That's my second game on Kaya. I won't post the first, from which I resigned despite a huge lead after mistakenly deciding that my group was dead. Don't slack off on tsumegos.

It was a very interesting game because my opponent, despite being ranked as 18k, was in fact a 14k KGS. Try to give two stones handicap to someone who's stronger than you and guess the result! Yeah, I struggled and died.

In general I hate giving handicap because it forces me to play more agressively than I'd like. Please have a look, I'm especially concerned about the opening and early middle game (not that there was much of a late middle game).

Hopefully some stronger players will come along, but I took a quick look:

Kaya is like that
Yesterday I played a 1k at a 9stone handicap(my rating is 10k on kaya). After the game we found out the handicap was not to far off as she was a KGS 3d and I a KGS 5k.

Thanks, emeraldemon. I considered both the atari at P4 and the one at J19 but I couldn't decide on the right timing for those moves. It's hard for me to decide which point is bigger when playing.


Yeah, I know. But I thought he was an 18 kyu. I could reasonably hope for some kind of mistake. And it seemed easier to catch up with him by killing a group than by trying a painful reduction where black was already so thick. Too much much whishful thinking, I guess!

Yeah, it's surprising but fun. It went:
"Oh, I got rated 16k for losing my first game. Oh, well, guess I'll win the next one easily now."
"Oops"
"Hum..."
"WTF?!"
Resign

Look at some of the handicap malkovich games here on L19 to get an idea of how stronger players play handicap as white.

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=5190

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=7479

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=4036

I won't presume to say to much, but even in a handicap game you shouldn't hope for mistakes. I know advice like "play lightly" probably won't help you too much, but maybe seeing the attitude and moves in some of these games might help you. Anyway 2 stones isn't actually that much; I would play it as a normal game, and just see what happens.

Thanks. I'm looking into the first game you linked right now. It's quite fascinating.

Light play is a mysterious notion to me, I know the concept, but as for playing it...
There is a thin line between light play and leaving poor, wretched weak groups all other the place. I do not know where that line is. But studying the games you linked gives a pretty good idea of how beautifully the result can work when you do it well. I think I want to try it more.

These Malkovich games are a brilliant idea. It's so interesting to read what the players think.

Hoping for mistakes is ok, relying on them is the problem