Like the wind...

tomukaze · #1

Hi all,
My name is Tom from Ireland.
I am quite new to this forum, but have been playing go for about a year and a half. I've reached the modest level of about 7k Kgs and 9k European rank.
At the moment I am in a bit of a slump. I've been the above level for about 6 months now, and don't seem to be able to break through the 9k barrier. The way I think in games is, KILL KILL KILL, which I know is not the correct way to approach the game especially as it lends itself to lots of overplays. At the moment I am trying to put pressure on enemy groups while not overextending myself to kill and also trying to make territory along the way. Well that is the way I am trying to play anyway. Here is a game I played earlier today, this might give an idea of how I play.

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Anyway looking forward to this journal!

Boidhre · #2

Welcome Tom. Good to see another clubmate around.

tomukaze · #3

Thanks Padraig! :bow:

grooviest · #4

hello

CnP · #5

Hi welcome!

just a comment on your game - I know I'm not stronger than you but for #8 I think black 8 at p15 instead. After 8-22 white has sealed you in and cut you off - a classic handicap game approach for white I guess. I always thought the best way for black was to keep white separated. That bit at least seems less like "Kill kill kill" but more like "oh crikey white is a big strong Go player"

. As it turned out White killed the K16 group so his outside strength from that early exchange might have contributed - live and you'd have won?

Shaddy · #6

8 is fine. White is split and Black has pincers on both sides.

Joaz Banbeck · #7

I like your style. :clap:

The only problem that I see is that you are not trying hard enough to kill. :mrgreen:

Several times in the game above, you tenuki when you could have been strengthening one of your attacking groups. 36 could have been at N13, and 76 could have been at B8.

tomukaze · #8

Thanks Joaz!
More killing spirit needed. Excellent

tomukaze · #9

Thanks Groovy!
Do you have a blog too?

tomukaze · **#10**

@Cnp
Thanks for the comments. I too was thinking of that move, but I didn't want white to live so easily. However in the end he did

CnP · **#11**

Thanks, well it turns out I was wrong, so I'm the one who benefits

(when will Go start making sense???)

tomukaze · **#12**

I've recently joined the NGA (Nordic Go Academy) and played my first game today.

Here is the game below, I am black. I believe that my fuseki was only ok, but I think the timing of some of the big moves were off and I couldn't find the right moment to play the side extension on the right side.
Anyway here is the game for your pleasure/horror

Even though it was a won game for me comments on the fuseki would be great, from all levels!

tomukaze · **#13**

A game I played today. I created too many dead stones and couldn't find the best way to use the aji of the dead stones. I also wonder what I could have done better on the bottom with the group that eventually died.
Anyway here is the game. All comments welcome.

emeraldemon · **#14**

seems like the start of your problems. My feeling is that it's better to leave that stone as aji and just approach the upper right corner at R14. If you want to go for the top, maybe L17?

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Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wcm22 Maybe possible? $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O X X . . . . . 2 1 . . 3 . . . . . | $$ | . . O , X . O . X , 4 . . . . X . . . | $$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . X . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . O . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Splatted · **#15**

36 is also a bad move. All it does is allow black to fix his weakness.

tomukaze · **#16**

Interesting. Thank you emeraldemon! I like your suggestions.

@ Splatted. Any suggestions for 36? I was thinking atari and getting out, but it would just be a snake like group with no nice shape at all.

konfuzed · **#17**

I may be no stronger than you are but I will tell you what I thought when I looked at the position.

Well, if you saved that snake/dragon it may or may not be bad. I see what you are saying. You are weak, but if you do not sacrifice the h13 group he has some weak stones too. But if we are to make the move under the assumption that that bringing that snake/dragon out gives you a bad result right now...

If you have decided to give up your h13 group, do your g12 stones still have enough value to spend a move just to make them safe? I think they might not be worth as much as taking some big point elsewhere, and they aren't really cutting his group anymore if you are giving him the chance to capture your other cutting stones.

tomukaze · **#18**

Thanks Konfuzed.

Well another disaster today. I seem to keep creating weak groups and just can't seem to find the right way to use the aji of my stones. :scratch:

It just backfires alot . Need more study :study:

Well here is the game I played earlier.

skydyr · **#19**

The big thing I noticed about this last game is that white kept creating groups and then letting them get sealed in. By move 50, black has a moyo spanning the entire board, and white has a medium corner, a bit of a side, and a loose moyo along the bottom. If white's groups weren't sealed, that moyo would have holes on three or four sides, and be very penetrable, even if black had a bit more secure territory in exchange.

Splatted · **#20**

tomukaze wrote:

@ Splatted. Any suggestions for 36? I was thinking atari and getting out, but it would just be a snake like group with no nice shape at all.

Like konfuzed said (including the bit about being the same rank), those stones aren't really worth all that much, so saving them isn't worth it. It's sente, so it probably doesn't matter that there are other big moves, but what is important is that black gains more from the exchange than you. As I see it, you fixed your aji in exchange for letting black fix his, which is a good idea in some situations but probably wasn't in this one because black's aji is both more severe and worth more than yours. You could happily sacrifice those two stones, but like konfuzed said, black's weakness at at H12 means you could possibly attack K13 and J15 as well, and he really doesn't want to let you do that.

I'm honestly not sure what you should have done instead, but I don't think breaking out is such a bad idea at this stage. You may not be able to catch the H12 stone in a lader, but I would say it's weaker than your H13 group would be once it's broken out, and he can't afford to let it die if he wants to attack your group. Of course, your G11 stones then become important and weak in exactly the same way, but it's definitely not going to be easy for black. Add to that weakness of the other side (what happens if you cut at k14 after breaking out? Can he save both groups?) and breaking out starts to look pretty tempting.

More generally, I think the reason you have problem profiting from aji is that you keep trying to live with it. Whenever I'm considering trying to live with some weak stones I like to remind myself of this somewhat simplified definition I came up with for what's aji and what's a weak group.

Weak groups are weak stones that you are not willing to let die. They are a weakness for your opponent to exploit.

Aji stones are weak stones you are willing to let die. They are a weakness for you to exploit.

I found http://gogameguru.com/go-commentary-shi ... th-lg-cup/ to be very thought provoking in this regard.

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