Life In 19x19

OnoNoGo wrote:Hello all!

Here is a game I won on time but I felt behind the entire time... It feels like I'm really struggling in the opening and I don't know how to improve there. I overconcentrate and then it's suicide mission to come back into the game by trying to invade my opponent's territory.

I think that maybe you get over-concentrated because you are too concerned about your own stones. In that regard your worst play was perhaps , connecting your ponnuki stones. Black botched the attack, however. was also bad, for a similar reason. was bad shape, and failed to keep the Black group separated.

The other game: well played, above the opponent's level

+ direction of play: 25 and leading up to it, 29, 71
+ taking big points: 63, 111
+ good sente taking and endgame: 129, 145
- misjudging strength of groups: 31, 45
- cutting live groups (a special case of the above): 99 and following

From this I would say: every time you make a positional judgment and decide to play elsewhere, it's well timed. You have a good sense of direction and a keen eye for big points. Sometimes you get carried away and play a purposeless sequence.

So it might be a case of exploiting your strengths even more: evaluate the board more often because you seem to be making good decisions then.

Thank you both for your great comments! I learn so much through them, it's incredible.

Bill: these comments are really spot on. I had found few of them in my own analysis but I still missed a lot. I feel like I have a better understanding of where I went wrong, starting from the opening.

Knotwilg: I really appreciate the kind words. It is easy to concentrate only on the negative when trying to progress, but it's great to also hear about one's strength. And again, your comments are really useful. I spend a lot of time doing tsumego and tesuji, which might be why I get a better sense of big points, sente, etc. But I think I'm going to spend some time as well to study Pro games, just to give me a better instinct with good shapes, favorable sequences and group strengths.

Hello!

I'm back after a quite long break. I play chess at a little higher level than where my Go is, but I can't stay long from the Goban I have done tsumego from time to time since the beginning of the year, but not much playing. I played this game recently, which I won, but I feel like I made a lot of mistakes. Could I get some quick reviews to help me identify my mistakes please?

Thanks a lot!

Q14/R14.

Q17. Don't let double atari -- the corner is very big.

take.

Huge loss by here.

strange. C6 direction...

C6/D6 double approach.

strange. C6 direction...

C6/D6 double approach.

slow, small.

heavy, slow. J5 ?

heavy, slow.

M3.

O3 bamboo joint (has corner follow-ups).

bad timing, killing useless stones.

, , good. K6 possibility.

, pass/gote.

LR corner is fishy. Consider something like R6.

Locally, I'd just take cash, B9.

C8, B10 hane.

good.

Take!

strange. R6 area.

slow, pass.

huge.

S7 push much better shape; game move is full of connect-and-dies later.

Both and missed the vital point S7.



109 L13

110, 111 See Toothpaste.

118, 119 See Toothpaste.

123 R9

132 small

Thank you very much for your very useful comments! I learned a lot.

Here is another game that I won (I haven't lost in a while, but I don't play a lot). It is full of mistakes so maybe you see a pattern in my problems? I think I have trouble invading but also defending against invasions. Thanks a lot in advance for any comment (full game or even just a few key moves).

OnoNoGo wrote:... maybe you see a pattern in my problems? ...

One pattern that I see is that you play defensive moves too easily, even when you are stronger.
In a larger sense, you don't appear to consider relative strengths of groups when making decisions.

Start asking yourself questions like "Who is stronger here?" or "Am I attacking or defending" or "Can I make a move that attacks and defends at the same time?"





BTW, note the similarity of variations and possibilities at moves 25 and 39. The leaning kosumi is an example of a move that both attacks and strengthens the attacker while doing so. Add it to your repertoire and you will become a stone stronger overnight.