General advice for a noobie wanted

[cyndane]

Here are a couple games I played this week on KGS. I wouldnt mind some feedback if someone is willing! Big picture stuff would be great.




Thanks a lot!

[Bill Spight]

There are other comments that could be made about the first game, but in terms of the big picture, letting White take the initiative on the left side and letting White make the double approach in the top right corner were not so good.

Edit: By initiative I mean the attack, not the early extension. Black could have initiated the attack at move 19, but let White do so.

[Dragon Pie]

This is less big picture, than little tiny nitpicks that I think can be helpful around your level.

9: Do you have a plan for if your opponent jumps or uses some other splitting move?
11: If you plan on connecting using this move, you should rethink this pattern. It's an emergency measure to link up your stones, but it gives white too much influence on a board like this.
27: What if White extends to M15? White could have given up that stone improved his position in the center and even weakened black's stones in the corner.
33: Not saying it's necessarily the optimal move, but I like how you're thinking. This move improves your influence, strengthens your group locally and looks at invading on the right side. It's also too close to your influence as you're already strong, but if white responds and you can follow it up with a play at, say, P18, it could turn into a good move. I do think it's too small, but for your level, it shows good reasoning.
35: This is an attempted reduction? Threatening white to defend his territory? To me, it feels like black isn't gaining much here and that he's inviting white to close the territory that he wants. If black wants to play in this area, I think that a move at O3 would help black's position as it would take away the aji of the white stone that was surrounded before.
39: What was your purpose of making this cut?
41: Forcing white to connect with no intention to cut just decreases black's liberties and removes aji. Unless you read something specific out, this is typically considered vulgar play.
45: White responded passively to this. What happens if white pushes right now and atari's the black stone? Do you have a follow up?
65: As a rule, don't give white unnecessary ponuki's. It makes him thick. White gained much around here. Black gained nothing.
159: You should disconnect white and not allow him to connect. I'm not sure what this move was trying to accomplish.
171: Can you see a way to kill white? Can white dodge it somehow?

Game 2:

20: White should connect at Q5.
41: This cut is small and those stones are already dead. F17 would show the foolishness of white's last move.
43: Kudos for reading out white's bad aji.
69: Deep! I see that you're threatening a cut, but you shouldn't expect this to live with so much white influence.
71: But this move that encourages black to capture your stone, weakening your group on the left and decreasing your points in exchange for a stone that's not likely to help make any eyes is a bad play.
79: What if white bends on the left and splits your position? You can make an eye by capturing, but disconnecting your stones makes you live small for few points.
81: You're inviting white to disconnect your group which would then kill it and split up your side. White declines the welcome invitation (for some reason), but as a rule, keep your stones connected and disconnect your opponent's. That's the first thing you learn in go.
87: Why not cut? That should be your first instinct.
97: What is your threat here?
120: You know that white could have played B10 and disconnected (And killed you), right?
124: Oh good. White passed.

[Joaz Banbeck]

Big picture opinion of game 2: you are stronger than 16K, or at least you don't make the bad moves that most 16Ks do. But, you don't apppear to be counting the size of your moves, nor do you appear to be seeking sente.
On numerous occasions, you played small moves ( 1-3 pts ) saving stones that had no strategic value ( didn't make your eyes, didn't prevent his, didn't cut his group, etc ). Count before you play.

Recommendations:
1) On each play, take just 10 seconds to count how big your intended move is ( just ballpark figure - you don't have to be perfect ). Then take another 10 seconds to look for a bigger move.
2) Ask yourself if your intended move is sente or gote.

[Joaz Banbeck]

Second big picture opinion on both games: you are using your time inefficiently. You are playing to fast. Slow down a bit. Think more about your moves.

Are you worried about playing in byo yomi after you run out of time? That is the lesser of two evils here. Being in byo yomi means you are forced to play fast. but here you voluntairly played fast, and finished the game with lots of unused time.

You're hoarding your time like a rich man hoarding his money as he gets older. You can't take it with you.


Slow down, use your extra time, and you'll be SDK in a month.

[jts]

From looking at your games I would say that the big picture is simple and rosy: if you continue to play more games, you will get much stronger. (The proverb is, "Lose your first hundred games quickly!") If you do some life-and-death problems on top of that, you will improve even faster.

Which isn't to say that there aren't specific things which you can get better at. But there are so many specific things, none of which bear any obvious relationship to one another, and you will get better at all of them as you continue to play. Some of these specifics are very basic, like seeing when your stones are in atari, counting liberties, and playing at a calm pace. Some are more complex, like seizing the initiative or taking sente. Reviewing these games to understand these specific mistakes will help you a great deal. But that will look more like Dragon Pie's review, and less like a nugget of wisdom.

[cyndane]

Thank you very much for your encouragement and suggestions. I will try to take my time and think about my moves more! I'll try to get those 100 losses in!