Kirby's Study Journal

[ez4u]

I read a bit about this reduction sequence:

I doubt it. In GoGoD the diagrammed array of White stones occurs only five times and Black never plays the shoulder hit next. So I am guessing that you actually studied a different position.

$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 7 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 7 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This is said to be the best sequence for both (for this invasion shape, ignoring the rest of the board).

It is almost impossible to ignore the rest of the board in evaluating this postion. For example, assume there is a two-space extension along the bottom (the reason Black does not approach along the bottom or invade a wider extension). Immediately when White answers with the shape becomes over concentrated. The higher White pushes, the most wasteful the marked stone becomes. Meanwhile, the further Black extends up the greater the threat to invade the left side becomes.

$$Bc White extension on the bottom
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 7 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . W . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc White extension on the bottom
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 7 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . W . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Alternatively, consider what happens if the marked stone is Black. White pushing up suffers from a similar problem. It is not over concentrated, but it is ineffective if White doesn't have a good follow up on the right.

$$Bc Black blocker on the bottom
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 7 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . B . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . B . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Black blocker on the bottom
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 7 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . B . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . B . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I wonder why white has to come back and play . It seemed OK to keep going:

$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 6 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 6 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I guess black might play the marked intersection next... Maybe this isn't as good for white because it's "pushing from behind"?

It just seems that black's shape is so nice with in the first diagram.

Anyone have ideas on this?

Naturally there will be some positions where it is good for White to keep pushing with in your diagram. Guess what? Black won't choose to play the shoulder hit in that case!

[Kirby]

...

I wonder if this is one of those positions where, once black's northward line is long enough to not be surrounded so quickly, if given the opportunity, he may descend into the bottom area for territory. If so, Move#6 by white is 6.G2 for the protection of that lower space. I can think of no other reason for it.

It seems that way to me. Presumably, it becomes more beneficial for white to play there instead of pushing further.

So, given your proposition 6.J6, can black now make the double jump on his H-line down to 7.H2? The first thing I see is that a white cutover 8.H3 is met amply (seemingly) by 9.G3.

White can just F2 after this, I think.

Another line to look at for white is hane at the top with 8.H7. Can black now live down there?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Could you elaborate?

[Kirby]

...
I doubt it. In GoGoD the diagrammed array of White stones occurs only five times and Black never plays the shoulder hit next. So I am guessing that you actually studied a different position.

You doubt it?

I've verified the position, and this is the same as the diagram. This may not be a position that occurred in many actual games from the GoGoD collection, but it is indeed what is discussed in the text that I'm reading.

It is almost impossible to ignore the rest of the board in evaluating this postion.

Good point.

For example, assume there is a two-space extension along the bottom (the reason Black does not approach along the bottom or invade a wider extension). Immediately when White answers with the shape becomes over concentrated. The higher White pushes, the most wasteful the marked stone becomes. Meanwhile, the further Black extends up the greater the threat to invade the left side becomes.

$$Bc White extension on the bottom
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 7 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . W . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc White extension on the bottom
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 7 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . W . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Alternatively, consider what happens if the marked stone is Black. White pushing up suffers from a similar problem. It is not over concentrated, but it is ineffective if White doesn't have a good follow up on the right.

That sounds reasonable. In the given diagram, I wonder if it's even sufficient to just push once, and play instead of .

Naturally there will be some positions where it is good for White to keep pushing with in your diagram. Guess what? Black won't choose to play the shoulder hit in that case!

I suppose this makes sense. In the context of what I was reading, this position is a "standard" reduction sequence. But I agree that it may not make sense to put much weight into a standard without evaluating the rest of the board.

Perhaps it's good enough to keep in mind the general idea of reduction, and a common followup. Then, I can evaluate whether it would be good to push X spaces.

[Bill Spight]

$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 6 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 6 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

In general, I do not like , because it pushes from behind. (FWIW, I am also dubious of the claim that is best. There are too many ways to reduce the White moyo.)

$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Isn't better? (On an otherwise empty board.) Don't let the double keima get away.

[Kirby]

$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 6 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 6 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

In general, I do not like , because it pushes from behind. (FWIW, I am also dubious of the claim that is best. There are too many ways to reduce the White moyo.)

The example given was that the reduction here was superior to trying to invade:

$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . 1 . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . 1 . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I agree that there could be other ways to reduce... Maybe this:

$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

or this:

$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

but the text had the one I gave as a standard sequence, and even suggested memorizing it.

$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . 1 2 , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Isn't better? (On an otherwise empty board.) Don't let the double keima get away.

Compared to pushing, I think this is better, yeah.

[Bill Spight]

I just ran across this game, which seems pertinent.

