Just to clarify, I meant the threads becoming obsolete, not the players (Note "that" vs "who")
E.g., the title of the threads "The reign of Ke Jie" and "Park Junghwan is Best" don't really make a whole lot of sense anymore. This is just to minimize the number of dead threads.
Gu Zihao is one of the many super-strong young Chinese players to emerge in recent years, he won the Samsung cup last year and he's now #5 on goratings. He just won the 14th Weifufangkai cup (gotoeveryone calls this the Qiwang but I think it's a successor event), beating Liao Yuanhe in the final (pretty much all the big name Chinese 9ds except Ke Jie participated and got knocked out). In the semi-final Xu Jiayang tried to kill his 3-3 invasion with that 2nd line broken shape killing move loved by internet overplayers but not so often seen in pro games, and Gu found enough aji to survive here too. Maybe Gu will go onto greater things and get his own thread, but for now I'll hijack this one!
o5 is sente and makes miai at the bottom. Black can Atari with an empty triangle of sorts but then white comes out with good shape. Black then connects to separate the two white stones but there is aji
(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.00] GN[Problem]DT[2019-03-02]PC[https://senseis.xmp.net/?SandBox]CR[jn]AW[db][eb][dc][fc][cd][ed][ce][ee][fe][cf][bg][bh][bi][nk][rk][pl][ql][sl][rm][cn][kn][io][ko][cp][dp][lp][mp][op][pp][cq][iq][lq][nq][oq][br][dr][mr][cs]AB[cc][nc][dd][fd][pd][de][df][ef][ff][cg][ch][ci][cj][qj][rj][pm][qm][jn][nn][pn][rn][do][jo][lo][mo][po][ro][ep][kp][qp][dq][fq][kq][pq][qq][er][lr]LB[ni:C][ol:D][km:B][no:F][jp:A][kr:E]TR[nk][rk][pl][ql][sl][rm]SQ[io][iq]C[The problem is:
White would like to cut at A but Black can capture at B
Even if White connects under, next Black can attack the white group on the right, at C Black can also play D for a cut
Also, if Black can connect at E and live with these stones, next F kills.
There are so many problems to solve here that White may ask herself: how did I get here?
Positional judgment shows that: - White is ahead on territory, by more than komi, so it's no surprise that she's struggling by having 4 groups of stones - the right side is much bigger than the bottom; so the triangled stones are much more important than the squared ones - in fact, if Black connects at A (or captures at B) to separate the squared stones, E becomes almost double sente, so White can play there to reduce the bottom
Let's now look at a few variations, before deciding on the main line for white to follow ]PL[W] (;CR[jn]) (;W[jp] (;B[km] ;W[kr] ;B[ln] ;W[jq] ;B[ko]C[locally this is sente] (;W[ni] ;B[jr] ;W[ls] ;B[ir] ;W[hr] ;B[hq]) (;W[ls] ;B[ni]LB[hp:A]C[this is insupportable
Black is light at the bottom and White has bad aji of the peep at A])) (;B[jq]C[Black can also go this way] ;W[ip] ;B[km] ;W[jr] ;B[kr] ;W[ls] ;B[ln] ;W[ks] ;B[ko] ;W[ir] ;B[ni])) (;W[ni]C[If White plays here immediately] ;B[km] ;W[kr] ;B[jr] ;W[ls] ;B[jq]LB[ol:A]C[then she is floating
the cut at A is still there, so the attack on the black stones is not easy]) (;W[km]C[I think White should play here] (;B[jp] ;W[kr] ;B[jr] ;W[ls] ;B[jq] ;W[jm] ;B[in] ;W[ni] ;B[ol] ;W[ok] ;B[pk] ;W[pj] ;B[qk] ;W[pi]C[White makes shape in sente] ;B[qd] ;W[rl] (;B[qh] ;W[om] ;B[nl] ;W[nm] ;B[ml] ;W[mm]) (;B[nl] ;W[ri])) (;B[ni] ;W[jp])))
LZ's solution:
(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.00] GN[Problem]DT[2019-03-02]PC[https://senseis.xmp.net/?SandBox]CR[jn]AW[db][eb][dc][fc][cd][ed][ce][ee][fe][cf][bg][bh][bi][nk][rk][pl][ql][sl][rm][cn][kn][io][ko][cp][dp][lp][mp][op][pp][cq][iq][lq][nq][oq][br][dr][mr][cs]AB[cc][nc][dd][fd][pd][de][df][ef][ff][cg][ch][ci][cj][qj][rj][pm][qm][jn][nn][pn][rn][do][jo][lo][mo][po][ro][ep][kp][qp][dq][fq][kq][pq][qq][er][lr]LB[ni:C][ol:D][km:B][no:F][jp:A][kr:E]TR[nk][rk][pl][ql][sl][rm]SQ[io][iq]C[The problem is:
White would like to cut at A but Black can capture at B
Even if White connects under, next Black can attack the white group on the right, at C Black can also play D for a cut
Also, if Black can connect at E and live with these stones, next F kills.
There are so many problems to solve here that White may ask herself: how did I get here?
Positional judgment shows that: - White is ahead on territory, by more than komi, so it's no surprise that she's struggling by having 4 groups of stones - the right side is much bigger than the bottom; so the triangled stones are much more important than the squared ones - in fact, if Black connects at A (or captures at B) to separate the squared stones, E becomes almost double sente, so White can play there to reduce the bottom
Let's now look at a few variations, before deciding on the main line for white to follow ]PL[W] (;W[kr] ;B[jr] ;W[ls] ;B[bd] ;W[be] ;B[ae] ;W[bf] ;B[km] ;W[jq] ;B[jp] ;W[ip] ;B[in] ;W[oi]) (;W[km]C[I think White should play here] ;B[jr]C[I missed this move]))
Lian Xiao 9p has been one of the top Chinese players (goratings #7) for a few years now and ended Chen Yaoye's many years holding the Tianyuan title. This year rising star Fan Yunruo (#12) is challenging him for the Tianyuan and won the first game. Lian needed to win the second game and did so today in spectacular style with lots of kiai and ko and trades. https://home.yikeweiqi.com/#/live/room/17044/1/13993177
We should have more (not less) threads to discuss these domestic events. These Tianyuan title games are extremely interesting ones. Game 3, which is still ongoing while I write this, is again a very exciting game - Lian Xiao is showing off his attacking skill in very difficult situation.
Lian Xiao managed to win the third game and thus defend his Tianyuan title. Difficult fighting, the yike bot had him far behind in middle game but he made the attacks work. I wonder what Fan's mistakes were, will investigate with Lizzie later.
