Hello! I'm pretty new to Go would like some tips on how to improve. This is a game I just played on KGS against a bot (There don't seem to be many players around my skill level on KGS).

Using an AI, I already went over the game, so I'll put down my thoughts here:

I don't know any joseki, so for the opening moves I pretty much just tried to follow the general advice I heard online: corners, then sides, then center. Because the bot was given a handicap, I just played nearby the corner with the hope that I will later on be able to get some of it. I didn't strictly follow the advice I guess since I immediately went for a side next, even though I might have played in all of the corners first. This is my first game with a handicap so I was unsure.

On Move 58, I went for the 3-3 point because I have seen people talk about "invasions" before on youtube, and they seem to go at the 3-3 point when there are not many other opponent stones around. I don't actually know how an "invasion" works, but I thought I would play here and try to do it anyway.

On Move 68, I failed to see that my group was captured in a ladder. I mostly played where I did because I was hopeful that somehow the bot would just let me capture those two stones. I know this is not a very logical way to play, and I'm trying to kick that habit. I even thought during the game "I know I can't capture those stones, they are connected, but maybe I'll take away a liberty anyway." Then of course I failed to realize that my group was going to be captured right after that.

For the rest of the game, I think most of my mistakes came down to me not paying as close attention as I should have been, and losing stones here and there because of that. I especially am not very observant when the opponent suddenly surrounds a group that I thought was safe.

In the end I won the game, but I don't feel like I played very well and just won because the bot made more mistakes than me.


I'm sure I missed a lot of things in my review, so I would love it if someone with more experience would come and help me fill in the gaps of my understanding. Thank you!

First tip, look at:

- 80, 82
- 81
- 122, 124 etc.
- 136

Capturing stones that are already captured and pose no threat. It's almost like passing, and often worse.

My second tip would be to look at the following alternative move proposals:

- 36: F4
- 50: C13
- 84: S5

Do you see what I mean?

_________________
A good system naturally covers all corner cases without further effort.

Ah, I see what you are saying. In the past week I have been watching a lot of instructional videos on Youtube and this seems to be one of the most common things pointed out on beginner games. I am definitely guilty of this at my current level.



Let me see if I got the right ideas:

- 36: F4 This is a better move because I'm cutting off the stone on G3 right? That means the grep on the left side has fewer liberties and it will be more difficult for them to defend that corner.

- 50: C13 This is a similar idea to above, where I need to cut off that group. The B13 stone is on the second line and I can probably push it to the edge.

- 84: S5 This one I'm having some trouble with. For example if they play Q7 after I play S5, aren't I still in trouble?


Thank you for the tips!

No, Q7 is not really a problem. Try to lay it out for yourself.

But what I am getting at is purely tactical.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]tactics
$$ . . . . .
$$ . X . . .
$$ . . O X .
$$ . . . . .[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]tactics
$$ . . . . .
$$ . X O . .
$$ . . O X .
$$ . . . . .[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]tactics
$$ . . . . .
$$ . X X . .
$$ . . O X .
$$ . . . . .[/go]

Can you see what a difference a single move makes here? If white gets this stone in, the white stones are connected, and the black stones are disconnected. So disconnected, in fact, that they probably will never connect for the rest of the game.

Connecting stones is important, the more the weaker they are.

_________________
A good system naturally covers all corner cases without further effort.

My advice is to play a lot of 9x9 games at this stage. Your mistakes are mostly about what's happening on the small scale, so the large scale is currently only making the feedback loops longer.

If you don't like 9x9 and prefer 19x19 because that's the real thing, by all means do what you enjoy. I can only say you will learn faster on smaller boards right now.

Good luck!

Ah ok, I think I get it now. All of the move suggestions are examples of where I could have cut off a the stones in a knights move shape.

I'll keep on playing games, and keep these things in mind! Hopefully the next game I decide to post about will be a better one!