There have not been many posts in this section recently. To fix that, here is
the first of two games from the recent BGA tournament at Bracknell.
This one was played against my most frequent opponent. We have met 6 times
in the last 12 months. For some reason, all our games turn into large-scale
life-and-death battles. Probably it's because I am a determined old man and he
is a stubborn old man.
Large-scale battles are fine, of course, but I'd be
particularly interested to hear how this game could have been simplified with
advantage to either side.
I added extensive comments to educate the double-digit-kyus and to give the dan
players a laugh.
I am White. Both players are 4kyu. My opponent has improved a lot in the last
6 months; I have not. His chief weakness is that he does not think long enough.
At the end of this game, I had used the full 60 minutes, but he had only used about 17.
(;GM[1]FF[4]
CA[UTF-8]
AP[Quarry:0.2.0]
SZ[19]
ST[2]
EV[Bracknell]
RO[2]
RU[AGA]
KM[7.0]
PB[A.N. Other11]
BR[4k]
PW[thirdfogie]
WR[4k]
;B[dq];W[pd];B[qp];W[dd];B[jd]C[The first surprise from Black. The
normal rule is empty corners, then kakari or shimari, then sides.
I had a vague memory that Kajiwara says a White play at a is good when
the marked stones are in this configuration. But is that still true
when Black has a stone at k16? Since I don't know what else to do...]
TR[dd][dq]
LB[do:a];W[do];B[dp]C[Another surprise, although this opponent often
plays unusual attachments. Kitani liked this one, of course.]
;W[eo]C[Played here because of the marked stones.]TR[dd][qp]
;B[fp]C[Another surprise. I expected the hane at point a. So I
decided to take that point, but it was a mistake.]LB[co:a]
;W[co];B[bp]C[The exchange has given Black a big corner. White
must play at a now to avoid his stones becoming heavy. It might have
been better for White to play directly at a, omitting the marked stone.]
TR[co]LB[dj:a];W[dj];B[cj]C[Another unexpected attachment.]
;W[ci]C[Trying to drive Black towards my thick stones. Or are they
heavy?];B[ck];W[bi]C[I considered playing at a, but the marked stone
would be well placed to erase White's outside thickness.]
TR[jd]LB[dk:a];B[dk];W[ej];B[ek];W[fj];B[fk];W[gn]C[Both sides are
squeezing out the toothpaste.]
;B[gj];W[gk];B[gl];W[hk];B[hl];W[ik]C[See variation for what happens if
Black tries to push through and cut at a.]LB[fo:a]
(;B[dh];W[gi]C[If Black cuts at a, White would reply at b, which would
leave another weak Black group. I thought I was ahead now.]
LB[cg:b][di:a]
;B[il];W[fm];B[fl];W[io]C[Trying to get ahead.];B[hn];W[ep]
C[Played to prevent a Black cut at a, but what if Black now plays at b?]
LB[go:a][ho:b]
;B[eq];W[ho]
(;B[jk]C[See variations for what happens if black had tried to cut at a
or b.]LB[fo:a][go:b]
;W[hj]C[Kageyama says it is best to "capture the cutting stone
cleanly", but the result looks overconcentrated. Maybe I should have
played at a or b.]
LB[hi:b][ii:a]
;B[ch];W[di]C[How did I get two empty triangles?];B[de]C[Another
unexpected attachment. White's marked
stone suddenly feels lonely. I had no idea what to do here.]
TR[dd];W[cd];B[ee]C[Maybe I should let these Black stones connect up to
the marked stone while I take territory, but I decided to try to
separate the black stones.]
TR[jd];W[ed];B[fe];W[hd]C[Better at a?]LB[gd:a];B[fd];W[he];B[ec]
;W[gc]C[Still trying to keep Black separated.];B[dc];W[fc]
C[Now this is madness. I need a tattoo on the back of my playing hand
which says "COUNT THE D**N LIBERTIES" in flaming red letters.]
;B[cc]C[My tsuke-loving opponent could not miss this move.]
;W[ce]C[I decided to play it out even though I knew the white stones
were doomed.]
;B[cf];W[bf];B[bg];W[bc];B[bb];W[df];B[cg];W[be];B[ac]C[White might get
some kind of multi-step ko by playing at a now, but I never thought
of trying that. Black could have played his last move at b or c for a
cleaner kill.]
LB[ab:b][ad:a][af:c]
;W[ag];B[ah];W[af];B[bd]C[I should have stopped fighting here when I
still had 2 liberties left.
I now need to kill something big, which I knew was possible against
this opponent.]
;W[lc];B[nd]C[Another surprise. Normally, I would instantly play at a
in this shape, but I never even considered it during the game. I was
probably obsessed with the need to kill something.]
LB[nc:a];W[le];B[qe]C[Another surprise. I had no idea what to do.
This move worked out a bit like a probe.];W[qd];B[me];W[pe]
;B[ld];W[kd];B[md]C[I now spent 10 minutes analysing whether it was
safe to play at a if the opponent replies at b. I could not reach a
conclusion, but White b followed by Black a looks bad for
White, so there was no choice but to play a and hope.]
LB[kc:a][ke:b]
;W[kc]
(;B[lf]C[Black replied here instantly, which was a relief. Maybe he
read out the variations which I could not.];W[ke];B[gq];W[fo]
C[Better at a?]LB[go:a];B[gp];W[go];B[nq];W[lo]C[I wasn't worried about
the big white group at the bottom
because it had half an eye around a and another around b, plus a full
(speculative) eye around c. If Black had tried to destroy the "eye" at
c, I would just kill his big group.
No 4 kyu player can live up to that kind of analysis, but he must think
about something during the game.
