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SGF time!
[sgf-full](;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2]
RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[7.50]
GN[Chew Terr (5k) vs Fwiffo (4k) Open Malkovich]PW[Fwiffo]PB[Chew Terr]WR[4k]BR[5k]EV[Open Malkovich]PC[lifein19x19.com]RE[B+Resign]
;B[pd]C[Chew: Strategy: All right, strategically, I normally aim for a kobayashi opening, because of the fast way it envelops the board. It kind of scatters a glob of flexible stones all over the board, and dares the opponent to try to cover as much ground. However, I like trying to adapt my strategy based on what my opponent plays. If Mister Fwiffo takes the opposite 4-4, I'm going to go for Kobayashi. If he goes for a 3-4, I will play in the corner that will provide me the best approach on it. If he allows a diagonal fuseki... I'll strongly consider it.
]
;W[dp]C[Fwiffo: I want a parallel opening. I usually play dual 4-4 as white and set my strategy based on what black plays.]
;B[pq]C[Chew: Ah, Fwiffo has the same white strategy I do. Well, let's see how he adapts to Kobayashi. It amuses me still that I played kobayashi for a long time before I knew it was a named thing. I saw someone play it, and was happy that it agreed with my sense of opening fundamentals and speed. Someday I'll have to sit down and figure out what to do about the other named openings.
]
;W[dd]C[Fwiffo: I'm fine playing against Kobayashi, but maybe I'll pincer or something to shake it up. Not sure yet.]
;B[fq]C[Chew: What do you think? Feel like a pincer? An approach on my bottom right stone? Pulling back on the west? Just for prediction, I'll guess you'll take D6.]
;W[cn]C[Fwiffo: I don't respond high without some existing support on the side. The open skirt is just too annoying, and I'd rather not have to close it in gote.]
;B[jp]C[Chew: This game, up to this move, is an ideal depiction of the 'Kobayashi' opening that I keep talking about. As I said before, it spreads stones quickly across the board. The objective is to be flexible. For example, my stone in the bottom left looks lonely down there, but if he pincers it, I have several options. The formal Kobayashi basics are over, so it's up to Fwiffo where to go from here.]
(;W[qn]C[Fwiffo: The idea behind Kobayashi is to invite white to approach the stone in the lower right. If white approaches closely, then black can pincer and naturally take territory on the bottom. The distant approach makes a pincer less severe, though it gives up a little bit locally. It's the standard way to approach the Kobayashi formation. There are a number of joseki that can follow.]
;B[qj]C[Chew: The intent of this move is to prevent black from getting an ideal safety extension up the east side. I'm not threatening white's stone too aggressively, so he could probably tenuki if he chose. I played my pincer as wide as I did so that it would work as well as possible with the northeast. After this, white can tenuki to cover some of the top, or he can respond in the bottom right. The most concerning possibility is that he would approach my bottom right stone from the other side. However, if he does, I can either take the corner or separate the white stones, intending to make one or the other weak. If Fwiffo chooses the double-approach, I will probably try to separate him first, and take the corner if I need stability. I want to make all of my groups either stable or flexible. By this, I mean that my groups don't have to be bulletproof, I just have to have a plan B for if he tries to attack part of it. Let's see what's next.]
;W[qq]C[Fwiffo: I think the last move was a little bit the wrong direction. The point of the Kobayashi opening is to build a framework and/or territory in the bottom part of the board. But I can't say it's bad. And it's not really possible to pressure my approach stone much with this wide approach, so the pincers are uncommon. In other words, I don't know the joseki. I do remember they start with attaching and then black has a choice of hane on either side. If black chooses to hane between the white stones, then white cross-cuts.
It's bad to blindly play moves without understanding them, and since I don't know the joseki beyond the first couple moves, maybe it's bad for me to try to ape it. But I understand the idea behind the first few moves. The cross-cut is a standard technique for settling, so I think I'll manage
explo: [This was\] My sealed move. Then black is probably forced to play R2. Any other moves I can think of leads to at least slighty unfavorable result.]
(;B[fc]C[Chew: Okay, I thought about this. Fwiffo's right, that crosscut looks really good. However, anything else local looks like it's giving too much away. Everything just felt too small. So I figure I'll tenuki and hope to come back if things get a bit cooler on the board. At least, that's part of it. The second part is, the tenuki is in a direction that works well with my previous stone. The third part is, this tenuki threatens better followup in the southeast. It serves as a ladder-unbreaker for a potential push-and-cut.]
(;W[oq]C[Fwiffo: Tenuki from a contact play seems pretty risky. Let's see what I can do about that. The clamp seems to be a good way to disrupt black's intentions.
daniel_the_smith: That's odd, I could have sworn I posted something after Chew Terr's move about that not being a good time to tenuki and how I can't really think of a much more urgent situation at this stage of the game...]
;B[jd]C[Chew: Okay, that's a pretty big loss in the corner, in all likelihood. I can fight back over there, but that would be disregarding the whole purpose of playing up here in the first place. I would rather play for consistency, outline the top, and threaten to do impolite things to the top corner/left side. Black can threaten my bottom side, but I should be stable enough to weather it fine. Black has a huge corner if he kills the stone's aji, but it feels like more of my stones are working together. I'm playing big risks and such, but if I don't get wishywashy, maybe I can stay in the game. I am horrid at analysis, but I'm not sure this board is terrible for black. Go go mutual damage?
Out of curiousity, what was the correct local move? Was it Q4? I felt like the hane at R2 was tiny and submissive.]
;W[qc]C[Fwiffo: Alright, I hate to do this, but I think it's necessary. I think the rule is that it's time to invade the corner when there are two long extensions from the 4-4. The invasion ends in sente (or leaves aji), so I'll have time to reduce the outside.]
;B[pc]C[Chew: Yeah, if he defended on the left top, I was considering closing this off. So it's probably a good time for it. This is one that I really ought not tenuki, I think. I also think this is the right direction for me, since I have more (and higher) stones on top.]
