Hi .. this is my first game back from a loooong time away from Go. I did some tsumego prior to the game to refresh my go thinking. My rank is hard to pinpoint right now. I was playing at 11-10kyu before I left. I guessed I would have lost at least a few stones. A 14k game me an even game.

Overall I was pleased with the game. I was quite sloppy early on, completely botching an early fight. I started to feel despondent and even thought of resigning but I carried on to win by 22. I thought I got off easy, feeling like my opponent let me get away with some things without much resistance.

Would be helpful to get a read on some issues and topics I should address as I build a new study plan.

Thanks

Hey, good job winning your first game back! A couple of ideas:

7&9: Good, this is correct. A lot of people play the 'kick' at E17 at the wrong time like this, so it's good that you know the correct response.
11: If you approach from the wider side (F3), you're less likely to get attacked harshly, and you have more room to build a stable group. Not to mention, F3 would work better with your stones to the right. While your opponent is starting to build a tight framework on the left side, after F3 you would have stones spread fairly efficiently across the whole rest of the board.
27: Your opponent jumped too far and is spread too thin. Now is as good as time as any to go ahead and jump in at R11 to attack.
53: It may be best to just jump to K3. W could get out and potentially chase O5 a little, but your points would be safe.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]55: $$B Moves 55 to 55
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 6 7 . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X 1 4 5 a 2 O . O . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . O X X 3 X X O X . . |
$$ | . . O X . X . . . O O O X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . b , . X O O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

You played at 'a' at move 55, which is safe and defensive for that group. However, I would be tempted to play the more agressive cut, though it can lead to this difficult fight. Not certain if you have enough liberties for it at a glance, but it aims at 'b' to kill the white stones and win the game. I can't say your move is bad though, since I'm not positive mine works. =D
89: Safer one spot to the right. Otherwise, you risk your opponent pushing between your stones and cutting.
115: Good job!
129: This atari doesn't buy you anything. Better to save it for later, when your stones might be set up closer so that the atari works better.
133: Doesn't threaten much. There could be a ko, but even if you won it, the white stones on both sides are going to live.
197: Since you're in atari, you may as well just capture at G13. If you don't capture, white can.

A really good game overall. Aside from getting into trouble on the bottom side, I'd say you just clearly outplayed your opponent, overall. Keep practicing, and you'll be fine. =)

_________________
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Something went wrong in the lower left corner, but I am not sure if it is the high approach that was wrong or the fact that you played into hane-at-head-of-two immediately after, or something else entirely.

Barring that corner, 27 is your first large mistake. Almost anywhere is better. It would be a bad idea for white to attack your corner with a weak group already in the area, so don't defend against it; and even if you do defend, extend along the side (O16), don't cower in the corner like that.

29 is also wrong, look at how much better a move one line higher (Q6) would be. White could no longer shut you into the corner.

39 & 41 are not good, because you have to defend the corner, leaving him time to counter.

55: You have to block. If you can't block, then 53 was wrong.

That should be enough for now.

_________________
That which can be destroyed by the truth should be.
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Thanks Chew,

Thanks for tip on 53. Would have saved the headache of losing those 2 stones on the bottom.

55 felt wrong the moment I played it. That group felt in dire straits (anxiety from the botched plays I had just made) so I was unwilling to get aggressive.

On move 61, I told myself I was trying to connect underneath to the corner. I have a file in my brain about a tesuji connecting underneath but clearly I do not know it anymore or was not set-up for it. Quickly realized I was wrong and just solidified the corner rather than keep digging.

Move 89, here is where I felt that he let me get away with too much. Felt like I was walking a tight-rope and breathed again once he let me settle the connection. I think he was thrown by my move at C17. He said after the game, he assumed he would have been able to dominate the middle given my play in the initial fight.

I questioned myself at 121 (P14), debated whether to play K14 instead.

Felt good to hang on and pull it out.

Thanks Daniel .. especially for the explanations .. your comment on 55 in re 53 in particular.