Life In 19x19

I played this game against a 6k (I checked, he oscillates between 3k and 5k KGS) quite aggressive. I was so sure he was making overplays that I did some myself (especially the last moves, which are a big mistake that costed me the game, but maybe I put myself in a bad situation far before), and got crushed.

Could you please review the game ? I made some comments to moves I found dubious aftermatch, but I'm not so sure they were the loosing moves, nor how I could have played better.

As usual, I'm fond of general critics rather than sequences I missed (but still interested in those, especially if I missed them due to mispalliance of a general principle).

- E14 or B12 are better. Both have several joseki variations springing off of them. Even if it was best to mobilize the C10 stone immediately, the one-space jump would be better.

- Nobi at D12 is better shape.

- Oh dear - imitation kosumis. This move also isn't very good.

- E16 gets ahead of white, so I think it's better. If white takes C16, you can just block at 3-3 and be happy. But letting white get ahead of you will hurt your kosumi group.

- I would just push here. If black responds with his top-left group, white can surround black's two stones with a cap. If black breaks through the elephant eye, I'm pretty sure G11 seals black up.

- I like the cap at H13 myself, but I could be wrong.

- No real benefit from playing this right now, so white shouldn't.

- What about J15? That seems very strong to me.

doesn't feel right to me. I think I would either jump to M13, or peep at K16 followed by M13. However, a stronger player than me could likely find something better.

The result up to is bad for black, obviously.

- I would jump to M13. If white gets this point, the attack on your group is severe, but if black gets it, white's top group doesn't look too healthy.

- Since black didn't take M13, I think white should. Sure, black can play L12, but then white simply captures the ladder stone and black is still without eyes.

helps white a lot more than black - black can no longer pull out his J10 stone. As a general rule in this shape that applies to this case as well, it is better to just play M13 directly.

- White can cut and capture one stone by playing K17.

Anyway, I think a predominant theme in this game is the capping move, which neither side really played but both had opportunities to do so. It's a good move to try to incorporate into your game.

10: Definitely not A before B. Consider tewari: after A, he can return to joseki, and it looks like you made an (inefficient) over-extension and then he invaded.

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[go]$$B Corner
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$$ | . . . 1 . 7 . . .
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$$ | . . 3 2 . . . . .
$$ | . . 4 6 . . . . .
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$$ | . . 9 , . . . . .
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$$ | . . 8 . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .[/go]

Your opponent definitely played more aggressively than you, but I think it was not just over-plays on his part, but also under-plays on your part. Several times you had an advantageous position, but failed to capitalize. I kept waiting for you to deliver a hammer blow, but it never happened.

For example, after move 34, the B group at H13 is stronger than the W group at G15, so B has a great opportunity to attack severely by blocking at J15. W will probably find a way to live, but in the process B should get very strong in the center. Since B is attacking from a strong position, he should be happy to fight if W cuts across the blocking move. Did you consider this move, but fear the fight? If so, you can become stronger by trusting your instincts and playing this move on general principles, fighting it out afterwards if necessary.

At move 41, M13 is the important direction, aiming at the weak W group above. J10 is the wrong direction, developing towards a W group which is already strong. In fact, W found a good counter-attack, so B got a very bad result here. At move 51, despite this bad result, jumping to M13 is still the vital direction of play.

Finally at move 65, B played a blocking move to attack the weak W stones (good!). Unfortunately B did not follow up with a very severe attack and W ended up living fairly easily. Without getting into detailed sequences, here are a few thoughts on the local fight:
1) When W attaches at N16, blocking at O16 should be the first move to consider; 2) After pushing at M15, can B cut at L16? If not, W is in big trouble. 3) If you are planning to peep instead of cut, play the peep first. That leaves more aji, making it harder for W to come up with a defense against all possible B continuations. 4) Move 75 (P14) is too loose. Why not double hane at O16? That makes maximum use of the Q16 stone and really constricts W eye space above, possibly fatally. Were you worried about the W cut at O15? Spend some time reading this out; I think B can win this fight, given the weakness of the three W stones at O12.

Move 89 was another under-play, letting W get too good a position on the side. Hane at R9 is the only move here. Not much reading is required (just notice that if W cross-cuts B has P9 atari to keep everything connected) -- this move is necessary whether it works or not.