There's sometime that feeling that you don't deserve a win, because you were losing for a long time and ultimately only won because your opponent made particularly glaring blunders (that only happened because of excessive greed while he was ahead). There's also the feeling of dissatisfaction when you end up losing a game that you should have been winning given proper play (and by proper I don't mean necessarily optimal, and I certainly don't mean fancy variations that you wouldn't be able to read during the game). Or when you lose a close game and when you review you can clearly see "I would have won if I had played that move, and it wasn't something obscure that I would never be able to find". There's also those opponents that play some shitty opening and then end up winning (but well if they're your rank and have a shitty opening they must be good somewhere else).

It's hard to feel good about a loss, and it's hard to really feel good about a win either when you take the time to review it.

In short, it's probable that in kyu level amateur games, the winner indeed never deserves his win. What is clear though, is that the loser did deserve losing.


Like this game : I ended up misjudging by a lot how much points I was giving my opponent and how much I had gotten by an early kill, and only won because of some frankly suicidal endgame plays by my opponent.



this approach wasn't bad but I did mishandle this corner I feel. I think one point jump and leaning against G4 might have been better, but was still alright. I think I erred with :w74 though. Not solid enough for a move that is so slow.

I probably should have broken into the top with P14 first. Then whether the 3-3, or the attachment, or a submarine move would be better is another question. Also I should have tried to exploit the aji of Q5 and at least extended at P5 before cutting with w112. Speaking of w112, I feel I didn't get enough from that cut. I looked at some LZ variation and apparently I could extend to M12 and get something probably living in that center.

(202 was stupid, but it was a misclick, obviously it should have been the atari).

So during this game I thought I had let my opponent had way too much territory in the center, but after reviewing it was close and I could have won even I had not killed his entire right side.



was a mistake though. The corner isn't in need of protection right now and since white can do -:w43: or other similar moves it doesn't actually put enough pressure on white. Either E7 or F7 should have been played instead. Also I probably should have peeped at G5 before G7, if I peep at G7 at all.

Well, a rare lost game that wasn't a complete disaster.



I missed the ko that started with white B2, obviously, and then I feel that I mishandled the ko fight that followed, and could have managed to get better compensation for that corner.

I think C12 to try to kill might lead to a ko in the corner after at b18 after white force with D13 etc... So it's probably better to ensure that my outside stones live.

Black 131 was I think a mistake. I should have captured the one stone. If black then do S4 R3, I can atari at S3 to encroach in the corner, and if he plays S3 then my reading show a ko in the corner after R3 (and some amusing other things like an under the stone which end up not working) or a variation where both side save their stones in the corner but nobody make points there.

Anyway, this mean that taking the corner is smaller than taking the side.

For black 163 I think I should force at S16 first. Either I take the corner back, or I get the game variation but with more points in the corner.

Overall I feel like I played the better endgame but I was behind by too much points due to the mishandled ko and the 131 mistake to win.

Another interesting game. Today was a good go day it seems.

There's few game that are as satisfying as those you won by managing to get an advantageous ko and getting just enough compensation with your ko threat to go on to win by a slight margin.



(Not in the sgf variation, but 252 should be at 253)

Also, maybe at L4 might have been better given the center situation. It does put less pressure on black though but that might be alright. Black didn't end up being pressured much anyway.

Let's talk pro games. I'm still keeping the "play the full game once then play the first 100 moves a few time until I can replay them without the game record". I kind of like it because the first time I play through a game part of the enjoyment and feel for the game is lost by tracking the moves on the diagram (on the other hand since it's a kind of guess the next move exercise it's worth doing). The memorization part also is fairly quick so it's not hard to find some moment in a day where I have both the motivation and the time to play over a game.

Which is why I temporarily shelved the Go Seigen 10 games matches until I can dedicate enough time to them to appreciate the games and commentaries. So, because it's nice to keep a them when playing over go games, but I didn't feel like choosing a single player, I've decided to go through the Honinbo titles matches year by year. (Partly it's because I had already started with those from the early year Ebooks, so I decided to finish what I've started). I've just finished the 1955 match, so at the moment it feels like I'm studying Takagawa's games.

I've also started going through Redmond's Alphago commentaries video, especially since sometime I don't feel like replaying a game or doing problems, but watching a video is fine.

