Life In 19x19

Hello everyone!

New member of the board here, been playing go for a few months. I lost a match on OGS last night. Now, I have lost plenty of games. One time I lost a 7 stone game against a guy who totally overwhelmed me. The match last night, however, I didn't at any point feel underwhelmed or hopeless. I was simply outplayed.

Now, I just need to understand how!

I would greatly appreciate any feedback on this game. I am interested in improving my game and becoming semi-competent. I have a sneaking suspicion that, as in chess, one never feels truly competent at a game so complex. Nonetheless, I have much room for improvement!



Thanks so much in advance. Looking forward to becoming an active member of the forums.

-Christopher

Hi Cristopher,

I am pretty tired so I did some handwaving in the middlegame. If you have doubts, A stronger player, such as me after sleeping a bit, can help clarify it or tell me I'm wrong. The most important comments and the losing sequence are moves 157-168. Hope this helps.

Hi Christopher,

Same note as Jhyn: o17, P16, etc. big.

Same note as Jhyn: pincer; K16, J17, etc. big.

, - Common bad habit + wrong order.

- is standard bad shape, bad exchange for B.
You make bad shape for yourself and good shape for W: "hane head of two".
Instead, you want to first do the exchange of , , .
Afterwards, you would not bang your head against W like you did with ( - ).
Instead, you jump to B15, ahead of your game move .

Get a feeling that ramming yourself like - is often bad for you.
( Exception example: Avalanche joseki. )

Another angle to Jhyn's note:
Your 3 G15 stones are almost like dead bugs on the windshield --
they're not quite dead, but they're not very useful right now.
If they become more useful later, then you deal with them.
But not now.

Your move itself is also heavy.
Locally, G12 better, for example.
Globally, you should tenuki.

Same note as . Very slow & heavy (inefficient).
Locally, H12 better, for example.

Seems wrong direction: W is indirectly hurting his own Q14 group.

- Another angle to Jhyn's note:
You force W to gain FIFTH line cash.
Also, is slow & inefficient.
J12 better, for example (also eyeing W's Q14 group).

Finally.

A big move (but very greedy).

Did you notice W's big group is not alive ?
Example: did you consider P12, etc. ?

You're helping W with this hane.
Just pull back to L12 is much more severe on W.
( See next move. )

This shows your mistake at --
if you just pulled back to L12 for ,
then you can now hane-block at N11, instead of this painful retreat.

A big move.

Probably slow.

Small & slow.

It's already been mentioned, but the mistake that led to all the problems was definitely trying to save the three stones. IF white had been cut by them and the group in the corner, black would have been able to pressure one group or the other to get a decent result, but as it is, they were doing nothing but becoming a bigger and bigger target that is harder and harder to sacrifice.

Better to tenuki and then see if you can threaten to connect to them in the middlegame or endgame as extra points.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

I played through the commentary a few times on my board, so I could get a feel for the stones and my mistakes. What each of you said, about the three thick and useless stones, immediately made sense when I saw it played out. To my embarassment, C6 was a viable tenuki for much of the game.

Ed, your comment about moves 27, 29, 31, was something I hadn't thought of previously. It makes sense now that I see it! Looking forward to playing that mistake again and catching it too late XD

Thanks everyone for the help =)

Hi Christopher,

about the three thick and useless stones

Thick (strong) is good (versus thin, weak);
( maybe you're thinking of the 'stupid' sense, which is not the usage here in Go )
heavy is bad ( like a burden, difficult to unload ).

Kris2476 wrote:Ed, your comment about moves 27, 29, 31, was something I hadn't thought of previously.

It seems completely obvious now, but somehow I missed it in my commentary, so let me add my appreciation.