Life In 19x19

I'll start with a komoku, since I'm fighting against a highly skilled opponent, I want to have something to keep

I'm going to have pretty basic commentary for this game closer to beginner level than other games that I've commented.

I chose because it has a good follow up of approaching his 3-4 stone.

Anyhow, having to win by 100 points will be very difficult. A go board has only 361 total points on it. That means that if all of the stones are alive and there are, say, 150 moves played, that means that I have to have made 150 points while he makes only 50. This is quite a challenge, but so is playing with a nine stone handicap. My plan is to play a regular game as though it was an even game and I will play to take advantage of his mistakes when they arise and hope that I can get a small advantage on most of his moves and a few big advantages from his few big mistakes.

His goal, with the giant lead that he has should be to make no life and death problems, but to make sure none of his groups are completely enclosed so that he has to solve a difficult problem. He should also be willing to sacrifice a stone if it avoids getting attacked. He should avoid any deep invasions and should instead be willing to reduce and keep his groups strong.

Though, I will commend him if he shows fighting spirit even if it doesn't help him win, but when it would be reasonable in an even game.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B1c Dragon Pie (1D Kgs) vs. bgrieco (16k IGS).
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$$ | . . . d . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . c b . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 e . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . f . . |
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$$ | . . i a. . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . j k . . . . . . . . g . . . . . |
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$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

ok, here goes my options for my second move:
I decided to sacrifice sente in change for a strong position in the corner. I do have a big komi on my favor, so I'm going to play small, garantee my position, and wait for white to err.
a - sounded too far away and vulnerable
b, c and d - would invite a white stone on the upper side (F17)
f and g would be vulnerable to pincers
i,j and k would give w a large side
e - was a good option, but I beleive Q15 would give me more chances later on the moyo
I must be very cautious !! Safety FIRST

I beleive white's response will be something on the right side, he will be very agressive

One thing about this game is that I have enough time to think (and experiment) before playing

His move makes miai of taking one of the other corners and prevents my approach. I play this move sometimes. It's harder for black to make a moyo if I take this corner with one move. I'm playing moves that more aim for influence so that I can have some help attacking some of his stones when I get a chance.

I will play some moves that invite invasion to encourage him to create a weak group that I can harass.

The last hoshi on ll corner would be an obvious move.
My hope with this san-san "invasion" is to provide me with a live corner and sente.
I strongly beleive white will answer that.
I have a Bee-Gee strategy : "ah, ah, ah, ah, staying alive, staying alive..."

His move is super solid and ensures him some points. I see players often pressing at 4-4 right away and this is a joseki. It prevents black from having a chance to build off of his 3-3 stone and gives white some influence. White ends up undercut on both sides, though, so I feel like I don't like to play it too early.

I played my move to invite an invasion. Gotta be ambitious to overcome a giant deficit and trust that he'll give me some opportunities to come back.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc1 Dragon Pie (1D Kgs) vs. bgrieco (16k IGS).
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 6 d b . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . c . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
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$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . f . . . |
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$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Darn, no really easy response for me on this one.
I have to believe my UR corner is strong enough to hold.
b, c and d may be effective, but for any of those, w could respond with something on the right side, which I do not want to happen.
d is too close, and picking a fight with w is too risky for me. It's like bringing a knife to a gun fight.
b and c may be safe, but w would end up pressing me even further over the corner.
f would also seem to me as a nice play, but a may help me with an extension towards R6.
I'm fighting for crumbs, but maybe that's all I need to win the game.

So far my opponent hasn't made any clear mistakes. I'm happy to invade here as I'm still trying to complicate the game and his extension was ambitious.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc1 Dragon Pie (1D Kgs) vs. bgrieco (16k IGS).
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a 9 b . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
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$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Waiting for a or b now
R9 still doesn't look bad

Crap !!
I'm getting it all wrong
Where is that long hat ghost from Hikaru no Go when we most need him...

Run, Forrest, run...

So far, I still don't see any moves that look easy to exploit. I have to remain patient. This spot concerns the base of both of our groups. His group, with such access to the center won't be easy to attack right now, but I plan on letting it remain a weakness for him.

Close border. Allows for a monkey jump later. I believe it's sente. But as you may have read on the other posts, I believed a lot of crap that didn't come true. playing against a 1d is really hard... all his moves seem perfect, too bad I couldn't think of them before