(;SZ[19]FF[3]
PW[Yasui Santetsu]
PB[Honinbo Dosaku]
EV[Castle game]
DT[1668-11-28 (Kanbun 8-X-24)]
PC[Edo Castle]
KM[0]
RE[B+10]
GC[Date as per Zain Danso castle games list - but says game record missing; newer source, with game record, has Kanbun 8-XI-24=1668-12-27]
US[GoGoD95]
;B[qe];W[dc];B[ce];W[ch];B[co];W[pq];B[qo];W[qj];B[dq];W[od];B[hc];W[ed]
;B[kc];W[qc];B[qh];W[qm];B[mq];W[op];B[jq];W[pn];B[cj];W[df];B[ej];W[lp]
;B[lq];W[ip];B[jp];W[io];B[jo];W[in];B[hr];W[jn];B[bg];W[cg];B[bc];W[bf]
;B[be];W[cf];B[cb];W[he];B[ke];W[db];B[ae];W[dn];B[do];W[dl];B[nb];W[re]
;B[rf];W[rd];B[pf];W[ob];B[nc];W[oc];B[de];W[ee];B[fg];W[fh];B[gh];W[fi]
;B[ef];W[hd];B[eh];W[ei];B[gf];W[eg];B[dg];W[dh];B[eg];W[hg];B[gg];W[di]
;B[gc];W[gd];B[fc];W[fd];B[jh];W[jd];B[jc];W[jg];B[gi];W[ih];B[ii];W[kh]
;B[ji];W[lg];B[fj];W[dj];B[dk];W[ck];B[ek];W[el];B[cl];W[bk];B[gk];W[bl]
;B[cm];W[bj];B[lj];W[ln];B[oi];W[me];B[pk];W[qk];B[pl];W[ql];B[en];W[nk]
;B[ml];W[ni];B[nl];W[nn];B[mh];W[oj];B[nh];W[nf];B[oh];W[pj];B[nd];W[lc]
;B[je];W[hf];B[lb];W[ki];B[kj];W[li];B[mi];W[mj];B[kl];W[ne];B[ri];W[md]
;B[mc];W[ld];B[kd];W[na];B[lf];W[mg];B[ng];W[mf];B[mb];W[of];B[mk];W[hq]
;B[gq];W[ko];B[nj];W[ir];B[iq];W[kq];B[jr];W[kr];B[hp];W[kp];B[sl];W[sm]
;B[ks];W[ls];B[js];W[lr];B[hm];W[bn];B[cn];W[bm];B[af];W[bh];B[bo];W[il]
;B[hl];W[jl];B[km];W[kn];B[eb];W[ea];B[fa];W[da];B[cc];W[id];B[ic];W[sf]
;B[sg];W[se];B[pe];W[oe];B[rg];W[ma];B[kb];W[ao];B[ap];W[an];B[bp];W[ag]
;B[sj];W[rl];B[la];W[oa];B[hh];W[ig];B[ik];W[jk];B[jj];W[dd];B[ba];W[cd]
;B[bd];W[sk];B[rj];W[ok];B[ol];W[rk];B[nm];W[on];B[mn];W[mo];B[qd];W[rc]
;B[pd];W[pc];B[og];W[pi];B[ph];W[ec];B[fb];W[ho];B[go];W[hn];B[gn];W[mm]
;B[lm];W[kk];B[lk];W[mn]
)

Note - .

[Kirby]

Thanks for the game, Bill. I discussed this reduction with a mentor the other day, and he also indicated the importance of the rest of the board. That being said, he indicated the value of sliding under to keep the group floating and able to be attacked, and also that the last move made the reducer thick - but might sometimes be omitted.

Thanks also for getting me back on track. I'd like to focus more on studying go on this go forum.

[Kirby]

I attended Go Congress 2013. I'll write a bit about the games I played, as far as I can remember them. I didn't record the games electronically - just in my memory. So I don't remember the precise sequence for the late middle game and endgame moves.

Still, for most games, I received pro commentary, and I've tried to comment on my own thoughts, and also what the pros said in the games.

[Kirby]

Game 1

Having never been to a go congress before, I was excited to play my first game in the US Open. I commuted from home, which is a little over an hour drive from the tournament location. Games start at 9:00am, so I got up around 6:30am to get ready and go. I arrived around 8:30am. I walked around a little bit, and grabbed something to drink, along with a granola bar. Then I noticed the pairing sheet, and recognized the name of the player there - he was someone I met when I lived in San Jose. I knew that he'd been improving a lot, so I was a little nervous about the game, immediately after seeing the pairing.

Still, I found my way to my seat - he was already there. We chatted casually for a bit. The TD made some announcements, which I don't really remember, and the game started.

I played white.

(;CA[Windows-1252]FF[4]RU[AGA (Area)]CH[1]C[I played white this game. This was my first game at Go Congress, and I was exceedingly nervous.]
AP[SmartGo Kifu:3.0.1]SZ[19]GM[1]GN[2013-08-04a]DT[2013-08-04]PB[a]PW[a]KM[0.5]
MULTIGOGM[1]
;B[dp];W[pd];B[cd];W[pp]C[I almost always play the two starpoints as white. I hear it's popular among pros, too.

The reason is because the star points are flexible.

It's possible to get territory with them in the corner, they have potential for a lot of influence, and they can go in any direction (they're not biased like a 3-4 move).

Then you can adjust your strategy based on what black plays.

]
;B[nc]C[Typical move...

By the way, I know the black player. He's a friend of mine that I met when I lived in San Jose. He's improved much more than I have since that time, though. I think he was something like 4 stones weaker, whereas I was about the same strength.]
;W[qf]C[Play calmly, I'm thinking.];B[ic]C[Hmm. Chinese-type opening. I am not that great with it. I like black in this position.

I guess I could have tried to prevent the opening... Alas, I'll be patient and wait to see how to deal with it later.]
;W[fq]C[A common variation is for me to play at C10 instead of approaching at F3.

Upon later review, a pro (Mingjiu) said that my move is also fine.

]
(;B[dn]C[At this point, I started to formulate a clearer strategy.

If I play K4 right now, it seems normal on the bottom. But then he can play around C10 and he has an excellent framework. So what do I do?

I decided to go to the bathroom to think a bit.