;W[qd]C[Chew: A trigger from here through 25 was accepted by Fwiffo]
;B[qe]
;W[re]
;B[qf]
;W[rf]
;B[qg]
;W[pb]
;B[ob]
;W[qb]
;B[nc]
;W[oi]C[Fwiffo: OK, I've taken away the corner in sente, which was my goal. But now I gotta do something about the outside.
So far this game black has mapped out big ideas. My stones are less coordinated - a weakness in my game generally. My style has become territorial after having been a moyo style player up until about 6-7 kyu. I think I lost some coordination in that transition.
My upper left needs attention, but that's gote for me to fix now, and preventing black from getting too big in the middle is urgent. The thing is, everything in the middle is always bigger than it looks. I can engage in a light reduction and suddenly it doesn't look big at all.
I almost played a normal cap here, but I think the knight's move cap is plenty safe, and it does a better job in sector-line terms.]
;B[fe]C[Chew: Okay, so I debated between this and trying to deal with MHO's move directly. Anything direct seemed passive and 'turning thickness into territory'-ish. However, at the moment I think I can gain on the left as fast or faster than he can hurt me on the right. This continues to work with my other stones, so it looks okay to me. It's also sente, because it threatens to seal white's corner stone with a knight's jump. I don't think he can allow that, because it gives me a thick wall spanning nearly all of the north, so, I assume he'll finally respond. After that, I can decide between responding to his stone directly, splitting it off from his bottom right, or worrying about the bottom or right. All of those areas seem like good places for me to play, so I'll take this here and look forwards to my largish potential.
Let's say white has 20 in the bottom right, 10 in the top right, and 5-10 komi. 35-40 versus my framework plus this potential. Obviously W has potential as well, but I think mine is developing faster than his. 2 of his corners can be invaded at will, and the bottom right has enough aji to not be entirely his. As an aside, I know it's not supposed to be good to put all of your eggs into one moyo, and I can't count on getting much of the moyo into territory. However, I'm going to get some out of it, and there are weaknesses to exploit elsewhere. If I get 20 up top (Seems fairly easy) I can probably be content.
As an aside, this game illustrates some of my strengths and weaknesses as a player. I play some odd things in the opening, focusing on direction of play instead of territory and such. Lately, I have often considered myself even or a little ahead by move 30 or 50. However, when the close fighting happens, I feel like I'm outplayed and lose huge swaths. The fighting has mostly been avoided so far, but when it occurs, I expect MHO will have the advantage. I need to play tricky and be ahead by then so maybe I can eke it out. Also, I think sometimes lately I've been too willing to sacrifice stones and groups in unnecessary exchanges.
dfan: I have a hard time believing that this is better than making a double pincer on the star point stone at a.
Unfortunately I have no variations or anything to back this up It just seems like there's got to be a better use of getting an extra stone in this corner.]
;W[df]C[Fwiffo: OK, I really need to tend to this now. I do feel like I've fallen behind, but I think the middle is going to get pretty small.
I don't like the high response generally, but I think I need it here. If he plays C12, he's going to push me into the middle, which is not what he wants.
Hmm, those two black stones in the bottom left seem less happy... Maybe I've got a target for later when more development has happened in the middle.]
(;B[fg]C[Chew: I was torn here on a couple of options. First, I wanted to push white's single stone out of my framework, starting to wall it off. However, that's a really inefficient way to make territory. Second, I wanted to jump south in the top left, forcing MHO to take fourth line (!) territory in order to expand my framework even further (cut mad scientist laughter). Third, I considered grabbing a base in the south, which would help the aji of my trapped stone some. Let's look at these options in a pretty picture. (see variations from previous)]
;W[dh]C[Fwiffo: I guess I'll take fourth line territory. The moyo does look intimidating, but it's still very poke-able.]
;B[pl]C[Chew: All right, I placed my bet, time to watch the horses run. I said I'd take 'b' then 'd' in my previous commentary, and this is the second half. Thankfully, the west isn't really solid territory yet. Of course he'll get something there, and more than I'd like, but both of his corners are open, and that keeps the prior exchange fair. I've given him so much starter-territory, let's see if I can play a good enough framework game to outstrip it.
Harleqin: I really wonder why no one wanted the upper left corner.
Chew: Re: Harleqin: I was really concerned that taking it would hurt my framework. I've been trying to play in a way to keep the 3-3 open for me, but something else seemed higher priority. Now I think I could jump in without hurting my top at all, but attacking his reducing stone seemed too massive in scale to resist. When would have been the right time for either player to take it? Obviously someone probably will soon, but I was curious about when you would have recommended it?]
;W[kd]C[Fwiffo: Honestly, I have no idea how do do proper reductions. This is just a probe; I'm looking for aji.]
;B[ke]C[Chew: Fwiffo, that was really unexpected. Obviously you had to do something inside, and sprinkling stones lightly seems good style, but I would have taken the shoulder hit over this in a heartbeat.
So, I considered playing the hane under, the hane on top, or extending upwards. If I can handle the crosscut okay, I should hane. I strongly considered the under-hane, but I think that's too passive. His stone has nowhere to go, so I'll force the cross-cut. This deep into my turf, surely I'll come out well-compensated. I expect MHO will sacrifice this stone, and perhaps a few more, but will get a working reduction. I am betting the game on him not reducing me enough to win. If our soldiers die, they will be told of for years to come.]
;W[le]C[Fwiffo: All I can say is that caps and shoulder hits on fourth-line stones are usually "wrong feeling". This felt trickier. I think my reading is stronger, so it's to my advantage to make things tricky. I had this counter-hane in mind. Now that I've sown the seed, I'm going to slow way, way down to read out the best possibilities. Gotta stay light...]
