Here is one of the most recent games that I have played, please criticize and help me improve:

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"shinigami" IGS server, "Entautista" Tygem Server

It's late here, so I have just time for a few comments.

Your grasp of fuseki seems very good for 13K - you had good balance through the first 20 moves. Work a little on joseki and you'll be several stones stronger. In particular, move 5 at N16 is stretching too far. O16 is most often played, though O17 and N17 have been seen too.

A few other thoughts before my forehead bumps the keyboard: try to avoid the empty triangle shape ( http://senseis.xmp.net/?TheEmptyTriangleIsBad ), and avoid being on the receiving end of the hane at the head of two stones ( http://senseis.xmp.net/?HaneAtTheHeadOfTwoStones ) as happened at moves 11/12.

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

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

Just a quick thought: You were pretty fortunate that your opponent didnt kill your lower left group with a move at A6 instead of A5.

A6-B6, then A4 and A5 are miai for two eyes.

That shows just how rusty I am. Thank you for the correction.

Regarding Black 5--I agree with Joaz that it is generally too loose. My comment is just sort of an aside: It amazes me that virtually every response to an approach (and virtually every approach) can be a good move depending on the overall position. Here is a game between Fujisawa Shuko (w) and Go Seigen (b) (white won by 2 points):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X X X X . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . O X O O O O X , . . . . O O . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . O X . X . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . O . . . X O . O X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . O . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . 3 . . , . . . X . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

And here is a game between Kato Masao and Hua Yigang in 1973, in which Masao uses the response: (full disclosure, Masao loses this game)

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . 6 . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Again, I completely agree that a bit tighter response is usually better, and this is an unusual move (27 pro games in my database of tens of thousands of games). Still, I thought it was interesting.