An interesting problem from the Segoe tesuji dictionary.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Black to play
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X . . O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O . . O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

In the main line solution (which I won't give but isn't that hard to see), black cut white apart and kill one of the group. But I've been trying to figure out what to do with another defense, the in the following diagram

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Black to play
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X 4 2 O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O 1 3 O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O 0 9 . 5 6 8 O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This is what I believe is the strongest white resistance (:w6: at just lose). Because of the throw in of , it appears that black win the semeai.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm11 Black kill the corner
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 9 X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X O O O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O X X O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O X . X O O O 1 2 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 6 5 7 3 . X 8 . 4 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But this is because white play the wrong order of moves...

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm11 Ko
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X O O O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O X X O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O X . X O O O 1 2 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 . 3 . X 6 . 4 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

What about this then?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm11 Seki
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 9 X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X O O O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O X X O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O X . X O O O 1 2 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 8 . 3 7 X 6 . 4 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

And this is the issue, I haven't been able to find anything better than ko or seki in this variation, which isn't terrible but is not quite satisfying when the main line black get the corner. So maybe is to blame?

But the other alternative fail. For example :

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Black to play
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X 3 2 O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O 1 4 O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O 6 . 5 7 8 0 O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm11 Black to play
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X O O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O X O O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O . X X O O O 1 2 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 4 3 . 6 X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I must be missing something, but I can't find it.

I actually spend quite a long time on a variation that quite obviously couldn't work because I missed the obvious mistake.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Black to play
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X 4 2 O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O 1 3 O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O 0 9 . 5 6 8 O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . b . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

a and b are miai.

So I looked more at the only other reasonable move to see if I couldn't make it work. And I found this that threaten the cut at a

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Black to play
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X 3 2 O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O 1 4 O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O 6 . 5 . . a O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Then this is an attempt to reduce black's liberty, but create a shortage of liberty in sente.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wm8 Black win
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X O O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O X O O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O 6 X . 3 2 O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 4 . B 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So what about this? Attempts by white to start from the corner remove a liberty there so fail, thus going from the other side. then the sac with and make white need an approach move. If above , then at :b17 win.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wm8 Black still win.
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X O O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O X O O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O . X . 1 3 O 6 9 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 0 4 . B 5 2 7 8 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Finally we must look at this , and things fall apart. For example :

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wm8 White win
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X O O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O X O O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O 3 X 5 . 1 O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 2 . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So what about cutting with to try to create a shortage of liberties?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Black to play
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X 3 2 O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O 1 4 O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O 6 . 5 . 8 7 O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm9 This doesn't work
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X O O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O X O O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O 4 X . O X O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 3 1 2 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But keeping it in reserve and first going after the corner seems to win for black :

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm9 Black win
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X O O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O X O O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O . X . O X O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 3 1 4 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm9 Black win this way too
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X O O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O X O O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O 2 X . O 6 O 7 8 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 9 1 . 5 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm9 So it seems to work?
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | X X X X O O X X X , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | O X O O X O O O X O O . X . . . . . . |
$$ | O O O 9 X . O 8 O 6 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 7 2 1 . 5 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So I think I finally get it, though if I missed something I will be happy if someone correct me.

A game I played earlier today. Lots of dead stuff. But I'm not exactly sure what was supposed to be the right reply to ... Maybe black 101 at H3 would have been good enough? The game result was not game losing given the kill at the top, but I feel that I let him have more solid territory from this exchange than he should have.

Setting aside how to deal with - I would suggest a much simpler thing to think about first is .

Do you really need to play this move? Unless you're playing blitz or don't actually have enough clock to think through, this is exactly the kind of moment where it's really worth spending the actual energy to read (or count liberties) and figure it out, rather than just going on autopilot. Any time a move like this is unnecessary, you're effectively passing and giving a whole free turn to the opponent!

As for , at a glance the result doesn't look unreasonable to me. One thing you can do though to deter this kind of peep is actually to leave bD2-wC2 unplayed. This is because if white peeps and you haven't played this exchange yet, then after you connect against the peep, later you can play bC2 instead of bD2! Digging deeper into white's corner, and even making an eye there if needed.

Good points on . Double tapping can be good at time, but in this case not really.

