Life In 19x19

Posted: **Fri Aug 30, 2013 5:36 pm**

Ed: I disagree with that pro.
Loons: black is happy but I think white playing rt side is lacking purpose. My suggestion is also big and has multiple purpose.

I guess my style is building thickness first. Since white gained influence by giving up points so his next move has to agree with previous choice.
Don't rely on pro opinion or my opinion. Have your own opinion until you prove it to be wrong.

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:03 pm**

My rank drifted a bit on KGS, and I played a 3d on KGS yesterday. There was a clear difference between his strength and mine, and I was crushed.

Here's the game:

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:04 pm**

I've given some comments in the game after reviewing it, but I think I need to study this game for awhile more. Why? Because this guy makes the type of moves I want to be able to make.

There is a word in Korean, 첫수, which is literally "first move". In the context of go, this can refer to the set of moves you select from as first moves when you are reading. So when I read out a position, I think maybe I can play A or B or C. Let's consider each of them. In this game, my opponent played moves that were not A, not B, and not C. He played moves like E or F - moves that I don't even read, because I don't consider them in my reading process.

I want to have this *breadth* of reading. I focus on depth of reading, typically, but this *breadth* in the 첫수 is something I need to have the type of strength my opponent had in this game.

How do I achieve this? I don't know. Maybe by studying his moves.

Here are some examples:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . O . O . . . . . W . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Maybe the move he played is a common shape - but it wasn't even on my radar. I don't know exactly how to respond to it correctly. But even more than that, I don't know how I would come to be able to consider a flexible move like this as white.

How do I get that strength?

Here's another example:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . W . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . X X . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . O . O . . . . X O O . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . X C C . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . C O C . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . C C C . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think this move is great - but in the game, it wasn't even on my radar. As white, it wouldn't be on my radar, either. I was thinking solely of the marked area. I felt that the single white stone was weak, and thought only of the connection there. I need to have this wider vision of the board to be able to see how something further away can help the immediate fight.

Why is my vision so narrow? I don't know the answer to that question, yet.

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:26 pm**

Why not just keep pushing through at m16 on move 17?

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2013 2:29 pm**

Kirby wrote:I've given some comments in the game after reviewing it, but I think I need to study this game for awhile more. Why? Because this guy makes the type of moves I want to be able to make.

There is a word in Korean, 첫수, which is literally "first move". In the context of go, this can refer to the set of moves you select from as first moves when you are reading. So when I read out a position, I think maybe I can play A or B or C. Let's consider each of them. In this game, my opponent played moves that were not A, not B, and not C. He played moves like E or F - moves that I don't even read, because I don't consider them in my reading process.

I want to have this *breadth* of reading. I focus on depth of reading, typically, but this *breadth* in the 첫수 is something I need to have the type of strength my opponent had in this game.

How do I achieve this? I don't know. Maybe by studying his moves.

Here are some examples:

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . W . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . O . O . . . . . W . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Maybe the move he played is a common shape - but it wasn't even on my radar. I don't know exactly how to respond to it correctly. But even more than that, I don't know how I would come to be able to consider a flexible move like this as white.

How do I get that strength?

Here's another example:
$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . W . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X X . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . X O O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X C C . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . C O C . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . C C C . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . W . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . X X . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . O . O . . . . X O O . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . X C C . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . C O C . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . C C C . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think this move is great - but in the game, it wasn't even on my radar. As white, it wouldn't be on my radar, either. I was thinking solely of the marked area. I felt that the single white stone was weak, and thought only of the connection there. I need to have this wider vision of the board to be able to see how something further away can help the immediate fight.

Why is my vision so narrow? I don't know the answer to that question, yet.

Both of these are joseki moves.

Edit: Or joseki-ish, anyway. I don't know if they appear in this particular joseki when he played them.

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2013 8:36 pm**

yoyoma wrote:Why not just keep pushing through at m16 on move 17?

During the game, it felt to me that if I try to push and cut, it would be what what had intended with the move, and would hurt the 4-4 stone. As I am unfamiliar with this move, I don't know if my rationale was correct.

The quick sequence I read during the game was something like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . B B 1 2 . . X . . . | $$ | . . O . O . . . . . W W 3 4 . C . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6 . C . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I felt that this hurt black in the marked area. I figured I would strengthen the marked black stones independently of helping out his weakness.

In retrospect, if we play like this, the marked white stones are weak, so maybe this is OK for black.

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2013 8:41 pm**

Bill Spight wrote:
Both of these are joseki moves.

Edit: Or joseki-ish, anyway. I don't know if they appear in this particular joseki when he played them.

