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Something is wrong with my playing style

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 2:23 pm
by alejo
For some reason, I'm playing terribly bad lately. Could someone give me a hint on what's wrong with it?
I don't mean specific moves, but the whole game itself is a mess...


Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 2:42 pm
by EdLee
alejo wrote:Could someone give me a hint on what's wrong with it?
I don't mean specific moves
You must look at your specific moves. One by one.
.
:b9: - :w10: I think this exchange is bad for B (but I'm not 100% sure).

:b11: Do you know this does not help B make eyes, if you simply reply :w12: at B18 ?

:w18: - :b19: standard bad habit -- you don't want this exchange. You don't want to let B get the nice ponnuki with :b21: . Just :w18: at D13 directly -- then B cannot get the nice ponnuki as in the game.

:b25: - :w26: absolutely horrendous exchange for B. Some pros, if they were sipping tea and saw :b25:, would shoot tea from their nose.
B needs to study toothpaste and other, basic, broken shapes.

:w28: wrong timing (should've been :w12: ). The hane G14 -- "hane head of N stones," is forced. I think the only move.

:b31: so big.

:b33: B is confused. G13.

:b35: Still confused. Still G13.

:w38: You missed the big shared vital point, again. J14. "Hane head of enemy stones."

:w40: Soft/chicken. Extend E8. You missed the big shared vital point.

:b41: B gets the big shared vital point.

:b61: Bad.

:w62: Some big part missing in your concept of basic shapes, basic contact fights. You're happy to reply (simply at Q6, or other options).

From the first 60+ moves -- we see basic shape problems, basic contact fight problems, basic vital points missed, bad habits.

What's wrong lies exactly, specifically in your basics, your fundamentals.
You must study your specific moves and specific mistakes. One by one.
alejo wrote:For some reason, I'm playing terribly bad lately.
The reason is in your basics. And not just lately -- this is exactly your level.
If we look at your most recent 100 games, and your next 100 games, we'll see these mistakes again and again.
Unless and until you improve your basics, you'll continue to play like this.

This is likely true for most kyu levels.
alejo wrote:Something is wrong with my playing style
No, not your "style" (top 10 misunderstanding), not your opening (another top 10 misunderstanding), not direction (common misunderstanding),
but it's your basics (shapes, vital points, tesujis, life-and-death, contact fights, etc.).

:w76: completely wrong. Wrong shape: bumping your own head against B. Why not block at D2 ?

Re: Something is wrong with my playing style

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 3:36 pm
by Joaz Banbeck
alejo wrote:For some reason, I'm playing terribly bad lately. Could someone give me a hint on what's wrong with it?
I don't mean specific moves, but the whole game...


Generally, you seem to be playing just a tad too passively. I never had the impression that you were trying to force the game to follow your vision.

Re: Something is wrong with my playing style

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 5:04 pm
by tentano
There's a certain listlessness. I miss bold and daring moves. Sudden tenuki. An unexpected local reply which throws your opponent off balance.

:w40: is a good example of it. The cut doesn't work, but you cover it to "be rid of aji" or something like that.
:w44: and :w62: are pretty submissive, too. Single-purpose territory grabs, which exert no pressure at all.
:w76: is just wrong. Very badly so.
:w88: You can't kill this, it's got a working exit. Forcing it to exit now just hurts you.
:w104: tries to grab what has already been lost.
:w134: There is much more to achieve from here. Start of the game-losing downfall.

Really, you're not going against someone much stronger than you. A little more creativity and this could be your won game.

And really DO analyze specific moves after you play. Don't just read out some alternatives, but try to explore how you feel when you play, too. Try to think of moves which are fun and exciting. Moves which would Concern you when played against you. Moves which teeter on the edge between courage and stupidity. Explore!

Oh, and make new mistakes. Don't make the same ones you always do.

Re: Something is wrong with my playing style

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 1:42 am
by Splatted
Edit: Wrong player you can ignore this post. I'm too lazy to read and just assumed you were the loser. XD

Edit2: I didn't even get who won right... :oops:

Edit3: This thread makes a lot more sense now. :lol:

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 1:47 am
by EdLee
After :b5: and :b7: your stones are light
Alejo probably took :white: .

Re: Something is wrong with my playing style

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 2:46 am
by Elom
I feel, that white was thinking in a relatively contrived manner, without any "Divine Move" hunger.



edit: the white move suggested on 170 was thoughtless. White can play G4 in sente before coming back at F10. (Thanks to knotwilg for pointing out the error)

Re: Something is wrong with my playing style

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 5:57 am
by Knotwilg
First rule of gamesmanship: don't resign out of disappointment. You lose the ladder but can still force black to capture the bottom and set up a splitting attack yourself at N12. Don't deprive yourself of a comeback by playing with a dispondent attitude. Take a breath and look at your remaining opportunities.

Black's top left was heavy all along. Try thinking in groups not new territory.

Enjoy the game!

Re: Something is wrong with my playing style

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 11:35 am
by alejo
Thank you for all your comments.

I've been losing too much lately, so I'm too afraid to play anything offensive or slightly risky.
Though I know w76 is a bad move, against all basic principles, I was worried about D4 if I played D2.

Actually, after realising all the mistakes I made... I feel even more frightened to play :oops:

Well, I'll try to play some counter-strike, gain some offensive spirit and switch back to go. :lol:

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 12:12 pm
by EdLee
alejo wrote:Though I know w76 is a bad move, against all basic principles, I was worried about D4 if I played D2.
D4 is wrong shape for :black: .

Re:

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 12:30 pm
by alejo
EdLee wrote:
alejo wrote:Though I know w76 is a bad move, against all basic principles, I was worried about D4 if I played D2.
D4 is wrong shape for :black: .


Wel, though it's bad shape, I didn't know how to stop him from reducing my territory if he got to play D4..

Re: Something is wrong with my playing style

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 1:51 pm
by alejo
Update: Seems like the key was to be aggressive, more aggressive, overly aggressive!!!

I've just won 2 games in a row and the second one was the most interesting game I've had in a couple of weeks. Thank you everyone!!!

Re: Something is wrong with my playing style

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 2:07 pm
by tentano
Never again forget that go is a fighting game.

Glad to hear you found your will to fight again.

Re: Something is wrong with my playing style

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 2:12 pm
by xed_over
alejo wrote:I've been losing too much lately, so I'm too afraid to play anything offensive or slightly risky.
...
Actually, after realising all the mistakes I made... I feel even more frightened to play :oops:

I understand your feeling there, but we've got to get over our fear of losing. That holds us back more than anything, I believe.

Take risks, and learn from your mistakes.

Re: Something is wrong with my playing style

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 5:35 pm
by peti29
Knotwilg wrote:[...] don't resign out of disappointment. [...]
Enjoy the game!


How true! Tonight I almost resigned when I lost a group early on. But then I thought hey, my position is still not bad after all (I was given 2 stones handicap). It ended up a ~100pts win for me :)