When I came back, I had made up my mind. I would play C11. This has miai of C14 and C8 for a two-space extension.

My bet would be that he plays C9 to help his D6 stone. So that gives me C14, and maybe he will be induced to likely play E16.

This gives me sente locally to come back and play the big point on the bottom of K4.

Sure, the two white stones can be attacked, but they will live. Black will get benefit on the left, but white will have reduced, and the game is playable.

See the variation in a couple of moves for my thought process.]
;W[ci]C[As thought out earlier, I played C11.];B[ck]C[Yes, he played C9. See the variation for what I had expected.]
(;W[jp]C[What?!?

After a great deal of thought about the sequence just described (maybe about 15 minutes of thinking), I proceeded to play K4 WITHOUT playing the C14 exchange I had imagined.

Upon playing K4, I immediately gasped, and my opponent asked me what was wrong.

I had thought about the sequence leading to K4 so much that I forgot about the intermediate exchange leading to K4.

It was very silly. I explained what my plan had been to Mingjiu, and he shouted, "you forgot?!?"

Yep, I forgot. And I immediately regretted playing at K4.

See the variation for a comment on this.]
(;B[qn]C[Shaken up by not playing C14 (and still not realizing that C14 might not be sente), I was now trying to think of a plan to get sente.

How can I get sente with R6?

I came to the silly conclusion at the time that A8 would likely induce P6, which would give me the variation leading to sente so I could fix the left.]
(;W[pl]C[Direction of play is to block on left locally, but to get sente with 3-3 is right idea. Therefore, play low as in variation, because it works better for that direction of 3-3.]
(;B[qq]C[Of course, he didn't play this way...

Still, I was deadset on getting sente. Locally, it makes sense to block at Q3, I think. See the variation.

But I still couldn't get my head out of my mistake on the left. I wanted sente to come back to it. So I played the locally inferior move at A in hopes to get sente.]
(;W[qp];B[pq];W[op];B[rp];W[ro];B[rq];W[qo];B[nq];W[cf]C[At last, I could come back to fix my mistake since I had sente... But locally, the 3-3 in the bottom right was a disaster.

The K4 stone is now meaningless, and the Q8 stone is out of place.

Because of my efforts to get sente (and somewhat silly ones at that), I made my stones in the bottom right awkward.]
;B[ed]C[Again, he could have perhaps done D15 here.

At this point, I felt the pain that I had done on the bottom right.

What should I play now? He is ahead on territory, and at least two of my stones are quite inefficient on the bottom right. I am losing.

My only hope, I thought, was to make some sort of moyo on the right. So I played N5.

Upon pro review, the 3-3 at C3 is much bigger, and I should play this now.

Yes, my stones are awkward, but the 3-3 is biggest on the board.

Upon review with friends, we figured that O4 might be better than N5 locally. The move I played doesn't guarantee a response.]
(;W[mo]C[Bad move. Locally, variation is better, but overall, white should play 3-3. Black won't play up because no potential on bottom.]
;B[pg]C[Of course, black tenukis. So I must attack this stone.];W[qg];B[pi]
(;W[ne]C[Locally, this move makes the peep bad because black can now ignore it. Could peep immediately.

Also, the move at O16 is a better idea locally.]
;B[pb];W[oh]C[Bad because of exchange. Now black can protect invasion at top.

This was very bad also because black doesn't care about Q13. The peep has no meaning.]
;B[ld]C[Black is winning by a good amount now.];W[lf]C[Instead of this, I should play a move to guarantee to kill Q11. I need at least like 40 points on the right to be a contender in this game.]
;B[np]C[Bad by black.];W[no];B[rn];W[sn];B[sm];W[so];B[on]C[I played Q7 which was terrible. The variation is much better so I can keep black split.]
(;W[pm]C[Super bad move.];B[pn];W[oo];B[qk]C[Basically, I need to kill him, but the last exchange was terrible andd my stones are heavy.]
;W[ri];B[nl];W[pk];B[nj];W[pj];B[oi];W[om];B[nm];W[nn]C[Here, I got lucky to get some points.]
;B[qj];W[qi]
(;B[km]C[Now that I got some stones, I should simply play C3 to get more points.

Maybe I would have had a chance, then. I'd still be behind, but it's better than what I did in the game.]
;W[lm]C[Don't ask me what this move was... I can't believe I played it.];B[ll]
;W[mm];B[kl];W[lj];B[ml];W[in]C[I don't quite remember how the rest of the game played out. But he got D2, and I lost the game by a good amount.

Big lessons from this game were\:

1.) Don't forget exchanges in your plans!
2.) Trying to get "sente" isn't worth huge local losses.
3.) When I need to attack and kill I should be more severe.
4.) Sometimes I should just grab more points (eg. 3-3).])
(;B[ql];W[qm];B[rm];W[rj]))
(;W[qm]C[This instead is better.]))
(;W[oh]C[Not exchanging at top makes this more severe because invasion is still on top.])
(;W[nd]C[This move is more severe in order to attack the two stones.]))
(;W[np])
(;W[cq];B[dq];W[dr];B[cp];W[br];B[bq];W[cr]))
(;W[pq];B[qp];W[po];B[rn];W[pn]C[Various possibilities, but the bottom seems like a better direction than the right.

]))
(;B[on];W[np];B[rp];W[qq];B[rl];W[cf];B[ed]C[I optimistically imagined this.]))
(;W[ql]C[Upon review, this is better with the 3-3.]))
(;B[cg]C[Black should play here.])
(;B[];W[cf]C[As a side note, the C14 sequence might not have gone as I expected. For example, black may play D15. I may not get sente out of the sequence, and I may not get to play K4 as I expected.]
;B[de];W[df]C[Now black has sente. Had I not played K4, maybe he could have played this way.

