Hey L19x19,

I just played a game and am a bit confused about why I lost it.
Can someone point me to a few things I should do better in order to improve ?

I don't know my rank but think somewhere about 20k.

Thanks a lot in advance!

Otenki

I am not super strong, so I could be wrong on any of this, but I thought of these when reading this game:

1) the one space jump is not always good. If black does a one space jump and white can cut it, white probably should cut it. White should also not do a one space jump where black can easily cut you. Kaz on KGS calls them the Romeo and Juliet stones. You do not want them separated if they are your stones.
2) Influence is not good to build territory. Influence is good to attack. It is not easy to do, though. Remember that territory is most easily built in the corners, then sides, then the middle last. Seems like white was trying to build territory in the middle.
3) Try looking at the position in the top left corner and find some better moves. White could have easily killed Black's invasion.
4) some of white's moves were very slow and without much purpose, look at moves 42-44 and 56-58.
5) It might help to play slowly, although I am not sure if moves were played fast or not. Someone once suggested to sit on our hands between each click. That way we will slow down and think of each move. Move 194, for example, maybe came too quickly? N2 would have captured the 3 black stones and pressured the bottom right corner.

Thanks a lot for the hints!
Do you by any chance also know if the two moves at N17 and R14 were bad in the beginning ?
I was trying to get some kind of corner teritory there but it did not work well.

Otenki

N17 and R14 both violate the principle "don't play close to strength".

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Ok thanks; I'll keep that in mind.

Cheers,
Otenki

12: Remember: corners before sides. O3 feels just a tad better. ( Even N3 might be better because of high/low balance )

14: A little too deep, maybe a tad premature. O16 or P15 or Q11 feels safer. ( BTW, a dan-level technique is S16, then see how he replies. )

20: The first truly bad move. You are starting a second weak group near a strong shimari. He can start a double attack easily, and one of them will die.

24: As noted be the reviewer above, you probably should push through. ( Not always, though. )

25: You now have THREE weak groups in the same area of the board. This cannot turn out well for you.

32: Aji keshi and gote. Or, at least, it is gote if he realizes that he can tenuki at 35.

38: Leaves a gap for him to push through at D9. However, if you take D9 yourself, it works well with your wall.

44: Aji keshi.

46-56: This, of course, will turn out badly because you are too deep.

60: Again, you push in with no respect for his strength. If he had played the obvious M11 at 67, you would be screwed.

gotta go... maybe more later...

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Just to add to this is my general preference in fuseki. I think white becomes over-concentrated on the bottom of the board in the beginning of the game and gives black easy plays.
I would much prefer to pincer the black approach at R6.
Even before, this, though, I would have played somewhere around R10 to avoid an strong extension from the black corner enclosure.
Even before this, I probably would have played in the top right corner to avoid any black enclosure anyway.
This is my personal preference, but I would rather not give black such easy easy claim to the corner and side. I would have tried to influence the position more in either the corner or the side.

There are a lot of options in the early game, though, so these are just my preferences.

Thanks to all of you for providing input... I will go through the game with all your comments in mind.

Cheers,
Otenki