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karaklis: Thank you very much! It really looks like it, doesn't it? To be honest, it still feels a bit unreal.. ^^; And it's a shame that you weren't there! At least I couldn't find your name on the player's list, I sincerely hope that I didn't pass you by without talking to you… >_<
Weekly Update #10
This was a week full of ups and downs…
In the end, I went home and only started to play and study again on wednesday. Family always comes first.
I was really happy to play again, but that happiness was somewhat.. flawed by the fact that most of the seven games I played until friday evening were crappy (fortunately NOT including the game I played for the Group Class), including a rare misclick on my part (I never ask to take them back as it's my fault - in this case I was very close to resigning anyway so at least I could speed that up and end the game) and a total misread. After the last game I was really doubting myself again. Feeling so rusty after only one week of not playing and studying was in fact very disheartening. Suddenly all the gaps in my knowledge became so obvious to me and the little "knowledge" I have accumulated so far seemed even smaller compared to all the questions that regularly come up, so naturally I got very nervous. You know that feeling you always get on the evening before an important presentation or test you were prepared badly for? That's what it was like.. That's the reason why I discarded my plan to start as a 5k and instead played 6k again, hoping that it wouldn't turn out too badly. I definitely didn't arrive in high spirits on saturday and if I hadn't already bought the train tickets a few days before, I might have even decided to skip the tournament altogether. That's the good thing about pricey tickets, you never want to waste them.
Because what happened on saturday and sunday I wouldn't have dared to dream of.
To make it short, I won five out of my six games on that weekend. I didn't really outplay anyone (although one or two results were by a comfortable margin), but instead took advantage of several of my opponent's mistakes - AND was lucky enough they didn't care very much to punish mine (severely). Because I eventually made quite a few of them.. ^^; Although my opponents on the second day were (considering their rank) weaker than on the first day - where I only played against 5ks - these games felt a lot harder to win somehow.
I'll post the loss here. My opponent played what to me looks like quite an extreme overplay-invasion and in the end managed to live with the large dragon with just 2 points.. My large moyo was gone and all that influence I got in return was practically of no use to me as nearly all of my opponent's black stones were played on the third line and had already taken a lot of solid territory. I had not enough good points left on the board and couldn't compete with black's points. As I was disappointed that I couldn't kill what I thought was not able to live, I resigned. Plus it was saturday evening and I was tired. ^^; It was a little annoying to lose the game like this but that's how many of these moyo games tend to end, the first one to make a mistake loses the entire game. Not why I personally like, but that's how it is. Next time it might as well be the other way around. However, this is something I still have to work on, coming back from a disappointment. Although I'm absolutely sure that I couldn't have turned this game around. But I shouldn't make a habit of this, either. Anyways, here is the sgf. Maybe someone has a good idea how to kill it or can tell me how I should have played instead:
This is another game, from the fifth round. I was white again and faced a sanrensei opening, something I haven't payed against in a long time. I had no real clue how to tackle it. Playing from the inside looked like a bad idea and he also seemed confident with the pattern, so I tried to play from the outside. Looking back it seems like a good idea but I might have very well lost the game if he had attacked that floating center group of mine at the right time. Near the end I made a mistake and lost two stones in gote. I could have played a ko but as I was already leading I gave in at that point. Any ideas on how to play against sanrensei (or general comments) are much appreciated:
(on a sidenote: The European Go Database says this was was my 100. win at a tournament.)
While playing I also tried to avoid broken shapes and produce them in my opponents positions. At least with the latter one I think I was pretty successful. But I think that was rather because my opponent paid less attention in this area than that I was really forcing them to do so.
Overall I was really happy with my game because I was much, MUCH calmer in this tournament than in any other I played before and can remember, because I was able to play the moves I wanted, because I counted regularly (which I'm too lazy to do when playing on the computer - however, here it came to me so naturally.. strange, isn't it?) and because I used my time well (although I still have to get to like byoyomi). It was really nice to meet and talk to some old friends I hadn't seen for quite some time, too. Unfortunately I missed the opportunity to meet a fellow student of Guo Juan's who also takes her Group Classes at the moment (although he is another group). Maybe there'll be another opportunity..