Go is a hard game.]))
(;W[cf];B[ed];W[jp]
(;B[dh];W[ch];B[df];W[dg];B[eg];W[cg];B[de];W[eh];B[fg]C[This, maybe...])
(;B[dg];W[cg];B[di];W[dh];B[eh];W[ch];B[dj];W[eg];B[fh]C[Or perhaps this for black...

Either way, I felt OK, since I could make due with the white stones on the left, and have the big point on the bottom, too.

It seemed OK for white to me... But...])))
(;B[cj]C[Black could play here, but then white gets benefit in the corner. It's OK for white.]))

[Kirby]

Game 2

I was a bit shaken up after my first loss. Again, I drove in the morning to be at the hall by around 8:30. I had some breakfast, and went to the table. My opponent, who seemed slightly older than me (but not much), was already there. He was quite friendly.

I was a bit nervous, but I played black this time. I like playing black. After the TD made some annoucements (which I don't remember), we began.

(;CA[Windows-1252]FF[4]RU[AGA (Area)]C[A little shaken up from my first loss, I sat down to play this game. Again, my opponent was already there.

I was black this time. I like playing black, but there's also the komi to be concerned with.

My opponent seemed friendly, and he was probably just a little older than I was.]
AP[SmartGo Kifu:3.0.1]SZ[19]GM[1]GN[2013-08-05a]DT[2013-08-05]PB[a]PW[a]KM[0.5]
MULTIGOGM[1]
;B[pd];W[dc];B[dp]C[Since he played D17, I felt I would play D4. I like to play fighting games (I think), and it seems more likely to come to that if I play a split fuseki like this.]
;W[qp]C[Well, the board is somewhat symmetrical, so I decided to simply approach one of his stones. I like approaching high, so that's what I did.]
;B[op];W[ce]C[He enclosed the corner. I could play again around R4 since he ignored, but surely the top is big since it has both my star stone and his enclosure. I decided to stretch and play as close to his enclosure while still having a two-space extension in miai as possible.]
;B[ic];W[oq]C[I'm fine with O3 as a forcing move, so I played it.];B[nq];W[pq]C[At this point, it's common to protect the O4 cut. I felt like it might be OK, but if he got sente, he could then play R14. I could play O16, but it seems a bit far from J17.

I guess that's the penalty I get for playing J17 in the first place. I didn't like the variation (as shown), so I decided to play R14 myself.]
(;B[qf]C[The pro that reviewed this thought I was a little greedy, overly concerned about white's moves. He thought playing normal joseki on bottom was better, but this way was still playable for me.]
;W[np]C[White punishes locally. Again, I could N3, but I hated the shown sequence.]
(;B[ql]C[I played here, because while it was close to white, I thought I could use O5 as forcing, and this wasn't so bad. Plus, it helped me have nice potential in the top right.

Per pro review, maybe it's a little to close to white.]
;W[mq]C[Now where is big? I thought F3 might be big. But a move like F17 is always bigger than it looks, I feel. Per pro review, the pro agreed.]
;B[fc]C[This was pretty big, presumably.];W[fq]C[Hmm, F3 works so nicely with N3. I didn't like it. White was going to get territory on the bottom!

Playing C6 seemed to passive.

Per pro review, my concern had no merit.

I was too concerned with his territory. It's not that big if I do the variation sequence.]
(;B[cn];W[dr];B[gq]C[Hence, I played here.

This move was totally wrong because of the N3 area stones. Maybe I can live, but white gets a lot more benefit.

I was way to greedy here.]
;W[gp];B[hq];W[hp];B[fr];W[eq];B[jq];W[ip];B[kr];W[cq]C[Black got in white's area, but white had more benefit. The sequence was too greedy for black.]
;B[ck];W[qj]C[White's invasion was nicely timed. I still have the forcing move of O5, but it's a pretty good attack on black.]
;B[ol];W[oj];B[ml];W[mj];B[ko]C[I wanted to form a connection with the groups. Pros thought this was OK.]
;W[kj]C[I felt OK about the connection, so I played P17.

Pros agreed that it was good.]
;B[oc];W[pm]C[Now comes white's attack.];B[pl];W[nm];B[nl];W[lm];B[rj]C[This was very bad. Multiple pros confirmed that this is a type of move that I do as a last resort. It hurts the R14 area, and is very bad for black. Instead, I should simply keep pushing out with M8.

In the game, I didn't do this because I was worried about the life of K3. But if that was the case, why did I play G3?

Either way, K3 should live and pushing out is best.

This move at S10 contributed significantly to my loss.]
;W[ri];B[rk];W[qh];B[ro];W[rm];B[ll];W[kl];B[mm];W[ln];B[mn];W[lo];B[no];W[mp];B[qn]
C[I felt like I could live here. I spent my time, but couldn't see a way for black to die. So I continued.]
;W[pn];B[qm];W[qo]C[Here, I felt safe with my R7 group. If I cut at R5, I could live there, and it seemed OK even if he cut at S6.

I was also concerned about the life of K3.

So I decided I should help K3 and tenuki.

This was bad on a couple of levels\:
1.) K3 was alive already.
2.) The cut at S6 is sente for white, and very large territorially.
3.) White might still respond around S3 (though, probably not).
4.) The left side is big (eg. C12).]
;B[mr]C[So I played here to help the group. As stated, this was wrong in several ways.

