European Go Congress, last day.

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In the end I scored 10/13 in the Main Open and the Weekend, and I should really not complain. There were a few games that I won with small margins, and it was only in the last game that I messed up a position that was very good for me.

Before the tournament I did not have high expectations, since I had not played very well in the games just before. I felt I could get to a stable 2dan rank, but no more. In the end I won against all the 2- and 3dans I faced, and got an even score against 4- and 5dans. My highest ambition has been to get to 3dan, but now I aim higher.

The last game was hugely entertaining to play, but I messed up a good position, and at the end I ought to have resigned earlier:

European Go Congress Open, 9

Black: Benjamin Blanchard
White: Tiger
Date: 2023-08-04
Place: Markkleeberg
Rules: AGA (Area)
Komi: 6.5 points
Result: Black wins by 12.5 points

1.●D4
2.○Q16
3.●D17
4.○Q4
5.●O3
6.○M3
7.●R3
8.○Q3
9.●R4
10.○Q5
11.●Q2
12.○P2
13.●R2
14.○O2
15.●R6
16.○C15
17.●F3
18.○E16
19.●E17
20.○F16
21.●F17
22.○G16
23.●H17

This is the first time in the game that I tried to make up a plan. Black has two corners, and half of a third. I did not want to passively protect my corner in the right top (although that is quite fine), since I did not want to give Black the initiative on the left side. In the end I went for an attachment that turns out to be misjudged...

24.○C4

24.○C6

I am not used to playing this move after Black has played the keima, but it is quite fine here, in combination with my top left.

24.○B5

...is the standard move in such a situation, and it is also fine here.

25.●C5

Now I regretted my attachment. A case of very bad planning ahead.

26.○D5

26.○D3

26.○E4

...is the AI:s suggestion.

27.●D3
28.○D5
29.●C6
30.○E3

27.●C3
28.○B4
29.●B5
30.○G3

I am trying to force Black to have a small position in the corner.

30.○C8

31.●G4
32.○C7

This move took me a while to play too, but it is quite all right. After the mess I created for myself in this corner, I have managed to land on my feet, and over all I have only lost a few points. In retrospect I am quite happy about this.

33.●B3
34.○E4

There is something to be said for playing this as a ko-threat later.

35.●D3
36.○H3
37.●H4
38.○J4
39.●J5

I was more afraid of the direct cut, and the AI agrees.

39.●J3
40.○J2
41.●K3
42.○K4
43.●K2
44.○H2
45.●F4
46.○L3

Black ends in sente and can take a big point elsewhere.

40.○J3

40.○K4

41.●F4

41.●C11

...is the AI:s choice, but it is easier said than done to allow me to cut with...

42.○F4
43.●E3
44.○F6

42.○D10
43.●R14
44.○Q10

44.○R15
45.●Q14
46.○O17

45.●O16
46.○O15
47.●N15
48.○P15

48.○O14
49.●R17
50.○R16
51.●Q17
52.○P16
53.●P17
54.○N16
55.●O17
56.○S15

56.○M15
57.●S16
58.○S15
59.●R15
60.○S17
61.●T16
62.○T15
63.●P15
64.○T17
65.●S16
66.○T16
67.●Q15
68.○S13

49.●R17
50.○R16
51.●Q17
52.○P17
53.●P16
54.○P18
55.●S16

A big mistake that leads to a position where I am ahead by +10 points.

55.●O17
56.○S17
57.●Q15
58.○R15
59.●Q14
60.○P13
61.●S16
62.○S15
63.●S18
64.○T16
65.●Q18

...is how far I calculated, and then I had not decided what my next move would be. The AI suggests...

66.○S14

...+0.5 for Black.

56.○N16
57.●Q15
58.○O17
59.●P16
60.○O16
61.●R15

I failed to understand how bad this was for Black, to the degree that I almost thought it was a joseki I did not know of.

