I am in a slump, please help.

thirdfogie · Post by **thirdfogie** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 6:53 am

I have lost 6 of my last 7 games. Some losses followed blunders caused by some mixture of
tiredness, impatience and inexperience, and no-one else can help with those problems.

Other losses happened after I built up an early lead (IMHO) and somehow failed to take advantage of it.
There are two records of such games, and this is the first.

By the way, I thought this game had already been posted, but there is no sign of it.
Probably another blunder caused by tiredness... Please forgive me if it is a
double post.

peppernut · Post by **peppernut** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 7:29 am

is the wrong shape for white. This move does not adequately protect against a hane at P7. You could play :b19:

at P7, White must block or be cut through, and then you have an atari at R7 which is painful for white.

Afterwards you can come back to play on the bottom side, and there I would play at M5 or M6 not M4. :b19:

at M4 is just not severe enough.

By :w20:

I think white has already escaped punishment for his invasion (which is exactly what your opening is trying to trap!) If :b21:

is not really attacking white (it's just protecting right side territory) then it is too slow, and I'm not surprised to see :w22:

. This is the obvious weakness to your bottom side.

There's no simple answer after your opponent attacks your shape like :w22:

. The right way to handle it is to fight for sente the move before IMO because you have to expect this.

skydyr · Post by **skydyr** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 8:27 am

Later on from peppernut's comments, at move 39 I'm not sure that O10 is active enough, and at move 43, black really needs to keep sente. For black, I kept looking at F3, as with that attacking stone cut off, black could start a running fight that has implications for white's original right side group, as well as possibly making something in the lower left corner.

peppernut · Post by **peppernut** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 8:52 am

I agree that :b43:

seems wrong. The right side territory isn't all that big. It's also really important to note that sansan upper right is still open. I prefer :b43:

at P17. If :w44:

at O16, then you keep sente.

I don't think you can get away with F3 until you close the door on white at K3. But K3 looks like it does threaten F3 and it's a big move anyway. Therefore if white responds to K3 then you have sente again.

Only then might I want to press white down around O14. Or build from the other direction first by leaning on the white right-side group. That group's not that weak, but it will need to make a second eye in the center still which means there are sente moves in that area for Black. I haven't looked at it enough to get a specific idea, but that would just be my general plan.

Post by **Joaz Banbeck** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:32 am

19: M4 connects a light stone at K4 with an already safe group in the corner, while ignoring a heavy eyeless group at Q8/R8. O8 looks better to me.

20: Ouch.

21: P7? Definitely not. Your two stones are weak, and just became weaker when he played O8. The move that you chose is much better than P7. ( Q10 is probably even a tad better, but that is a minor point. )

22: This need not be surprising. Your stones are high. They are not territorial stones. Think of them as attacking stones, and you won't encounter any nasty surprises.
I might have played N9 here or maybe C6. C10 is not bad, though it lacks initiative.

29: 'A' is interesting, but I would hesitate to play it - or F15 - when your left side group has only one tentative eye. You could end up with him cutting two weak groups. If C8 were your stone instead of his, then running out looks better.

39: A tepid move. If you want to attack, N9 looks better.

41: This forces him to take the point that he wants. Maybe you play R6 yourself.

43: Nice move, at the juncture of two moyos.

it is breakfast time...maybe more later...

mrnoob · Post by **mrnoob** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 6:45 pm

I found this game very interesting.

Here's some comments:

Move 8: I found this kinda funny, he didn't play Q18 because he didn't think you would reply. So does that mean he thought you would reply to L17?

Moves 19 and 21: This gives me the impression that you are winning by a lot. I think you should be ahead at least 30 or 40 points if you are going to play safe moves like that.

Move 23: This was a good choice because if you take the side, there is no way white will go K2 directly; there is still a good chance to get both right?

Move 38: At this point I think white got a much better result. It kinda looks like a joseki (one space low pincer and then 3-3), and black played C15 instead of C14, which seems better for white. White even got to tenuki once and got a result that was pretty close to a joseki (that white doesn't tenuki in).

Move 39: Unless you are confident that you will kill that white group if white ignores, then I think this is the wrong side. N15 is a moyo point for both sides.

Move 61: You could consider letting him live while sealing in his group.

Move 129: If you are really behind by 20 points, losing a few more points doesn't really matter right? You should keep trying to kill something if you can; losing by 20,30 or even 50 doesn't really make a difference.

Mef · Post by **Mef** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 12:54 pm

There is a proverb - "Do not go for the eyes until you have a firm grasp on the neck." On move 61 if you just play a simple sealing in move you will expand your framework in the center, and force white to come back and live in gote (giving white 2 points) this is a great trade for black. By going for the eyes you commit to making a kill, which is very, very hard (white has access to the center and one solid eye already). If white ignores getting sealed in on the outside, then you have your chance to come back for the kill (because you've already grabbed the neck, and white has no where to run).

xed_over · Post by **xed_over** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 8:55 am

Mef wrote:There is a proverb - "Do not go for the eyes until you have a firm grasp on the neck."

now you're just making stuff up

thirdfogie · Post by **thirdfogie** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 12:07 pm

Thanks for all the comments, even when they conflict with each other. ;-)

Mef wrote:
There is a proverb - "Do not go for the eyes until you have a firm grasp on the neck."

now you're just making stuff up
Mef wrote:There is a proverb - "Do not go for the eyes until you have a firm grasp on the neck."

now you're just making stuff up

That explains why I never heard this proverb before. But I will use it from now on.

Life In 19x19

I am in a slump, please help.

I am in a slump, please help.

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Re: I am in a slump, please help.