Probably C12 is best. Maybe S4 or S6 is best.

Either way, N2 is not best.]
;W[rn]C[Big territory for him, and sente.];B[po];W[nr]C[Again, C12 would be better for me.]
;B[lr];W[bo]C[Again, probably C12 is bigger.];B[bn];W[co]C[Again, C12!];B[en];W[ci]
C[He played there first. Black is behind now.];B[ej];W[ei];B[fi];W[eh];B[fj];W[re]
C[This invasion is good, and is the result of my playing S10. S10 was bad for me.]
;B[rd];W[qe];B[qd];W[pe];B[oe];W[pf]C[I tried to play hard during yose. In the end, I lost by something like 8 or 9 points, IIRC.])
(;B[dn]C[Where does white play to make big territory?

Yes, he'll have territory, but it's not huge.]))
(;B[mq]
(;B[lq];W[qk]C[Now])
(;W[no];B[jp];W[qk]C[I didn't like something like this for white. So I decided to tenuki.])))
(;B[np];W[qn];B[jp];W[qf];B[nd]C[O16 seemed a bit far from J17, so I didn't like this. Per pro review, this is not bad for black. Afterall, the right is low for white.]))

[Kirby]

Game 3

I was depressed. I had lost my first two games at my first go congress. Maybe it was because I don't play in tournaments much. Maybe it's because I don't use a real board much. Maybe those are just excuses. Either way, I felt down. I drove in the morning to get there, and was a little late - just arriving at 9:00. And my opponent was late, too. He showed up in a few minutes, though.

Things were kind of gloomy, but I tried to cheer up, and just play normally.

And so the game began. I was white:

(;CA[Windows-1252]FF[4]RU[AGA (Area)]C[By this time, I was feeling a slightly depressed. I had already lost two games, though I spent so much time thinking on them.

On one hand, I'm not used to "real life" games, so maybe that was part of the reason. Still, I felt a little down.

To top it off, my opponent was a little late. I was a little down, but I decided to try to cheer up.

I was white.]
AP[SmartGo Kifu:3.0.1]SZ[19]GM[1]GN[2013-08-07a]DT[2013-08-07]PB[a]PW[a]KM[0.5]
MULTIGOGM[1]
;B[dp];W[pd];B[cd];W[pp];B[nc]C[I was reminded of the first game I lost. There were some clear mistakes in that game, and playing R14 wasn't one of them.

But still, I didn't want to play the same kind of game. I didn't want a chinese opening game, so I approached C16 to mix things up a bit.]
;W[ed];B[df]C[This joseki seemed lax on me, so I was OK with it. ];W[cc];B[bc]
;W[dc];B[be]C[I felt OK. Now how to extend...? It'd be nice to pincer O17. So I decided to stretch far to J17.

Pro review said he preferred H17, because then you don't have to worry about the shape later. See the variation.]
(;W[ic]CR[kc][fe]C[Pro review liked H17 a little better (though this is playable), because black has the two marked forcing moves.

Since white is open on many sides, this shape is loose and easy to force by black. White gets benefit from extending to J17, so it may be playable, but not in alignment with the pro's style that I spoke with.

After thinking about it, I agree.]
;B[pb]C[I was a bit baffled by this move. It didn't seem the biggest locally. I expected either 3-3 if he wants the corner, or a jump at O15 if he wants out. Why O18?]
(;W[qf]C[I played here, but the pro said it was OK, but maybe just R17 at 3-3 is tougher on black.]
;B[kc];W[ie]C[Now I had to play two moves at J17 and J15 to help G17 weakness. I also missed out on 3-3 at R17.]
;B[nq];W[pn];B[pr];W[qj]C[Pro thought maybe it's a little loose. Maybe R11 or so works better with R14. Now black has R12 and even with R17 white is cramped.]
;B[qq];W[qp];B[fq]C[I thought about approaching C5 next. Then I remembered my second game. I was too greedy about the opponent's territory.

Yes, maybe he can get some points on the left, but I should help my own points, too.

I played R17 as a result of this.

Pro thought it was OK.]
;W[qc];B[kp]C[In the end, I got to play on left anyway.];W[bp]C[Seemed OK.];B[cp]
;W[bo];B[bq]C[I kind of remember this as a joseki. B2 is kind of like a probe, because if black decends at A3, it leaves bad aji and I can use it for invasion.]
;W[br];B[aq]C[Yay, now I can exploit bad aji.

Now in my head, I was thinking C8 is next move, right...?

But I couldn't get past, what happens if white plays B7? I didn't have an answer to this, so I played C7.

This was very bad. See variation.]
(;W[cm]C[In conclusion, thought I was worried about B7 in response to C8, B7 is OK. And that makes C7 no good!]
;B[ck]C[Black punishes.

Now I'm thinking... Hmm. This is not that great locally.

However, I do have one golden egg left. And that's because black played A3. I can try to exploit that aji with an invasion.

But to do that, I need sente to get an invasion.

So I will stabalize my group first.]
;W[dk];B[cj];W[em]C[I didn't exactly get sente since he didn't hane, but at least my group seemed stable.]
;B[qb]C[My eyes lit up. This was a chance! This move was small by black!];W[hq]
C[Invade!];B[jq]C[He blocked on the open side here.];W[dr]C[Aji activated!];B[cq]
;W[eq];B[ep];W[fr];B[fp];W[ir];B[jr]C[So far so good, per review. I think so too.

