There are a couple of aspects of this game which are interesting to me.
First, I felt quite confident at this point in the game:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | W . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O X O . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . X X X O . O . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . X . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
Indeed, the version of KataGo that I have on my laptop estimates that white is ahead by nearly 50 points.
Just two moves later, and I am back at it:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | O . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O X O . . 1 . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . X X X O . O . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . X . X . 2 . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
This invasion doesn't seem necessarily too deep. However, I am more concerned about my mindset.
1. It's clear that I just made a big profit.
2. Black must do stuff to catch up.
3. The invasion I played is *probably* ok, but UNCLEAR.
I think it would be better for me to just take a big point on the board, without making things less clear.
For example:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | O . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O X O . . X . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . X X X O . O . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . X . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
The move above can't be that bad. I might have to invade the bottom at some point in the future, but that situation may also never arise.
**I should aim to keep things simple**
I recall thinking, around this point in the game:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | O . X O X . . . . . O O O X B . . . . |
$$ | X X X X O O . . . . X X X O O . . X . |
$$ | . O X X X O . . X . X O O . . O . . . |
$$ | . O X O X O . X . O O . . O X O X . . |
$$ | . O O O X O . . X X X O O . X . X . . |
$$ | . X X X O . O X O O . . . X O , . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . X X X O O O O X O X . . . |
$$ | . X . . O X . O . X X X X . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
"Why did I get into a skirmish so quickly? I clearly made profit on the left. Now it's not even clear that I will live."
KataGo seems to think that white is still ahead here, but that is irrelevant: I opted for a less than certain strategy, because that's my default mode of operation, it'd seem.
I lose a lot of points with the seemingly innocuous move here:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . X . . . . O X X O O . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O . O X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O . . O . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . W . O . . . . X . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X X O . O X . . . X O O |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . X X O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . X X O C O O X O X O O . |
$$ | O . X O X . O X X X O O O X X O O X O |
$$ | X X X X O O . O X X X X X O O . O X . |
$$ | . O X X X O . O X O X O O O X O X . X |
$$ | . O X O X O . X O O O O . O X O X X . |
$$ | . O O O X O . . X X X O O . X . X . . |
$$ | . X X X O . O X O O . X X X O , . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . X X X O O O O X O X . . . |
$$ | . X . . O X . O . X X X X . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
During the game, I didn't think much of it. It seemed too much to play the marked intersection, and I needed to reinforce my stones.
Instead, I should play here:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . X . . . . O X X O O . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O . O X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O . . O . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O W C . . X . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X X O . O X . . . X O O |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . X X O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . X X O C O O X O X O O . |
$$ | O . X O X . O X X X O O O X X O O X O |
$$ | X X X X O O . O X X X X X O O . O X . |
$$ | . O X X X O . O X O X O O O X O X . X |
$$ | . O X O X O . X O O O O . O X O X X . |
$$ | . O O O X O . . X X X O O . X . X . . |
$$ | . X X X O . O X O O . X X X O , . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . X X X O O O O X O X . . . |
$$ | . X . . O X . O . X X X X . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
It strengthens my stones and makes miai of the two marked points. The game became closer after this.
Slowly, I lost the lead, until in the end, I lost by a half point.
What is the takeaway here?
* I think I need to focus more on controlling the complexity of the game. I have one mode of operation, but I need to be able to tweak it. When I have a move that is simple, but clearly good, I should take it.