Black seemed to agree with my thinking, because he now defended his
group with forcing moves against mine.]
LB[en:a][nn:c][jq:b]
;B[kn];W[ko];B[jn];W[jo];B[no]C[Maybe Black should have forced from the
top a few more times at a and b.]LB[ln:a][mn:b]
;W[ln];B[lm];W[nn]C[Still not worried about my big group, but the
chance to kill Black's big group seems to have gone.];B[mm]
;W[mn];B[oo];W[nm];B[mk];W[mh]C[A desparate splitting attack. I still
need to kill something big after the disaster at the top left.]
;B[mg];W[nh]C[Better at a?]LB[lh:a];B[jf];W[kh];B[kg];W[je]
C[The last few moves seemed to help White more than Black.]
;B[jh];W[ki];B[hg]C[I did not expect this, but I should have done. Can
Black connect to the left or to the bottom?];W[gg];B[hf]
;W[gf];B[ng];W[oh];B[oc]C[Trying to find eyes.];W[pb]C[Better at a?]
LB[ob:a];B[pc];W[qc];B[ob];W[qb]C[A move at a to set up a ko might have
been better. I expect stronger players to do that to me during
handicap games. Why do I never think of doing the same thing during
even games?]
LB[qa:a];B[mb];W[mc];B[nc];W[lb];B[na];W[oe];B[og];W[nf]
;B[mf];W[ih]C[Still need to kill something.];B[of];W[ne]
;B[qg];W[ph]C[White might be able to continue the attack by playing at
a or b, but I decided to try my luck against Black's lower group
instead.]
LB[pf:b][qh:a]
;B[qf];W[rd]C[White must live in the corner.];B[ri];W[ok]
;B[nl]C[Was Black still trying to kill the big white group at the
bottom? Black could easily win without doing that.];W[ol]
;B[bo]C[Yes, Black still wanted to kill the big white group.]
;W[bn];B[cm];W[cn];B[bm];W[an];B[pn];W[nk];B[ml];W[pm]C[White must
connect to avoid a complex capturing race that could end in a seki.]
;B[on];W[om];B[qn]C[White is now connected round 3 sides of Black's big
weak group, so Black 155 takes an unnecessary risk, given his lead on
the board.]
;W[kk]C[Does this work?]
(;B[kl]C[Could Black have lived by playing as in the variations?]
;W[jj];B[jl];W[lk];B[ll]C[Would a black play at a have been better?]
LB[in:a];W[in];B[im]C[To preserve the nearby eye.];W[dm]
;B[bj];W[ai]C[Black should now give up the squared stones to save
the triangled stones, but he does not see the danger.]SQ[fd][de:fe]
[cf][bg:cg][ah][ch:dh]
TR[bj:cj][ck:fk][jk][mk][fl:nl][bm:cm][im][lm:mm][hn][jn:kn]
;B[ae]C[Black overlooked White's next move.];W[al]C[I enjoy moves on
the first line that can connect out in both directions, so I was never
going to miss this one.]
;B[bl];W[ak];B[ql]C[Black realised his big group is dead but does not
like to resign and carried on playing normal yose.];W[li]
C[The first of many "safety-first" moves, inviting Black to
resign.];B[lq];W[jq];B[re];W[ra];B[fb];W[gb];B[eb];W[gh]
;B[ie]C[I don't know what Black was trying to achieve here.]
;W[id];B[if];W[ge];B[pj];W[mj]C[It would have been much better to play
at a
Being now short of time and highly stressed, I decided to play nothing
but safety-first, including lots of "minus 1 point in gote" moves to
ensure no accidents as liberties were filled. (I well know how much it
hurts to lose through failing to protect.) I almost overdid this
policy, and eventually won by just 1 point.
No more moves recorded.]
LB[oj:a])
(;B[jj];W[ji];B[kj];W[lj]
(;B[lk];W[kl]
(;B[jl];W[km]C[I probably would not have found this move over the board.]
;B[jm];W[in];B[ll];W[kl];B[li];W[mi];B[mj];W[lh];B[jg]
(;W[ge];B[ii];W[ij];B[hh];W[hi];B[gh];W[fh];B[fg];W[eg];B[ff]
;W[gd];B[ae])
(;W[hh];B[ge]C[The big white group looks aliive now, even without a
play at a.]LB[fh:a]))
(;B[km];W[jl]))
(;B[kl];W[lk];B[in];W[gm])))
(;B[ke];W[lf];B[jc];W[je];B[kf];W[lg];B[mc];W[jb]
(;B[ib]
(;W[kb];B[ic];W[mb];B[nb];W[la];B[ja]C[Black wins.])
(;W[ic]C[Simple. White wins.]))
(;B[ic];W[ib]C[White wins.];B[ie])
(;B[kb];W[lb];B[ib]
(;W[ka];B[ic])
(;W[ja];B[ic];W[mb];B[ka];W[la];B[nb];W[hb];B[ia];W[hc];B[ka]
;W[kb];B[na];W[id]C[White wins.]))))
(;B[fo];W[fn];B[en];W[fq];B[gp];W[gq];B[hp];W[iq];B[hq];W[hr]
;B[gr];W[fr];B[ir];W[ip];B[hs];W[go];B[hr];W[jr];B[er];W[em]
;B[dn];W[cm]C[OK for White.
Of course, I did not read this out during the game.])
(;B[go];W[gp];B[fo];W[fq]))
(;B[fo];W[fn];B[en];W[em];B[dn];W[cm]C[Black must defend at a, but
he does not have any good plays around point b, so I judged this OK
for White.]LB[fm:a][hn:b]
)
)
EDITED to correct various typos and infelicities.
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