Life In 19x19

Hello, and thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to offer advice.



A few thoughts:
-This game was one I felt was going really well for me, and even though I did win, I was surprised that it ended up so close. It feels like I let my opponent have his or her way this game.
-In the start, I conceded a lot of territory. I did get good influence from it but I don't know that it was worth it.

-I think the invasion on move 85 was a key juncture. It seems I had a lot of potential in the center, but the result of the game makes me feel like I ended up wasting that. Regarding the subsequent moves:
--Move 85: Maybe this should have been on the 4th line to better suit my influence-oriented strategy?
--Move 91: I think probably could have played the atari at M4 for a better result
--Move 93: My thinking here was to concede a base to avoid being sealed in. This was probably a poor way to do it.
--Move 97: Not needed.
--Move 106: I wasn't sure if this was a good response to my opponent's push. My opponent probably could have pushed further into my territory, but instead invaded the center which didn't go well for him or her.

Again, thank you for your time!

Hi Tonkleton,

Good. Basic shape.

Trying to be fancy. A special purpose move (very rarely played).

You hurt your own corner. W Q14 next.

You get lucky; a better player would not play here.
W should Q14 to pressure your corner, to cut your corner off the rest of the game.

First, study the basic joseki: B extends to Q15, not this R15 hane.
Basic joseki: B extends to Q15, W hanes Q18, B hanes P18, W connects R18, B connects P17, W jumps to R14.
First, study the basic sequence.
This R15 hane variation has many subtleties, including messy sequences.

It's possible you are confused about when the corner is empty --
with only your Q16 star point stone, and W jumps into 3-3 at R17 --
without the exchange of R17 and Q17.
That is a completely different situation and joseki.

You get lucky; a better player would not play here in reply to .
Likely, W is also confused about the same empty-corner 3-3 joseki mentioned above.

Bad. You get lucky W continues to play bad moves here.

W should've done this sequence directly instead of .

Mistake. Trying to be fancy. Connect directly at P17.

No. You get very lucky again.
W cuts at the same vital point P17.
Next, W has miai of the cut at Q15 and the hane N18.
Homework: prove to your satisfaction that you'll lose
either your two stones at P18, or your two stones at Q17.
In other words, W connects back to his Q18 corner.

- This exchange forces W to hit the vital point --
the elephant's eye -- at N14.
This one is OK, but...

...This is bad. Basic broken shape for Black.
Basic shape: after your ( - ) exchange,
where W hits the vital point N14, you have two local follow-ups:
keima L13, and keima M12.
If the top is good for you, L13 keima.
If the right side is good for you, M12 keima.
Either keima is better, much better, than your push at M14.
The other push, N13, is also bad, also broken shape for Black.

Only move. Classic broken shape for Black.

You take a vacation in the middle of a battle.
W is not out yet. Keima L12 to continue to attack W,
while you expand your top at the same time.

This turn is big. See, you should've taken L12 directly yourself,
then this same turn would become a local bad move for W.

, Both moves very soft -- only making a few points in gote --
lack of fighting spirit. These two moves completely let W off the hook.

, , very slow and painful for W.
Instead of these, W could simply jump out, to say N10.
You get lucky W spent 3 very slow moves here.

Very slow. Very small. W's slowness is contagious. You follow W's bad examples.

, , Standard bad habit for W.
After the exchange - , W must cut at E13.
If the W cut at E13 is bad for W, or, if W does not want to cut at E13,
then W should not push at .
Proverb: push-and-cut. Not: push-and-retreat.
The net result here is W has reduced his own liberties,
W bumps his head against B, making bad shape for W himself,
and gives B a chance to fix the cut at E13.
Common bad habit.

Basic shape: by the way, the cut at E13 has been there for a very long time --
all the way back to your keima, and recently with .
I didn't say anything until this - mistake.

Basic shape mistake.

Good.

Move 85: Maybe...to better suit my influence-oriented strategy?

Good question. If you do a rough tally of all the mistakes and problems mentioned so far,
up to , you'll notice 99% of them have to do with basic shapes,
basic tesuji, basic reading, basic fighting skills.
Strategy is more big picture; tactics are more local.
They must go together. From the above tally,
you can see the overwhelming majority of mistakes at these levels
are in the tactics.
Without the proper basic tactics -- basic shapes, basic tesuji, basic life-and-death, basic reading, basic fighting skills --
without these, no strategy will work.

Hopefully this gives you an idea what is much more important to fix and to study at these levels.

These comments are wonderful!

You're right. I was thinking of the empty corner joseki.
Goodness, I was so close to losing big locally. I didn't realize how lucky I was.
This shape comes up a lot in my games and I'm glad to learn how to prevent it (elephant eye) as well as a proper response to it (keima).
Your phrasing of this comment made me smile. It is a great metaphor.
Makes perfect sense. This has indeed given me a much better understanding of where to direct my study. It seems I need to put more focus on tsumego and the basics, and much less on big-picture strategy.

Thank you for your invaluable insight.

Hi Tonkleton,

You're welcome.

Your phrasing of this comment made me smile.

I'm lazy and unimaginative. I only got a handful of these.
(Also, because these problems and symptoms happen again and again,
for many people and many levels. )
From my other posts on the forum (and in your future reviews),
you'll hear them over and over ad nauseum.

It seems I need to put more focus on tsumego and the basics, and much less on big-picture strategy.

Already ahead of the crowd.

Edit: Added more variations and comments.



Main focus: Think big. Make territory while attacking.

Edit: Always fill the dame.

Excellent! I've read that a good move does at least two different things and I can see concrete examples of that in the moves you've suggested. Your variations are very thought-provoking - for instance, I would never have thought to tenuki on .

I can't emphasize enough how useful it is to hear the thoughts of more experienced players like you and Ed. So, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge!

I have edited my previous note to add variations and comments.

Your strategy worked fine, BTW.