Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm131 Prisoner Count: B-1 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O . O O X O O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . O X X X X O . . . . . O O O . |
$$ | . O . X X O X X O O X X . O O X X O . |
$$ | . . O . . O O X X O O X O . X X . X . |
$$ | . . O X X X O O X X X O O . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . O X O O X X X . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O . O X . . O . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . O X . , . . O . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . X X . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X . . . . . . O X . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . O . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . O 1 . . O X . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X . O . X . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . X . X . 2 . , O X . X . X X O X |
$$ | . . . . . . X O O O X O . . . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X X X X O . O . O . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

That doesn't look like two eyes.

So I messed up. Yeah, I messed up on the board. He might kill me, now. But more than that, I messed up with my attitude.

When asked by Loons what I foresaw of a situation, I replied, "I seriously don't know, Loons.". What kind of an answer is that? And a couple of moves earlier, my comment for the game was, "I don't know what will happen.". What in the world is that?

I've come to respect Magicwand's intuition in games. I want to have that for myself, too. But I think I've fallen into substituting this for an overall lack of deep thinking. And that's where I really messed up.

People play go in a lot of different ways. They think of it from a lot of different viewpoints. But to me, go is a thinking game. You try to come up with strategies and tactics that will lead to your victory in the end. How can I ever say that I've done this if I "don't know what will happen", or if I don't even make an attempt?

As Magicwand has said before, go is a complicated game, and it's hard to predict what will happen. But if I am ever to feel I've won a game based on my own thinking... Well, then I've got to think and make an attempt to foresee the future. That's the only real way, I think.

So, yes, I've made mistakes on the board here. But I think that the root is in my attitude.

I think that the only way I can win the game is if I live, and I think he needs to make a mistake for this to happen.

So I have one thing that I will try before resigning, and that is the following (if he plays this way):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Prisoner Count: B-1 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O . O O X O O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . O X X X X O . . . . . O O O . |
$$ | . O . X X O X X O O X X . O O X X O . |
$$ | . . O . . O O X X O O X O . X X . X . |
$$ | . . O X X X O O X X X O O . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . O X O O X X X 5 . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X O X . 4 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O . O X . . O . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . O X . , . . O . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . O 2 X X . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X 3 6 . . . . O X . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . O . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . O O . . O X . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X . O . X . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . X . X . 1 . , O X . X . X X O X |
$$ | . . . . . . X O O O X O . . . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X X X X O . O . O . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I don't think that this will work, because there are several options for black to be safe. But this is the strategy that I have read for this game. This is what I am going to try. And if it doesn't work... Well, then I'll resign.

I do not wish to play anymore without thinking, or without a plan. That was my real mistake here.

I had read long variations, but lost them due to a power outage. Anyhow, it seems that if I block, there is a risk he can connect his cutting stones to (temporary) freedom, after which my split group will become under serious attack. This way he can push through, and I may have to even sacrifice my three stones on the left, but if that happens I will be able to kill his centre group and win anyway. Lets see which path he chooses.

If I have misread, this is probably the game-losing move.

I should have spent much more time reading this, but I just can't concentrate on this right now. Anyhow, that move looks natural. I still threaten to kill him (I think), and if not, then I can separate L11 and N10 from the rest of the group. If he turns his attention to the left again, then there may be some trouble there, but I should be able to either sort it out or get compensation in the center.

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[go]$$Wcm1 Diagram 215-1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O . O O X O O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . O X X X X O . . . . . O O O . |
$$ | . O . X X O X X O O X X . O O X X O . |
$$ | . . O . . O O X X O O X O . X X . X . |
$$ | . . O X X X O O X X X O O . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . O X O O X X X . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X O X . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O . O X . . O . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . O X . , . . O . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . O O X X . X . B X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X a . . O O . O X . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . O . O X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . O O 1 . O X . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X . O O X . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . X . X . X . , O X X X . X X O X |
$$ | . . . . . . X O O O X O . . . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X X X X O . O . O . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

just let white live without a word? i would hate to let such a nice fish off my hook. with black 1 instead of his last move, i still can't see two eyes for white, even though the big hole at 'a' is unpleasant and makes the evaluation less clear.

well, black is somewhat ahead anyway and the nasty upper-edge sequence is still waiting there, unseen.

I thought about letting him connect to safety while securing the lower left corner, which according to my calculations would still give me a small lead, but I'm not willing to do that just yet. This is somewhat complicated, but I think should come out ok. Let's see how he plans to continue.

Let's again hope I haven't misread.

Ok, he chose to live a small life. I might have been able to prevent it earlier with a more skillful play. However, I think that there no longer is any real danger in the lower left. After the expected answer I must decide what to do next. I believe I'm leading by 20+ points.