Thank you, Bill.

I had no idea either of these were joseki (or even joseki-ish). This leaves me with two questions:

1.) Could you share one of the "proper" joseki-ish sequences for each of these moves? Even if it's not applicable to this board, I'd still be interested.

2.) More generally, my impression from this game was that I need to improve my reading breadth, since he was considering moves I had not. From your comment, I wonder if one way to accomplish this would be to know more joseki, so I have more ideas on moves in particular situations. Practically speaking, though, do you have any tips for how I might work to achieve this breadth of reading? Though these might be joseki-ish, the moves seemed almost mystical to me, since they weren't even in my consideration.

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2013 8:46 pm**

Side note, to anyone with an opinion:

Do you feel that black's response was correct here?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

My first instinct was to kick his stone, but it feels white could use it to attack the marked stone:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O 1 . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . B . . . 2 . X . . . | $$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I don't know exactly how... Maybe he uses the same move he played in the game:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O X . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . O . X . . . | $$ | . . O . O . . . . . W . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Edit: Maybe the move above would be what he'd play, because I saw some pro games with sequences like the following in this type of position (though, the top left part wasn't the same, so I don't know if it still works):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bm1 $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . W . . . . . . 7 . O X . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . X 5 6 . O . X . . . | $$ | . . W . W . . . . 1 O . 8 . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Though, I wonder how the position is here. Does it favor black or white? White's top left is still strong...

Any thoughts on this position, and the move I played in the game (instead of the kick)?

Posted: **Sun Dec 08, 2013 2:03 am**

Kirby wrote:
Bill Spight wrote:
Both of these are joseki moves.

Edit: Or joseki-ish, anyway. I don't know if they appear in this particular joseki when he played them.

Thank you, Bill.

I had no idea either of these were joseki (or even joseki-ish). This leaves me with two questions:

1.) Could you share one of the "proper" joseki-ish sequences for each of these moves? Even if it's not applicable to this board, I'd still be interested.

Well, the second is just the tsuke-koshi.

For the first, see the two space high pincer, elephant jump reply.

2.) More generally, my impression from this game was that I need to improve my reading breadth, since he was considering moves I had not. From your comment, I wonder if one way to accomplish this would be to know more joseki, so I have more ideas on moves in particular situations. Practically speaking, though, do you have any tips for how I might work to achieve this breadth of reading? Though these might be joseki-ish, the moves seemed almost mystical to me, since they weren't even in my consideration.

I think that it is practical, at each turn, to identify up to five candidate plays. The memory load is lessened by the fact that if a candidate play is not played, it often remains a candidate.

I also think that it is valuable, after reading, just to relax and look at the board for a second or two. You can often see something that you missed with the more focused attention of the search.

Posted: **Sun Dec 08, 2013 2:36 am**

kirby wrote:Side note, to anyone with an opinion:

Do you feel that black's response was correct here?
$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I would actually prefer to come over on top at o15. White is so strong on the left and there's not much potential on the topside -- compared to the middle/right. If Black does some fighting on top and gets settled, there won't be much for him to gain there.

Looking at the direction of fighting p18 or p17 have a greater chance of pushing k16 towards the top through southwest regions, while a fight after o15 would have Black move more towards the south -- a better direction for him.

Posted: **Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:58 pm**

Some time ago, there was some discussion on the importance of being well rounded. I think Bill Spight mentioned something about this. I questioned this methodology, feeling that you should spend time studying on that which is most efficient to improve. After further discussion in that thread, wherever it was, along with some thinking, I think there's merit to the idea of being well rounded.

I had a question at the time, to which I didn't really get a response:

Kirby wrote:Where is the area in which I need most improvement, personally?

Okay, it's not really a quote, but it's just a recollection of what I think I asked.

I don't know the answer to this, but maybe I can find the answer if I try to do things differently in my study. So I typically just do go problems and games for study, but I decided I'll try to go over pro games from time to time.

Exercise
As an exercise, I decided to comment on a pro game the same way that I comment on my own games in this thread. After all, this is my "study journal", so if I study a pro game and have thoughts, I might as well post it here.

For fun, before each move, I thought about the position, and decided where I thought I would play, and gave this variation. I did this before looking at the next move, then I could see where my thoughts varied from the pro's.

I didn't do it intentionally, but I think most of my thoughts and comments were from black's perspective. I guess that's because I prefer playing black.

Here's the game, along with my comments and variations:

Posted: **Wed Dec 11, 2013 11:16 pm**

You can see from my comments areas where my thoughts are different from the pro thoughts (i.e. likely incorrect).