;B[kf]C[Chew: Yeah, he successfully led the game into one of my weak areas. That said, I'm sure I'll learn from this fight, even if I lose it. I considered the double-hane, but decided that there wasn't sufficient reason to stretch myself that thinly. I can play solidly, hane when I can, and help MHO build cutting points. At least, that's the plan. Man, this is a fun game. Lately, my games on KGS have been lacking something that this game has.]
;W[oe]C[Fwiffo: I went to bed with too many go ideas rushing through my mind, which meant I got very little sleep. Of course, in my mind, everything is all distorted and weird.
Fwiffo's mind: "Turn off ALL garbage compactors on the detention level!"
Ahem. Anyhow, I'm not just sprinkling stones about randomly here. Or, at least, I hope not. I'm taking care to:
a) Stay light. Make connections loose enough that I can easily sacrifice some of the stones to help others.
b) Try to take advantage of any aji in black's position
c) Try to map out some kind of shape to aid in running/living
Now that I look at it, I think I've overplayed with that L16 stone. Maybe a shoulder hit is better. Now I feel a bit of a pinch.]
(;B[pe]C[Chew: I almost played an attachment to his stone. But I think that's making things more complicated than they need to be. I think that the crosscut that would provide could be a boon to him, so I'd rather deny it. Still feeling pretty okay about this situation.]
;W[og]C[Fwiffo: This seems OK, though it's a thin string of stones, which is usually not the best. If he tries to cut or peep, I will dodge by sacrifice. For instance: [see variation\]
]
(;B[nf]C[Chew: Part of me is a little hesitant to play this, but the logical bits like it. It takes away any hope of eye he has here, and is firmly connected to one group of my stones or another. It also mostly captures some of the ones above, making some of my territory solid. It leaves him with a string of one-space jumps deep within my framework. In essence, I'm playing this move because it starts taking points while continuing the attack.]
;W[of]C[Fwiffo: OK, I'm really on tilt right now. All my turn-based games are going badly, and so is this one. I need to get back to basics.
Often when I'm anxious to get stronger I start trying to do too much and make things too complicated. And that's what I'm doing here, and that's what I've been doing in my other games. Sometimes it's a sign that I'm trying to integrate new knowledge, and I have to get a little weaker before I can get stronger.
Other times it just means I haven't gotten enough sleep. I think that's more likely here.
Anyhow, getting back to basics. Connect against a peep. Basic. And hey, look how strong my stones get.]
;B[ne]C[Chew: This move is pretty much forced. Well, not really, but it's the reason I played the prior move. It makes a bunch of points and keeps MHO's group on the run. His group will probably run west. I'll chase it from above and below as far as I can, button up my points on top, and hopefully build enough wall to do some things down south.]
;W[mg]C[Fwiffo: I'm playing on no sleep again, but hey, it's just a game. My biggest barrier to improvement has been not playing enough. So I'm not going to make excuses to not play.
With this move I'm trying to force black to capture those loose stones on the inside to get breathing room on the outside. Then I'll lean on the right side stones a little bit before deciding what's next.
I'm fairly certain black can't immediately push and cut at O13; he's going to have a liberties issue.
The D3 (or D2) is big because it threatens a stronger invasion of that bottom side black group making it almost sente. I think it's probably premature for black to take that 3-3, however. I'd seal black in and take the outside, which would devastate the value of those two black stones.
F11 is big too, and there may still be opportunities to reduce that middle some more.
The upper left 3-3 is less important. It would be gote for black to invade and it would settle my fourth line territory on the left side. It's basically big endgame.
Actually analyzing the position, I'm much less pessimistic than I was. I actually think the game is about even, though black maybe has more opportunities for reducing. Out of curiosity, I check in with Score Esteban, and he also thinks it's close.]
;B[lf]C[Chew: That was an interesting forcing move that I didn't really expect. I'll take my cash now, and worry about my right group later. It looks like he's going to try to cut at P17. Still looking at responses, but even if he cuts, I'd rather kill those stones than let them out. Even if he got the cut, his group is weaker than my side group. <-- Famous last words.]
;W[qh]C[Fwiffo: Yes, the cut at P17 is part of the shortage of liberties issue I was talking about. I'm not 100% sure it immediately would have worked if he tried to push and cut, but it was dangerous. Black's last move is what I expected and mostly cleans up his aji there. I'm going to lean a little bit more before deciding if I need to take gote to secure this group.]
;B[rh]C[Chew: I think this is the best way for me to cover. It feels like I have an acceptable answer to everything he could play from here. I am willing to sacrifice this stone if needed, to connect and maybe even start an attack. I think Fwiffo can make an eye in gote in the area if he chooses, but that would let me find the biggest area of the board and start sente-ing.]
;W[qi]C[Fwiffo: This is the natural follow-up to my previous move.]
;B[ri]C[Chew: This is a little bit harsher than I had thought at first, but I think I'll be okay... I can't just let him cut off those stones below. This way, he can cut, but my two stones keep him separated and give me a start at a base.]
;W[ng]C[Fwiffo: This protects a couple different cuts. I'm not 100% certain it's sente, but there is a lot of aji left at the very least.]
;B[op]C[Chew: Okay, I think it's time for this corner. I thought about just approaching the corner from the bottom, but it's just too gote. It doesn't threaten much extra in the way of activating this corner stone. I'm looking to get a (slightly uneven in my opponent's favor) cross-cut here to try and build some shape towards the center. I would kill something over on this side if I'm forced, but the direction of play seems to be the center and left, so I'm going to try to offer Fwiffo a largish corner. It seems like there are a couple of things my opponent can do to resist, like stretching his stones westward. In that case, I'll probably make a base on the bottom towards it, preventing my opponent from going further in that direction. I thought about other things to do in this corner (like attaching to the stone at R6 from the top) but most of those options either don't buy me much or would be better saved for after this hane. As for my opponent's most recent move, it seems to be a good and thick defensive move, but I don't see much sente in it. I think that I can successfully defend my groups, so I want to start moving around to these hot-spot areas. This move is sente enough that I expect my opponent to respond. I hope to end in sente, if only because I had little enough in this corner that I am willing to suffer a loss here if need be. If I do get sente, I can consider this area's affect on the running group, and whether or not I can leave that be to focus on the other hot areas. Instead of killing that group, my intent is to let my opponent defend it in gote a few times, while I take the points I need. Also, I would love to push it in the right direction to make points, but I have to push on this side first to see which direction is more important at the moment.]
