Life In 19x19

Any thoughts or comments welcome

After White has a big moyo on the left, with 3 Black stones trapped. should be at D15 or C15 to prevent White from getting a big moyo on the left side, or at least a sanrensei or Chinese opening. should be at E17 to keep up pressure on the White chain on the top left. After White is pretty damn thick at the top, so I would've played at C6 or D6, or even D7, as this would be worth more - and hurt more - than a play at F3. Why make the game easy for White?

By White 200, White has trapped 2 large Black groups and a good part of White's points came from these.

Hi zedmango, do you have an estimate how many total games you have played ?

should be at...

is no problem at these levels.

should be at E17

at E17 is bad for Black.

I think you have problems realizing when your groups are in trouble and also realizing, when they are dead beyond repair. For example: take the bottom group(K4). After it has obviously no eyes and is not yet securely connected to any other group. I would immediately add another move trying to connect to the right, but you leave it alone. Maybe you can still connect against all tries of white to seperate it, idk, but even if that is so, white has the pleasure to execute forcing moves there, and you need to watch this group all the time. You didnt, because in the sequence until :w140: you let him build a wall, that has your group comletely trapped. After that, you start adding more moves there to make the death bigger.

Edit: instead of connecting immedidiately, also a cut at L2/J2 seems an interesting option for 93.

Another example: when you played :b131:, were you aware, that this doesnt make life to your group? It seems, neither you nor your opponent noticed. A10 is a fake eye, so white can kill at b12(perhaps also with c12(idk), but then you get c10 in sente(thretening two eyes with b12) and cut through, which is complicated, so b12 is better).

EdLee wrote:Hi zedmango, do you have an estimate how many total games you have played ?

Hmm... I was trying to figure that out a while back... in the last couple years it's about 200 or so maybe? So in my lifetime, going all the way back, maybe 300-400?

What makes you ask that question? I'm interested in how people learn Go and I'd love to know your thoughts on what the number of games played means.

Hi zedmango,

300-400 is good. I asked because when someone is just starting, with much fewer than 100 games,
then finishing the first 100 games is a very valuable experience. After 100 games or so,
then reviews become more useful. Since you already have a few hundred games, it's nice.

Please see also Post 61 .

One quick observation. Look at the end result. You notice how all of the white stones are linked and unified. Then do you notice that black has a bunch of tiny isolated groups with no cohesion? That's a lot of went wrong in the game. It's hard to see until these concepts click when it comes to attacking and defending. You did more or less nothing but make weak groups all through the board and you let yourself get separated at every turn. Worry about your stones first before worrying about your opponents'. "Don't go fishing while your house is on fire".

leonprimrose wrote:all of the white stones...
black has a bunch... That's a lot of went wrong in the game.

No.

leonprimrose wrote:Worry about your stones first before worrying about your opponents'.

No. That's not it, either.
Go is much more difficult and much deeper than many realize.
We have to worry about and deal with many things all at once,
including both our own groups and our opponent's.
Sometimes we have to take care of own groups first;
sometimes we have to deal with our opponent's first;
sometimes we even have to do both at once.
Sometimes if we deal with our groups first, and neglect our opponent's, it's a mistake. Sometimes, the opposite is true.
It all depends. Generalizations are very slippery in Go.

EdLee wrote:

should be at...

is no problem at these levels.

should be at E17

at E17 is bad for Black.

For 7 tekesta's was certainly too strong to say those other choices were the moves one "should" play, Go is a much wider game than that. But I think even at 12k IGS one should know which side to approach a 3-4 point (and maybe also know the outside approach from the 'wrong' side is suitable in Chinese opening type situations, it depends if you're a booky 12k or a slugfest 12k). But yes 13 at e17 is very bad, I had to double check the co-ordinates to check I read it correctly!