Life In 19x19

I still have a copy of 'Basic Techniques of Go' on my shelf. It is water stained and worn, but still holding together. I've been through it cover to cover several times.

I wish him well in his retirement.

Despite having played go for over 30 years, I did not know the term 'teire'. For those of similar ignorance, from SL:

Te-ire (手入れ) is a Japanese Go term referring to a play which reinforces, repairs, or fixes up one's shape.

I listened to an interview with Jay Powell on Marketplace about 10 days ago, after he was re-confirmed as head of the Federal Reserve. He was adamant that he was going to get inflation down to 2%. In his opening comments, he said:

"...we understand that inflation is very painful, that the Fed is ...

Also, the invasion at 31 is suicidal. It forces white to split your groups so that he can attack both. I'm amazed that your left side group did not die.

I would have slid under with B4.

Or, if I were really determined to invade, I would have delayed the invasion by attacking his left side group ...

My 64th birthday was yesterday.

I'm still playing volleyball with people whose average age is in their thirties. Much to my surprise, my knees are still holding up under such stresses. The PCL tear from five years ago does not cause any problems.


I am heartened by news that I read of an ...

The first eight moves are reasonable, but your game turns inward on move 9.
This is a bad exchange for you.

$$B Moves 9 to 10
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X ...

If you present it like this, it is easier for people to review.
Note how the sfg tag is used here.

(;FF[4]
CA[UTF-8]
GM[1]
DT[2022-05-11]
PC[OGS: https://online-go.com/game/43655586]
GN[Friendly Match]
PB[ChrisBecker]
PW[doge_bot_4]
BR[9k]
WR[9k]
TM[120]OT[30 fischer]
RE[W+8.5]
SZ[19]
KM[7.5]
RU ...

gowan wrote:...slow down the acclimatization...

Repeat this for emphasis.

The game looks decent until move 34. You have played a solid, though perhaps unenterprising game, with no obvious faults.

But move 34 is way too small. It is worth 4 or 5 points, and is barely sente.

$$ Position at move 34 ...

(;FF[4]
CA[UTF-8]
GM[1]
DT[2021-12-02]
PC[OGS: https://online-go.com/game/39157321]
GN[thequietcenter vs. james70739]
PB[thequietcenter]
PW[james70739]
BR[10k]
WR[6k]
TM[259200]OT[86400 fischer]
RE[W+R]
SZ[19]
KM[6.5]
RU[Japanese]
;B[pp]
(;W[dd]
(;B[pd]
(;W[dq]
(;B[co]
(;W[ep]
(;B[cl]
(;W[qn]
(;B ...

16: ...Jump to D7...

Would you rather have this:

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X ...

16: Way too defensive. Even if black were to have played the standard C6 at move 15, it would still be defensive. But here it is almost paranoid.

You have a solid formation. Use it. Jump to D7. ( Remember the proverb: "The one space jump is almost never wrong." It should be on your short list most ...

You should answer at 96 with K4.


I followed and appreciated all of the feedback except this suggestion: I don't see how one stone cut off from all White can survive in a sea of Black...

As I noted in my previous post:


He has lots of weaknesses on the lower side.


If you glance at the ...

Black 11 at F18 is too thin. ( Joseki is to interpose D16, wD15, then F18 )
When he fails to protect D17, you can get an advantage by going there yourself on move 12.
The followup is bloody - and you have to be careful because he has the ladder breaker in the lower right - but you should show a ...