Lucky Win

hailthorn011 · #1

This win was all luck. My opponent made a critical mistake at the end. And do I mean LUCKY! I can't help but feel that it might have been intentional, but I could be wrong. Either way, I could use some work here.

Chew Terr · #2

Just a few thoughts. If anyone stronger disagrees, please correct me.
6: After this invasion, you can push to P16 in sente (white must defend at O18 or similar), after which you can opt to seal white in at N15, which would give you supreme thickness.
10: This is a great choice of joseki for many games with handicap 5+. However, when you do the kick at 8, 10 must be around F4 to defend against the weakness at E4. For this reason, white will get an extension after you fix this weakness. This joseki is good for handicap games because your stone at D10 will make any extension white takes cramped. After this inevitable extension, you can pressure the group to build strength (and perhaps territory) on both sides. The loss you took in the corner was just because you didn't know about that weak spot in the shape, it looks like.
44: When white invades the 3-3 after approaching the outside, you normally want to take E16 instead of this more aggressive hane. We had a thread not too long ago on this forum going over some of the variations of it. However, it is sufficient to know that the stone at C14 gives white more options in a fight, if white chooses to take it.
84: Great job, this is a great result from the fight.
86: I personally like the shape resulting from Q14 for this move, because it gives you more options when white takes S16.
96: This move looks sente, but it forces your opponent to make a move that is also sente, so this move wasn't sente in the first place. After you force your opponent to defend, and then defend yourself, you haven't really gained much. L5, R5, or R8 are higher-priority options.
110: If those stones are worth saving (and they're heavy enough they might be), you have to atari from the other side. You'd still have to fight your way out, but with 6 stones, the fight is worth considering.
134: Since this doesn't threaten the group below, this would be better at M10. It would help your group's safety while pressuring that group below fairly severely. M10 is the sort of shape move that is urgent for both players.
154: R4 or R5 would be bigger. The group you defended is in a ladder that doesn't work, so you can safely worry about your other, weaker group.

Magicwand · #3

at your level please stick with joseky.
it is too easy to beat sdk in 9 stone handycap if you stick with joseky.
infact it is too easy to beak dan level players in 9 stone if you stick with joseky.

yes, i am talking about move 6 and move 10.
if you play joseky, later on you will notice how solid it is.
if you can notice that thickness then you are getting stronger.

see how other stronger players play and use that same shape in your game.
do not fight too close if your opponent is strong.
make sure you let him live and gain thickness.
idea is not to kill him but let him live with two eye.
if you can do that then you will improve very quickly.

Bill Spight · #4

A few comments, and some iffy but fun variations.

hailthorn011 · #5

Chew Terr wrote:

Just a few thoughts. If anyone stronger disagrees, please correct me.
6: After this invasion, you can push to P16 in sente (white must defend at O18 or similar), after which you can opt to seal white in at N15, which would give you supreme thickness.
10: This is a great choice of joseki for many games with handicap 5+. However, when you do the kick at 8, 10 must be around F4 to defend against the weakness at E4. For this reason, white will get an extension after you fix this weakness. This joseki is good for handicap games because your stone at D10 will make any extension white takes cramped. After this inevitable extension, you can pressure the group to build strength (and perhaps territory) on both sides. The loss you took in the corner was just because you didn't know about that weak spot in the shape, it looks like.
44: When white invades the 3-3 after approaching the outside, you normally want to take E16 instead of this more aggressive hane. We had a thread not too long ago on this forum going over some of the variations of it. However, it is sufficient to know that the stone at C14 gives white more options in a fight, if white chooses to take it.
84: Great job, this is a great result from the fight.
86: I personally like the shape resulting from Q14 for this move, because it gives you more options when white takes S16.
96: This move looks sente, but it forces your opponent to make a move that is also sente, so this move wasn't sente in the first place. After you force your opponent to defend, and then defend yourself, you haven't really gained much. L5, R5, or R8 are higher-priority options.
110: If those stones are worth saving (and they're heavy enough they might be), you have to atari from the other side. You'd still have to fight your way out, but with 6 stones, the fight is worth considering.
134: Since this doesn't threaten the group below, this would be better at M10. It would help your group's safety while pressuring that group below fairly severely. M10 is the sort of shape move that is urgent for both players.
154: R4 or R5 would be bigger. The group you defended is in a ladder that doesn't work, so you can safely worry about your other, weaker group.

Thanks, as usual, for the input!

hailthorn011 · #6

Bill Spight wrote:

A few comments, and some iffy but fun variations.

Thanks a lot. In think I understood a lot of what you were saying there.

hailthorn011 · #7

Magicwand wrote:

at your level please stick with joseky.
it is too easy to beat sdk in 9 stone handycap if you stick with joseky.
infact it is too easy to beak dan level players in 9 stone if you stick with joseky.

yes, i am talking about move 6 and move 10.
if you play joseky, later on you will notice how solid it is.
if you can notice that thickness then you are getting stronger.

see how other stronger players play and use that same shape in your game.
do not fight too close if your opponent is strong.
make sure you let him live and gain thickness.
idea is not to kill him but let him live with two eye.
if you can do that then you will improve very quickly.

I think I learned quite a bit from this opponent as we went along. It was a fun game, but if he hadn't made that mistake at the end, I would have lost terribly. However, I'll make sure to take what you say into consideration as well and try it. I usually watch 5-6D games a lot on KGS, but I'm not sure it's helping too much.

EdLee · #8

Important basics, worth repeating yet another time.

The marked spot is a vital point for both Black and White:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B Black Move 6: vital point $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . X X B . . . . $$ | . . O O . O . X . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ |------------------[/go]

If White gets it first, W makes good shape and all local B stones are weakened:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B Vital point $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . X X W . . . . $$ | . . O O . O . X . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ |------------------[/go]

Black Move 10: Locally, it is the one-space jump, or (a):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B Black Move 10 $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . X . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . O O . . . . . $$ | . . X . . . . . . $$ | . . . X . B . . . $$ | . . . . . a . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ |------------------[/go]

hailthorn011 · #9

EdLee wrote:

Important basics, worth repeating yet another time.

The marked spot is a vital point for both Black and White:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B Black Move 6: vital point $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . X X B . . . . $$ | . . O O . O . X . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ |------------------[/go]

If White gets it first, W makes good shape and all local B stones are weakened:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B Vital point $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . X X W . . . . $$ | . . O O . O . X . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ |------------------[/go]

Black Move 10: Locally, it is the one-space jump, or (a):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B Black Move 10 $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . X . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . O O . . . . . $$ | . . X . . . . . . $$ | . . . X . B . . . $$ | . . . . . a . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ | . . . . . . . . . $$ |------------------[/go]

Right, I see the difference. To be honest, I'm not sure what I was thinking.

Lucky Win

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