Recently, Hyperpape had a sig that read "When you think your opponent has made a mistake, that's when you should be the most cautious." That has been sticking in my mind because it cost me an important game that I should have won back in the Wash DC Congress.
Another proverb along the same lines - I forget where I heard it - is: Keep an eye on your group any time it is down to 3 liberties or half of its liberties.
What is your rule of thumb for when to get paranoid about your group?
When to get paranoid
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Joaz Banbeck
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When to get paranoid
Help make L19 more organized. Make an index: https://lifein19x19.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5207
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Bonobo
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Re: When to get paranoid
I’m paranoid all the time 
“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali
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Tooveli
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Re: When to get paranoid
Hyperpape's sig seems like the best answer to me. I've had many tournament games with the internal monologue:
Great!
I guess this game will be easier than I thought.
That move does almost nothing!
...
...
Oh.
Great!
I guess this game will be easier than I thought.
That move does almost nothing!
...
...
Oh.
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SoDesuNe
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Re: When to get paranoid
For me the reverse is actually true. Nah, I'll live there, it's safe, I'm connected, I've plenty of room, I can always move into the center etc... Often I'm right and the result sucks due to the high amount of forcing moves my opponent gets. Sometimes I just resign a couple of moves later.
Nowadays, I try to tell me, it's better to lose because of a "slow" Honte move than because of a dead dragon.
Nowadays, I try to tell me, it's better to lose because of a "slow" Honte move than because of a dead dragon.
Last edited by SoDesuNe on Fri Sep 07, 2012 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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hailthorn011
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Re: When to get paranoid
"Three eyes are better than two, because one of them is a lie."
Slava Ukraini!
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jts
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Re: When to get paranoid
I get continually confused between "that move is pointless" and "that move is gote". So I ignore the horrible, point losing sente move. It's pretty embarrassing. (the unifying idea being the "what a stupid move" emotion.)
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SmoothOper
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Re: When to get paranoid
I have been getting some mileage out of waiting to punish my opponents mistakes. It is so tempting to call them out immediately, especially in Joseki/Fuseki variations, but most the time they don't even know it was a mistake, so there is no rush. If at some point in time later they smarten up and try to correct, it doesn't matter they have already lost tempo.
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Splatted
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Re: When to get paranoid
Looks like the mods are out to get you!Fedya wrote:[mumble grumble] thickness [expletives deleted]
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Fedya
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Re: When to get paranoid
Actually, that's all my original post.
Thickness makes me paranoid because stronger players keep saying it's a good thing, yet I can't recall ever getting thickness and having it work out well for me, no matter what I try.
Thickness makes me paranoid because stronger players keep saying it's a good thing, yet I can't recall ever getting thickness and having it work out well for me, no matter what I try.
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hyperpape
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Re: When to get paranoid
I just remembered a particular thing that fell under my signature. In OGS games, you can define conditional moves. Sometimes, I start to set a conditional move for a branch that I don't think my opponent should play. And often, those are the branches I shouldn't set. Because if the move is as bad as I think it is, then my opponent probably wouldn't play it. If they did play it, the odds are good that I missed something.