Life In 19x19

So to summarize things from this first game that I can try to improve on:

1. When I get confused by something new, and can't find a way that seems ideal, play something simple and move on. Playing simple, especially in the opening, will be better than playing something weird and falling way behind.

2. Don't always resist. When the opponent pushes me to play a move, don't assume that it's bad. Check first.

3. Attacking weak group > taking territory.

Here is review of Game 2 from opponent's perspective. Basically, he could have killed me pretty simply. It's more or less the same as the first review, with less detail.

Since the second game was so short, I won't make separate highlights for both opponents. I think I will do with just one.

Position 1:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . W . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Instead of the move above, white should just jump.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think it's simpler, and good.

Position 2:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$ Position at move 20
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think the marked move may not lead to a super result for black, even if white follows black's plan. White will break into the top right corner. White doesn't get many points with the wall right now, but reduces black's points significantly.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$ Position at move 20
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Just going with black's plan is better for white than resisting, due to the cut:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$ Position at move 20
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4 O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The cut was powerful, and it would have been better for white to just go along with black's plan.

Position 3:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$ Position at move 46
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . W . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X O . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The marked white move doesn't do anything. Black can just block, and white still dies.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . O . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X O . X X B |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

From Game 2, I get the following takeaways for me to improve on:
1. Go with the opponent's flow, if it will give a good result. Don't resist when it will be ok following the opponent's plan.

2. Play in a simple way if it's good.

3. Avoid simple reading mistakes.

This Week's Takeaways

So to summarize the entire week (only 2 games this week), I suppose the following two points stick out:

1. Play in a simple way when it will give a decent result, especially in the opening.
2. Go with the opponent's plan if it will give me a good result.

There were other points about attacking and reading, but perhaps if I keep these two in mind for my next game, it will be useful... Simple + non-resisting = OK if the resulting position is OK for me.

When your opponent plays a slight variation on an opening you know, think: what's the difference between that and what I know? The mini-chinese is nice because (simplifying) it's annoying for White to find a good place and time to come in. In this opening, White has an obvious invasion point at 3-3. So don't make it easy for Black to cover that invasion by playing near his formation - play away from that area, maybe split the right side. Find the right time to invade and his top side stones will look really silly.

Somehow, I feel inclined to approach the top right 4-4 when black has invested more of his stones in a formation on top. It's just an intuitive feeling.

Logically, splitting the right seems to be reasonable for the reason you describe - it's always easy to invade the top right later.

The logical way is probably better than my intuition that in this case.

Continuing the "output", I played today and lost against KGS 1k.

To summarize the game, I did recall the principle from last week about not resisting if I felt the result was good for me. So in the opening, he leaned on my stones and I thought the profit was sufficient for me. I let him make a big moyo, and I jumped in. I made mistakes throughout this process, and it became a very difficult game for me.

Here is a brief review (I'll aim to do a second review this Saturday, like I did last Saturday with those reviews).





I will give more diagrams in the review on Saturday, but one particular move that I think would have at least been more interesting was my response to black here:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$ Position at move 127
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . X X . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X X . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X X O X O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O X B . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X . . |
$$ | . . . , O . . . . , . . O X O X X X . |
$$ | . . . . . O X X X X X X X X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . O O X O . O O X . X O O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . X X O . . O O X X O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . X O . X O O O O . X O . . |
$$ | . . . O X . X O O X X O O X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . O X O . X X , X O X X X , X O . |
$$ | . . . O O X X . . X O . O X . X . O . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I played here, since black doesn't get to descend in sente:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . X X . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X X . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X X O X O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O X X W |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X . . |
$$ | . . . , O . . . . , . . O X O X X X . |
$$ | . . . . . O X X X X X X X X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . O O X O . O O X . X O O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . X X O . . O O X X O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . X O . X O O O O . X O . . |
$$ | . . . O X . X O O X X O O X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . O X O . X X , X O X X X , X O . |
$$ | . . . O O X X . . X O . O X . X . O . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But I think it's at least more interesting to play here:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . X X . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X X . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X X O X O O W . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X . . |
$$ | . . . , O . . . . , . . O X O X X X . |
$$ | . . . . . O X X X X X X X X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . O O X O . O O X . X O O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . X X O . . O O X X O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . X O . X O O O O . X O . . |
$$ | . . . O X . X O O X X O O X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . O X O . X X , X O X X X , X O . |
$$ | . . . O O X X . . X O . O X . X . O . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Even in this review, though, I'm lacking a little bit in precision - I can feel that. I'm going based on my feeling here, and have not calculated precisely.

Maybe it's laziness. Can lazy people get stronger? Not sure.

From this game, I can see that my reading has gone down a lot since I was studying last year.

And also, I think that I am not that good at living in the center of the board. So to fix this, I think I will challenge someone on the forum here to one of those games where black has a lot of stones around, and white just tries to live somewhere. Maybe that kind of practice will help me in a game like this one.

You're stronger than me, but...what about just jumping in at J3 for ? Seems as if there's enough space to live inside, or to create aji to reduce from the left or top. And you're inside of black's "territory", so you're only over-concentrating black while significant reducing. If you live inside or you reduce from the left or top, it seems an easy game with the fourth line territory.

sparky314 wrote:You're stronger than me, but...what about just jumping in at J3 for ? Seems as if there's enough space to live inside, or to create aji to reduce from the left or top. And you're inside of black's "territory", so you're only over-concentrating black while significant reducing. If you live inside or you reduce from the left or top, it seems an easy game with the fourth line territory.

It might be a good idea. I am really not that good at this type of invading. Whenever I play this type of a game, I feel a lot of pressure. Maybe I should avoid it in the first place.

Anyway, if I can live on the bottom without giving black too much, then it'd be better of course.

In the actual game, I broke out of his influence area, but the group was still really weak for the rest of the game. And while the group is weak, he can bank of territory if not kill me.

So living quickly, giving little to him early on would be nice, if I could achieve it.

Just one quick thought.

How about the double keima at C-07?

Another thought or two.

Not that I know where to play, but just seems wrong to me. Picking a fight where Black is strong. Compare that with, say, O-06.

Also, looks natural, but it plays into Black's plan, rather obviously. How about the wedge at L-03? Sacrificing one stone is no big deal.

And, OC, having approached the bottom right corner with sente, reverting to the bottom left corner with is a thought. And the three space pincer at K-03 makes look questionable, eh?

Bill Spight wrote:Just one quick thought.

How about the double keima at C-07?

To be faster? Would you respond to black's D8?

Bill Spight wrote:Another thought or two.

Not that I know where to play, but just seems wrong to me. Picking a fight where Black is strong. Compare that with, say, O-06.

Also, looks natural, but it plays into Black's plan, rather obviously. How about the wedge at L-03? Sacrificing one stone is no big deal.

And, OC, having approached the bottom right corner with sente, reverting to the bottom left corner with is a thought. And the three space pincer at K-03 makes look questionable, eh?

I like the wedge at L3. There is benefit in answering him - my 3 space extension gets connected. But it's only 3rd line territory and splitting on the bottom is pretty big.