European Go Congress, Toulouse, worse results.

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Since I last wrote I have played seven games, and only won one. I am not exactly happy about it, but it was not quite as bad as it sounds. On Friday I played a good game that I was proud of, leading my game against a strong 5-dan for a long time:

In this position I had the chance to play ”x”, followed by the triangle, when I would lead with about ten points. In the game I kept the lead for a few more moves before he took over, and kept a small lead for the rest of the game. It is the first game I have ever played, where neither player had a lead greater than ten points. (!)

Then came the weekend tournament. I braced myself a bit, knowing that I am significantly worse with shorter time-limits, but I expected to do ok. In the first round I was paired against the same player that I played in the first round of the Main tournament. This time, again, I got a very good position, and although my lead was not quite as big as last time, it was a lead that would have been easy to hold on to, if only I had played a solid move instead of starting a(n unnecessary) ko. I crashed and burned.

Then, in round two of the weekend, I played horribly and could have resigned after only a few moves. I felt the press on the clock and played a sharp move without reading out the consequences properly, leaving me well twenty points behind.

In round three I was out-played by a Chinese kid. I was constantly behind, and at one point I played a big point, leaving a weak group floating in the middle of the board, which he went on to kill efficiently. We played until late in the evening, and there was two more games on the Sunday, so I went to bed early.

On the Sunday I started my game well enough, and it was going my way when I lost my head:

I am playing the white side, and it is my move. In the game I played the horrible, horrible ”A”, defending my group before attack his three lone stones in the center. The second ”horrible” comes from the fact that I do not have to defend my group below if I kill those stones. Instead I should have played ”x”, which makes miai of the two points marked by triangles. Either Black’s three unconnected stones in the center will die, or Black’s four stones to the right. The result would be overwhelming for me.

Then, in the fifth round I finally won. Not a great game, but I did not crash.

In the evening, for the first time, it was not 30 degrees Celsius outdoors, and we could sit in the grass and go though the games. Parts of the Swedish contingent came and went.

Trying to come to an understanding of the corner joseki.

Not everyone could get a grip on the the situation.

Today I played better again, but my opponent was very consistent and fast. I got a decent position, but in the end my lack of time caught up with me, and I went from slightly worse to dying with one of my groups:

EGC, 6

Black: Tiger Hillarp 3d
White: Li Tianyi 4d
Date: 2024-08-05
Place: Toulouse
Rules: AGA (Area)
Komi: 7.5 points

1.●Q16
2.○D4
3.●Q4
4.○D17
5.●F3
6.○C6
7.●D15
8.○C15
9.●C14
10.○C16
11.●D14
12.○F17
13.●D10
14.○O3
15.●K4
16.○R6
17.●Q6
18.○Q7
19.●P6
20.○R3
21.●R5
22.○Q3
23.●R7
24.○R14
25.●M3
26.○N3
27.●Q11
28.○P14
29.●O16
30.○S16
31.●R17
32.○S11
33.●L17
34.○E3

My last move is a bit lukewarm, but I felt it had a good follow up at the marked point.

35.●F4
36.○F2
37.●C8
38.○G2
39.●H17
40.○S6
41.●S5
42.○R8
43.●S7
44.○S8
45.●T6
46.○P9
47.●E18
48.○E17
49.●F18
50.○D18
51.●G17
52.○B14
53.●B13
54.○B15
55.●N14
56.○N13
57.●M13
58.○O13
59.●M12
60.○F15
61.●B6
62.○B5
63.●G14
64.○B12
65.●C12
66.○A13
67.●O11
68.○C13
69.●N9

69.●Q13

70.○F12

At this stage of the game, it is super close. According to AI sensei, I am leading with one point, which is basically ignorable at our level. However, I like where I have taken the game, and my only regrets were that I had already used up most of my main time. From here and on it went slowly worse. She played very consistently, with only small mistakes, and in the end I could not my position together.

71.●G12

71.●Q13

72.○G11
73.●H12
74.○F10
75.●M4
76.○F14
77.●M2
78.○S4
79.●B7
80.○D7
81.●D8
82.○F7
83.●B4
84.○A5
85.●C5
86.○C4
87.●G9
88.○F9
89.●B10
90.○C11
91.●C10
92.○H11
93.●J12
94.○G15
95.●H14
96.○H15
97.●J15
98.○H4
99.●G7
100.○G6
101.●F6
102.○E6
103.●F5
104.○G8
105.●H7
106.○H8
107.●E8
108.○H6
109.●J7
110.○F8
111.●H5
112.○J6
113.●K6

113.●K7
114.○K6
115.●L6
116.○L7
117.●K8
118.○L5
119.●M6
120.○J4
121.●J5
122.○G5
123.●K5
124.○G4
125.●G3
126.○K3
127.●L4
128.○H2

114.○K7
115.●J8
116.○K5
117.●J4

117.●J5
118.○L6
119.●G5
120.○K6
121.●J4
122.○K9

121.●K9
122.○J4
123.●M6
124.○M7

Black's marked stones will die.

118.○L6
119.●J9
120.○L9
121.●K10
122.○G4
123.●G5
124.○J5
125.●L5
126.○K6
127.●M6
128.○L8
129.●E2

Objectively speaking, this is a very bad move, but I knew I was losing, and I saw a last trick.

130.○D2

Would be a horrible mistake!