;W[nq]C[Fwiffo: I think this gives black the fewest forcing moves. I still have miai to go over or under the original 3-4 stone. True, black could play this sequence (or similar) to take the corner back: [see variation\]]
(;B[lq]C[Chew: Okay, so I'm not getting a WHOLE lot out of this corner. However, it's induced this move to stabilize my bottom more, and I'm hoping to get some central thickness as well. The thickness will work well with my attack on the group in the center, so hopefully I'll be getting my money's worth out of it. ]
(;W[np]C[Fwiffo: Um, how about no. Q4 now would be incredibly supine.
]
;B[qp]C[Chew: Time to think of something good out of my supine brain. That comment amuses me, it reminds me of an older gentleman at club who often talks of looking for aggressive plays with his 'reptilian eyes,' or something like that.
This seems contrary to my prior plan, but we can only plan for 50% of the moves in the game. Fwiffo played something from my blind spot, so I have to roll witht he punches. If I can live in the corner, I can try to cut his stones on the outside. If he gets cut, he has WAY too many weak groups, and will likely lose one. So not only am I hoping to live in the corner after this, I hope to live in sente if he stops to patch the cutting points. Aren't I optimistic? =D]
(;W[pr]C[Fwiffo: I hate to mess with MHO's plans again, but... Wait, no, I don't hate that at all. Now that I've poked out my head I am more than happy to take the corner territory.
I get the corner territory, and I have miai (sorta) of a and b to pull out my side stone, which means white can't get much territory there. And black shape feels bad too.]
;B[pp]C[[Chew's variation from 53\]]
(;W[rq]
;B[on]C[Chew: Obviously I'm not very happy with how I've treated this corner. Of course, Topazg's suggestion for how to treat the bottom right would have been better, but Fwiffo's suggestion probably would have, also. I need to practice reading, perhaps.
Also, I just made a huge analysis on where to play until I realized: I had accidentally deleted my opponent's move. Ugh, deleted it all, because it was all therefore wrong. Regretfully, I think my group is probably too heavy to drop easily. Though I almost did. I think, however, I'm better off shaking my head, getting my group out, and playing as calmly and reasonably as I can. This at least starts sente, because it threatens to eat his stone.]
(;W[no]C[Fwiffo: I think my opponent is being overly pessimistic. Given that had given me an extra move here, this outcome is not that unreasonable. My center group is still a target too; a move like 58 is dual purpose. [see diagram in variation\]]
(;B[pn]C[Chew: Mental Game: I am often too pessimistic in go. I have too often resigned, only to have observers and questions express shock. This is a bad habit that I want to work on stopping, and am open to suggestions for. A lot of Malkovich games lately have shown players go on tilt in similar ways, so it's clearly not a problem unique to me. Counting is one obvious start, so that I can tell whether I am actually behind or not. In this case, it was more a matter of side-by-side comparison, and seeing my instability next to white's solid corner. So I'll try to snap out of it and play calmly.
Tactics: My opponent has a good point that I probably would have overlooked in a fast game: I do urgently need to prevent him from pushing through to separate my groups. I considered connecting solidly to apply more pressure to white's outside groups that are attempting to connect, but I decided I would rather prioritize my own connection, and just try to stay slightly more stable than my competition. So the monkey jump is the proper connection, locally.
Tactics: With regard to the attachment my opponent mentioned, I almost played it. I chose the play I did because it threatened to play the hanging connection that my opponent just blocked.
Strategy: Whole-board wise: As long as this corner doesn't become too much of a compost heap, I think I'm doing okay. Nothing has solidified the west, so it's likely that my opponent won't get /all/ of it. Fwiffo mentioned letting me kill his stone on the right in order to play some moves to connect his weak group with his solid corner. This is more than fine with me. It is essentially what I intended when I said that I didn't expect to kill his weak group, but wanted points when attacking it. Additionally, the groups would probably not be flawlessly connected, so I should get either sente or aji. If I get sente here or in the near future, I am going to look at invading one of the western corners or massively reducing the west from the center. Ideally I would prefer to do the former and then the latter, but I expect something like this, if for example I invade the top. [see variation\]
As a result, I imagine that I will get at least one corner, but that whoever gets to play first in the west will get two of: the corners and a play in the middle. That is, unless my opponent tries to defend his bottom corner in sente with something like a kick. The kick would force me to build up my territory a bit, which is not horrible as compensation.
So if my opponent sacrifices his one stone to save his weak group, the game is certainly playable for me. If he does the opposite and saves his stone in gote, I will probably do my best to profit from attacking his group more directly. Now is the best chance I intend to give my opponent to connect out, so hopefully I can make some points against it. Regardless, if my opponent decides to save his group, I will look at my options when it comes to it.
edit: In this strategy section, I mostly just assessed the overall board position to show myself that this isn't horrible, so as to smack some sense into myself. I would rather give myself a false sense of confidence than justified pessimism, because pessimism causes more mistakes.]
;W[nk]C[Fwiffo: Like I said, I'm going to come out and defend here. I chose this particular move because it feels right. I didn't want to attach to black's right side group because I didn't see any benefit to it.
My position is much stronger without having to deal with a severe attack. I haven't counted, but I think it's still a close game. Future targets include securing the corners, invading the bottom, expanding the left side and maybe a light reduction of the left hand part of right's top.]
;B[rp]C[Chew: If I had seen the current board position 12 moves ago when the board was like this, I would have been pleased. I stabilized my base in the south and claimed a lot in the east solidly. So I can be content trading the safety of my opponent's group with my territory I am making. Additionally, if my opponent does not spend another move connecting, I get to separate him for a little more pushing. I'm not sure if that would be the biggest move on the board, because this move has bought him a good amount of breathing room. But at the moment, I have to capture his stone, and worry about where to play next later. In addition to the kill, this has some endgame potential in my opponent's corner.
