European Go Congress, Toulouse, first two rounds.

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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