62.○Q13

62.○K5

This is a big move that was not on my radar. Perhaps it can be considered a "double sente", in that I probably have to answer if Black plays there first.

63.●H16
64.○H15
65.●J15
66.○J14

66.○H14

67.●K15
68.○K17

A bit over the top. I should connect my stones first.

68.○H14

69.●G17
70.○H14
71.●G10

Here I looked at the position with a feeling of disbelief: was I not much better? Black has no more than thirty safe points, and I control most of the center. Now, I felt that I would be better off if I just protected my territory on the left, but it felt uninspired and I felt it would be the reasoning of a weak player. So, in the end i went for a principled move.

72.○J10

This loses a few points, not because it is locally bad, but due to that the marked point is much more urgent.

72.○K5

72.○R13

73.●K5
74.○H6

74.○H8

Playing this move first, and the peep next, is better.

75.●J7

Resistance! My opponent does not allow me to carry out my plan.

75.●H5
76.○H8

...would be very hard for Black, who has to find a way to live with his stone.

76.○H7

76.○H9

77.●H8
78.○J8

78.○J6

Is better.

79.●J9
80.○K8
81.●G8
82.○J6
83.●H5
84.○K9
85.●E8

This is another mistake. Playing on the marked point would connect Black's stones and leave me with less options.

85.●F7

86.○F7
87.●E7
88.○F6
89.●E6

This is a bit slow too.

90.○D9

It feels harsh when the AI evaluates this move as -2, while it gives the marked point as the optimal move!

91.●K6
92.○K7
93.●K14
94.○R13
95.●N3
96.○N2
97.●M4
98.○L3
99.●F11

This is too slow, and now I have a huge lead. From this moment to the end of the game I lose 36 points! (A part of me rages: How is that even possible?? How can I be so bad?? Nah, not helpful. Identify the issue and work on it.)

100.○F9

100.○S18

Puts Black's group in the top right in danger. I did not even consider this move, which means that about 10 points of my lead is rather academic.

101.●F8
102.○F10
103.●H10
104.○H9
105.●G9
106.○P16

106.○S18

...is almost 10 points better.

107.●S18
108.○K13
109.●L13
110.○K12
111.●L12

Whatever my missed opportunities earlier, this is the moment when I should be able to steer the game towards victory. I am pretty sure that if we had swapped sides, my opponent would have won this position almost 10 times out of 10. But now I start a fight, for no reason at all...

112.○J16

112.○E12

...and not only am I ahead by almost 10 points, but the position is also a bit easier to play for White, as Black to take care about the cut at the marked point at a later stage.

113.●M14

113.●L17
114.○L16
115.●K16
116.○L14
117.●J17
118.○L15
119.●K18
120.○M17

Was my plan, but at the end of all this I am only ahead with 3 points, so it was not a good idea in an case.

114.○L16
115.●L10
116.○M9
117.●M10
118.○M7

A horrible move. I was playing too fast now too.

118.○J11

, is still about 10 points better for me

119.●K16
120.○J17
121.●L17
122.○L18
123.●M17
124.○M18
125.●M16
126.○L15
127.●L14
128.○B16

119.●J11
120.○K11
121.●K10
122.○H12
123.●N9
124.○N8
125.●O9
126.○J9
127.●H11
128.○G12
129.●N6
130.○O8
131.●P9
132.○P8
133.●Q9
134.○N12

134.○N10
135.●O11
136.○N11
137.●N12

135.●M12

A good fighting move that gives Black eyespace

136.○Q6
137.●R7
138.○M6

I feared for the connection of my stones.

139.●M5
140.○O5
141.●R10
142.○N13

I wanted to defend against a cut at the marked point, but it is a big mistake that I never get the chance to come back from.

142.○G11

...and Black is leading with a point or so. It would be an open game, although I fear that the aji on the left would be hard for me to handle.