[see variation after this move\]]
(;W[dq]C[Fwiffo: My opponent's move was big, and it pained me to give it to him, but it was also a big gote. It has no big follow-up. Even in terms of big gote moves, I don't know if it's the biggest on the board.
[see variation\]]
(;B[fi]C[Chew: I counted, and the game looks fairly close. I really want to take the top left corner, but this seems like fairly huge double sente. It helps me build my center, which works well with continuing to harass my opponent's weak group. Even if I let him connect, I get forcing moves against him while he does so. Imagining my opponent getting this point was painful to watch, so I take it now. If my opponent tenukis, it will be huge to dive into his side here, but I wanted this strength in place before I did.]
;W[dj]C[Fwiffo: Black seems to be getting more in the center than I'm getting along the edge, and I don't really know what to do about it.]
;B[ki]C[Chew: May as well try to ride this sente out a little longer before I play a cash move in gote. If he ignores, I can jump one-point-jump east to the shape point of his group. My opponent chose not to link in gote earlier, so I think I can get this center-building move in sente. Sorry for the short comment, but I'm doing this without my mouse so it's a little awkward. This is the move I decided on earlier, though.]
;W[pj]C[Fwiffo: I don't want to lean against the middle and solidify it; I still have imaginings of reducing it. The last few moves have been pretty costly for me, I have to regain my focus before the game gets out of reach.
Here's my conservative count. Black is up by 11 on the board, but that's only 4.5 with komi. However, black has a lot of potential in the center that I'm not counting here, and I haven't counted territory for the bottom black group; it's not likely that black will get nothing there. White has some potential on the left, and the floating white group will get at least two points of territory when it lives. Black certainly has more potential overall, however, and his stones are much more efficient than mine.
Unfortunately, I'll need to do another major center reduction if I ever get sente, and it needs to go very well.]
;B[qk]C[Chew: This was a clever forcing move by my opponent, improving his shape a bit in reasonable sente. Tempted to ignore, but the followup from my previous move is still threatened, so I am better off responding to this, with the hope that my opponent will have to stop and fix his shape/connect. If I get sente here, I will select from one of three places to play: the top left invasion, the bottom (to better stabilize my group) or a reduction on the left center. If my opponent does not help his center group, I will have a move there to attack as well, but I suspect he will be fixing that straightaway.
As far as count goes, I was more willing to make large assumptions than my opponent. I estimated that my opponent will get 60 points (three rows or so) on the left and 20 points total between his corners and the center group, for 80. My top may be around 50, my east 20, and my south 10. Komi comes in too, but I'm being loose enough with my count that there's plenty of leeway for it. If I can take sente for one of those points, I feel as though I will be a little ahead. The reason that two moves ago, I forced my opponent to solidify his western points, is that I made this count and found that I would be probably slightly ahead afterwards. In the spirit of the 'slight advantage', I decided it would be in my best interest to resolve that sort of instability in ways that keep me a little ahead... unless I've miscounted. If anyone makes a big move (like the 3-3 invasion or similar reductions in my groups) or if a group dies without compensation, then one player will probably be ahead by 20 points.]
;W[ph]C[Fwiffo: This is stupid and slow and gote, but it makes the group really really invincible so gives me the freedom to create a new weak group. ]
;B[fo]C[Chew: So, the obvious place to play here is the top left 3-3. However, as demonstrated earlier, that would end in gote. I feel like I am slightly ahead at the moment, depending on endgame. If I leave a weak group, my opponent can attack it with a chance at a sure win. If I defend it (while getting a few points, kind of) I feel like my opponent will have to play increasingly... drastically in order to be sure he can win. Also importantly, my opponent and I both agree that he can read fights better than I can. If I leave a weakness, my opponent has a fair chance to pull off something entirely unreasonable. Endgame, however, I have time to read and count, so I'm less likely to get fleeced. So let's start the endgame. Also, if my opponent does not block the corner immediately, I can try to get it anyways.]
(;W[gh]C[Fwiffo: I don't know if topazg meant for his comment to be visible to the players, but yes, I have been worried about that. This game is not in my comfort zone, and I'm not used to having a big line of stones like that along the fourth line; certainly not when I'm losing.
This move is just meant to run interference for my upcoming reduction. But unless my opponent blunders, I'm pretty close to resigning.
topazg: Yeah, because it was open, I left it there to be read. I figure neither of you considered it an aji-free lump of territory, so I just slapped some letters on areas I'd like to put lots of stones in all at once
Of course, Black peeping White's jumps makes it easier for White to play moves like you just did, and the same the other round. I find myself quite out of my depth in planning these sorts of situations.]
;B[cc]C[Chew: I know the correct response to a peep is to connect, but he is threatening to cut off one stone. If he just cuts one off, I will gladly wall that off and be better off. I suspect that my opponent will peep at my other connections and try to use this to get a deep reduction to safety. However, this corner move seems to be so big that it is worth giving him a bit of a head start in reduction. This move is safe and solid, while the deeper my opponent pushes, the more likely he is to have a weak group stuck inside my turf. Let's just hope that this is a reasonable application of mutual damage.]
;W[dc]C[Fwiffo: I'm not unhappy about this because it removes most of the aji from my left side and it ends in gote for black. I also feel more confident about my reduction for getting a free move.
[begin trigger\]]
;B[db]
;W[cd]
;B[bb]
;W[bc]
;B[cb]C[[end trigger\]]
;W[jh]
;B[kh]C[Chew: Okay, going to just keep as connected as I can and ride this out. My opponent will likely get a fair reduction on me here, but I question whether it is enough after the 20 point swing in the corner. It certainly might be, but I currently regret nothing. This game I'm trying to work on making my decisions based on the count I estimate, so I really should stick to my guns and take what seems to put me ahead.]
