Shawn's Study Journal

Shawn Ligocki · Post by **Shawn Ligocki** » Sat May 10, 2014 3:14 pm

Just had an excellent game against my friend Neil at the local go club on Thursday. After reviewing it a bit I can see that I missed several chances to take great local moves for profit and, in the end, to win the game. But I feel like I may have made some poor global strategic choices as well, any comments on my direction of play and whole board reasoning?

Big things I'm wondering about:
1. Was I too focussed on my one large moyo? Counting points near the end of the game I realized that White will clearly win if all I get is that moyo (It is maybe 60pts, but White has double wing of territory, plus some on the right.) Should I have disrupted White's moyo earlier? How?
2. Around

, was there a better way to reduce/invade White's moyo? I was happy to get my reduction in sente, but maybe I really just helped White to solidify his territory?
3. Was it a good idea to let

run out so far? I think it was good because my moves were dual purpose, reducing White's moyo and surrounding the invasion, but maybe I let the invasion get too big?

Local mistakes I noticed (Please clarify if you think I read this wrong):
1.

should have pushed in at Q7 instead of P6! This would have sealed White in or made him run for his life!
2.

should have helped my weak side group, not sure where.
3.

: would it be better to connect here? I cannot read this well.
4.

should have wedged to get aji while connecting.
5.

pushes the wrong way, White is happy to abandon that one stone.
6.

(and maybe several earlier plays) should have attacked the invading group? For example at J2.
7. Black 105 at H5 kills, I think.
8. Black 127 should have continued pushing. Let White push from behind and get enough liberties to crush White's group.
9. Black 135 also should have continued pushing. Same reason.

Shawn Ligocki · Post by **Shawn Ligocki** » Wed May 14, 2014 10:41 pm

Moved this game over to a new game review thread, because I'm really curious to get feedback on it. Please post comments there.

Shawn Ligocki · Post by **Shawn Ligocki** » Sat May 31, 2014 2:10 pm

Let's see if I can catch up on my games for the last few weeks.

I'm a little behind thanks to a beautiful climbing trip up to Rumney, New Hampshire last weekend

Shawn Ligocki · Post by **Shawn Ligocki** » Sat May 31, 2014 2:25 pm

Alright here's a game I played 2 weeks ago. It's my 100th game! But unfortunately I lost (playing against 7 stones handicap is quite daunting!)

Looking through it now, here are the mistakes I can tell that I made:

probably should have gone the other way (C4) to take advantage of such a strange

. Then if Black wanted to keep me disconnected he'd need another over-concentrated play in that area.

was a disastrous blunder. I'd go so far as to say this one haunted me for the rest of the game and led to most of my weaknesses. I'm guessing just the solid extension at E9 would have been much better. I thought that would be too slow and give up sente, but obviously it's soo much better than the alternative I ended up with.

On a high level I think my strategy of destroying Blacks left side and trying to kill his group was misguided and caused way more problems for me than it helped. I'm not sure exactly where it went wrong, but I think somewhere between

-

I should have stopped trying so hard to create/save that left group and spent more time developing my top moyo, keeping my bottom groups connected, keeping my top left corner, etc. On a high level I think trying so hard to make this group live hurt me the most in the game.

White 135 was I think the losing move. Blacks cut at 138 was too big and White 135 was much smaller than I expected.

White 157 is too small I think now. There were still big moves like the cut at P10.

White 179 probably should have captured at T10, then Black might have had to fight a little harder to live.

Shawn Ligocki · Post by **Shawn Ligocki** » Sat May 31, 2014 2:34 pm

There's not too much to say about this game. I think I played it really well and my opponent played extremely poorly. I proud of the way I ignored many of Black's small plays and let him build some territory so that I could get a massive moyo.

Shawn Ligocki · Post by **Shawn Ligocki** » Sat May 31, 2014 5:40 pm

Right after that last game, I tried to play out an orthodox opening based on a lecture from In-seong Hwang's class. However White did not play along and I ended up with a very confusing fight on the right. I'm not very proud of my play in this game :/

I'm not sure if I should have tenuki'd after

, but I feel like a got a pretty good result on the left, so maybe it was worth the cost in my upper right corner.

I think :B53: was an overplay. White's stones are light and she's happy to sacrifice them. I'm guessing I should have played more solidly and let White try to make a small life.

is clearly too ambitious, it only helps White. And

is also way too small, gosh I don't know what I was thinking, probably that it was good enough to get solid territory ... and that I didn't realize how weak my right group was.

I wonder if :b91 should have been at the top at G14 instead. I thought the bottom would make more sense to expand both walls of my moyo, but I think White's push at G14 was too good.

I'm guessing Black 105 should have been a knight's move instead. The one space jump looks a little weak in hindsight.