143.●G11
144.○R9

144.○E13

145.●Q8
146.○R11

146.○E12

147.●S10
148.○Q11
149.●L9
150.○M8
151.●N11
152.○N5

152.○E12

153.●F12
154.○F14
155.●D12
156.○C12
157.●C13
158.○C11
159.●D13

Black has a splitting attack on my stones, and the game is basically over already here. I fought on, and at one point i could have lost all my stones on the left, but my opponent made a sensible choice and decided to win on points intead. I hallucinated that the game was closer than it was, and in the end I lost with 12.5 points.

160.○B17
161.●B18
162.○C17
163.●C18
164.○L5
165.●L4
166.○K4
167.●L6
168.○N4
169.●D16
170.○D15
171.●J12
172.○F13
173.●H13
174.○G13
175.●J13
176.○E13
177.●D11
178.○D14
179.●B13
180.○B10
181.●B12
182.○B6
183.●B11
184.○C6
185.●A4
186.○B8
187.●C10
188.○C9
189.●A10
190.○A9
191.●B9
192.○R5
193.●S5
194.○B10
195.●G15
196.○G14
197.●B9
198.○S6
199.●S4
200.○B10
201.●L8
202.○L7
203.●B9
204.○E12
205.●E11
206.○B10
207.●E15
208.○F15
209.●B9
210.○Q18
211.●R18
212.○B10
213.●S9
214.○A11
215.●J18

We played on for longer, but this would have been a good place to resign. My opponent kindly sent me the kifu of the game, so for once every move is correct.

maxiGos 6.64

Next post will be about chess.

European Go Congress, Open round 8.

Link

So, finally, I lost a game in the main open. Most of the early stages of the game went my way, but by the late middle game, I became increasingly unsure about the standing. Was I ahead by a few points, or was I behind? It really shold be my first priority to improve my counting. Not knowing if you are ahead or behind is a big handicap towards the end of a game.

European Go Congress Open, 8

Black: Chang Mingxuan 4D
White: Tiger 2D
Date: 2023-08-03
Place: Markkleeberg
Rules: AGA (Area)
Komi: 6.5 points
Result: Black wins by 5.5 points

1.●C4
2.○D16

A secomd after playing the move I remembered that I had decided not to allow diagonal fusekis. Ahh, what the He.

3.●Q17
4.○Q4
5.●O3
6.○M3
7.●O5
8.○Q6
9.●J3
10.○P3
11.●N3
12.○Q15

12.○M4

For a long period the AI recommeds this, and then after…

13.●N6

…just play away. I will have to study that later, because at the moment Ido not understand it.

13.●R12
14.○R17

14.○R8

15.●R18
16.○R16
17.●P18
18.○R9
19.●Q13

This move seemed strange to me, but it only loses about 1.5 points for Black, and it threw me off track a bit.

20.○O15
21.●N16
22.○N15
23.●M16
24.○R14

I am a bit too happy to take the shape points from my opponents. I thought it could not be worse than Black's marked move, but alas I was wrong: -3 points. Ouch.

25.●N13
26.○M15
27.●L16
28.○L15
29.●J16

This shape surprised me, and although it allows me another local sente (nobi), I was not happy to continue down that line. I should have…

30.○O16

30.○K15
31.●H17

I felt that the exchange of the marked stones would be good for Black, but it gives me sente to play in center, so it was worth it…

32.○P10

31.●O17
32.○L13

I got the shape wrong here.

33.●Q9
34.○R10
35.●Q10
36.○Q8
37.●R11
38.○R8

I wanted to go out, but felt that there is too much aji in the corner.

38.○P8

Was more active and better, even though…

39.●R3

Becom3s harder to handle, later.

39.●O9
40.○O8
41.●N8
42.○O7
43.●M9
44.○N10
45.●M10
46.○N7
47.●M4
48.○L4
49.●K4

A strange move that leaves me with more aji in the region than I originally deserved.