But then, my greediness kicked in again. I thought about trying... to kill..???]
;W[go];B[hp]C[Of course, it doesn't work.];W[gp];B[gq];W[gr];B[iq];W[hr];B[cr];W[js]
C[No way I have enough liberties... But I tried to increase them to make a fight of it.]
;B[kr];W[ds];B[is];W[hs];B[fs];W[ks];B[ls];W[er];B[is];W[js];B[cs];W[fo];B[ks];W[co]
;B[gs];W[eo]C[OK, great. I'm dead. At least I can force him. I guess my best potential is on the right, now.]
;B[dq];W[ho];B[ip]C[Interestingly, the pro thinks that white is ahead here.

I was considering resigning. Then, I decided to just play a bit longer and see if I could get something on the right.]
;W[nd];B[mc]
(;W[nj]C[I decided I'll try to lay claim to entire right side to compsensate for loss on bottom left.]
;B[jm]C[P.S. Pro couldn't believe we didn't keep playing ko in the game. He thought white should keep using liberties to get extra moves in ko.]
;W[dg]C[I decided I try to attack C10.];B[cg];W[ch];B[dh];W[di];B[eg];W[ci];B[rq]
;W[mn];B[lj];W[jk];B[dj]C[Now keep trying to attack D10!];W[ei];B[ej];W[fi];B[fj]
;W[gi];B[gj];W[hj];B[hk];W[ik];B[hi];W[ij];B[hh];W[fg];B[ji];W[hl];B[bj];W[bi];B[gg]
;W[ff];B[fh];W[gh];B[eh];W[ef];B[dg];W[hg];B[ai];W[gf];B[bh];W[gg]C[This is as far as I remember.

In the end, I captured some of his center stones, had most of right as territory, and won by something like 15 points.])
(;W[le]C[Pro thought this might be good - just keep tempting black.]))
(;W[cl]C[This seems correct, but I wondered about black playing as follows.];B[bm]
;W[cm];B[bn]
(;W[cn];B[co]C[This can't be good for white, right?

After thinking again and again, that's why I decided to play closer. See variation for what pro said.])
(;W[co]C[Pro says I can use this since D5 is sente!];B[cn]C[Therefore, black can't play C6.]
;W[do];B[dn];W[cq];B[cr];W[dq];B[ep]C[Wee!])))
(;W[qc]C[Pro review preferred this. But I was concerned about the following variation.]
;B[kc]C[Here, now my problem with J17 arises. I'd like to defend at both J15 and R14. I can't do both.

Had I played H17 earlier, this wouldn't be a problem.

Pro said it was OK to play R14 here.]
;W[qf]C[Pro says it's OK, but of course, black can play around G17 weakness.

Still, maybe H17 is better to begin with.]))
(;W[hc]C[With this way, white is fine. He doesn't put a lot of pressure on O17, but it's OK. His group is settled. Now he can proceed. With J17, I had to come back and play a second move to help defend. ]))

[Kirby]

Game 4

I had regained a bit of confidence from winning the last game (though I still had two losses). My opponent for this game was again there before I was. He had won all of his games so far. That made me a little nervous, but I felt OK about it.

I played black:

(;CA[Windows-1252]FF[4]RU[AGA (Area)]C[I played black this game.]AP[SmartGo Kifu:3.0.1]
SZ[19]GM[1]GN[2013-08-09a]DT[2013-08-09]PB[a]PW[a]KM[0.5]MULTIGOGM[1]
;B[pd];W[dp];B[qp];W[dd];B[fq];W[hq]C[I figured I could play C3, but then white has a nice approach to R4 after the variation.]
(;B[oq]C[Based on reasoning provided earlier, pro agreed with this move.];W[cn]
;B[fc];W[hc];B[cc]C[Then pro smiled and said, based on same reasoning, C17 is not good.]
;W[dc];B[cd];W[de];B[db];W[eb];B[cb];W[ec];B[cf];W[kc]C[White is a little better now.]
(;B[pj]C[Too high. This move asks for moyo, which doesn't happen with top white stones.]
;W[qf]C[I thought about the kick at R15, but it seemed like Q10 was awkward then. As stated earlier, maybe this is a problem with Q10. See variation.

I decided I go for territory. But I could do O17, but then after slide at S16 by white, it's not great. See variation.]
(;B[mc]C[So I played here. This is not great, though, because white can still do 3-3. Kick is probably best.]
;W[rd];B[qc]C[Pro says basically I benefit here because white made mistake.];W[qh]
C[Now one of the variations is best. I played N15.

Pro called me a coward.]
(;B[me]C["You are coward!", said the pro.];W[rj]C[I felt OK about S10 at the time, because I felt Q10 made it low. Pro didn't like it, because Q10 has no real meaning. I see his point, because it was hard to make this stone do anything.]
;B[cq]C[Pro thought OK.];W[dq];B[dr];W[er];B[cr];W[eq];B[bo];W[bn];B[co];W[do];B[cp]
;W[em]
(;B[qk]C[Pro thought left is bigger. Maybe C12 (variation).];W[rk];B[qm]
(;W[rc];B[ip]C[Again pro said some sort of pincer maybe later, so this strategy can't work for black.]
(;W[iq];B[kp];W[jp];B[jo];W[jq];B[ko]C[But white played this way. This was what black wanted.

