Hey Guys,

I played a game against a pretty strong player. (even though you don't notice that too much in the game maybe)
I'm black in this game.
I thought I was doing ok until white played 96 which made it very hard for me to reduce that area because my stones were not so well connected.

Probably I should have shoulderhitted k4 before 96 was ever played ?
Because this area became to big I think I mostly lost but not sure.

Any comments on this part or other parts of the game are very welcome !



Thanks !
Otenki

Some comments:

move 11 - Usually, move 9 is played in this circumstance as a probe, to see whether white will respond with a keima or ogeima. Black then switches back to the joseki in the lower right and knows whether he should make the solid or hanging connection to get the ideal extension from his stones. Tenuki from the lower right is playable in some circumstances, but after white cuts and black sacrifices stones, black needs a stronger position in the lower left to supplement his stones.

In addition, taking the corner at this stage of the game is small, and white's choice of direction allows him an ideal approach to the upper-right corner with a nice wall to build a position opposite.

Move 58 - By attacking white from the lower left side at this point in the game, black has removed the shoulder hit at D14 as an option for his upper left group. Normally, when black plays the diagonal, it makes miai of that shoulder hit and the extension to the right. Because black played to allow white to take it in sente, white now takes the second point as well and puts the black group in a tighter spot than it should be.

Move 61 - NOOOOO! When black attaches, black strengthens and stabilizes the white group. White just dropped a few stones into an area of black's influence, so black needs to attack white to make up for the area where he no longer has potential. By strengthening white, black throws his profit to the wind. Also, black is choosing a joseki that ends in gote for black, but white already has one of the stones he would play in the joseki, so not only would black end in gote, he will also STILL owe a move. If you are 8k, it is time to erase this move from your repertoire until you know how to attack the group and make the decision that attacking is the wrong choice.

Move 65 - White has just played a dubious move, trying to have his cake and eat it too. Black should play at P17 to split white and attack the side that white does not strengthen. Building the huge moyo on the right seems like a good idea, but black is putting all his eggs in one basket, and with R10 on the 4th line, it is very easy to invade. Black may not be able to get compensation for the inevitable white invasion.

Move 83 - Don't you wish you had played c18 one move earlier, so you could tenuki white's move? The empty triangle is a sign that black played inefficiently.

Move 88 - Without counting anything in the moyo on the right, black appears to have around 28 points on the board. White has started playing endgame moves, but I'm not sure this move is big enough to be sente. No groups are threatened, and a tenuki will probably cost 15 points or so, maybe 20, as a guess. A reduction in the center would at least equal that, if not be much larger, so it may be worth playing the reduction now, and if white persists in trying to reduce black's moyo, black should reduce white while playing to make a decent center himself. It's important to get to this before white takes gote later to play the giant center move that leaves black scrambling for a response.

As you noted, the stones on the left are plastered against white's wall and not very reliable to say the least, so if you play a move like k4, and need to run, you can't really count on them. I'm looking at a more shallow reduction, like k6, that can run both to the left and to the top right. If white takes his points on the right, black can continue to move deeper into the moyo. If white defends, white has blinked first, and this generally means that you can reduce in sente and follow it up by defending against the move you tenukied.

Move 99 - Black's group is not in danger here, but for his reducing stones to have any meaning, he needs to save them. It's better to give white the 10 or 20 points on the left in exchange for connecting them and ruining the 30 or more points white was looking to get in the center. F7 or F8 look like good candidates. In addition, you don't need to save those particular stones at E5 and G5, so much as the idea of the big reduction.

Your move is saying that you want the outside here. But then you answered with , protecting the left side. These two moves do not make sense together.

The left side is about 6 points of territory and the 2 stones at B6 and C6. I don't think these stones are actually important because the left side isn't going to die if you lose them. You destroy at least 6 points of territory and save 2 stones by playing outside anyway.

Therefore at E6 is better. Also eventually white will have to connect at D5 so I claim it's sente as well.

Sorry for my late reply, thanks for the comments and ideas skydyr and peppernut !

One thing i don't understand howhever is your comment on move 61.



I'm getting very strong influence in order to make the right side solid teritory...
Is there any sequence you can show me that would show me how it could turn out better in this situation ?
My thinking was, if white is able to jump to o15 my whole mojo is reduced.

Thanks,
Otenki

Well, with the line that black chose in the game, there are still peeps on both sides of the moyo, which white could use with an invasion under q10 to reduce the territory black will get. Usually, having your opponent invade a moyo is a good thing, because you consolidate part of it. In this case, though, black doesn't have prospects of a big centre, because white has a lot of high positions on the board, so a successful invasion could leave black without much in way of compensation.

Honestly, though, I have much less strong feelings about this than I said originally. Looking at it now, I'm most excited to have black end in sente so that black can play at b17 at try and get something out of attacking the white group.

As for alternative moves, I think just a standard keima or one space jump down the side would be fine. Something to close the corner from the top side should also work. The key is to avoid contact moves and forcing moves that help white stabilize the white group, because the 3 space jump is a little loose to start with. Ideally, black would leave with sente and a not fully strong white group, attack with b17 and lean on the left side white group to build strength, and then take advantage of the thinness in white's top side position to invade or attack from the right in such a way as to build the moyo.

Am I making sense?

I understand what you are saying.

Thanks !
Otenki

11. Seems bad. The 3-3 under a knight's move is cramped.

23. Should be an enclosure top left (because white needs to approach there to use the wall)

27. I do not like this or its timing. Seems heavy.

31. I like helping these stones. In this case I would perhaps play O6.

65. It's my inclination to still play P17 and aim to split top and left.

83. Jumping to H15 to strengthen this group looks nicer. You can't aim to attack the white stones any more.

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