have hane'd sometime.

[EdLee]

regarding , ... a continuation after hane at the top?

$$B
$$ -------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
$$ | . . . 9 7 3 1 O O . . . . . ?
$$ | . . 0 8 6 . 2 X X O O . . . ?
$$ | . . X , . . 4 . . X X . X . ?
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . ?
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ -------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
$$ | . . . 9 7 3 1 O O . . . . . ?
$$ | . . 0 8 6 . 2 X X O O . . . ?
$$ | . . X , . . 4 . . X X . X . ?
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . ?
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?[/go]

$$Bm11
$$ -------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
$$ | . 2 1 X X X X O O . . . . . ?
$$ | . . O O O . O X X O O . . . ?
$$ | . . X , . . O . . X X . X . ?
$$ | . . . . . . . X . . . . . . ?
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm11
$$ -------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
$$ | . 2 1 X X X X O O . . . . . ?
$$ | . . O O O . O X X O O . . . ?
$$ | . . X , . . O . . X X . X . ?
$$ | . . . . . . . X . . . . . . ?
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?[/go]

[Knotwilg]

Hi Playslow

First I must congratulate you with your style, strategy and direction of play. Unlike most beginners/kyus you focus on connection and health of groups, not territory. This gives you thick positions, which in your/our range of strength leads to a higher winning potential, because groups are not going to die inadvertently. You also understand how to use thickness. It rquires patience, a vital attitude in go which you already have.

As you said, you're often connecting strong groups and attacking stones which are not really threatening your position. As you climb the ladder of strength, such "slow play" will eventually start causing trouble. But it is better to learn how to increase your efficiency than fix thinness like most kyus need to do.

About , that question alone shows your strength because it was a comment I forgot to erase, after realizing that the hane was not good, so once more your thick (slow) play was better:

[Knotwilg]

And Ed Lee saw the same

[PlaySlow]

Thank you for the encouragement and the comments Edlee & Knotwilg! Hope I will not let you down in the future and continue studying go.
You are giving me serious support and help with all those reviews. The hardest thing for me to go on is the "ladder anxiety". I try to not lose so in the past i chose not to play. Even losing at 8 kyu affects me mentally. If i overcome that & not care about win/loss, I'd get more pleasure from my go.

Here is a much faster and not so eventful game with a handful of questions.

[sparky314]

Here's a couple of things I'm doing to combat ladder anxiety:

1. Play on various servers. You'll gain the experience of different styles, while not worrying too much about your rank on a particular server.

2. Challenge yourself to play 100 games, without worrying about winning or losing. Your only goal is to play 100 games. Go ahead and review them, but remember: your goal tonight is just to play 1-2 games to add to this list until you hit 100 games.

3. Local go club. I'm going to try this one soon (social anxiety makes this one difficult). There, you're not concerned with rank, just with playing a good game. I think playing over the board is the easiest way to combat the anxiety.

Also, if you want to play for fun and try to get over the anxiety, instead of reviewing step 2, just burn through 100 games as fast as you can (don't blitz, just play but no reviews). There's even less focus on winning (which helps combat the ladder anxiety).

Let me know how it goes. And also, if you have any tips of your own.

Some good advice:

[mitsun]

One comment on the last game. At you note that it is important to keep your groups connected. The corollary is that it is equally important to keep your opponent’s groups disconnected. After B invades at E3, W is locally stronger and should be the one attacking. If both sides manage to connect safely, the result will likely be acceptable for B. If both sides get disconnected, the fight should favor W. In the actual game, B connected and then broke the W connection, which was bad for W.

I guess this is a long-winded way of suggesting you consider playing at F4 or at G4. Of course severe moves like these require reading, since B can push through and cut. But just consider -- the resulting fight may look scary to you, but it should be more frightening to your opponent.

[Knotwilg]

I can thoroughly relate to your fear of playing. Playing "not to lose" is not the most effective, let alone enjoyable, way of improving. If you feel obliged to reviewers like me or EdLee, things get only worse. Ed and myself like reviewing a lot and get some kind of fulfillment out of it. The review is a reward in itself. Surely seeing you progress adds to the pleasure but when it starts putting weight onto your go playing shoulders, that's when it starts having negative effects.

So hereby (magical hand waving) I relieve you of your fears and obligations.

Here's the review of the last game. Thank you for letting me do that

[PlaySlow]

Thank you for the review and comments I have watched Dwyrin's video twice since it directly is related with my issue. I will try to focus enjoying and playing more.

Btw Knotwilg, variations are missing, i hope you didnt delete the sgf with variations:)
Edit: Ah now i see them, when refresh the page. Dont know what happened.

[PlaySlow]

One comment on the last game. At you note that it is important to keep your groups connected. The corollary is that it is equally important to keep your opponent’s groups disconnected. After B invades at E3, W is locally stronger and should be the one attacking. If both sides manage to connect safely, the result will likely be acceptable for B. If both sides get disconnected, the fight should favor W. In the actual game, B connected and then broke the W connection, which was bad for W.

I guess this is a long-winded way of suggesting you consider playing at F4 or at G4. Of course severe moves like these require reading, since B can push through and cut. But just consider -- the resulting fight may look scary to you, but it should be more frightening to your opponent.

To be honest i never considered those moves, maybe i'd try to be more aggressive when i am stronger.