;W[ij]C[Fwiffo: Of course, the knight's move and the diagonal jump are easily cut. But the idea is to allow for the easy sacrifice of any given stone for the greater good. I'm probably doing it wrong, but that's the idea.]
;B[fh]C[Chew: I think that it is more important for me to respond to my opponent's earlier peep that it would be to respond to the move that he just made. In his shoes, I would have probably pushed and cut the moment he had sente again. I am concerned that I will end up reduced too hugely, but I should try to play solidly so that there is no bloody coup in addition to a reduction.]
;W[gj]C[Fwiffo: Just trying to get some light running shape...]
;B[fj]C[Chew: Better to keep a solid wall than to try to do anything complicated. My stones are the dike trying to hold in a river. If I get the bulk of it, I win. If too much escapes, my town gets flooded. On one hand, I'm pushing from behind, but on the other hand, if I push far enough, I can invade the west.]
;W[gl]
;B[fk]C[Chew: Threaten to push and cut while further increasing my strength against the left side.]
;W[kk]C[Fwiffo: I think I'm free, or near enough to live. How much ground I need to make up in endgame depends on how much of this group he eats and/or how much of the left gets chewed up now.]
;B[dk]C[Chew: Okay, let's begin. This sort of stuff is why this game has been so fun. I think that my best way to get a good portion of the center 'back' is to clamp at J12. However, this is bigger than that, I believe. It's quite sente and I think ignoring it would hurt my opponent more than continuing his reduction would reduce me. Needless to say, I hope to end in sente (don't you always?), and if I do, I want to go back to the middle. My opponent still has some weaknesses in the middle and right that I can hope to exploit later, at least for forcing moves. However, I just built a huge lever in the middle, so I'm going to see if I can't use it to push things around a bit. Simple machine metaphor go. By the way, later I'd appreciate it if someone could give me pointers on my past dozen moves or so. I'm not really sure the best way to respond to reductions, so I'm not sure how I could have handled this one better.]
;W[cj]C[Fwiffo: This is solid. I have ground to make up so don't have time to let him have any free forcing moves.]
;B[ck]C[Chew: I think that this is pretty big, so I'm going to go ahead and take it now. It seems to aim at C11, and either connecting under or cutting and fighting. I'll have to read it, and look around for other good followups. I want to attack the middle stones, but I think my opponent played light enough so that I won't get as much as it looks like. So first, I'll take this move, which is huge, and then I'll see how my opponent responds.]
;W[jg]C[Fwiffo: I don't think my opponent's move was sente. C11 doesn't really work.
[see variation after this move\]]
(;B[lh]C[Chew: Tactics: I almost missed the fact that my opponent's move threatens to cut. Let's not be stupid, let's play it safe. Yeah, I had a feeling that my last move might not be sente, but as I said, it's huge so I wanted it. The bamboo joint here slightly reduces what white can get with this weak group. Very slightly.
Count: Fwiffo: 15 for bottom left, 15 for bottom and middle right, 10 for top right, 15 for top left. Around 55.
Me: Fifteen (plus a little?) in the bottom middle, 15 for the right. If I get 25+komi from the top, I win. I think that's doable if I play solidly, so I will play safe and solid. Endgame could change these values a reasonable amount, but if I can gain (almost) as much as my opponent in endgame, hopefully it'll balance out.]
;W[ie]C[Fwiffo: REDUCE MY OPPONENT MOAR! Bwahahah, my opponent made an empty triangle; I'm sure to come back now. If he had connected solidly it would have reduced the liberties on those two stones. Then I couldn't play [this move\] because cutting the knight's move would be too hard for me to handle. But with the extra liberty, it's fine. And hey, the aji of the L16 and M15 stones might come back to life.
[see variation after this move\]]
(;B[id]C[Chew: My opponent's reductions have indeed done splendidly. I feel like I had control of the opening, which might have given me a small lead. When this whole reduction fight took off, I tenuki'ed and gave up sente twice. Once was to claim the top left corner, and the second was to reduce the left central. Given that I chose to take gote elsewhere twice, I knew I would get reduced severely. I think that my opponent has gained on me during this reduction, even considering my two gote tenukis. However, I think I am still ahead a little. For now. As far as the move I just played, it was that or connect, and I'm pretty sure I don't have to connect. This gives me more power to stop reductions, so I'll choose it. And there's still a fair chance that I'll kill at least a stone or two of the reduction, but I'll probably tenuki elsewhere instead, depending on how things go.]
;W[hp]C[Fwiffo: Let's see if I can reduce some more...
amnal: I don't like this move. Even if black doesn't have F5, he can now generally connect underneath easily. If white wants to do something nasty, it is rarely to force black into good shape in this way.
I think it is better, and bigger, to play E2. This would be even better if black answers submissively now, then white can get E2 in sente before pulling this stone out in good shape having forced on both sides.
I think it will be wrong for white to play any more stones on top, as this will encourage black to play the massive E2 miai point. I wonder if white underestimates E2, or I underestimate white's move, or I overestimate E2.
EDIT: Of course, it would also be good for white to play some destructive invasion in black's slightyl weak shape, but no point is obvious to me.
[amnal's variation to follow\]]
;B[hq]C[Chew: I'd love to attach on top, but I really don't think I can. This is a reduction because of that, but I don't know if it will get out in sente. There are several areas I'd like to play (the center, the bottom right, and a few other places that feel smaller). I'm walking a line between playing solidly and firmly and playing passively, and hoping I don't stray the wrong direction. I wonder if my opponent intends to tenuki and leave this as a forcing move...]
;W[hn]C[Fwiffo: I don't think I'm going to have enough here unless my opponent makes a grievous tactical error.]
;B[gp]C[Chew: Observers: Prepare to be amazed by my upcoming grievous tactical error! Seriously though, whether or not I'm ahead, one misstep will give my opponent the game gift-wrapped, so I have to read and keep alert. I believe that this is the best response, locally. And I think tenuki invites too much chaos and murder.