50.○D4
51.●D3
52.○C5
53.●E4
54.○D5
55.●C3
56.○E5
57.●F4
58.○D9

58.○P9
59.●P10
60.○N9
61.●N11
62.○O10
63.●O11
64.○M8

59.●C14
60.○F17
61.●C11
62.○C15
63.●D14
64.○N9
65.●N11
66.○O10
67.●O11
68.○M8
69.●P14
70.○Q16
71.●P2
72.○Q2
73.●P4
74.○Q3
75.●K12
76.○H17

This move is the reason I did not like to crawl at the marked point earlier.

77.●K15
78.○S15

I thought for some time before playing this. I felt that the other line…

78.○S13

Is two points better… but I failed to see the consequences of…

79.●S15
80.○S18
81.●S19
82.○T18
83.●S16
84.○S17
85.●S12

…would force me to find a way to live while it also hurts my corner on the other side.

79.●C7
80.○D7
81.●C8
82.○D8
83.●C10
84.○G6
85.●L5
86.○O2

I might have got the order wrong here. Possibly I played the sequence in the upper left corner first. I should have…

87.●N2
88.○P1
89.●J17

89.●C17

…is the reason why it was more important to play in the upper left first, and since I know this I believe I messe up the move order.

90.○B14
91.●B13
92.○B15
93.●H18
94.○G18
95.●H16
96.○G17
97.●S13
98.○S18
99.●S19
100.○T18
101.●F10

This position did arise in the game. If only I was better at counting! Then I would have seen that I have a slight lead by just playing the big endgame moves. However, I thought I was slightly behind, spent a huge amount of time trying to find an invasion in Black's newly formed central area, and made things worse for myself.

102.○F9
103.●G10
104.○G9
105.●H9
106.○H8
107.●J8
108.○H7
109.●F15
110.○K13
111.●E16
112.○E17
113.●J13
114.○C9

114.○D15

…is very big here, since it is otherwise sente for Black!

115.●B9
116.○B10

I counted a long line that dis not end in anything special, but in the end I just hoped ther "would be something".

116.○B12

And I am ahead by 2.5 points.

117.●B7

This is painful for me since Black is now threatening to take a bigger territory on the left if he gets to play the marked point first.

118.○H10
119.●J9
120.○E10
121.●E11
122.○F11
123.●G11
124.○D11
125.●E12
126.○C12
127.●B11
128.○D10

128.○B12
129.●A11
130.○A12
131.●A10
132.○D10
133.●D12
134.○C13
135.●D13
136.○A13

…was my original,intention, but I got afraid that

137.●B5

…would be too big. And it was.

129.●D12
130.○E15
131.●E14
132.○F16
133.●B12
134.○B4
135.●B3
136.○A5
137.●B6
138.○B5
139.●L12
140.○G15
141.●F14
142.○G16
143.●L14
144.○G12
145.●F12
146.○H11
147.●F11
148.○G14

148.○K9
149.●K10
150.○L8
151.●H12
152.○J18

And White is ahaed with half a point, according to the AI.

149.●G13
150.○J14
151.●H14
152.○H15
153.●H13

This is the last point i; the game that I am leading.

154.○K14

154.○M13
155.●M12
156.○L9
157.●L10
158.○J18
159.●K18
160.○H19
161.●M14
162.○J15
163.●K14
164.○L18

And I am ahead by 2pts

155.●J15
156.○M13
157.●M12
158.○M14
159.●J18

Now I am behind by a little, and my opponent steers the game safely towards a win. I committed a few small mistakes and in the end it was 5.5+ for Black.

160.○N1

160.○K10

161.●M2
162.○M1
163.●L1
164.○O1
165.●L2
166.○A3
167.●B2
168.○G4
169.●G3
170.○H4
171.●H3
172.○P11
173.●Q11
174.○P10
175.●P12
176.○L9
177.●L10
178.○P9
179.●L8
180.○L7
181.●K8
maxiGos 6.64

I analyze all my games first on my own or with someone else, and then I use AI-sensei to get something to compare my opinions with. I believe this is the right order. A lot can be lost in the learning process if we just look for answers, without having a clear opinion ourselves first.

