Life In 19x19

I didn't think about this move, so back to the drawing board. M10 looks nice with the threat to push and cut or get a ponnuki in the centre, but the move is so obvious that I can't imagine Kirby not having a good reply ready.

pak0 does not see that capturing the two stones is small. Judgement matters.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X O . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X O 2 . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 5 . 3 4 O X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I really don't know how much I like that, it looks good regarding the right side, but I feel like I'm getting way overconcentrated here

Kirby wrote: I wish I had more of a plan at this point, but I suck at handicap games.

Don't be too hard on yourself, paK0 is making it much harder for you than most people taking 9 stones would.

Ultimately it seems like the best option I have. If I pull the other stone out he has N12 and while I couldn't read out exactly what happened to looks really dangerous.

If the sequence I posted follows, Kirby will end up with a decently strong group, which gives him more options, but I feel like I haven't messed up horribly yet, so I'm still confident about the game.

But I have to keep in mind to play a stone on the left side of the board every now and then.

paK0 wrote:Gonna need a little more time, this is a though one

$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X O . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X O 2 . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 5 . 3 4 O X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X O . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X O 2 . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 5 . 3 4 O X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This diagram reminds me of when I was 2 or 3 dan. At that time I relied upon shape to judge a lot of early play. That served me pretty well; first, because early positions are not easy to count accurately, and second, because I was pretty good at getting better shape than my opponents. Then I was reading a book by Sakata, in which he showed a variation that I would have chosen in a game, because both sides got good shape. I judged that as an even exchange. But Sakata, while acknowledging the good shape, said that he had felt that the result was not good enough, and had sought complications. The message was quite plain that I needed to develop my judgement beyond questions of shape.

Here, White has good shape, obviously, and Black is solid. At pak0's level he could be satisfied. Oh! And I am impressed that he apparently plans to take sente after .

pak0 wrote:I really don't know how much I like that, it looks good regarding the right side, but I feel like I'm getting way overconcentrated here

All I can say is Bravo, pak0! You are way ahead of where I was at that level.

Now, if you had just thought of that on your previous move.

And Merry Christmas!

I'm sure I'm not the only person this happens to, but I find that insights like this can be very common... immediately after the move that commits you to a less than desirable position. The other thing that happens is that you see that the line leads to some issue like this, but don't see a viable alternative.

Please tell us there's a point when you get past this issue.

OK. Yes, there is a point where you can get past this issue (except on rare occasions, OC ). Avoiding errors that are immediately obvious, once played, is part of playing up to yourself. As bridge great, Terence Reese said,

A player who plays up to himself is hard to beat.

After digesting that I can truly say that I played up to myself nearly all the time at bridge, and most of the time at go. A DDK can play to himself or herself. OTOH, if you are a carefree player, oopsies are fine. (I used to bite my mouth and cheeks in my sleep at bridge tournaments. There are tradeoffs. But that one was not really necessary.)

In this case pak0 did not see the overconcentration when he played the extension. He saw it as a severe attack. The fact that later he became aware of the overconcentation is wonderful. I think that he is playing above himself.

Debating between this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X O . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X O X . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . W . O X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

and this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X O . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . W X O X . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Might be good to make some sort of plan for what to do next, before deciding on this move.

Kirby wrote:Might be good to make some sort of plan for what to do next, before deciding on this move.

Hah!
So apropos.

To be honest, I'm not really sure what's best. I tried to think of a plan. I played this move, because if he captures, I can atari, and it's same shape as I wanted before:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X O . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . W X C X . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 2 1 . O X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So he might be tempted to move out:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X O . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . W X O X . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 1 2 . O X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

but then I'll connect and try to start a fight. If it were even game, I wouldn't dream of it, but maybe I can get some sort of advantage with local fighting if he tries.

Mh, this is at least a little surprising. I think taking here is the only move, but I'm still gonna do some quick reads before I commit.

Seems fine, so lets go for it