130.○G3
131.●C3
132.○B3
133.●B2
134.○A4
135.●D12
136.○B11
137.●D11
138.○E9

131.●G3
132.○H3
133.●H2
134.○J3
135.●G1
136.○E1
137.●K3
138.○J2
139.●J1
140.○H1
141.●T4

And White must choose between losing the ko, or let the group in the bottom right corner die.

maxiGos 6.64

I am aiming higher than I did last year, long term, and the main thing for me is to play good games, against strong players, and then get to go thorough them with friends. There are two weaknesses in my game that are a bit mysterious to me. What I mean is, that most weaknesses are easy to pin-point, and can therefore be fixed, but I have two where I don’t even know what they are, ergo the ”mystery”. But, I am starting to sense what it is about, and my two bad losses in the weekend provided further clues. One of the mysteries is also part of my current issues with playing chess. To be continued…

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European Go Congress, Toulouse, game 4.

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Today the weather was much better, and I strolled happily to the playing hall without risking a heat-stroke. I was paired against a finnish 4dan, and the game did not start well for me. I made lots of questionable decisions, but at least managed to keep the game complex. At the beginning of the middle game, I turned the game around, and had a sound lead, but for the rest of the game the lead slowly dwindled. My opponent was clearly much stronger at endgame than I am, and as we closed in on the end I counted that I would probably lose with half a point. We finished the game and started counting. First I thought he had won, but then realized that it was I who had won with half a point. I am not happy with how I messed up the latter part of the game, but winning with half a point makes it easier to take.

EGC, 4

Black: Tiger Hillarp
White: Mikko Siukola
Date: 2024-08-01
Place: Toulouse
Rules: AGA (Area)
Komi: 6.5 points

1.●Q16
2.○D17
3.●Q4
4.○D3
5.●C15
6.○E16
7.●O17

I did not know what kind of player my opponent was, so I decided to avoid any possible preparations by playing a good, but not optimal move.

7.●C12

7.●D5

8.○C12
9.●D5
10.○C7
11.●E15

I am trying to lean on White's stones on the top, in order to come back and attack the marked stone (which is a bit far away from its friend below).

12.○F15
13.●E14
14.○C16
15.●B15

I did not know joseki here, and my last move is a bit slow.

15.●B16
16.○B17
17.●B14

Gives me better eye-shape and is better.

16.○G16

16.○E12
17.●F14
18.○G15
19.●G14
20.○H15
21.●G12

Would have been better for White. More so than the game.

17.●E12
18.○G13
19.●F14

19.●C11

This was much better than the alternatives. If White tries to save the stone, I get to carry out my main strategy (to press White low):

20.○B11
21.●C10
22.○B10
23.●C9
24.○B9
25.●C8
26.○B8
27.●D7
28.○C6
29.●D6
30.○C5
31.●O3

This would be slightly better for me.

19.●H15

Is the move I wanted to play, but after

20.○F14

I felt my shape was bleh.

20.○G14
21.●H15
22.○G15
23.●D10

This is virtually the worst point I could have played at. Lukas Wandelt pointed out to me that I have nothing for my thickness due to the fact that White is already "out" in the center (marked stone).

24.○C10
25.●C9
26.○D11
27.●E11
28.○D9
29.●E10
30.○B9
31.●E9
32.○D8
33.●G4

I knew that things had gone wrong for me, somewhat, and I did not want to challenge White's lone stone in the corner as long as my group above was less than safe.

34.○H10
35.●E7

This move is ok, if you have the right plan of how to continue. I did not…

35.●G9

36.○E8
37.●G9

37.●F8

…is the only sensible move here. After the move in the game, I am already behind by about 10 points, which is a very bad start indeed.

38.○F8
39.●G10
40.○H11
41.●H9
42.○J9
43.●J8

In the next few moves, we both play mistakes, but White's advantage continues to be stable.

44.○K8
45.●K9
46.○J10
47.●H7
48.○K7

48.○L8

49.●L9
50.○J7

50.○H6

51.●H8
52.○H6
53.●G6
54.○H5
55.●G5
56.○K5
57.●D12
58.○C11
59.●K11

This aims at the marked point, while simultaneously taking care of my stones in the center. Now I started to feel more optimsitic.

60.○G11
61.●C4

AI-sensei gives connecting the stones at the marked point, as the best move. But that would mean making a move that makes no points, so I would rather try to live with the body and the tail separately.

62.○G2

I am giving a line to show what I had prepard for the cut.

62.○G7
63.●F7
64.○G8
65.●C13
66.○B13
67.●B12

I correctly evaluated that this cut was the right way to seek life. White can try to kill in a ko:

68.○D13

The most challenging line.

69.●C14
70.○B11
71.●B17
72.○B16
73.●A16
74.○A18

The proper killing technique, which leads to a ko:

75.●A17
76.○C18
77.●B18
78.○B19
79.●A19

White can fight the ko:

80.○F13
81.●E13
82.○A18
83.●F9
84.○F11
85.●A19
86.○P16

I will eventuall have to give way at some point, and perhaps here. The AI evaluates the position as very slightly better for White.

75.●B18

…is a big mistake.

76.○A17
77.●A19
78.○A17
79.●A18
80.○D18
81.●C18
82.○C19

And I am dead!

74.○C18
75.●B18
76.○B19
77.●C17
78.○D16
79.●D18
80.○D19
81.●C19
82.○F13
83.●E13
84.○C18
85.●E18
86.○A18
87.●C19
88.○D15
89.●D14
90.○C18
91.●F9
92.○F11
93.●C19

It is very hard for White to win this ko and kill my group.