As the tournament has proceeded I have been able to look at my games together with other go players, and I came to realize that my games are overly dramatic. I tend to start complications even when they do not favour me. This loss was perhaps a move in the right direction. I did start complications that did not favour me, but it was not too early on, and with my understandning of the score it made some sense.

European Go Congress, free day no. 2

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Last wednesday (also a free day), I visited the music related attractions in central Leipzig, and on this day, the second free day, I did a café tour. I have walked more than 10km in sandals and deserve a break.

The view from inside Café Puschkin.

(I am using my I-pad to comment on the games, so there are quite a few misspellings that I miss. I hope they are not too bad.) My only loss, so far, came in the 5 round weekend tournament:

European Go Congress Weekend, 5

Black: Niels Schomberg 4D
White: Tiger 2D
Date: 2023-07-30
Place: Markkleeberg
Rules: AGA (Area)
Komi: 6.5 points
Result: Black wins

1.●D4
2.○Q16
3.●D17
4.○Q4
5.●O3
6.○M3
7.●R3
8.○Q3
9.●R4
10.○Q5
11.●Q2
12.○P2
13.●R2
14.○O2
15.●R6
16.○C15
17.●E16
18.○C12
19.●O17
20.○K16
21.●O15
22.○Q14
23.●H17
24.○H16
25.●G16
26.○G15
27.●J16
28.○H15
29.●J17
30.○J15
31.●K15

I had a feeling therewas something here for me, but I did not want to get too low on time, so in the end I went for a "squeeze". It turns out that I had something better, and that my squeeze was far worse than I imagined.

31.●K17
32.○L16
33.●L17
34.○F16
35.●G17
36.○F15
37.●F17
38.○E15

31.●F15
32.○G17
33.●G18
34.○F16
35.●F17
36.○F14
37.●G16
38.○E15
39.●D15
40.○F16
41.●D14

36.○G16
37.●E14
38.○F18

37.●F18
38.○E15
39.●D15
40.○F14
41.●D14
42.○C16
43.●D16
44.○C14
45.●D13
46.○C17
47.●K15
48.○N16
49.●O16
50.○M14
51.●K14
52.○L16

32.○F14
33.●E14
34.○G17
35.●F16

32.○K17

32.○G17
33.●F16
34.○L16
35.●L15
36.○M15
37.●K13
38.○M17
39.●M14
40.○G18

33.●G17

33.●F16
34.○H18
35.●G17

34.○N16
35.●O16
36.○K14
37.●L15
38.○M14

This was my plan when I decended, but it is a crap idea.

39.●L14
40.○L13
41.●M15
42.○N15
43.●N14
44.○M13
45.●M16
46.○N17
47.●M17
48.○N18
49.●M18
50.○O14
51.●N13
52.○N12
53.●O13
54.○P14

Now Black only need to turn, and then the game is quite bad for me. In the game I get the chance equalize!

55.●O18

55.●O12
56.○O11
57.●M12
58.○N11
59.●K13
60.○L12
61.●P12
62.○P11
63.●Q12
64.○Q18
65.●O18

56.○O12
57.●P13
58.○Q12
59.●Q13
60.○R13
61.●N19
62.○P12
63.●N15
64.○P7

After the game my opponent and the pro who reviewed by game expressed their doubt about my move. The AI belieev it is a 1 point loss and prefers to play at the x-points. What I failed to understand, is that the loss at the top is less big than I thought, so I should only continue to take big points, and then use my thickness later.

64.○E14
65.●K13
66.○J14
67.●K12
68.○L11
69.●K11
70.○L10
71.●K10
72.○L9
73.●J8

65.●F15
66.○F14
67.●J14
68.○H13
69.●K13
70.○K12
71.●L12
72.○M12
73.●J12
74.○K11
75.●J13
76.○G11
77.●R7

64.○K13

65.●K13

I did not even consider this move, but it is good.

