Life In 19x19

This is a little different. I'm working on analyzing my games and this is the first one that I've made the attempt to analyze on my own. So instead of analyzing the game (although you can if you would like) I'm looking more for feedback on my comments. Did I pick the right moves to question, comment on. Did my comments show some semblance of sanity (remember 24K here)? Did I miss anything big that I should have noticed? The comments end at move 127.

The game is from the DDK Swiss tournament that's going on now and it was the first game between Monadology (white) and myself (black). Game was played at even.

Enjoy. No promises on correctness.

Here are a few comments on your comments from the eyes of a 9k...

Move 6: I would have probably reinforced the top corner...n17, 017 while extending out the other direction... though if i was to extend towards that stone I would have extend from the bottom corner around R8...

Move 11: Not a bad idea to move into his territory, but a look at the board says a bigger move would be somewhere at the bottom of the board...

Move 13: I think an extension out towards the center would have been better...

Move 17: I dont see the purpose of this move... you can still map out more framework...

Move 19: not sure if it is right, but I prefer line 3 extensions over line 4 extensions because they are harder to invade under...

Move 20: See comment about move 13... that extension towards the center would have helped prevent this...

Move 23-25: If white extends to J9 after that h10 cut you talk about, that makes the cut almost useless I think...

Move 31: An attachment here is slow I think... an extension would be worth more...

Move 51: Maybe playing somewhere at L8 to try to start to close of that possible moyo area is better?

Move 67: L2 is a huge cut... should have played there first maybe...

Move 75: I think k16 would have been better....

Move 77: L16 would prevent your middle group from capture though sacrifice a bit of the side territory... I think the middle group is worth more...

Move 85: Double Tigers mouth is a strong defense, but I think playing that stone somehwere else is better... if white cuts at p15, then black o16, ... now white can only atari at q14, or p13... if q14 black attach p13... if p13 black attach q14, white attach q13, black attach r14, white r13, black attach s13 etc...

Move 95: s14 is a must....

Move 103: its a good idea to mess with... if ignored you capture a group.. this kind of cut comes in handy in some endgame situations too... just wasn't the right situation here...

Move 119: if you are trying to create eyespace I say stick with a standard extension first. 2 point jump maybe? Thats probably your best chance... like maybe to c6 which threatens whites corner... if he plays to protect the corner jump to c9.. now at least you have a base to work with...

Move 127: L8 is better... current move is just taking away your own territory....



As far as your comments are going nice job.... its great that you are reviewing your own games like this... that is something I need to do more of... very good reading on your comments for 24k... I wouldn't be surprised to see your rank grow fast in the near future...

I think your comments are on the right track overall, you noticed many of your big mistakes. I think you still have a pretty hard time judging the strength and safety of groups. This is what Redundant complains about around move 40.

But you will improve very quickly, especially if you keep reviewing your games. I try to review every game I play, at least a little bit.

Since it's coming from someone who's not much stronger, take it all with a grain of salt of course.



EDIT:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c More on Move 29.
$$ | . . . O . . . . O X X . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O O O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . O . O . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Maybe it's wishful thinking though, and White wouldn't need to block H5 from connecting underneath.

See the game for some comments and some questions for you to answer or think about.

Your attempt at self review was quite good. Here are some more tips for self review at your level: Any time you make a defensive move, consider the worst that could happen if you didn't defend. Play some sample sequences out if necessary. A lot of your defenses were trivially unnecessary. Reviewing is a good time to look over whether things would have worked or not that you couldn't figure out in the game. Also, look for places you took big losses and ask how to prevent that. For instance, white disconnected and killed your 4 stones on move 144. So go back and look for when you could have defended prior to that, and figure out how to make yourself see it next time.

Also, learn how to judge the strength of groups. Aside from basic tactics and capturing techniques and fighting, this is the single most important thing to learn. Use the rule of thumb about bases as a starting point (see comment on move 13). Group can also be safe even with no base if they have a lot of eyeshape, an especially large number of directions to run, or nearby opposing groups are weak, or they can connect to friendly safe groups.

Thanks to all for your comments and extra analysis and explanations.

I am now a firm believer that a self review then getting others to review (which will help future self reviews) is a huge learning tool that I need to start utilizing more.