It's story time, friends of L19. This story begins with me setting up the parameters for Fuego to think. Tree size: 17,000,000 nodes as always. 30 minutes. Fuego has the ability to show the sequence it likes best in real time, which I usually turn on, because it's interesting to watch the sequences shift around. I hit "play move". Its first instinct is the cover at M6. I go make myself a peanut butter & jelly sandwich.
When I come back, sandwich in hand, it's considering a sequence something like this:
$$Bcm79
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . O . X . O . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . O X . . . . . . O O X O X . . |
$$ | . . . X X O O . X . . X X O O O X . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . , . . . X X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . X X . X X O X O . . X O . O . |
$$ | . . X , X O . O . O O O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . X O 1 O . O . O . . X O X . O . . |
$$ | . . X O 2 . 5 O X X X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm79
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . O . X . O . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . O X . . . . . . O O X O X . . |
$$ | . . . X X O O . X . . X X O O O X . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . , . . . X X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . X X . X X O X O . . X O . O . |
$$ | . . X , X O . O . O O O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . X O 1 O . O . O . . X O X . O . . |
$$ | . . X O 2 . 5 O X X X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
It's quite obvious that white (still!) won't connect at the top. It's just as obvious that if

is at

, the group lives. Frowning, I set up the problem on my board. As I read it, x, y, and z are miai:
$$Bcm71
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . X X . X X O X O . . X O . O . |
$$ | . . X , X O x O . O O O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . O . O . . X O X . O . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . O X X X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . y . O . z . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm71
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . X X . X X O X O . . X O . O . |
$$ | . . X , X O x O . O O O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . O . O . . X O X . O . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . O X X X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . y . O . z . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
Black can take any one of them, and the other two become miai for the kill. Note that E3, as Fuego is thinking, doesn't actually remove an eye, and in fact encourages Chew to live.
I finish my sandwich. Fuego still likes E3. The win percentage is dropping, down to 59.2%. My frown deepens. In my head I'm composing a mournful post on Fuego's inability to read. Then, at 23:45, Fuego puts down this sequence:
$$Bcm79
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . O . X . O . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . O X . . . . . . O O X O X . . |
$$ | . . . X X O O . X . . X X O O O X . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . , . . . X X X . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 0 7 8 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X X 6 . . 3 O . X . |
$$ | . . . . X X . X X O X O . . X O . O . |
$$ | . . X , X O 1 O . O O O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . O . O . . X O X . O . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . O X X X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm79
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . O . X . O . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . O X . . . . . . O O X O X . . |
$$ | . . . X X O O . X . . X X O O O X . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . , . . . X X X . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 0 7 8 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X X 6 . . 3 O . X . |
$$ | . . . . X X . X X O X O . . X O . O . |
$$ | . . X , X O 1 O . O O O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . O . O . . X O X . O . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . O X X X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
I won't lie, patient readers. I want Fuego to win. I've been setting it up and watching it think for over a month now, playing its moves, being Hikaru to its Sai. When I saw this, I jumped out of my chair. "Yes! Stop thinking! You've found it!" Fuego kept me in suspense for 4 more minutes (26:40) before committing to this move.
Value: 59.3%
Thinking time: 38% G4, 26% E3, 10% M6, 6% P6.