To sum it up this tournament was a greater success than I could have imagined before. By this I not only mean the result but the fact that I could play way more relaxed than before (overall - there were still situations where I was very nervous again, but THIS is normal) which for me is an achievement at least equivalent to the five wins. This again proves that I'm making the right decisions at the moment. I wonder how far I might get by the end of the year… now I definitely want to know!
For the next tournament (mid-March) I'll take the next step and play as 5k for the first time ever - actually promoting myself to a new rank for the first time in five (!!) years. I cannot say how happy that makes me right now and I can't wait for the next tournament to come!! ^^v
The week of vacation and the tournament also helped me to catch up with my number of monthly games to be played. I played 13 (!) games last week (plus one unfinished game at the tournament site which I don't count) and now four days before the end of the month only four games are left to reach this month's goal of 34 games. Sounds good.
But to imagine that I even played these games due to that cold in only three weeks is kind of crazy (for my standards). Four weeks before I even found it quite hard to play them in 28 days..
Since I definitely slacked off in the last two weeks with my studies in favor of playing (or getting healthy again), I'll put more emphasis on that in this week. I want to continue with After Openings by Kim Sung-rae (still have to finish studying the 4-4-small-keima approach moves..) and of course with the remaining lectures about shape on Guo Juan's website. Sounds like (more than) enough food for one week to digest.
Until soon!
Ember
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+++ Playing statistics +++
Date: 24 February 2014
Games played/to be played: 65 / 335
Days passed/to come: 55 / 310
Games won total: 36
Games lost total: 29
Jigo: 0
Winning percentage total: around 55%
Landmarks: First win against KGS 3k on 5 January 2014 (unrated game, own rank: 4k, color: black, no komi), first win against KGS 3k in a rated game on 19 January 2014 (own rank: 4k, color: black, komi: 0,5 points), first time hitting 3k by playing and not by not-playing (25 January 2014), January: succeeded in playing the 34 games needed per month to reach 400 games by the end of the year, first win against a KGS 1k in a rated game (11 February 2014, own rank: 2k?, color: black, Komi: 0,5), first win against a KGS 2k in a rated game (12 February 2014, own rank: 3k, color: black, Komi: 0,5), scoring five wins out of six games in a tournament as 6k - first time I played better than 3:2 als 6k (February 2014)
on you. You can push in and pull back safely, provided you take care of the cut instead of going to kill afterwards.
looks like an overplay. Perhaps white could just reinforce the right group and let black figure out how to run while white attacks?
On sunday I was too ashamed of my lack of studiousness that I didn't post anything at all here in the journal. What should I have written? (maybe what I'm doing now..) I hoped that it was somehow connected to going back to work an just having to get used to that again, but the last week was just the same and I honestly do. not. like. it. There is still so much to learn and such a long way ahead! Could someone please grab me by the scruff of my neck and give me a good shake? Please? Although I guess it was just a matter of time that I get to this point it is very annoying indeed and I definitely want to get back into my study routine because it worked out so well. Not tomorrow, but today - after the last bits of housework I'll go right back to KGS and get another one or two games in. It is even interesting to see in my ranking graph on KGS that since the afore mentioned tournament the rank goes down significantly while before it was climbing at a nice rate. 
). So I'll try and resume with what has helped me so far:
I hope that next week will be better.
). And guess what it was that I needed - playing on a real board. There's nothing better than that, the internet will never be able to really replace this. This and the announcement of a thing which I do not want to talk about in more detail now - IF I can really get a bit stronger in the next few months I'll tell you then and that'll be soon enough - sorry for the tease. 
It seems you had a splendid weekend 
I played in two small one day tournaments of four rounds in which I scored two wins each. In the third tournament (two days, the one karaklis referred to), I scored 4 wins - although I believe it's rather 3:2, because that one win on sunday morning was a win by default as my 2k (man, was I mad to get a 2k!! 
) opponent didn't show up and I "only" hat to sit there for an hour waiting for his time to run out... 
I'd have much preferred to play, even though I very much doubt I'd have had a chance against him. But at least, I'd have learned something! Solving a few tsumego while waiting of course is not an adequate replacement for a real game.. Still, I won't keep on sulking. I finally got over that wall and there are still SO many 2kyus to beat up in the future! 
Here's the game, so you can decide for yourself: