A beginner's journal of little interest

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 9:04 pm

I'm beginning to firmly believe that someone with "rapid cycling" bipolar should stay well away from turn based go. While I enjoy it, I'm having a lot of trouble making up for plays when in poor form/tired/whatever. It can make it frustrating which is not good for me. As a friend of mine put it yesterday: "Yesterday you were going for the jugular and I was resigning myself to defeat, your last two moves today have been meek and letting me off the hook."

Anyway, I've no lost games from the past while to share, so here's a win instead. I'm sure there are plenty of errors in it to be picked up on.

mitsun · Post by **mitsun** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 10:20 am

This was a really well played game, far above your stated rank, well done. You still need to work on fighting skills and reading ability, but your opening and general feel for the game are getting quite good.

Let me make just one high level comment, on moves 39-45. B is being inconsistent here, trying to accomplish two objectives which conflict with each other. If you really intend to save the cutting stone and start a fight in the center (move 45), consider how much stronger that strategy would be if you omitted the preceding exchanges (41-44) and played move 41 directly at N5. W would then have to worry about the bottom area, and B would have a much easier center fight.

The other consistent strategy would be to take the corner territory as you did in the game, then reduce the W center influence with an approach move, rather than a deep invasion or an immediate attempt to rescue the very weak cutting stone. Something around K9 looks good, or maybe J4 or J5 if you want to go a bit deeper, with a little more risk. (The sequence J5-H4-C3 would be ideal for B, but I digress.) The idea would be to encourage W to capture the cutting stone on a modest scale, then win by 1/2 point in the endgame.

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:15 am

Thank you mitsun, I agree those moves were inconsistent. I cut, then reconsidered and then tried to save the cutting stone which was foolish of me. Thanks for the ideas.

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 9:57 pm

Another win I'm afraid but a definite learning experience for me. I was losing this game for the most part of it until a ko fight went my way and my opponent made a reading error. Overall a very fun game and I hope people enjoy it. I saw a lot of moves that I hadn't seen before/often. Again it suffers from me alternating between depression and high during it so my play is somewhat inconsistent I think. One major error I made was making a ko threat in a way that removed a follow-up ko threat I believe. I think white had the game won if they played more conservatively in the endgame rather than going for a big kill. I'd like some input on this as I'm pretty weak in the endgame and have trouble telling victors apart from losers if the game is within 20 points or so. I'm learning a lot about the endgame in my recent games as some of them have been rather close. I should have another two close games to go over soon from the looks of things. One looks like a definite loss at this point but the other I think I'm ahead in.

Opponent is 9k on DGS for reference. Starting ranks were 20k and 14k.

Edit: Uploaded the wrong sgf first time around.

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:12 am

Reading through Attack and Defence I'm struck by the beauty and subtlety of this game and how crude and simplistic my moves are in comparison. I find this more inspiring than depressing, that such depth can be found in such simple rules. My slow progression might at times frustrate me but I can see myself keeping this hobby up, if not only for the game itself but because of the people I meet through it. Anyway, sorry for the short rambling post, I can't sleep etc.

EdLee · Post by **EdLee** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 4:30 am

Basics: ataris, broken shapes, cross-cuts:

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 4:37 am

Thank you Ed, I agree, my fuseki was appalling in this game. Those ataris were from two months ago, thankfully the penny dropped and I rarely do them now having learned the hard way as you can see.

EdLee · Post by **EdLee** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 6:25 am

Boidhre wrote:Those ataris were from two months ago, thankfully the penny dropped and I rarely do them now having learned the hard way as you can see.

Yea... very tricky: sometimes you played them when they are bad,
sometimes you missed them when they are good (e.g. :b10:

,

), tricky, tricky.

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 10:17 am

EdLee wrote:
Boidhre wrote:Those ataris were from two months ago, thankfully the penny dropped and I rarely do them now having learned the hard way as you can see.
Yea... very tricky: sometimes you played them when they are bad,
sometimes you missed them when they are good (e.g. , ), tricky, tricky.

No, two months ago I would not have recognised that move in the corner white as a ko offer/opportunity for black to make poor shape for white (I think). I was, and remain, ignorant for the most part about kos and ko fighting and how to go about it as well as shape. Eh, more things to add to the list I suppose.

Bill Spight · Post by **Bill Spight** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 11:00 am

Boidhre wrote:Thank you mitsun, I agree those moves were inconsistent. I cut, then reconsidered and then tried to save the cutting stone which was foolish of me. Thanks for the ideas.

To second what Mitsun says, Honinbo Jowa gave some very good advice: Don't run.

He did not mean don't ever run, but that just running is hardly ever right. If you run, especially early in the game, make sure that you are doing something else with the move, as well. Here you are just running.

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 11:42 am

Bill Spight wrote:
Boidhre wrote:Thank you mitsun, I agree those moves were inconsistent. I cut, then reconsidered and then tried to save the cutting stone which was foolish of me. Thanks for the ideas.

To second what Mitsun says, Honinbo Jowa gave some very good advice: Don't run.

He did not mean don't ever run, but that just running is hardly ever right. If you run, especially early in the game, make sure that you are doing something else with the move, as well. Here you are just running.

Thanks Bill, I'll remember that advice.

Bill Spight · Post by **Bill Spight** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 12:03 pm

Some comments.

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 2:34 pm

Thank you Bill for your detailed comments.

Bill Spight · Post by **Bill Spight** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:20 pm

Some more.

Boidhre · Post by **Boidhre** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 6:45 pm

Again thank you Bill.

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A beginner's journal of little interest

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