Fwiffo: Let's give a rough count. Being generous, and giving me a few points in the center, I see black about 10 ahead with this very rough count. If I do very well in endgame, maybe I can make some of that up... So I guess it's not resign yet...
]
;W[ip]C[Fwiffo: Not sure what to do...]
;B[iq]C[Chew: Hey, I could tenuki to... no.]
;W[jo]C[Fwiffo: I can haz center territory?]
;B[kp]C[Chew: Give it a shot?]
;W[ko]C[Fwiffo: Hey, maybe I can haz. My shape might even be acceptable.]
;B[lo]C[Chew: I hope this doesn't work as well as my opponent hopes it will.]
;W[sp]C[Fwiffo: OK, while I'm pushing things around, maybe I should take some sente points around the board...]
;B[bk]C[Chew: Oh, are we in endgame? Because this is the biggest endgame point I see. If I get to play inside that top left area, will you live?
]
;W[sn]C[Fwiffo: I may ask you the same question... Do you live if I cut this group off now?]
;B[cg]C[Chew: Yes, I live. The jury's still out on your group, though. No, I'm not actually this sure of myself, but I have to play according to my reading, even if it's scary.
]
;W[rg]C[Fwiffo: I'm the one that needs to be taking risks here. I haven't read this, but I never should have played my last move if I didn't intend to follow it up.]
;B[ro]C[Chew: My, this game has become violently entertaining. I think I'm good here, but I'm not sure if white is in the top left. Time will tell, though. Obviously, if only one player loses a huge group, it's the game.
daniel_the_smith: White looks totally dead. Black I give 50% chance of dying. Groups seem to be about the same size, maybe black's is slightly larger.]
;W[so]C[Fwiffo: This move is forced. I have no idea of the outcome. But catching the one stone is only one eye, and anyway he'll live in gote and I think I can save the left. I had to try something.]
;B[rn]C[Chew: The Plan: I think I can do this. As DTS said, I belive white is dead up top left. So I just need to lose less and I'll be okay. I'm looking at a sequence like in the diagrams below, where if I have to I can sacrifice a few stones to ensure life. There's a lot of complexity, so my opponent will look for monkey wrenches. However, these diagrams are what I read that I would play as white, so I'm feeling optimistic.
[diagrams to follow\]]
(;W[]C[Fwiffo: I resign. You're alive easily by my reading, at least three or four eyes. I might live on the left with half my group with something like C14, but it's not enough. Sorry I barely made it 100 moves! I should have read this out before playing a game of chicken. Getting some points in the middle made it close enough to go into endgame at least.
Chew: Thank you very much for the game. It was challenging and exciting. I was afraid of your reading, so I was doing my best to keep the game in larger, direction-of-play strategic areas as long as I could. I would love to play you again sometime, if you would be up for it. Thanks again, and thanks to the observers who commented.])
(;W[rm]C[[Chew's diagrams\]]
;B[qm]
(;W[rl]
;B[ol]
;W[ql]
;B[qo]C[Chew: I think 114 and 115 are miai?])
(;W[ol]
;B[rl]
;W[sl]
;B[sk]C[Chew: I don't think MHO can play for a ko?])))
(;B[]CR[fg][fh][kh][lh][fi][ki][fj][ck][dk][fk]C[Fwiffo: How much territory is enclosed by these stones? Granted, I have some inefficient floating groups myself, but I'd reckon that my reductions have more-or-less done their job.]))
(;B[ci]C[[fwiffo's variation\]]
;W[di]
;B[bj]
;W[bi]
;B[ch]
;W[bh]
;B[cg]
;W[bg]C[Fwiffo: My move protects against a a push and cut at e.g. K11, threatens to cut off two stones (well, sorta, it's messy and I haven't read it completely) and threatens to burrow deeper in to black's area.]))
(;W[]LB[db:G][bc:F][cc:A][ce:B][cg:C][ci:D][cl:E]C[topazg: Now the fun of fixing all that wonderful aji ]))
(;B[]CR[nk][rp][dq]C[Fwiffo: By letting black have the [circled stone\] I got both [circled stones\]. I think that's a more than fair trade. A weak group is like an anchor, weighing down your whole game. Lessening that burden is worth a lot.
This move secures the corner, and also has a big follow-up, threatening to invade the neighboring extension.]))
(;W[od]C[[Chew's variation\]]
;B[oc]
;W[nd]
;B[md]
;W[rg]C[Chew: As an aside... one minor thing that [61\] buys me is defensive options in the east. I had been eyeing black's push on the top right. If something like this happened, my eastern stones would be floating. I'm not sure this would be exactly the way things would go (I had read everything more completely in my head but there were too many variations to post. In essence however, buying stability for the east reduces the aji up top a bit further because I need not fear white 4.]))
(;B[cc]
;W[dc]
;B[db]
;W[cd]
;B[bb]
;W[bc]
;B[cb]C[Chew: Next time I have sente, if I invade, I expect. My opponent sacrifices a little in the corner for sente.]))
(;W[]CR[qj][pl][on][qn]LB[pn:D][no:C][ro:A][rp:B]C[Fwiffo: Of course, I want to pull out the marked stone with a or b; if I let black block at b, that's a pretty nice sized chunk of territory. But I really want to play c. If black were to get that move, he'd make some nice shape for himself and my access to the center will be much more limited. Black will have to defend against me pushing through, and it becomes difficult because of the marked knight's moves. However, black may have a move that both captures the marked white stone and defends against the push. I'd have to do some reading. may have been better at d (reducing my liberties), though that shape is also not without problems.
I may still sacrifice that stone to get sente.
And while rescuing that stone is big (a lot more than 2 points because of the black territory it nullifies), is it worth giving up sente and letting my center be hassled? Black would have to take gote to capture it anyway. Like the 3-3 points on the left side, it really amounts to large endgame, and we're not at that point yet.