Pro said black is back in the game, now.]
;W[eg]C[I had a tough time here. Of course, white can play C13 and it's good for him. But if I gave him sente here, he can do well with L17 stones, maybe L15 or something (see variation).]
(;B[id]C[So I played here, because I figured left would still be open.];W[ic];B[kd]
(;W[cg];B[bf];W[bg]C[Now I wanted to punish white.];B[ag]C[Bad move, though! I thought i was being tricky, but really it's just a bad move.]
;W[ah];B[df];W[dg];B[af];W[bi];B[ef]C[I didn't expect him to let me through here, but left is getting bigger for sure.]
;W[fd];B[fg];W[fh];B[gh];W[fi];B[gi];W[fj];B[gj];W[gg];B[ff]C[Upon later review, maybe the one stone here is meaningless. Maybe it's bigger to just continue to expand the bottom right (eg. H8, etc.). Because one stone here is small.]
;W[gk];B[hk];W[hl]C[White's double hane is powerful here. I should have ignored taking the stone earlier.]
;B[gl];W[fk]
(;B[ik]C[Pro siad I need to J8. Doesn't matter if I lose 3 stones at G11. I need to help bottom right.]
;W[il];B[jl];W[jk];B[jj];W[kk];B[kj];W[hj];B[ij]C[I was too worried to lose stones.]
;W[hh];B[hi];W[ii];B[hj];W[jm];B[kl];W[km]C[My opponent, on the other hand, was OK with it \:-)]
;B[lk];W[in];B[lm];W[io]C[Black is a bit behind, I think. White has a lot of points.]
;B[gd];W[gc];B[fe];W[fb]
(;B[jc]C[?? I don't know what I was doing. Somehow I thought I could get sente.]
;W[jb];B[jd];W[oh]C[Boom! White's move here was a big move for black, too. I should have played there for sure.]
;B[ni];W[nh];B[mi];W[lg]C[See end of game for last comment.];B[rb];W[qd];B[pc];W[rm]
;B[rn];W[ql];B[pl];W[rl];B[qo]
(;W[lq];B[mp];W[sb];B[pi];W[ph];B[pf];W[qe];B[nf];W[lh]C[In the end, I had more points on the board, but lost on komi.

Some key points that could have helped me win\:
1.) Give up some unneeded stones. I could have sacrificed 1 or even 3 stones and the bottom right would have been much bigger.
2.) I should have played a mvoe like P12. The K17 at the top was silly.
3.) It's not shown here, but my yose was terrible in this game.
4.) My high stone in the fuseki on the right was silly and out of place.
5.) I should have kicked his stone early in the game on the right.])
(;W[sb];B[kg];W[lh];B[kh];W[lq];B[mp]))
(;B[oh]C[This move is certainly better!]))
(;B[il];W[hj];B[ik];W[hh];B[ij]C[It's OK to lose these three stones said the pro. Maybe I can win now.]))
(;W[ld]C[Pro wondered what I do if white goes here. I hadn't thought of it.]))
(;B[cg])
(;B[ch];W[ke]C[I was afraid of this. Pro said it might be OK.]))
(;W[hp];B[in];W[lq]C[Like this for example.]))
(;W[lp]C[Pro said white can just do this, and he wins.

I kind of agree.]))
(;B[ch]C[Pro liked this better.]))
(;B[ri])
(;B[jq]))
(;B[qe];W[pf]
(;B[nd]C[Pro says this is better than my choice.])
(;B[mc]))
(;B[nc];W[rd];B[qc]C[Black seemed cramped.];W[qh]C[I guess white is too.]))
(;B[qj]C[Pro says this is better. Black has little hopes for a big moyo or anything, so playing high is not great.])
(;B[jq]C[Pro also liked this move. It helps extension at bottom right, and also threatens to help F3.]))
(;B[cq];W[dq];B[cp];W[do];B[dr];W[er];B[cr];W[eq];B[cn];W[op]C[This seemed too good for white.

So, I enclosed instead.]))

[Kirby]

Game 5

After losing three games, I was a little down again. I came to the hall earlier this day. Traffic was pretty good on the way to the tournament, so I had no problems. I think I was there before my opponent, too.

My opponent was an older gentleman, who had been to something like 20 go congresses. He seemed pretty nice. We set out to play. This game was kind of weird in that, around the time that the SGF is finished, we went and adjourned the game for lunch. I had never done that, yet, even though I had the option earlier. He wanted to adjourn, though, so we did it (he sealed the move, etc.).

It was a fun game.

(;CA[Windows-1252]SZ[19]AP[MultiGo:4.4.4]MULTIGOGM[1]
;B[dp]C[With mixed feelings, I sat down to play the game. I was white again.

Somehow, while I usually like black, I'd started to like white. I was kind of happy I was white. I'd get komi. And for some odd reason, that seemed like a lot.]
;W[pd];B[dc];W[pp];B[qn]C[Personally, I like O3 better for black. So I was happy to pincer him here.]
;W[ql];B[qq]C[Of course, I choose the sente path.];W[qp];B[pq];W[op];B[rp];W[ro]
;B[rq];W[qo];B[nq]C[Now I can nicely approach D17. So far so good.];W[de];B[fd]
C[Pro says this is too lax on white. It used to be common joseki for this situation, but in this case, it's too relaxing and easy on white.

It's only good if there's mroe pressure around D10 area. In this case, white is perfectly happy.]
;W[cc];B[cb];W[cd];B[eb];W[ch];B[nd]C[Pro says this is bad in this situation, just gives white a lot of territory.