68.○C14
69.●D13
70.○B11
71.●B14
72.○A12
73.●D15
74.○B16
75.●F13

74.○F13
75.●B17
76.○B16
77.●A16
78.○A18
79.●C18

This move works due to the presence of the marked stone. Black is alive.

67.●B14
68.○D13
69.●C14
70.○B12
71.●B17
72.○B16
73.●A16
74.○A18
75.●A17
76.○C18
77.●B18
78.○B19
79.●A19

…is worse than the line where I cut first on the inside, since I have fewer local ko-threats.

63.●O3
64.○N7

Apparently it is still best for me to connect my groups. I failed to understand that White can press my groups low, and then use moves that aim to kill as ko-threats later, so basically, the longer the game goes on, the heavier the ko-potential becomes. Ergo I should fix it when I have the time.

65.●H4
66.○J3
67.●J4
68.○K4
69.●L6
70.○K6
71.●K3
72.○L3
73.●K2
74.○N3
75.●H2
76.○G3
77.●H3
78.○C3
79.●B3
80.○B2
81.●B4
82.○E5
83.●E6
84.○D4
85.●C6
86.○A2
87.●E2
88.○D2
89.●F3
90.○D1
91.●N10
92.○C13
93.●J5
94.○J6
95.●F7
96.○O4
97.●P3
98.○M8
99.●B16
100.○B17
101.●A17
102.○A18
103.●A16

A horrible move. Now the ko at the marked point becomes much moree heavy for me.

104.○C18
105.●J17
106.○L17
107.●K15
108.○L15
109.●K14
110.○N17
111.●O16
112.○L14
113.●L13
114.○M13
115.●K13
116.○N14
117.●O13
118.○M12
119.●L11
120.○O12
121.●P13
122.○M11
123.●N9
124.○P12
125.●Q13
126.○Q12
127.●R13
128.○Q9
129.●O7
130.○O6
131.●P7
132.○P6
133.●P9
134.○P10
135.●Q8
136.○O9
137.●O8
138.○P8
139.●N8
140.○Q6
141.●P9
142.○Q10
143.●O10

I have a lead of around 12.5 points here, and in the end I managed to give away only 12 of those, and win with half a point!

144.○R8
145.●Q7
146.○R7
147.●R5
148.○R6

I played terribly slack from here and on.

149.●S5
150.○S12
151.●R12
152.○S11
153.●S13
154.○H18
155.●N18
156.○M18
157.●O18
158.○J18
159.●K17
160.○K18
161.●R11
162.○S10
163.●R10
164.○R9
165.●M7
166.○N6
167.●L8
168.○L5
169.●L7
170.○M5
171.●C14

I got afraid of the ko, and perhaps rightly so.

171.●N2

Is the biggest move, because White can invade the corner and force me to take the stones. I would be ahead with almost ten points here.

172.○D15
173.●D14
174.○C14
175.●D16
176.○M10
177.●M9
178.○D15
179.●C1
180.○B1
181.●D16
182.○L10
183.●K10
184.○D15
185.●H17
186.○G17
187.●D16
188.○L12
189.●K12
190.○D15

It is unlikely that I can win this ko, but I will get compensation with two moves elsewhere. I completely mistjudged this part.

172.○N2

There is nothing wrong with this move, but invading first was better!

172.○R3
173.●N2
174.○Q2
175.●S2
176.○M2

And there is a risk that I will eventually be forceed to take White's stones off the board. (Which will lose me points).

173.●O2
174.○T13
175.●S14

175.●T12

This is the move I wanted to play, but in the end I did not dare. I could not forsee the consequences of

176.○R16
177.●T14
178.○Q17

177.●R15
178.○S15

176.○T14

Would be a terrible mistake:

177.●T15
178.○S14
179.●S15
180.○R14
181.●R15
182.○Q14
183.●P14
184.○T11
185.●Q15
186.○T12
187.●S9

176.○T12
177.●T14
178.○S6
179.●T6
180.○T7
181.●T5
182.○P4
183.●Q2
184.○Q5
185.●R3
186.○O14
187.●P14
188.○O15
189.●N16
190.○P15
191.●Q15
192.○P16
193.●P17
194.○M17
195.●L2
196.○M2
197.●E1

197.●B7

Is clearly bigger.

maxiGos 6.64

European Go Congress, Toulouse, game 3.

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The European Go Congress 2024 feels like it is played at the end of the earth. The venue is beautiful, but it is an oasis in a sea of industries. On Saturday and Sunday, you had to go by bus for about half an hour in order to encounter an open restaurant, and I am living relatively nearby, at a hotel in the middle of an industrial area that stretches on for… ever. Nah, I am exaggerating a bit, but things did not come off to a great start here. Circumstances conspired against the organizers, and they did not get a handful, but rather three. The first round was ninety minutes late, possibly due to the sabotage to the french telecom system, and the pairings were different on the lists that were posted compared to those on the web. First I thought I had not been paired at all, but I was (I expected to be lower down… in a rare moment of humbleness). A friend of mine was not paired at all, and somehow he was not paired in the second round either, but they solved that, and paired him against someone at the last moment. (Well done.) The streams have been struggling with the networks, and the microphones crackles like nothing I have ever heard before. The temperature has been hovering between 30 and 40 C. Yet, some things are amazingly good. Like the sandwich I bought yesterday. I am now twice as convinced that the French understand the concept of bread better than any other nation on earth. The staff is doing their best, and with a fair amount of competence too. The top group plays in two rooms, and one of them apparently smells like ****, but it seems to be the only room with this special feature.

