Life In 19x19

Sticking to the plan by taking this massive point. All the corners are looking pretty open but maybe those are endgame points and linking various groups up is quite important to. I'll see what he does next.

Basically, I want to solidify my group down at the lower left. I want to save my pincer stone, but I must not rush it.

The reason behind my last move was to gain more territory.

I'm not that big on this knight's move, because of the risk of having it be cut later. At best, you'll probably have to defend it again later, and at worse you'll be cut off. A simple jump is probably safer here.

SinK always seems to be one or two steps ahead of me.  I have to get control of the game, and from now on I'm going to split the board up into four quadrants for local situations and one global perspective.  That way I'll not be too surprised when he makes a move in another area of the board. I'm surprised that it's taken me this long to figure that out.

Another reason for doing this is that Go is played on a bigger board than chess and I'm struggling to put together some sort of strategy with Go.  Locally vs Globally is something that I've struggled with ever since I've started playing the game.  Hopefully, this exercise will help me improve.

At least it will help me get into the flow of the game and not be surprised by his move.  A relevant quote is, "A player surprised is half beaten."

Everything is fairly settled and his last move doesn't threaten anything, besides I think the sequence 1-5 leaves me in pretty good stead and is my first candidate move.

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[go]$$Bc Move 24
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . d . O . . O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . b . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O 3 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . X . . 4 1 2 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X 5 O . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . O . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But since there seems to be no real urgency to my moves then there are two options pushing into the centre with a or b or making some territory with moves in the corners. If I do I want to make sente moves that allow me to make all three moves and then move on to making a/b type moves. Here's the general plan play at c,d,e then put a stone at a before attacking the white group in the south-east this is all fairly nebulous at the moment and in the heat of battle I'll have to refine this idea but for the moment I'm just gonna have to concentrate on coming of the corner at c with a move in hand.

Okay, there's a few reasons behind this move. First it completely solidifies my corner territory, and second it CAN help me save my pincer stone.

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[go]$$Bc Analysis
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . W X . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . 3 . O . . O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . O . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . X . . . . X . O . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The diagram is what I fear the most. I'm trying to avoid that since IF my pincer stone actually lives his middle bottom group dies. Granted, I think that he'll squash any hope I have of saving it.

What I have in mind for the next few moves is

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[go]$$Bc Move 24
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . O . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . O . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I believe that SinK, after making his last move has to be consistent and make . I'll block, and I have a feeling he'll solidify his right hand territory or maybe completely cut off my hope for saving the pincer stone.

I have to be careful here. I'll fight in the lower left, but I don't want to get carried away. It's another one of those "Tal" moments. Here's another game of his that I think resembles the current situation on the board.

The Calm before the Storm

Hopefully, this game was before his 1960 World Championship match with Botvinnik which he won the match by storm. In the game, although Tal sacrificed his queen at some point, the game ended peacefully. This position on the Go board right now seems like a calm before the storm.

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[go]$$Wc The calm before the storm.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . O . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . O . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Clearly, I'm planning something down in the lower left, but I'm going to have to read all of this out before I jump into it. One interesting variation, if Black ignores my move, that I'm considering is:

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

However, he can make all of this moot. I think that he has to be consistent in the top right, but I'm not banking on that. I want the possibility of saving my stone, and the move that I made allows me the chance of saving it however remote it is.

Hmmm... I don't like the way his left hand side is leering at my group on the bottom and with his unexpected ignoring of my move in the northeast I am not sure what to make of my next move.

My first thought: Stick with the plan and try the play at 1. Followed by the sequence through to 5 and followed up with B or C or to follow move 2 with 3 at A or C and see where that takes us.

Second thought: C looks more and more tempting an potentially quite big and the more I look at it the more the other options seem rather passive. The game so far looks set to be a massive fight in the bottom and I would hate to accidentally bring about some sort of peaceful compromise perhaps the south needs more thought.

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[go]$$Bc Move 26
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . O . c . O . . . . . |
$$ | . 1 . O . . O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . 3 O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 4 6 a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . b . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . O . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . O . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O y z . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Third thought: I think I see why he made his last move. White at z plays out all kinds of bad for me even though at first glance it looks kind of ugly. I'm pretty sure that would be my move in his position. The consequences for letting that single white stone escape would be the loss of the game so I must play to stop this. But how? It's a move on the second line and most defensive moves seem painfully small and allow him sente to take 1 or 5 for big profit. The only alternative is the contact play which would demand a response so y it is. I see it going something like:

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[go]$$Bc Move 26
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . b . O . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 . O . . O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . O . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O 3 . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 2 X . 9 . . X . O . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O 1 6 7 a . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

5 can also be played at b but the point is thanks to the sacrifice of my 1 stone I basically end up with an extra move in the middle of the sequence to with as I will. If he plays 8 at a it could get really interesting.