Of course, I doubt he would have played I didn't reduce his corner beforehand. After black 111, I end in gote, with some not entirely alive group, and he gets about 20 points of solid territory on the side. It's better when he plays 112 which force me to connect (a bit loosely but still) my two groups in the center, and then try to escape in the worst possible way with his center group, but if not for those later bad moves by him I feel I ended up worse off after this exchange.


Another game. I think most of my comments are in the sgf this time :



Finishing the ko was probably correct but I feel like I mishandled the followup on the right side. Of course, he lets me live where he could have killed me so in the end I won comfortably.

Your time usage could be an issue. For most part you are playing 25 moves in under 3 minutes in this 10/25 game, that is judging from the clock in the sgf. I think you are playing way too fast. Especially in situation that are difficult.

Some comments:

• White could have connected with 120 at N17 so there was something more wrong here than leaving a ko.
• Black 135 is absolutely necessary. You mention a ko in the corner but that would be a big gain for white.
• I think black can live cleanly at 137 but not with the game move. You should try to fix your life and death mistakes yourself when reviewing games. These usually have some clear solutions so it is really worth the effort.

There are some things to say about the lower right corner but I feel the main thing in this game is that your left side group was dead and you played really fast which might be the cause of some reading errors.

120 : Right, indeed. That's the exact same reason as for why the descent doesn't work, I just didn't re-evaluate the ko variation after that.
135 : Assuming that the right side died (as it should have with how I played), then a ko in the corner and living on the side would have been best. Of course that assumption would be flawed given that...
137 : ...It seems that you're right. Actually, I could also have lived with 139, but I can't find a good answer to white 138 at D9. Anyway, while I haven't doublechecked everything it seems that at worst I should get a seki with 137 at E9 (Even a seki seems unlikely).

As for time, well... It's really because the 10/25 is unnecessarily slow for this level of play but it's impossible to get a game quickly on IGS at faster time limit. I don't try to move especially quickly and I play when I felt I have read the situation to an acceptable extant. (It definitely wouldn't hurt to try to force myself to add a little more double-checking though)

That's probably the largest single group I've killed in a while. It was quite unexpected too.



Black 111 was probably the losing move. I don't think I even need to kill after that. Though White 132 was probably too stubborn of me, I think I might have lost point in the exchange (though maybe not that much since if I passively connect he plays B7 etc...

It is true that almost everyone is playing longer time settings on IGS with some players blitzing through the game anyway.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't play lot of very fast games just that it might be more productive for you to review games in detail when you spent more time playing them. Maybe these games have less mistakes but taking longer time also challenges you to play at a higher level. That is to make good use of the time that you have and with practice you will be able to do it all in the same time that you did much less before.

That's fair yes.


A game I just played. I played rather badly at the end but it didn't matter.



Approaching then tenuki is the usual for me in handicap games. is often a komoku though. For I don't really know the other large knight move variation other than the 3-3. Some might say that the 3-3 might simplify things too much, but the standard joseki end with taking the corner in sente so there's nothing to complain, and sometime they try to get fancy as here. (Related to this, was intended to be a 3-3, but misclick)

was almost forced after . If he had kicked, though, I'm not sure how I should have played. The usual extension toward the center followed by the pincer just feel too good for black. Extending to the side letting the tiger mouth happen doesn't appeal much since black is strong on the top. Maybe 3-3 again?

Trying to enclose black with :w123: would have been better. The game move doesn't really remove any eye, so it's just taking territory in the corner (of course, it make that group of mine completely alive so it's not worthless, but still).

I missed the double hane of black 146. With it in mind, white 141 should have ataried at N10. Then black just die and resign. That said I also misread black 146 at P13. Then black squeeze, yes, but black can only make one eye in gote. Then S8 appears to kill. Even if black live, white's side group is a bit stronger and white has an atari at M15 which could be helpful in doing something on the top.

169-171 were probably bad. I should instead have forced from the outside with the hane on the first line and G12.

Rather than 189 I'm thinking that F16 might have been better to force him to capture my group. It would be gote, but it's 6 points so it's not small. 229 was particularly bad.

Over the last ten days or so I've had a rather good 7 games winning streak on IGS, ranking up to 3k+. This is the last of those games : I feel I had the better position, and then he just died everywhere. It made for a fast game.

Well all winstreak must end one day.



I feel I add the better position starting the middle game, and I might have been able to kill the lower side black group, but then I overplayed like crazy in the middle.