In the third round I was paired against a 4dan that – I learnt later – is a ”legendary go teacher” in France. I played one of my best games to date:

EGC, 3

Black: Mathieu Delli-Zotti 4d
White: Tiger Hillarp 3d
Date: 2024-07-30
Place: Toulouse
Rules: AGA (Area)
Komi: 6.5 points
Result: White wins

1.●D4
2.○Q16
3.●D17
4.○Q4
5.●R17
6.○Q17
7.●R16
8.○Q15
9.●S14
10.○F3
11.●C6
12.○C15
13.●C16
14.○D15
15.●F17
16.○D11
17.●R3
18.○R4
19.●Q3
20.○P3
21.●P2
22.○O2
23.●O3
24.○P4
25.●N2
26.○Q2
27.●O1
28.○R2
29.●E3
30.○F4
31.●J3
32.○D5

32.○J4

33.●C5
34.○C3
35.●C4

35.●E4
36.○E2
37.●D2
38.○E5
39.●C4
40.○F2
41.●C2
42.○G6

Is another possible joseki. During the post mortem my opponent said he did not like this.

36.○E2
37.●D3
38.○D2

38.○G2

Intending to play the marked point later, is another way to go.

39.●C2
40.○R18
41.●S18
42.○S15
43.●R15

43.●Q18
44.○R15

44.○R14
45.●S16

45.●Q18
46.○S17
47.●R19
48.○S16
49.●R18
50.○S13
51.●Q14
52.○R13
53.●O17
54.○P14

The fact that I "have the ladder" here, means that the local joseki is slightly favourable for me. However, moves like:

55.●G5

…breaking the ladder and attacking my stones at the bottom.

46.○S13
47.●G2

I did not like this move, but the AI gives it a decent score. Cutting off my two stones on the second line was bigger than I thought.

48.○T14
49.●Q18
50.○N5

I move with two purposes. It makes my are on the side bigger, and asks Black whether he is prepared to let me build it further, while simultaneously aiming to press Black down at the marked point (which happened later on).

51.●Q14
52.○Q13
53.●P14
54.○P18
55.●R19
56.○O16
57.●P13

After the game my sympathetic opponent expressed regret concerning this move. His suggestion is seen in the line, and it would have been a better way to continue.

57.●N14
58.○M16
59.●R12
60.○R13
61.●O11

58.○Q12
59.●S3
60.○S2
61.●S6
62.○S5
63.●P9
64.○P12

This is a good move, but it would have been even better to play the marked point, which was a key point for us both. I was already too focussed on catching the three Black stons above, and instead of casting a wide net I went for a direct kill (which is wrong, wrong, wrong).

65.●O4
66.○O5
67.●P6

After the game, we agreed that this was not proper from Black's perspective. I am not afraid of the cut at the marked point and in the end Black never played it during the whole game!

68.○O7

My intuition screamed this move at the highest pitch, and I took a moment consider whether I was being too pedestrian, but in the end I decided that my instinct was correct.

69.●P7
70.○O8
71.●R9
72.○M3

72.○P8
73.●Q8
74.○Q7
75.●R7
76.○Q6
77.●Q5

73.●L3

Here I thought for a long time. If could attack Black's group on the right, then I might be able to get a stone on the marked point, in which case I could kill Black's five stones to the right of my last stone. Alas, it is far fetched, and I thought that even if I succeeded, then Black might just give those stones away. To show you how it works I have added a line.

73.●M2

No dan-player would play like this. Explaining why is trickier. After

74.○K3
75.●K2
76.○L2
77.●L1
78.○L3
79.●J2

Black has played multiple stones on the first and second lines, and White dominates the outside. Also, if White continues with:

80.○M1
81.●N1
82.○K1
83.●J1
84.○N3

Now Black is not alive, and eventually he will possibly have to play the marked point (which would be terribly slow and of low value).

74.○L4

With approval from the AI…

74.○M2
75.●M4
76.○N4
77.●N3
78.○L2
79.●K3

Black must keep my stones at three liberties (marked).

80.○L1
81.●N1
82.○Q1
83.●K2
84.○P1
85.●K1
86.○O2
87.●M1

80.○L4
81.●M5

And here, with a stone at the marked point, I can play:

82.○L5
...
...

I add the extra white stone here to make it more obvious…

1.●M6
...
...
1.○L6
...
...

1.●N6
2.○O6

Black is caught in a ladder.

79.●L4
80.○K2
81.●J2
82.○M1
83.●N1
84.○Q1

Black is dead.

75.●L2
76.○O9

Ugly. I knew it might be better to play keima (marked point), but I wanted to make sure that I kept sente (the initiative).

77.●P10
78.○N13

Arrrrgh. So bad! I was hypnotized by the possibility to catch Black's marked stones in a net, but it so small. I should have tried to surround them on a larger scale. The minute I put down the stone, I went up to get some water, and on my way there my smug "I caught the stones!", turned into "why the H did I do that?".

78.○N11

Is clearly the best move, closing the door on the center, and forcing Black to find life on the inside.

79.●O10

79.●N14

This does not work, and - in a sense - it is the only good thing about my last move:

80.○O14
81.●O13
82.○O12
83.●O15
84.○P15
85.●O14
86.○M14
87.●N15
88.○N16
89.●M15
90.○L15
91.●M16
92.○M17

…and Black stones are caught.