She said my opponent "seemed to only know old joseki."]
;W[pf];B[pc];W[qc];B[oc];W[qb]C[In the game I was quite happy with this. I got a lot of territory, and it didn't seem he got much. I decided bottom seemed biggest, since left is hard to develop. So F3 I went.]
;B[kc];W[fq];B[ip]C[Interestingly, just the night before, I learned a joseki at the lecture. I liked the result in this situation, so I decided to play it.]
;W[cn]C[Started like this.];B[fp];W[gp];B[fo]
(;W[eq]C[Then this. P.S. Another pro thought instead of this joseki, I can just do 3-3 as in variation.]
;B[dq];W[go]C[Then joseki went like this.]
(;B[co]C[Then he deviated!

I expected the variation (because he was in the same lecture as I was that previous night!).]
;W[dn]C[I figured I'd play normally, though he deviated.];B[ep]C[As this threatens the cut at G3, I naturally protected like in the joseki I referenced.]
;W[hq];B[iq]C[Then I stuck my head out because the group doesn't have two eyes.]
;W[gn];B[em]C[Here I knew that cutting wouldn't work well (see variation).]
(;W[dl]C[So I just defended.];B[gm]
(;W[in]C[Here, I was afraid of the cut as in the variation, but the pro said that H7 was too good of a point to miss. She said I should play as in variation.]
;B[hm]C[Good for black here because he got H7.];W[io];B[kp];W[kn];B[np];W[jl]
(;B[on]C[Pro said black should just O6 here instead (variation).];W[rn];B[mn]C[In game, black was kind of slow.]
;W[jj];B[ll]C[Pro didn't understand this black move.

I didn't really either, and thought white was fine, so I played...]
;W[pi]C[Here. Pro liked this move a lot.];B[dm]C[At the time, I didn't know what black was doing here.

Later, black said he misread.]
;W[cm];B[cl];W[ck];B[bl];W[bk];B[qi]C[Here, I was a bit nervous. White had a lot of potential territory. If I R12, though, it seems harmful for R8 (see variation).

Therefore, I played hane on other way, R10.

Pro said Q10 is fine, because black probably can't live.]
(;W[qj];B[ph]C[Here I didn't want to cut...]
(;W[ri]C[Pro thought this was bad.];B[qh];W[rh];B[pj];W[pk];B[oi];W[rg]C[Black made profit here, reduced white effectively, got sente.]
;B[ef]C[I felt left was OK, right was OK, so I should reduce.];W[jd]C[Pro liked this move.]
;B[jf];W[kd];B[ld];W[lc]C[Pro liked this following sequence a lot for white.];B[mc]
;W[lb];B[kb];W[le];B[md];W[jb];B[mb];W[jc];B[la];W[kf];B[jh];W[nf]C[Pro said it was great.]
;B[ik];W[kl];B[im];W[ko]C[Pro said good.];B[lp];W[lk];B[jm];W[km];B[jk];W[lm];B[ml]
;W[mm];B[nm];W[nl]C[Pro liked following sacrifice strategy for white.];B[mk];W[mj]
;B[nk];W[nj];B[ol];W[ok];B[nl];W[kk]C[Pro said it was great.];B[li];W[lj];B[nh]
C[Here, I don't remember the precise sequence. But I killed O12 stones, and this gave me a good lead.

I won the game.])
(;W[qh];B[qg];W[ri];B[pg]C[But maybe this is better than the game.

I didn't like this, so I played weirdly.]))
(;W[qh];B[pj]C[Seems not good for white.])
(;W[pj]C[Pro said maybe black will die.

Difficult problem for me, though...]))
(;B[nn]C[This threatens S6 and does pretty much same thing, but works better with pressruing L6.]))
(;W[hm]C[She said black can't cut.]
(;B[hn];W[ho];B[in];W[io]C[White is out.];B[jo];W[jn];B[im];W[jp];B[ko];W[jq];B[ir]
;W[jr]C[Therefore, black can't cut.])
(;B[gl];W[in]C[Something like this is much better for white than the game, where black got H7, a key point.])))
(;W[en];B[fn];W[fm];B[gm];W[fl];B[gl]
(;W[el];B[in]C[Obviously a no-no for white.])
(;W[in];B[el];W[fk];B[cl]C[Doesn't look great for white here, either.])))
(;B[dn];W[dm]
(;B[ep])
(;B[gn];W[do];B[ep];W[hq];B[en];W[jr];B[hn];W[ck];B[bo];W[co];B[bp]C[Joseki went something like this from the lecture. I kind of liked it. I was working well on the left, and the bottom seemed OK.])))
(;W[cq]C[This might be just fine.];B[eq];W[cp];B[fr];W[mo]C[Black is very low, and white is more efficient. This could be better than game, maybe.]))

[Kirby]

Game 6

Sad to say, but I'm having trouble recollecting this game. I played against an elderly woman, who spoke only in Japanese. It was fun to chat with her and review the game afterwards. I won the game by killing a large group, but it turns out in the review that she could have saved it. In the end, I had a record of 3 wins and 3 losses for the go congress.

I wish I had won more games, and my losses make me feel a little bad. But I do feel that I learned more in the games that I lost, and they leave me with a greater chance to improve myself, even to the point that I'm a bit embarrassed of my play in some areas of those games.

Interestingly, looking back on the games I won, it seemes that I won games when I was in a depressed state. Maybe I should be depressed more often, and I'll win more games...???

[Shinkenjoe]

I think it's better you lose, cause thn you ar not depressed. It sounds like a vicious circle