I see now that Black 145 was too much. I should have played on the second line to avoid that horrid ko.

Black 149 was an overplay and allowed White a bunch of forcing moves to cut my groups apart. I thought it didn't matter if they got cut apart because they were both alive, but perhaps it gave White more forcing moves on the right because my group there wasn't as lively as I wanted.

Finally Black 209 was a disaster. I had no idea how big White's peep was, sigh. I played that defense really badly.

EdLee · Post by **EdLee** » Sat May 31, 2014 9:01 pm

.

getting out is very big.
.

joseki is E18 ?
.

Thank-you move.
.

W missed B5.
.

small, slow.

1/7,000,000,000 · Post by **1/7,000,000,000** » Sat Jun 07, 2014 2:02 am

138 M2 seems to be working

Shawn Ligocki · Post by **Shawn Ligocki** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 10:54 am

Thanks for the comments. During the game I thought that

might be a little slow, but I wanted to stop White's repeated reductions. But I can see now that grabbing sente and letting her continue to take small points would be a good trade-off.

As for

, that makes a lot of sense, my upper right group definitely ended up taking a beating after I tenuki'd from it. I wasn't sure what would be a good move to follow up. During the game I was considering the inside plays a and b. But it seemed like whichever I took, White would take the other and my eye space would be cramped. It sounds like you are saying that I should have come out. My ideas would be to c or d. In both cases though, I still feel cramped. Are these reasonable?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$ Black to play $$ --------------- $$ . . . . . . . | $$ . . . a . . . | $$ . O . . . . . | $$ . . . X . . . | $$ . c . . . b . | $$ . d . X . . . | $$ . . . . . . . | $$ . . O . O . . | $$ . . . . . . . | $$ . . . . X . . | $$ . . . . . . . |[/go]

Shawn Ligocki · Post by **Shawn Ligocki** » Sun Jun 15, 2014 12:41 pm

Here's a game that I felt quite good about that I played a few weeks ago at the local club. I play Black.

A few things that I think I should have done differently:

1)

at Q14 would have made this fight much nicer for me.
2)

was way too aggressive. I think I should have played much further off with that one. Likewise with Black 120.
3) Black 164 is a thank you move. Q1 seems like a better move (helps the corner in sente).
4) Black 166 is tiny.

A couple things I'm not sure about:

1) Was

a good response to

? I wanted to protect my one stone, but also keep White cut and put some pressure on the R14 stone. But I wonder if this thinking is too local and I should have played for bigger moves?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wcm11 Is :b12: a good response to :w11:? $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . O . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 1 . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

2) I think White made a mistake and let my corner live (White 189 at R1 looks like it kills). Could I have played better in this corner? Perhaps playing a instead of b? Or should I have defended it earlier?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wc $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | X . X X O . . . . O . . . . O O . . . | $$ | . . X O O X . . . O O . O O . X X X . | $$ | . X X O . X O . O X X X X O X X O O X | $$ | . O O . . X O X . O X . X X O . O X . | $$ | . . O . . . X O O O X X O . O X O X . | $$ | . . . . X X X X X X O O O O O X X X . | $$ | . . . O O O X X O O X X X X O . X O . | $$ | . . O X X X O O . O X . . X O X . O . | $$ | . . . O . O . . X X . . . X X O O . . | $$ | . . . O . . O . O O X . . X O O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . O O . X O . . . X O X . . | $$ | . . X X . X O X . X O . X . X O . . . | $$ | . . O X O . X . X . X X O O X O O O . | $$ | . . . X . . . . O X X X X X O X . X b | $$ | . . O X . . . . X , X . O O O X X a . | $$ | . . O X . . . . O X O O . O X X . @ . | $$ | . . O O X . . . . X X . O . O X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Shawn Ligocki · Post by **Shawn Ligocki** » Tue Jul 22, 2014 5:56 pm

This month I started playing in In-seong Hwang's American Yunguseng Dojang. In this online academy, In-seong teaches 3 lessons each month and we play 5 league games against other players around our level which In-seong reviews.

So far I have noticed mostly two types of lectures:
1) Theme lectures - which talk about a fundamental idea of playing go. Often it is what In-seong calls "the proper way". You should try the proper way first, and only if it doesn't work, try the special way. I love these lectures and they are often very easy ideas that work better than fancy moves (Reduce eye space before putting the stone inside, play lightly to catch an invading stone "Fish is slippery, if you grab the fish it will slip away", 1-2-3 reading: if you try the proper way and it doesn't work, try playing the move your opponent used, 6 in the corner is dead, if you see a knight's move: try to cut it with a cross attach, etc.).
2) Local Technique - which discuss Joseki and good follow ups to specific situations (what are good moves to play after common Joseki, after common corner enclosures or after common openings). I do not like these lectures as much (I think they are a bit over my head at the moment although I think I am learning some general ideas about shape and how to fight from studying these established patterns.