80.○H17

I considered the alternatives, and whether Black could attach at the marked point and break the ladder that I used to kill the three stones to the right.

81.●H16
82.○J17

82.○J16

Is better…

83.●G16
84.○K17

84.○J15

83.●G17
84.○J16
85.●F6
86.○J4
87.●H4
88.○K4
89.●H3

Mathieu said that he played this move somewhat reluctantly, since it gives me the opportunity to comletely nullify Black's points at the base. However, the alternative would have given me another sente-move towards the center.

89.●K3
90.○H5
91.●G5
92.○H6

The marked point will continue to be a headache for Black.

90.○R6
91.●R7
92.○C9
93.●O18
94.○O17

94.○P19

I was afraid of the aji after this move, but according to the AI it was a mistake to back off as I did. However, I felt that the game was already very favourable for me, and it seems that I was correct in my evaluation. After the move in the game, I am still ahead by 5 points.

95.●P19
96.○N18
97.●P17
98.○P16
99.●H15
100.○J15
101.●H14
102.○J14
103.●H13

I thought the last few moves greatly favoured me, but it is not such a big deal. The points I got to right are not that many, and I continue to treat them like a dragon would treat a hoard of gold. It is closer to fools gold…

104.○B15

My wonderful friend Jörgen, who passed away only two days before I came here, would have played this move. He was very honte, and I used to joke that he was the "thickest guy" in our go club, due to his thick game. It is a move with two purposes, that is bigger than it looks, both eyeing an invasion in the corner and making it harder for Black to make trouble around the marked point.

105.●M7

So far the game has gone my way, and I have a comfortable lead. However, now, my center, which was my insurance for the last part of the game, somehow comes under attack, when no such thing should have been possible. In the next few moves Mathieu shows his claws.

106.○M9

106.○E9

107.●J6
108.○K6

108.○N10

Attacking the group on the right, was the right way to go. If black does not defend and plays a move in the center:

109.●L6

…then…

110.○P8
111.●Q8
112.○S8

…kills the black group.

113.●S7
114.○S10
115.●S9
116.○R10

The marked points are miai to kill. (If Black plays one of them, I will play the other one.) I did not see this clearly during the game, nor did my opponent, but we both felt that Black "should die".

109.●K7
110.○L6

This is my worst move in the game. I ought to have cut immediately, or played the marked point (again). I played this move almost immediatly, so it was the moment in the game that I spent most time on analyzing afterwards.

110.○N10

110.○J7

111.●L7
112.○J7

112.○N10

For the love of the Gods, I cannot understand why I did not play this.

113.●J8
114.○H7
115.●H6
116.○G7
117.●L10

A very strong move that both takes care of the cut and stops me from getting out with the "tiger-mouth" (see variations). Here I felt I was up against a strong opponent.

118.○M10

The only move to "get out".

118.○K8
119.●K9
120.○L8
121.●M8
122.○L9
123.●N9
124.○M10
125.●M11
126.○N10
127.●N11

118.○N10
119.●N11
120.○M10
121.●M11

And I am not getting out. Then I have to play…

122.○O6

, but after

123.●P5

…my marked stones still have to make life, and I have to play lots of "dame" (no point moves), in order to not get killed. This would be a catastrophe for me.

124.○M2
125.●M1
126.○N3

And at least, the good news is that, Black cannot kill me:

127.●O2
128.○N4
129.●M6
130.○M5
131.●K5
132.○L5
133.●J5
134.○K3
135.●K2
136.○L1
137.●K1
138.○Q1
139.●L1
140.○P1
141.●N1
142.○J2

127.●M5
128.○M6
129.●N7
130.○N4
131.●O2
132.○J5
133.●L5
134.○H5
135.●G6
136.○K3
137.●K2
138.○L1
139.●K1
140.○Q1
141.●N1
142.○P1
143.●L1
144.○J2

125.●N3
126.○M1

125.●M4
126.○N4
127.●N3
128.○M1
129.●M5
130.○M6

119.●O6
120.○N6
121.●N7
122.○M2
123.●M1
124.○N3

With the last two moves I manage to connect my group in the center without having to connect at the marked point.

125.●N9
126.○L11

Striktly speaking, it was better to play one step to the right, but I will still announce this move to be the "best I have ever played, so far". I use to have a problem with backing out of positions that I cannot hold (see my first game this year, or my last last year). This is a step forward for me.

126.○N8
127.●M8
128.○N10
129.●P8
130.○N9
131.●N11

…felt too horrible to contemplate. My dumpling - or "meatball" as we call it in Malmö - is terrible shape, and saving it will cost me much trouble at the top.

127.●F7

I have a lead for most of the game, but at this stage it is almost even.

128.○H9
129.●K10
130.○N11
131.●F10
132.○N8
133.●K11

A huge mistake that was clearly out of character for my opponent. The heat was crushing outside, and his nicotine habit forced him to venture outside with some frequency. Perhaps that explains part of it. The natural sequence is so natural…

133.●M8
134.○N10
135.●P8
136.○N9

…is what Black should have played. Now he has sente, while the group on the right is alive, and the stones in the middle cannot be cut.

134.○M8

Now the game is very easy for me. I can either kill the four stones in the center, or kill the right side (although neither me nor my opponent were absolutely sure of how it would be done…).

