After a game this morning on Tygem against what I assume was a young child--move 61 before he moved away from one side of the board--I finally get a game at KGS. Which I then blow with one move at turn 110.

I have no idea why my rank jumped up two without playing any games here! It dropped back after losing, so maybe I have to wait another two weeks, see my rank improve, and get another game at KGS?

Let's see if I can finally get this upload sequence right!

Hi Aidoneus,

Why ? L9 is the big shared vital point.

shows a similar (mis)understanding as .

bad habit/misunderstanding. Better to connect directly at D18.

better at F16.

, , , all bad. Bad habit. Bad shape for B. Broken shape.No. That's not the big mistake. The big mistake is 112,
and earlier, at 108. -- Go is often not what we think.

Both 108 and 102 are almost passes.
All you needed to do is make sure your group lives. Fix the weakness at C12.

Hi EdLee, thank you for your input. I really didn't expect any feedback on this game. I was just disgusted with myself, and basically gave up after 111, and posted it here as a kind of self-flagellation. Until move 112, I must have been using 1-2 seconds per move...way too fast for me to think.

I now think that I see most of the mistakes you point out. Except, b90, making a bamboo joint, and b92, making an empty triangle but closing the gap and protecting the cut, were bad moves? Also, at 22 I wanted to play L9 but I was afraid of the cut. Wouldn't that have gauged out my potential territory? The way we played I thought that I was getting about half the board. Wrong?

Also, I seem to have a habit of sometimes locking into "kill the stones" mode and overlooking my own safety until its too late. I think that I am up to about 20 games played online now (and maybe another 6-8 games/partial games with Many Faces of Go); I think that I should stop posting until I have played enough games to play more consistently. That is, I have way more theoretical knowledge than actual playing experience. So, thanks again for your help and encouragement!

Hi Aidoneus, the problem is not the bamboo joint.
The bamboo joint is OK; the problem is the resulting bad shape:
a fractured shape. What exactly does the exchange - do for you ?

The shape problems actually happened earlier.
For example, : please see Toothpaste

And and were also not good -- the local shape problems
are all similar, and related. See also this link.

Earlier, , is the same shape problem: already mentioned, better at F16.

Hi Aidoneus, first thing is you only spent 2 seconds per move at that point,
so like you said, not enough time to think to begin with.

To answer your question, we must look at the actual board,
actual sequences. "Afraid" and "gauging out" are only your feelings/fantasy --
what is the actual reading ? What is the reality ?

Hi Aidoneus, you're welcome, and you're correct about theory versus experience:
it's like reading 100 books on swimming without ever getting wet.

Experience, actual combat experience (in Go), is crucial for you right now.

Thank you for your responses and links. Now I have some more theory to study!