He's also given a few lectures on other topics, like endgame. So far I've played 3 games in the league and although I'm proud to have gone 2-1, there is a lot I have to learn. I'll post the games and comments In-seong provided.

Shawn Ligocki · Post by **Shawn Ligocki** » Tue Jul 22, 2014 6:27 pm

AYD Game 1 - vs. steve:

Black Mistakes:

1)

is a thank-you move, it helps White to settle. I thought that if I didn't play there, White would get R3, but it looks like that won't work for White any more. I should have focused on splitting or at least undercutting White's weak groups.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bcm19 a or b would be better. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O 1 . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . X X O , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . X X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

2)

needed to protect the Right side around Q11

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bcm23 Black needs to protect around a. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . X X O , X . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . X X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

3)

seems a bit slow and is in the wrong place. White can still live in the corner with this move and it's not sente against White's middle at all.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bcm43 a is still urgent, b is better locally. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O . . . . . O X X X O . . . . . | $$ | . . X O . . . . . O X O X b . X . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . O O 1 . . . . . . | $$ | . X X . . . . . O . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . O . O X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . X X O , X . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . X X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

4)

was a clear overplay. Because of this White got a large group on the right side.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bcm47 Should be at a to save group, still good for White. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O . . . . . O X X X O . . . . . | $$ | . . X O . . . . . O X O X . . X . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . O O X . . . . . . | $$ | . X X . . . . . O . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 O a . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . O . O X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . X X O , X . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . X X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

5)

is too friendly. I could have cut at E6 and made this game much better! I think I considered this during the game but decided against it for some reason ... maybe I was intimidated because I thought that steve was stronger than I.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bcm69 Cut at a is great! $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O . . . . . O X X X O . . . . . | $$ | . . X O . . . . . O X O X . . X . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . O O X . . . . . . | $$ | . X X . . . . . O . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O X O X . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . | $$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . O . | $$ | . O O O a . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . X X X O X . . . . . . . O . O X . . | $$ | . . . O . 1 . . . X . . X X O , X . . | $$ | . . X O O X . . . . . . . . X X . . . | $$ | . . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

6)

was a final disaster. I could have killed the corner and stayed in the game, but I played rashly (partially because I only had 30s byo-yomi left - but that's no excuse, my instinct should have been to cover and stay safe!).

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bcm87 a kills, game move leads to terrible fight. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 O O O O O X | $$ | . . X O . . . . . O X X X O X X O X . | $$ | . . X O . . . . . O X O X O . X X X . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . O O X a . . . . . | $$ | . X X . . . . . O . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O X O X . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . | $$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . O . | $$ | . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . X X X O X . . . . . . . O . O X . . | $$ | . . X O O X . . . X . . X X O , X . . | $$ | . . X O O X . X . . . . . . X X . . . | $$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Soon after I lost on time. The most important lessons I want to take away from this game are:
1) Don't play moves which help your opponent strengthen a weak group (

).
2) Protect your territory. For example, on the Right. Especially after White did not exploit it, I kept ignoring it (thought about it, but figured it was safe enough).
3) Be more aggressive, for example at

, starting a fight here would have been good for me.
4) Don't make thoughtless attacks/cuts when you have the weak group and haven't read the sequence (

).
5) Cover and stay connected before trying to kill groups (

)

Shawn Ligocki · Post by **Shawn Ligocki** » Tue Jul 22, 2014 7:27 pm

Game 2 v. brittany:

This game was much more one-sided in my favor, but I still made some key mistakes that my opponent could have taken advantage of:

1) Local technique -

should have protected the cut at D4

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wcm16 White should protect cut at a. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . X a O . O . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . X X O . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

2)

should complete me wall at Q14

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wcm28 White should finish wall at a. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . a X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . X . X X O . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

3)

should attack Black's other weak group (which also protects White's running group)

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wcm58 White should surround Black at a. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . X O X X . . | $$ | . . . . . X . O O . . . . O O O X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . X . O . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . O . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . O . . . . X X O . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . 1 . O X . . X . X X O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . O . X a . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . X , O . O . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . X . X X O . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

4) White 118 is a huge overplay, White cannot hope to kill Black because Black can run out to the center, White should focus on keeping his bottom group alive!

