This game seems to be a prime example of a pattern I've fallen into lately. Notice all the walls I've built...

I resigned about 100 moves in because I was just fixated on chasing my opponent and making these giant walls. I don't know where I've picked up this habit but I noticed the trend started a couple of weeks back when I started teaching my son the game. I don't know if his desire to play thickly on 9x9 is influencing me or if I'm just arbitrarily fixated on this nonsense.

Anyone have tips for breaking out of this strange obsession?

Thanks!

Hi there. I think for us (low DDK) we should play more... dont just resign at the beginning... specially because for us, its really hard to get a hold of the points in the board. Playing a lot of games help us to get the feeling of the game.

If you like to fight, good, fight. Do you like tsumego? It will make your fighting skill stronger. For example, I was going through you game and this situation showed up.

Tsumego, white to get the corner:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Another tsumego, white to play and get the bottom territory:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O X X O . O O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . O O . O O O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Taking those situations aside, white had the top left corner. Some bottom left corner, and a lot influence to the center.
I cant see all that territory for black. Where I look at, I see chances to reduce. If someone showed me the board position (when you resign) and asked me, wanna continue? Which color do you want to play? I would definitively say white. But that is just a two cents of a 16k IGS.

Well, first, you resigned too early. Yes, Black is ahead, but not by an insurmountable amount at your level.

White's best chance is probably the invasion at R-08. It is even possible that you will cut off and kill the two Black stone is the corner there. Also, accidents happen, even late in the game. Especially late in the game as the dame get filled.

Probably more in the morning.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

Some variations - and one piece of advice: keep fighting -
1. at your level players make all sorts of mistakes
2. you'll never get to play endgame if you resign or win by move 100. Playing on is good practice, plus your opponent may be 8 kyu opening 15 kyu midgame and 40 kyu endgame.
3. The stronger my opponents get the harder and longer they seem to fight. Tenacity is an important part of rank.

Main focus: Make the game difficult for your opponent. Attack!

Your main problem is not making walls, it is playing too timidly.



I put in several variations. Not that you should read them out in a game, but to show you some possibilities.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

I don't know that you would want to break this alleged obsession. Walls are good things to have.

Rather, I would recommend that you add to your arsenal. Walls are best used like anvils; they provide a surface against which you can crush your opponent. You are building anvils, now you just need better hammers.

As an example, at move 84, you played L4. But you have him pinned aginst your wall, so you can be more aggressive with the hane at L3.

EDIT: I see that Bill is saying much the same thing, but in more detail. Note move 84 in his diagram.

_________________
Help make L19 more organized. Make an index: https://lifein19x19.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5207

Playing thickly is the safest way to play for a beginner. For some tips on using thickness to attack, here's a brief tutorial by Yao Yun 5d of Gogameworld.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqYNNjuhrTk

Also, you may want to consider replaying pro games. If you've watched the anime series Hikaru no Go, you may have heard of Shusaku Honinbo. I would highly recommend replaying his games, even at 17k. Through replaying them (preferably without commentary, since you will need to gain some experience playing Go before being able to appreciate it; comments are easier to understand when there is some background information to help us put it into context), you will absorb good playing habits that you can apply in your games. As well, your son might enjoy replaying Shusaku games.

You can also replay games by more modern players, if you prefer that. Lee Changho, Shao Zhenzhong, Yamada Kimio, and Sekiyama Riichi are some players that usually play a thickness-based style.

In practice you can replay game records by the player of your choice. The important thing is to play and practice regularly.

Thanks for the problems!

I don't particularly care to fight as I'm not a very good fighter. I resigned early because I was fixated on building those walls and seemingly couldnt' stop. I'm aware that it was premature but I was far too frustrated to continue.

I work 3-5 tsumego a day. I could probably stand to increase that number.

I think you may have hit the nail on the head. I'm generally pretty passive (at least I have been in the last few months). I'll review your comments, thanks!

I try to place stones that I can use to work off of but I hadn't considered using walls in this way. It seems pretty obvious now that it's been said. Thanks!

I rarely replay pro games but it's something I've considered. I may attempt that this weekend.

C18 wasn't a misclick. I originally intended to keep the corner but I can see that it was pretty passive after all.

Move 30 was definitely loss of confidence. I thought I saw a ladder leading out to black in the upper right. I think at this point is when the wall building ramped up in my brain.

Move 38 is the second mention of a double approach. I haven't played this sort of thing out, I think I'll tinker with it this evening. Move 46 also seem to follow this train of thought. I'll keep looking for these patterns.

Thanks so much for the commentary!

Okay, I guess I’ve gotta brace myself then …

Greetz, Tom

_________________
“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali ★ Play a slooooow correspondence game with me on OGS?

I'm still not sure where our current game is going!