66.○J14

Bad.

66.○K12
67.●J14
68.○J12

Is the right way. My four stones on the top have lost their usefulness and saving them is small. I thought I would get an attack on Black's cutting stones, but I - once again - misjudged the position.

67.●K12
68.○L11
69.●D14
70.○H12
71.●K11
72.○L10

72.○K10
73.●J10
74.○K9

73.●K10
74.○L9
75.●H10
76.○J8

An overplay, but I felt the game was spinning out of my control, and I thought my best chance was to complicate matters.

77.●D12

77.●F11
78.○G10
79.●G11
80.○H11
81.●H9

78.○E13

78.○D11
79.●E12

79.●E11

Is better, and I am in deep trouble now.

80.○G11

Now the game is close, but very comlicated. Who will kill who?

81.●H8
82.○J9
83.●H11
84.○E11

84.○F11

85.●F11

We swap mistakes here, and now I get my chance to makea comeback.

86.○F12
87.●F10
88.○G10
89.●G9
90.○G12
91.●H9

The cut seemed so natural, but it is wrong!

92.○F9

92.○D15

Leaves me with a small lead!

92.○E14

Was the other move I contemplated, when I will catch the Black stones, but he will connect on the outside. It was better to take the stones with a move at the marked point.

93.●E10
94.○C11

94.○E9
95.●D10
96.○C11
97.●C10
98.○E14
99.●B10
100.○D13
101.●F8

97.●D9
98.○D8

94.○E14

95.●E9
96.○F8

I felt I was on a one way street, and had to save the stone. However, now my position starts falling apart, like a space station, in a Hollywood movie, closing in on a black hole.

96.○E14
97.●F8
98.○D13

97.●E8
98.○F7
99.●F13
100.○F14

100.○E7
101.●C8
102.○C7
103.●D7
104.○D6
105.●D8
106.○H7
107.●F15
108.○J10
109.●J11
110.○J13
111.●C5

106.○C5

101.●H13
102.○E13
103.●D13
104.○G13
105.●F14
106.○G14
107.●C8
108.○F15
109.●E14
110.○C7

101.●G13
102.○H13
103.●J13
104.○F15

101.●C9
102.○C8

100.○E14
101.●F14

101.●G13
102.○H13
103.●E14
104.○E7
105.●J13
106.○D8
107.●J12

I lose my cutting stones, and the rest is a desperate attempt at creating a miracle.

108.○F3

108.○C3

109.●C6
110.○D9
111.●H14
112.○D6
113.●C7
114.○C5
115.●D5
116.○C4
117.●C3
118.○B3
119.●D3
120.○B6
121.●B2
122.○B4
123.●F4
124.○G4
125.●F2
126.○G2
127.●E3
128.○G3
129.●F5
maxiGos 6.64

For chessplayers, my current score of 10/11, with 7/7 in the main tournament might seem weird. Why am I not leading the tournament? It is a bit comlex to explain, but if you want to know more about the Macmahon system, then you can read about it here.

Posted in go

European Go Congress. Tricky tesuji at the end.

Posted on by

In go it is very hard to appreciate what you need to know before you can get to the next level. There are aspects of your game that can be improved upon, but it helps if you can find something that really stands out, a key that can open the door to the next level in a second. After the game today, my opponent said ”I was leading with half a point” (at the end), and he was right. I tried to count the points again and gain, but I never arrived at a clear conclusion. My answer fluctuated with a point in one direction or the other. I will make a seriuos effort to count better in the coming year. Perhaps it will open the door?!

