It's been over 6 months since I last played a game of igo, which is far too long. So I just hopped into KGS and decided to play a random game:



This is how it went. I'm black. Last I checked I was only about 20k, maybe I'm a bit weaker after such a long absence. Critique would be very welcome.

_________________

First, welcome back! Okay, I'm going to just point out a few recurring issues. Work on these, play a few more games, then we can look for other things to work on.

1) Don't attach to weak/lone stones unless you have a good plan.

2) Kermit says: Don't walk when you can jump

You won this game well. If you have any questions about what I've said, let me know. Otherwise, good luck with your games!

_________________
Someday I want to be strong enough to earn KGS[-].

Your number one problem was that you spent only five seconds per move. I'm not against blitz if that is how you prefer to play, but I do think that you would benefit more (and the reviewer would feel like their time is worth more) if you spend longer on your games that you want reviewed in the future. Nevertheless, here's a few comments on your biggest mistakes, and where you could have played instead.



P.S Welcome back!

_________________
We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are.
Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness.
We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before,
No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.

Hi there, and welcome!

I echo 100% of Chew's comments; how can I not? His comments helped me go from DDK to SDK . I'll try to organize my comments around principles. Note that there are always exceptions to principles. A good way to apply them is probably think "Okay, this move is against a principle, so do I have a clear plan for playing here?" If not, then you probably shouldn't play it.

1-5 All good moves, couldn't have played them better myself. Sticking with the 4-4 or 3-4 around your level is probably a good idea, but not that big a deal.

7 - As Chew said, generally you shouldn't touch a weak stone (often, the diagonal is considered "touching" for these purposes). There are definitely exceptions to this, but if a stone is weak (especially a lone stone) think before you attach/touch. Strangely, attacking moves are usually not attachments, but one or more spaces away from the stone being attacked. In large part, this is because attaching to a lone stone will usually just force the stone to become stronger.

Note that 6 and 8 are bad moves for White. Generally, when you play in the middle of two of your opponents corners (like white did here) usually play on the third line so the stones can make a base. When there are additional stones in the area, you have to adjust. You responses to 6 and 8 should be almost anything else other than an attachment. Enclose a corner, for example. Or play a few spaces away on the third line.

21 - Usually, don't play elsewhere ("tenuki") when your stones are vulnerable. The shape of the L17 stones is really bad, which I'm sure you realized when white played L16. Also, your K5 stones is in the wrong place--it would be better to play at K4 or approach at O3, for example. Or you can even do F3. Again, make sure your stones can make a base and they aren't left "floating."

35 - Good idea with this move - don't get closed in.

39 and 41. Early in the game, think for a minute before playing moves on the first or second lines. If you're going to keep going in this corner, you should continue on the third line with 39 (and not go down to the first line with 41). Why? Think about it: white can't really invade underneath your 3rd line stone, and you're obviously making MUCH more territory if you're pushing along the third (or, better, fourth) line. There is a proverb that says the third line is the line of territory, and the second line is the line of defeat (or something like that). Don't take it too seriously, but think before willingly playing along the second line (unless you have to for life).

43 - Nice idea. This Neutralizes white's strength a bit, while not getting too close (or too far from your corner stone).

90ish - You were able to use the stones around K5 kind of, though you were lucky white didnt handle the situation correctly. You should still get the idea that stones that high don't have a base, and can become in danger very quickly.

153 - Just because you CAN atari and capture, doesn't mean that you should. Here, there is no reason to play to capture the white stones after you've already sealed them off. But if you can't read it out, and you think you're in danger it is okay at your level to play it safe and capture.

Thanks for all the comments.

I agree that I played a bit quickly. In general I'm a pretty instinctual player so I try not to over think things, but if I took the time to read through some of those situations I probably would have gotten out of a lot of trouble. I saw a lot more opportunities when reviewing the game afterward than I did while playing.

I didn't realize hitting his stone at the top was so bad. I was worried about losing the top, but didn't think about how he could take advantage of it. Whoops. I'll keep that in mind from now on.

I'll have to practice a bit more on jumping stones more effectively. Sometimes I feel weak if I don't have a solid connection when I'm being attacked; but I guess every new player goes through that.


Well I wasn't intending to post it here at first. I was just playing because I haven't played in forever, and while reviewing it I decided to ask what all you smart people thought of my play so I knew where to focus on from now on.

_________________