Hello.

Today I played a 9x9 game. I was White. I was getting completely crushed. I was so losing that I didn't even bother counting the score during the game. And then my opponent resigned, I thought that I played so badly and so slowly that my opponent didn't even bother to finish me off.

Then I went back through the game to analyze it. And here came the shock: I actually WON the game! And by a big margin of 12.5 points!

How could this possibly happen?! How could I be so stupid? Why was I so pessimistic about the situation? I know I didn't sleep much last night, but still that's no excuse for misunderestimating my position as much as that...

Here's the game:




26 was probably a mistake.

32 was a trap. In fact I was sure that my opponent would fall for it. But he didn't... The point was:
33. d2
34. b6
35. b7
36. b4
or:
33. d2
34. b4
35. b3
36. b6

37 was a mistake by my opponent. G8 seems clearly better, and if 38 at E2 Black can just play 39 at F7 and White's group at the top will die.

40 was good, but maybe I should have done it earlier?

Right after move 43, I think I should have slowed down and think about what's happening on the board.
Black's group at the top right can't make two eyes, so I shouldn't rush trying to capture it. Instead, I should just make sure my two groups are alive.
And my group at the bottom right is already alive. If Black plays at H1 I can play at I3. If Black instead tries I2 I can play at H1.
So I should have played F7, which ensures that my group at the top is also alive.
But I didn't have enough time to think clearly during the game. 10 minutes + 5 byo-yomi of 60 seconds each is too fast for me, I think I'm going to double the length of the byo-yomi next time.

But why was I hallucinating that I was completely losing during the game? I think it was because I had two groups which were small, disconnected and a little shaky (I had to worry constantly about my groups being killed), while my opponent had one big and solid group. Additionally I was too focused on making good moves and calculating what could happen locally, which led me to slightly forget about the global position. And I may have also forgot about the power of the komi. Basically it was some kind of optical illusion.

Anyway, your opinion on why I misunderestimated my position and your analyzis on the game is welcomed. Thanks in advance.

Komi, on a 9x9 board, is gigantic. The percentage equivalent on a 19x19 board would be more than 30 points. Also, if you're just eyeballing it, territory made up of dead stones is twice the value of territory that is open, but it doesn't necessarily appear that way.