]))
(;W[on]
;B[qr]
;W[rq]
;B[or]C[Chew: Even this looks possible]))
(;W[oo]C[[Chew's variation 1\]]
;B[pp]
(;W[po]
;B[rq]
;W[qr]
;B[pr]
;W[rr]
;B[rp]C[Chew: If he forces me to take the corner, I can.])
(;W[qr]
;B[pr]
;W[rp]
;B[ro]
;W[rr]C[Chew: This looks doable, but scary. Fwiffo reads better than I do... eep!])))
(;W[pp]C[[Chew's variation\]]
;B[po]
;W[qp]
;B[np]LB[pn:B][oo:A][pr:C]C[Chew: I expect something like this. Again, it may be a mistake, but it seems like I want to keep taking thickness, to keep with the plan. Just hesitant if I'm giving too much away or am missing giant flaws. If MHO cuts at a, I can stretch to b. 'c' also gives me some interesting opportunities for later, such as sealing the bottom stones in sente. Mostly, I'm prioritizing the bottom/center over the corner, and trying to do it in something like sente.]))
(;B[pr]C[[Fwiffo's variation\]]
;W[pp]
;B[qp]
;W[po]
;B[qr]C[Fwiffo: I am OK with this though. Reading out variations here and elsewhere on the board, I was annoyed that all the ladders were working for him everwhere, which is part of the failure of my opening. I would be very happy taking the outside right now.
If black insists on keeping the outside for himself, well, this move just makes my corner bigger. My plan for the rest of the game would give me three, possibly four corners. I can avoid the middle getting too big because my middle group is solid, and I can play subway go to keep him from getting much territory on the bottom.]))
(;B[nh]C[[Fwiffo's variation\] ]
;W[mg]C[Fwiffo: I haven't read very thoroughly - I didn't get much sleep - but the previous several moves means that my group is harder to cut even though it's still light. He can spend moves to capture a stone here and there, but I get out with the rest.]))
(;B[og]C[Topazg: It's a sequence you might not want to look at (5 more moves), but it's not that uber and it may be horribly flawed. I just hate respond to peeps like that (too much, often connecting is better): [variation follows\]
]
;W[pe]
;B[nd]
;W[ne]
;B[ld]C[End topazg's variation
]
;W[mg]
;B[nh]C[Chew: Followed by something like this, with a chase that nets me territory on both sides but probably lets white run to safety? Yeah, I guess that would probably be safe, and fine. I think I kind of turned on my 'Play thick and safe, and weather the storm' mode. I'm curious to compare this diagram with whatever happens over the next ten or so moves.])
(;B[pp]C[[topazg's alternate variation\]]
;W[pr]
;B[or]LB[nq:A][qr:B]C[topazg: Big, no? "a" and "b" both work for Black.]))
(;B[]LB[fg:B][nh:A][pl:D][mq:C]C[Chew: So, 'a' seems inefficient, letting MHO have too large a reduction for too cheap. 'b' is tempting, but it's playing with fire. Whoever gets it first is really happy, but his group is currently loose enough that I could probably deal with it if I need to. Taking 'b' would make it less loose, getting it closer to actual territory. If I'm making the wrong move, 'b' is probably the right one, though. 'c' is also really tempting. It gets me a base and stability, and threatens to extract the aji stone. The problem with it versus 'b' or 'd' is that, while it's fair reverse sente, it's not double-sente like 'b' and 'd'. I'm going for 'd' so that I can up the ante. Rather than block him small with 'a', I'll attack him on a massive scale with 'd'. His stone may run, forcing me to block where I want to. He cannot sacrifice it entirely, because that gives me a huge side/middle/top. I figure, he's likely to play lightly, live inside or escape, but I'll get a lot in exchange.
Actually, I take it back. I was decided on 'd', but 'b' is just as sente as its predecessor is. He's not really solid enough on that side to be a threat, and taking 'b' makes 'd' that much huger. Let's lay it all on the line and go for the gold. I'll take 'b' then hope to get 'd'.]))
(;W[]C[Chew's variation: possibility for later]
;B[pp]
;W[qp]
;B[po]
;W[]C[If 4 tenukis...]
;B[qo]
;W[ro]
;B[rn]
;W[sp]
;B[qm]C[Chew: This is all pretty tentative and up in the air. However, it looks like it would make Q5 sente. I could take '1' first, but that would allow MHO a chance to play something different, changing this possibility. So I'll play my move because it works with the top, and I'll threaten to take '1' as well. Black can't stand to take '1' and '3' in sente, so I'm betting he will finish the top left in sente then take gote in the bottom right. I will lose a bit in the bottom right, but it makes it feel like I got the shape I wanted in the top left in sente.]))
(;B[qp]C[Dusk Eagle: In response to Chew and regarding the bottom right corner:
I believe the pincer you played is not good in that situation. However, tenukiing the contact play is far, far worse. The correct continuation is to play the cross-cut: [variation follows\]
]
;W[pp]
;B[rq]
;W[qr]
;B[po]
;W[op]
;B[qo]
;W[rr]C[Dusk Eagle's variation ends]))
(;W[hq]LB[fo:C][hp:B][cq:A]C[Chew: For example, I can sacrifice that stone to safely gain the corner with 'a'. Or, I can start a fight at 'b' (might be a really bad idea if I don't get a bit more support first, but I can still at least sacrifice that first stone and jump into the corner. Or I have the option at 'c', which still looks different options. I recommend this opening in general because it lets you react to situations. While you may start out picking the wrong response to a given situation, it's a good way to learn.]))[/sgf-full]
If anyone wants me to remove their comments from the sgf, let me know!
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Someday I want to be strong enough to earn KGS[-].
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Chew Terr
I might live on the left with half my group with something like C14, but it's not enough. Sorry I barely made it 100 moves! I should have read this out before playing a game of chicken. Getting some points in the middle made it close enough to go into endgame at least.