Life In 19x19

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[go]$$Wcm71
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . O . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . X O . O X X . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . , . . . . O X . X . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . X . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . . X X O X X . |
$$ | . . O O X O . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 X X . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . 4 X O O X . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . X O X O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . X O . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -------------------------------------[/go]

I though that this was better for black:

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[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . O . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . X O . O X X . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . , . . . . O X . X . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . X . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . . X X O X X . |
$$ | . . O O X O . . . . . 8 . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . X X . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . 4 3 5 X . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . 7 O 2 O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . X 1 . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -------------------------------------[/go]

Okay, this probably works. Now, I'm going to probably have to play at S3, sacrificing O8. On the upside, this stabilizes my right group and gives me a halfway stable reducing group right where my opponent wanted points. On the downside, capturing those two stones will save white's right side, once and for all. That said, by now I have two fairly good reducing groups at top and bottom. If both survive, and I maybe get to twist the knife a little more with them, white isn't going to get a ton of points on either side. Mostly though, I can't afford to lose my right side group to defend this new one.

Circumstances have forced my hand recently, and the decisions have been straightforward: I have had to keep his groups unstable. He has made this job a bit harder by creating a new one.

He has three of them now: one top, one bottom, one right. He has the left side, so if they all live, there is no room for substantial territory for me.

When there were two weak black groups, I was willing to chase them, let them live, and make territory while chasing. But the situation has progressed to the point where chasing them is not enough. I must kill one of them.

There is no room for error now. So I'm going to take a day or two, and do lots of reading.

As noted before, I have to kill something. I can't let the cutting stone at N8 die, because that then connects two of the three. Unfortunately, if I don't protect it immediately, something like this happens:

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[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . O . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . X O . O X X . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . , . . . . O X . X . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . X . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . . X X O X X . |
$$ | . . O O X O . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . 3 , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . 2 O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . @ X X . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X O O X . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . X . X O . 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X X O . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -------------------------------------[/go]

So the atari at O9 seems necessary.
If he connects, I may well play the honte move like this:

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[go]$$Wcm71
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . O . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . X O . O X X . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . , . . . . O X . X . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . X . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . . X X O X X . |
$$ | . . O O X O . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 O O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X 6 X X . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X O O X . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . X . X O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X X O . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -------------------------------------[/go]

...which, FWIW, backs up the right side stone to prevent black from pushing through:

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

...

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

At this point, I'd wager better than even money that I will kill at least one group. Then the question is: how much territory comes with it? It is hard to estimate at this point.

If I kill two of the three groups - which I regard as unlikely - I think that I win easily.
If I kill none, I lose big.

But I'm going to try for all three.

for the observers who think not answering atari is one of the option:

two stone atari is a "pillar stone" atari
giving up two stone is out of the question.
giving up "pillar stone" is same as resigning.

Let's see if he'll let me live here, on this side.

Well, that was fun while it lasted.

Now that the game's over, I guess we can start a review pretty soon.

Just a matter of when Chew decides to resign.

Whaaa?? I thought that he had to connect. Then, when fighting for eye space, either in the middle or the lower right, he would be able to push against my not-quite-alive groups. Letting me take his two stones leaves me with no weak groups.

What are your thoughts on the current board position? Did things happen as you planned?

What are your thoughts on the current board position? Did things happen as you planned?

Kirby wrote:Joaz:
What are your thoughts on the current board position? Did things happen as you planned?

I'll answer the last question first. Since move 16...

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[go]$$Wcm11
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

...the general shape of the game has been fixed. He gets a lot on the left, I get some top and bottom, and if he gets the remaining right side, he wins. ( 2 sides each, but the left is huge )

So I have to invade on the right. Thus the major tactical character of the game has been fixed. The result of the game hangs on the success of my right side invasion.

There are five general outcomes to the resulting right-side fight ( sorted by which of the three right side groups get access to the center):
1) Everybody gets center access
2) I get locked in as his two corner groups gain center access.
3) I get center access, and lock his upper right group in.
4) I get center access, and lock his lower right group in.
5) I get center access, and lock both of his groups in.


They look like this:

1

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[go]$$Wc Everybody gets center access
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . X . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

2

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[go]$$Wc I get locked in as his two corner groups gain center access.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . O . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

3

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[go]$$Wc I get center access, and lock his upper right group in.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

4

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[go]$$Wc I get center access, and lock his lower right group in.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . X . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . O , . X . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

5

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[go]$$Wc I get center access, and lock both of his corner groups in.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . O , . X . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Number 1, in which everyone runs to the center, is probably bad for me, as my life is uncertain, and he has groups running on top of both of my side to support invasions.
Number 2, in which I get locked in, is a disaster. He has too much center influence.
Numbers 3 and 4 I consider the most likely outcomes, in which I run out fast enough to cut off one corner but not both.
Number 5 is a pipe dream. I live easily, and any invasions of my lower or upper side are unsupported.

I knew that I could avoid 1 and 2. I expected that I'd have to settle for 3 or 4. But I got 5.

So, the answer to one question is that things have turned out way better than I had planned. The answer to the second will be embedded in my next move.

Yes, and no. I had a really rough past few days, so my perception of what was required was colored a lot by unrelated stress. So yes, this is what I expected a few days ago, but as it stands, I would play things a lot differently if presented the board five moves ago. I would've connected and fought, and lived by threats and daggers. Because of the confidence I'm feeling that I wasn't before though, the board looks playable and doable. I have two weak groups to my opponent's... none? One? But I intend to live, or bring down thunder in the fighting. Now I may sound overconfident, but I fight much better in this mood. =D And no, I'm not trying to make excuses for playing poorly the past few moves. Especially in a game with no time limits, I could have waited until work slowed down to make moves. Also, ability to play while stressed is part of your go strength.

I really wanted to play S2 in sente, preserving corner territory while threatening to kill. Alas, it is not a threat to kill. He can get a ko. ( It is way too long and complicated for me to show here )

And instead of defending, he could leave his lower right group to hang on a ko, and play this:

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[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . a . 4 O 5 . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O 6 . X O 3 O X X . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . , . b . 2 O X . X . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . X . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . . X X O X X . |
$$ | . . O O X O . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X O O X . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . X . X O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X X O . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -------------------------------------[/go]

...where 'a' and 'b' are miai, and my stone at K16 is looking weak.

The general plan for the rest of the game is to poke it from the north just enough to ensure that I have no weaknesses there, then chase it westward toward my wall. If I kill it, I think I win on territory.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . O . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O O O X O . O X X . |
$$ | . . X X O . . . . , . X X . O X . X . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . X . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . X . . X X O X X . |
$$ | . . O O X O . . X . . O . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . X . O . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X O O X . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . X . X O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . 1 X X O . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -------------------------------------[/go]

If I don't kill the upper group, then I'll make an attack on the lower group, hoping that the strength that I have built in the middle is enough to kill it.

Trying to be fast and light here. N16 will be big enough later, but it's not, yet. I could do M15 for 82, but it feels a bit flat. This gets more potential eyespace, is lighter, and just seems less pushable.