135.●R12

A very tricky way to try to get sente to protect the center. I answered pretty fast, and regretted my answer almost as fast…

136.○R13

136.○R11
137.●S11
138.○K9

137.●Q6

137.●J9

I feared this move, feeling that there should be a way for me to kill the side, but not knowing how it could be done… However, as we both intued, Black is dead after:

138.○P8
139.●Q8
140.○S8
141.●S7
142.○S10
143.●S9
144.○R10

Both the marked points are "false eyes", so Black has only one eye:

145.●T8
146.○T6

145.●T6
146.○T8

138.○K9
139.●R5

139.●L9
140.○L8
141.●K8
142.○J9
143.●H8
144.○G8

139.●J9
140.○K8

139.●K8
140.○J9

140.○S4
141.●D12
142.○C12
143.●C13
144.○D13
145.●E12
146.○C11
147.●M18
148.○P18
149.●D14
150.○B13
151.●P17
152.○K3
153.●K2
154.○P18
155.●B16
156.○O19
157.●L13
158.○L14
159.●G9
160.○H8
161.●H10
162.○L1
163.●K1
164.○A16
165.●A17
166.○A15
167.●C17
168.○Q19
169.●J9
170.○K8
171.●J10
172.○M6
173.●P19
174.○C14
175.●B8
176.○Q19
177.●T16
178.○R18
179.●S19
180.○G18
181.●F18
182.○H18
183.●E14
184.○F19
185.●E19
186.○B18
187.●B17
188.○G19
189.●G6
190.○L8
191.●E17
192.○E13
193.●F13
194.○C13
195.●F14
196.○E11
197.●F12
198.○C8
199.●B7
200.○R11
201.●S10
202.○S11
203.●T15
204.○S14
205.●Q18

I cannot remember the order of the moves in the endgame, but in the end I won with about komi on the board. (I was so relieved to win that I did lost focus during the counting).

maxiGos 6.64

On the Wednesday Sweden’s super-strong 7-dan, Fredrik Blomback, had to win against the top seed Dai Junfu 8d, in order to stay in the race for the European Championship, and he succeded. If he wins tomorrow he will reach the quarter-final of the European Championship. I will get another strong opponent and yet another wonderful game of go. Sleeping will be a challenge when there is so much to look forward to.

European Go Congress, Toulouse, first two rounds.

Posted on by

II have not yet heard it confirmed, but 1400 participants and relatives/hanger-ons/supporters (with access to the playing area), with 750+ attending the open, surely must be some kind of record. The weather is going to be splendid, with temperatures above 30C all through the first week, and I brace myself a bit, as I stay at a hotel situated a half hour walk from the playing hall, with little to no shade on the way.

In the first round I got a very, very good position, but went on a self-destructive spree during the last third of the game:

EGC, 1

Black: Tiger Hillarp 3dan
White: Robin Bonjean 3dan
Date: 2024-07-28
Place: Toulouse
Rules: AGA (Area)
Komi: 6.5 points

1.●Q16
2.○D4
3.●Q4
4.○D17
5.●F3
6.○C7
7.●D15

7.●C3

…is usually the right way to continue for Black. I guessed my opponent wanted to get into that joseki, so I decided to avoid it for the moment.

8.○D3
9.●C4
10.○D5
11.●D2
12.○E2
13.●C2
14.○R17

8.○C13

8.○E3

This kick is not so dangerous in combination with the marked stone, since there will be more bad aji in the corner than usual.

9.●F4

9.●C17
10.○C18
11.●C16
12.○G17
13.●E14

13.●D13

Recommended by AI-sensei.

14.○D12
15.●E13

14.○D11
15.●E18
16.○D18
17.●E17
18.○E16
19.●D16
20.○E19
21.●F16
22.○F18

This was new to me. I had only seen "a" before.

22.○F17
23.●E15
24.○F18

23.●F17
24.○H18
25.●B18

A slight mistake, but I get out of it with a minimal loss.

25.●J17
26.○G16
27.●F15

26.○B19
27.●A17

…so I had to back off. The result is that White is leading with about three points.

27.●A18

Here I realized that this move does not work for me, since White can end in sente:

28.○B17
29.●B16

The throw in at the marked point does not work anymore, since I am unable to bend in the corner:

30.○O17
31.●D19
32.○C19
33.●A19
34.○A17

28.○H15
29.●G16

29.●F15

Is better.

30.○H16
31.●G14
32.○O17
33.●J17
34.○H17
35.●O16
36.○N16
37.●O15
38.○Q17
39.●R17

39.●N17
40.○P17
41.●M17

Was a fraction better, but it looks chaotic, and I thought it was a good idea to have the corner.

40.○P17
41.●R16
42.○N15
43.●N14
44.○R6
45.●Q10
46.○S4

I had never seen this move, but it is quite all right. Now, since it is not forcing I wanted to take sente somewhere else…

47.●L15

47.●R8

This was my first instict, and indeed it was perhaps the best move.

48.○L17
49.●C3
50.○D3
51.●C4
52.○D5
53.●D2
54.○E2
55.●C2
56.○E3

I was very happy White connected here.

56.○Q3

57.●B6

I have regained some of what was lost, but I am still somewhat worse off.

58.○O3
59.●M17
60.○N17
61.●M14

The strongest move, and I might have been more proud about it if I had not missed the best follow-up.

62.○P5
63.●R7
64.○S6

This is very passive. If White was leading with 10 points or more, then it would make sense to play like this.

