Life In 19x19

Hi Babelardus,

Depending on the global situation ( the whole board ),
suppose the 2 stones are not important to White:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . O X X . . . .
$$ | . . . O 1 W X . ,
$$ | . . . . . W . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

Then White even has the option to give up the 2 stones,
and take a lot of territory on the left:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . O X X . . . .
$$ | . . . O X O X . ,
$$ | . . . 2 . O . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

I'm not saying that's the situation in your variation.
I'm saying for certain board positions, this is a possibility for White to consider.
The key word here is the global perspective:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . O X X . . . .
$$ | . . . O X O X . ,
$$ | . . . O 3 O . . . .
$$ | . . . 4 . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

While I am sure that there are many plays that could use improvement, I tried to find where the game was lost. I think that the game was close at around move 100, but White quickly took the lead. Go to move 101.



Main focus: Do not follow your opponent around. Look for moves that threaten the life of groups or secure life while threatening to take away potential territory. Look for double sente.

Bill and EdLee: Thanks for taking the time to take a look at the game.

I'll definitely have to pick up a book on shapes (and joseki as well, as I don't know enough of them either). Mostly, in lectures, I see people saying that 'this is bad shape' or 'good shape', without really explaining why. So now, I often make a shape because I know it's a good shape, but don't understand why. I also play Joseki's without really understanding why they are equal.

I see that I indeed missed quite some opportunities around move 100 (and at other points in the game as well, probably). I also see that I seem to be way too afraid to play things like the hane or knight's jump, for fear of cutting and/or disconnecting; I'm playing too passive.

Babelardus wrote:I see people saying that 'this is bad shape' or 'good shape', without really explaining why. So now, I often make a shape because I know it's a good shape, but don't understand why.

Hi Babelardus,

Yes; this is a common experience.

On the topic of good v. bad shapes,
going back to post 4 -- as discussed,
your empty triangle (a) is bad shape --
the natural move is block with :

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Reference shape
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 2 1 X . . . .
$$ | . . . O a O X . . ,
$$ | . . . . . O . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

However, even if you're worried about the (a) push,
you can still do better than (a) -- this fixes it:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Var 1
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . 1 X . . . .
$$ | . . 2 O . O X . . ,
$$ | . . . . . O . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

Or:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Var 2
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . 1 X . . . .
$$ | . . . O . O X . . ,
$$ | . . . . . O . . . .
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

Of course, block in the Reference diagram is still the best,
but at least you could consider Vars 1 & 2,
instead of the empty triangle connect.

BTW, best not to use [] in comments. Eidogo seems to have trouble with that. In the SGF file I uploaded White had lost four stones on the board by move 100. I corrected [] to O, and the file looks OK now.

Here is what happened. In your uploaded file, [] in the comments looks like this: [\]. Eidogo handles that fine. But GoWrite does not, because there are too many "["s in the file. So GoWrite converts that to \[\]. Eidogo responds by not showing the play that the comment goes with.