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wcm118 $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . X O X X . . | $$ | . . . . . X . O O . . X . O O O X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . X . O . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . O . X . . . O . . X . . O X . . | $$ | . O O X O . . X X O . . . X O O X . . | $$ | . X X X X O O . O . O X X O X X O . . | $$ | . . X . O . . . O O X . . O . O O . . | $$ | 1 . X O . . . . . . . X O . O O X . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , X . . . O X X . . | $$ | . X X . O . . . O . . . O O X . . . . | $$ | . O X . X O . . . . X X . O X X . . . | $$ | . O . . X . . . . . . . O . O . . . . | $$ | . O O . . . . . . . X . . . O X . . . | $$ | . X O . . . . . . . X O O . . . X . . | $$ | . . X , O . O . . , X . . X . , . . . | $$ | . X . X X O . . . . X O O . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

5) White 142 is White's last chance to save Bottom group:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wcm142 White needs to connect at a. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . X O X X . . | $$ | . . . . . X . O O . . X . O O O X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . X . O . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . O . X . . . O . . X . . O X . . | $$ | . O O X O . . X X O . . . X O O X . . | $$ | O X X X X O O . O . O X X O X X O . . | $$ | . . X . O . . . O O X . . O . O O . . | $$ | O . X O . . . . . . . X O . O O X . . | $$ | . . . , O . . 1 . , X . . . O X X . . | $$ | a X X . O X . . O . . . O O X . . . . | $$ | . O X . X O O O X . X X . O X X . . . | $$ | . O . . X X X X . X . . O . O . . . . | $$ | . O O . . . . . X . X . . . O X . . . | $$ | O X O . . . . X . . X O O . . . X . . | $$ | . X X O O . O . . , X . . X . , . . . | $$ | . X . X X O . . O . X O O . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . X O . . O X . . . . X O X . . | $$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

In the end I lived by making a ko, but as In-seong pointed out later, this was not a real ko and Black should have just connected and killed all my stones. I got very lucky that Black played the ko and played it poorly.

Lessons I learned from this game:

1) Staying connected with good shape can be more important than sente in the opening (

and

- although

was probably even sente ). Play better when my opponent doesn't follow Joseki.
2) In a running fight, defend you weak group while attacking (

)

And most importantly:
3) When ahead, play solidly!! ( White 118 ) I think this is a problem I often have, even when I'm ahead, I get greedy and try to take more. This often ends poorly. I should be satisfied with my lead and maintain it solidly.

Shawn Ligocki · Post by **Shawn Ligocki** » Tue Jul 22, 2014 7:45 pm

Game 3 v. Flenwan:

Of all my games so far in the Yunguseng Dojang, this is the one I'm most proud of. I think I played it very well, but I almost lost it with

! I think I have a lot to learn about fighting.

White Mistakes:

1)

focusses on the wrong area, it should defend the side

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wcm30 White should play around a to build up the side moyo. Black has a strong follow up at b. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . | $$ | . . X O . X . . . . . . . X . X O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . X . . . . . X O . . | $$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X O . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

2)

should break the dog's face in sente now. I got this move eventually, but that was only because Black played poorly. If Black gets this move, White's top group will be weak.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wcm42 White should break the dog's face at a to put more pressure on Black. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . | $$ | . . X O . X . . . . . . . X . X O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . X . . . . . X O . . | $$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X O . | $$ | . . O . X X O . . . . . . . . . X O . | $$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . a . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . O . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

3)

was too passive. White needs to protect both weak groups here.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wcm56 White needs to protect both sides with a move like a. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . | $$ | . . X O . X . . . . . . . X . X O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . X . . . . . X O . . | $$ | . . . . O O X . . . . . . . . . X O . | $$ | . . O . X X O . . . . . . . . . X O . | $$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . O . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . O X a . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O . X . O . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . X O . 1 . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . X X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

I spent a couple of minutes on this move because knew it was bad, but I could not find any good move, afterwards, in his review, In-seong showed us a good sequence for White to defend both weak groups:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Wcm56 Good sequence for White. Both groups are now out and stronger. $$ +---------------------------------------+ $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . | $$ | . . X O . X . . . . . . . X . X O . . | $$ | . . O O . . . . . X . . . . . X O . . | $$ | . . . . O O X . . . . . . . . . X O . | $$ | . . O . X X O . . . . . . . . . X O . | $$ | . . . . . . O . 7 . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . O . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . O X 1 . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O . X . O 2 4 6 , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . X O 3 5 . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . X X O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Luckily for me, Black made a huge mistake with

and I was able to win the fight. But I need to get stronger at fighting.

Important things I took away from this game (and review):

1) When I have sente to take a big point, consider sides as well as corner enclosures (

)
2) When attacking a weak group, threaten to cut as soon as possible (

). Breaking the dogs face of a weak group is extremely strong.
3) When in a fight where you can't afford to get pushed around, use attachments and ataris to force your opponent to make you stronger on all sides. (

)

Tomorrow is my 4th game (against the 2nd strongest player), wish me luck!

Life In 19x19

Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal

Re: Shawn's Study Journal