64.○Q7

65.●N3

It worked once, so why not twice_

66.○O2

I have gained almost 5 points with the two last moves, but with my next move I give it all back.

66.○N2

67.●Q7
68.○J4
69.●N7
70.○R12

This is not good, but it is not half as bad as I thought. If white had calmly protected the lower side, then I would have been behind with about komi. (I was never behind with more than komi, until the turnaround.) Now I get an attack on White's stone and can gain some in the process.

70.○N5

71.●P6

I have a decious plan to resurrect my marked stone from the dead

71.●L18

…is again, and again, the best move, but it is too complicated to explain the ins and outs here.

72.○Q6

72.○Q5

73.●S7

The AI still wants to play the marked point at the top, but my plan is pretty devious too. If White protects the cut just below 72, then I can attack White's lonely stone without worrying about White connecting under on the side.

74.○R14
75.●S15
76.○R10
77.●R9

Big mistake. I learnt a lot from studying this position.

77.●Q11
78.○R11

…and I get sente to play

79.●Q5

78.○Q11
79.●S10
80.○R11
81.●P10
82.○P11
83.●O10
84.○S11
85.●S9

Here I am behind with 7 points. It is a low point for me in this part of the game.

86.○N12
87.●P13

Bad, bad, bad. I do not even end in sente!

88.○Q13
89.●P14
90.○P12

A mistake. Now I get back into the game.

90.○O5

91.●Q5
92.○P4
93.●R3
94.○S3
95.●S2
96.○Q2
97.●R2
98.○T2
99.●T6
100.○S5

This is a huge mistake (10 points according to the AI), and I will give the best line for comparison:

100.○Q3
101.●S5
102.○R4
103.●R5

…and in this poisition, the AI does not even want to try to save the three stones in the corner!

104.○S14

…and the game is about even. Crazy stuff. Hard to imagine that the last move is so big.

101.●Q3
102.○P3
103.●T3
104.○T4
105.●Q1
106.○P2
107.●N5
108.○M3
109.●M4

109.●N2
110.○N4
111.●M4
112.○O4
113.●M2

110.○M2
111.●C9

An overplay. I am leading now, but we both miss the most important points.

112.○D9
113.●D10
114.○C10
115.●E10
116.○B9
117.●C11
118.○C8
119.●B10
120.○D12

A big mistake. I have so many ko-threats that White cannot expact to win the ko. Now I am leading by a lot.

121.●C9
122.○B5
123.●C5
124.○C10
125.●M18
126.○M16
127.●L16
128.○L18
129.●C9
130.○C6
131.●B7
132.○C10
133.●K17
134.○N18
135.●C9
136.○B4
137.●B3

137.●B8

Hard to understand how I could miss this, which is significantly stronger than what I played.

138.○C10
139.●K18
140.○M19

Now White has two groups (marked) that are not completely alive, and a ko to keep track of. It does not bode well.

141.●C9
142.○B8
143.●A4
144.○C10
145.●K13
146.○S14
147.●C9
148.○A7
149.●A5
150.○C10
151.●K16
152.○H14
153.●G13
154.○H13
155.●H12
156.○K19
157.●J19
158.○J18
159.●L19
160.○J12
161.●J13
162.○K19
163.●C9
164.○F12
165.●G12
166.○F11
167.●E9
168.○H19
169.●D8
170.○G10

Here my lead is about 30 points, but I managed to self destruct spectacularily. The rest of the game I have commented on sparingly.

171.●G8

171.●F7

172.○E7
173.●E8
174.○F7
175.●J11

175.●G9
176.○H6
177.●H10

176.○H10
177.●H6

176.○F8
177.●G9
178.○F9
179.●F10
180.○G11
181.●B12

A pretty big mistake. i should have pressed first.

181.●D7
182.○D6
183.●B12

182.○H9
183.●H8
184.○J8
185.●J9
186.○H10
187.●J7
188.○K8
189.●G6
190.○K7
191.●J6

Another big mistake. If I had just taken the stones on the side I was ahead by more than 10 points.

191.●D7
192.○G7
193.●D6

192.○D6
193.●E6
194.○F6
195.●F5
196.○E5
197.●G7
198.○E6
199.●G5
200.○F2
201.●G3
202.○G2
203.●J6
204.○K6
205.●J5
206.○K5
207.●H4

192.○K6
193.●J5
194.○K5
195.●H5
196.○H4
197.●G4
198.○F5
199.●G5
200.○G7
201.●H7
202.○G2
203.●D7
204.○D6
205.●F2
206.○F1
207.●H2
208.○G3
209.●F4
210.○F6
211.●H3
212.○G1
213.●K4
214.○J3
215.●K3
216.○J2
217.●K2
218.○H1
219.●L4
220.○K1
221.●L1
222.○L2
223.●J1
224.○N2
225.●N4
226.○K1
227.●F19
228.○M1
229.●G18
230.○O6
231.●P7
232.○N6
233.●M6
234.○O5
235.●M8
236.○R18
237.●S18
238.○R19
239.●B13

In the end I lost by 8,5.

maxiGos 6.64

In the second round I played a young german boy who evaluated the position better than I did: I though I was behind most of the game, but he informed me that such was not the case. And he was right:

EGC, 2

Black: Qiao Jing-Xian 2dan
White: Tiger Hillarp 3dan
Date: 2024-07-29
Place: Toulouse
Rules: AGA (Area)
Komi: 6.5 points

1.●C4
2.○Q16
3.●Q4
4.○D16
5.●R17
6.○R16
7.●Q17
8.○P16
9.●P17
10.○O17
11.●O18
12.○E4
13.●G3
14.○C3
15.●D3
16.○D4
17.●E3
18.○F3
19.●F2
20.○F4
21.●C5

21.●C2
22.○B3
23.●B4
24.○G2

22.○G2
23.●E2
24.○H3
25.●C2

I thought I had misplayed the joseki, but in fact I am ahead by a point more than at the start.