Here are a few highlights of my initial reaction vs. what was played:

Position 1

In the game, I considered the two space extension on the 4th line here. Black played at the marked intersection to exploit white's shape. I feel black's play is probably sharper. Although, white later invaded, so I'm not so sure about the position.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . O . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Position 2

After move 26, I was concerned about helping the center black group with a knight's move. I felt OK to ditch the single stone on the right to strengthen this group.

Cho U 9p decided to bring out the black stone. His plan was more ambitious, and I feel I "gave up" a bit. He had a more hard-working plan, so it's probably a big difference in mentality here.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . C , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . X . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Position 3

My gut reaction was actually the same as the move played in the game here for black (the knight's jump out). But after closer thought, I'm not sure how black responds when white cuts in this way:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X 1 . . O . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . 3 2 X , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . X . O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . X O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O X O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . X X O O . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . X . . . O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I guess this can tell me that my instinct was OK in this case, but if my instinct were challenged in a game, I might fail here.

Position 4
In this position, my intuition was to jump into the 3-3 point for immediate profit, letting the weak black stones be. Pro thought was to persist in utilizing the stones, and not to jump into the corner, yet.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X X . . . O . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . X , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . O . O . O O . X . O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O X O . X O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . X . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . X . . . X O O X O . . | $$ | . . . . . C O O X O . X . X X O O . . | $$ | . . . O . . X . O O . X . . O O X . . | $$ | . . B . . . . . . . . X O O O X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . X X . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Position 5
This one, I still don't totally understand. I would have played here, but pro thought was to connect solidly:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . | $$ | . . X X X . . . . . . . . . O . O X . | $$ | . X . X O X . O . . X . O . . O . . . | $$ | . . X O O O . . . , . X C X X X X . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X B . O O X X . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X O O O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . X X O . O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X X . . X O O . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . O . O . O O . X X O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O X O . X O O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . X . . . | $$ | . . . X . O . . X . . . X O O X O . . | $$ | . . . . O . O O X O . X . X X O O . . | $$ | . . X O . O X . O O . X . . O O X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . . . X O O O X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . X X . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Summary

Some general points that I can learn from these positions where my thoughts differed from pro thoughts:

1.) Perhaps I give up stones that I feel are too weak too easily. Some examples are when I didn't think to move out the single stone on the right in the position above, and also when I decided to dive directly into 3-3 when I felt outnumbered in the bottom left.

2.) I need sharper tactical moves, above global dull moves. I'm thinking of Position 1 here.

3.) In general, I need better reading skills to back up intuition, such as in Position 3, above.

Posted: **Fri Dec 13, 2013 12:17 am**

I decided to play another game online today. Since I reviewed a pro game recently, I wanted to review one of my own games, again. So I played one. The time limits were 30 minutes per person plus byo-yomi, but I feel that this is not enough time for me these days. Oh well.

Here's the game:

There were some key moments in this game, where my reading was lax, and I could have lost by a lot. My opponent was a bit lax, and just responded. Because he didn't punish me strictly, I was able to win, but against another opponent, or in a different game, I would have lost.

(See commentary in game)

I need to be careful of this.

Posted: **Fri Dec 13, 2013 12:26 am**

Key Game Moments

There were a few positions that were particularly interesting to me, both during the game, and in review.

Position 1

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . C . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . a . . . . . X O X X O O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Following this joseki, white can't make much of a moyo, so I'm reluctant to try with a move around the marked intersection. In the game, I played 'a'. Now, I think maybe 'b' was more active.

What do you think?

Position 2
What do you think is the best sequence after black plays the marked move?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . X . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Position 3

What do you think of the marked move vs. the move that was played in the game?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . . | $$ | . . . O . . W . . . . X X . X O X O . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X X X O . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Position 4

How might you respond to black's play here? I thought it was pretty sharp, which makes me wonder about Position 3, above.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . . | $$ | . . . O . B . . . . . X X . X O X O . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X X X O . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Posted: **Fri Dec 13, 2013 9:52 pm**

Kirby wrote:Key Game Moments

There were a few positions that were particularly interesting to me, both during the game, and in review.

Position 1

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . C . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . a . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . C . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . a . . . . . X O X X O O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Following this joseki, white can't make much of a moyo, so I'm reluctant to try with a move around the marked intersection. In the game, I played 'a'. Now, I think maybe 'b' was more active.

What do you think?

I would definitely play b.

Position 2
What do you think is the best sequence after black plays the marked move?

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . X . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . X . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . | $$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

[/quote]
Connect.

Life In 19x19

Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal

Re: Kirby's Study Journal