Life In 19x19

i am playing as white, definitely not the best of my games :/

10 is questionable/wrong-- two space extension is normal for a reason.

12 has to be at Q12, then you're fine again. (just about every move where nothing urgent is going on for the next 50 moves should be here (or R12 for black))

44 L4 is much better.

52 no, pincer, don't touch! <-- possibly the largest mistake of the game

90 black should be able to tear this shape apart. It's too thin.

102 ...but he fails.

You need to think about where your opponent can make points and take proactive measures. Your invasion in the lower right was wayyyyy too late.

Hope that helps...

#6 is an unusual choice of direction - usually the bottom side is considered more urgent now. But this should be playable too.

#10 is too far (two space extension is normal), it leaves a weakness.

#12: What do you plan to do if black invades at R12 now?

#16 - 28: AWESOME for white. Black got himself into trouble with A4, and E4 is too small to save, you did a good job by attacking from outside.

By 74, you've done well at killing the lower left, but you're over concentrated, and you still have the weakness in the upper right. It feels like an even game, not like you're ahead the way you should be after killing two groups.

#89: You can clearly see what I meant with the previous comment now; black looks a lot more efficient than white.

Up to 103, black failed his "attack" and only succeeded in making white strong where he was weak. But he did get a ton of territory on top. #104 is probably bad - it entices black to make solid his lower right.

#112: Oh, no. The center is not a large territory. Your previous move threatened to invade the top, and he didn't respond - you should do that now. This attachment doesn't help at all. Even before I look at the rest of the game, I want to call this the losing move.

#154 on - you can't win a double ko. Game's almost over. Concentrate on large endgame moves and you might still turn it around, but only if he makes some mistakes.

i see the mistake on 10, i studied the joseki incorrectly one space too far :/

i see what you say on 12...

52, why not touch the pincer? i really do not know a lot about pincers, please elaborate?

112, i see this is a big mistake now, uff

i really have a long ways to go

The things I most want to comment on:

10 - as has been said, this is too far. Black should jump right in at R12.
16 - Good move.
27 by him is silly - there is no reason for him to want to save this one tiny stone. Good job with move 28 .
32 - Black's corner has been killable the whole time, and remains so for quite a long time. Can you find how?
36 - If black touches your stone, respond with that stone (extend, hane, etc.)
50 - far far too small
52 is touching a weak stone. To attack a weak group, you should not directly touch it, but instead work to either pincer it on the side (and in the process, you make territory ) or surround it.
http://senseis.xmp.net/?DontTouchWeakStones
58 - he's not going to make eyes on the side you blocked. Instead, prevent him from making eyes on the bottom (called pincering), where he otherwise could. Trying to surround him (i.e. preventing him from accessing the center) would also be fine here.
67 - black can make ko by playing A1
126 - Black can never play there, so playing there yourself is meaningless.
190 is a common weak move - e18 is a kazillion times better (or, more precisely, two points. But the shape is common enough that those two points will really bite you if you play moves like this). Notice how you will then be able to play G19 in sente afterward, but for black to block you from doing so will be gote for him. If you can play somewhere in sente but your opponent can only play there in gote, it's very likely that you will either get it or get to keep sente elsewhere.

Overall, I think your two biggest areas for improvement are avoiding small moves (relatively easy), and learning how to properly attack weak groups (hard - this will take studying).

Hint if you cannot solve move 32:

Since the senseis page on not touching a weak stone is not very good, allow me to try to elaborate.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

From this contrived position, we see white trying to attack black the wrong way. may look good, but after , white is forced to spend an extra move to defend this stone, or will be completely wasted. Black becomes stronger thanks to .

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

If white plays like this however, then he is not helping black in any way. Black will find it more difficult to become strong.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

If white has alraedy pincered black, then surrounding is a good follow-up. Black can no longer save this stone.

Tyson2011 wrote:i really have a long ways to go

Don't worry, so do the rest of us . I was 12k not too long ago myself. Improving and learning new things is what I find the most fun part.

ahh ok ok, i get what you're going for! im trying to play atleast a game a day, but i am going to go to bed now, so i shall try to apply what i've learned from this so far onto my next

24. Just play C5 directly. There is no reason to play a first line move like A5 this early in the game unless it is a matter of life & death.

50. Another very small move on the first line which gives black the opportunity to take sente elsewhere.

58. Another unneeded first line move

114. Not worth saving that stone unless you somehow believe you can exploit the M16 cut afterwards.

126. Zero point move. Could have been at N7 instead

128. This move is worth less than a point as this ko has no follow up. (after black capture N9)

144. H14 or perhaps J16 (although the latter is a bit more risky.

154. This is a double ko. You can't win anything playing it.

164. This ko threat even loses you points. All while trying to win a double ko that you can't win.

190. E18 is better as it leaves a follow up.

Oh, and at move 62. I think A2 is the only move that cleanly kills.

Ironically, for 52 I wouldn't pincer either. E15 screams out to be played, separating Black on a big scale and threatening to pincer on both sides.

126 at N7 is at least 15 points better for you.