26.○O3
27.●R6
28.○Q3
29.●R3
30.○R2
31.●P3
32.○Q2
33.●P4
34.○P2
35.●S3

35.●O4

Taking sente, was better.

36.○O4
37.●Q11
38.○G4
39.●O16
40.○N17
41.●N16

41.●N18
42.○O15
43.●N16
44.○M17

42.○N18
43.●P18
44.○L17
45.●O13
46.○O6

This was born from thinking that Black is unable to kill my three stones at the top with one move, but it was better to save them outright.

46.○R12

47.●Q9
48.○M16
49.●N14
50.○L14

I really do not want to save those stones… :)

51.●C14
52.○F16
53.●C16
54.○C17
55.●B17
56.○D17

56.○C15
57.●B16
58.○D15
59.●B15
60.○R12

And, according to AI-sensei, I am ahead by 11 points. I had no idea that the game was already that favourable for me.

57.●B16
58.○P12

So, at last I lost my sense of what is proper. I wanted to complicate the game, and managed to trick myself instead of my opponent.

59.●R13
60.○Q12

60.○Q13

…is better, and still keeps a significant lead.

61.●R12
62.○P11
63.●P10
64.○N12
65.●Q13

There are too many mistakes around here, for me to bother to point them out.

66.○P8
67.●J14
68.○E14
69.●L13
70.○M14
71.●M13
72.○N13
73.●O14
74.○O12
75.●P13

75.●K13
76.○P13
77.●P14
78.○Q14
79.●Q15
80.○P15
81.●R14
82.○N15
83.●N11
84.○O15
85.●Q14

76.○O10
77.●K13
78.○J16

78.○R7

My move in the game is horrible. I had planned to continue with this move, and it is far, far better.

79.●Q8

Now I thought for a while, and became very pessimistic. There is no aji left on the right side. My shape in the center is awful, and I am behind on points. I was very surprised that the AI never evaluated my position as worse than -2, during all of the game!

80.○L11
81.●J11
82.○P9
83.●Q10
84.○H13
85.●M11
86.○N10
87.●M10
88.○M9
89.●L10
90.○L9
91.●K9
92.○M12

This gives me an opportunity to complicate matters!

93.●L12
94.○K10
95.●K11
96.○J10
97.●H10
98.○J9
99.●H16
100.○H15
101.●J15
102.○J17
103.●H9
104.○J8
105.●H8
106.○N11
107.●L11
108.○H11
109.●H7

Here I missed a chance to end the game.

110.○K8

110.○G11
111.●K8
112.○J7
113.●N9
114.○N8
115.●M8
116.○O9
117.●L8
118.○J6
119.●N9
120.○M9

And the marked Black stones cannot live!

111.●H12
112.○G11
113.●G12
114.○F11
115.●H14
116.○G15
117.●G13
118.○F9

118.○E8

119.●F7
120.○D6
121.●D7
122.○C6
123.●E10
124.○G9
125.●E8
126.○E11
127.●D11
128.○D12
129.●D10

129.●C11

And I am only leading with 13 points.

130.○C13

I found the strongest move. Veeery proud of that. I am not absolutely sure about the order of the moves from here and on, but I managed to find them all in some way.

131.●E13
132.○F13
133.●F14
134.○D14
135.●C18
136.○D18
137.●C19
138.○C11
139.●B8
140.○B6
141.●B10
142.○B14
143.●A18
144.○B3
145.●B4
146.○B2
147.●B1
148.○A2
149.●A4
150.○D5
151.●A3
152.○G6
153.●F8
154.○C9
155.●C10
156.○C8
157.●C7

157.●B11
158.○B9
159.●C12
160.○B13
161.●E12
162.○F12

158.○C7
159.●C12
160.○E9
161.●D9
162.○D8
163.●E12
164.○F12
165.●F10
166.○G10
167.●G8

158.○B11
159.●B7
160.○B5

I could have killed the bigger group here, but my experience from the first round told me to play it safely. In the end I managed to kill both the group in the upper left, and in the bottom left.

161.●E9
162.○E12
163.●F6
164.○E6
165.●H6
166.○H5
167.●A7
168.○A5
169.●K6
170.○J5
171.●N8
172.○N9
173.●P7
174.○O7
175.●L7
176.○L8
177.●J6
178.○L5
179.●N19
180.○M18
181.●D19
182.○F18
183.●F19
184.○G19
185.●E19
186.○G18
187.●K5
188.○K4
189.●N2
190.○O2
191.●M5
192.○L4
193.●L6
194.○A10
195.●A9
196.○A11
197.●M4
198.○M6
199.●N6
200.○M7
201.●O5
202.○P5
203.●N5
204.○N7
205.●M3
206.○P6
207.●S2
208.○L2
209.●M2
210.○L3
211.●R1
212.○O1
213.●Q1
214.○M1
215.●N1
216.○L1
217.●S1
218.○N3
219.●E18
220.○E17
221.●K16
222.○K17
223.●L15
224.○B19
maxiGos 6.64
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