So, today, I got off to a good start, held on in the middlegame (better than ever before), but stumbled towards the end, but then I found a tesuji that turned the game around:

European Go Congress Open, 7

Black: Tiger 2D
White: Martin Ruzicka 5D
Date: 2023-08-01
Place: Markkleeberg
Rules: AGA (Area)
Komi: 6.5 points
Result: Black wins by resign
Prepare thee for lots of comments. I am quite proud of this game, as my opponent is so strong that a win seemed very, very unlikely for me.

1.●Q16
2.○D4
3.●D17
4.○R4
5.●D15
6.○O17
7.●K16

I had the same kind of top against Zalekas yesterday, but he had pIaced his tomes at the bottom on the marked points. Makes no difference I hear you say, but it does! Only, I am not sure ehat the difference is…

8.○R14
9.●Q14
10.○Q13
11.●P14
12.○R15

12.○R17
13.●R15
14.○Q17
15.●R13

The x-stone would be slightly better off on the marked point, but it males only a small difference. Still, this seems like abetter result for White than the game.

13.●R16
14.○N16
15.●M17

I did not know the joseki well, and I did not want to play (what I thought to be) the normal move(marked point), but instead I played the key point in White's shape.. It turns out that is is quite all right although Lín Póyu, once again, immediately pointed out the weakness of my plan…

15.●P18

Lín Póyu immediately indicated that this is the best move in this situation.

16.○Q15

16.○N14

…is strong, bit Black gets a decent result by pushing…

17.●P13
18.○Q12
19.●P12
20.○Q11
21.●P11
22.○Q10
23.●L14

The AI sees this as about even.

17.●P16
18.○P15
19.●O16

Now one of the point of my marked stone becomes obvious, as it helps me to cut off White's stone.

20.○O15

20.○N17
21.●O15
22.○M16
23.●L17

Would be very unhealthy for white, since the marked stones are heavy and sandwiched between two decently strong groups.

21.●N17
22.○N15

A mistake that allows me to get a good result. My marked stones were short on liberties, and White should have taken the opportunity to hane on the second rank first.

22.○S16
23.●S17
24.○M16
25.●O18
26.○D18

And according to AI-sensei, Black is 2.5 points behind.

23.●S16

Phew! I was very relieved to play this move. I have a nice "monkey jump" to look forward to in the endgame too.

24.○O4
25.●L14

As Lín Póyu pointed out, this is a bit too defensive, and I ought to have played a big point on the lower side. Yet there was some reasoning to my move, and only loses a point. I do expand my moyo, and on the same time I have a platform from which I can launch an invasion on the right.

25.●C6

26.○D14

26.○L15
27.●K15
28.○L16
29.●L17
30.○K14

…is still a possibility later, so my shape is not quite as good as I thought.

27.●E14

The pro calculated, and I sat silently, waiting for the verdict. He liked the alternative line.

27.●C14
28.○C13
29.●D13
30.○E14
31.●E13
32.○C15
33.●B14
34.○F14
35.●B15
36.○C16
37.●D16
38.○B13
39.●B16
40.○E11
41.●F12

…is a joseki that seems good for me, but the attach on the marked point seems annoying.

28.○C15
29.●E15
30.○D13

A very rare move, and I was happy to take the corner.

31.●C16
32.○E13
33.●C6
34.○C8
35.●F13

I thought that taking the key point in White's shape, down to the left, was a small gain in itself, so then I played in the center…

35.●E6

Once again, the pro and the AI agrees that this i sthe sensible option.

36.○F12
37.●G12
38.○G13
39.●F14
40.○F11
41.●G11
42.○G10
43.●H13

Very, very conservative, and passive. I should have jumped…

43.●J11

44.○D6
45.●C3
46.○C4

This surprised me, as I thought it was better to block from the other side.

47.●D3
48.○E3
49.●E2
50.○F3
51.●F2
52.○G3
53.●B4
54.○B5
55.●B3
56.○Q9
57.●M3
58.○O3
59.●J3

Bad! I induce White to block my corner group ,and later it is sente to go down to the first line. It eventually gets me into trouble…

60.○G2
61.●J5
62.○M5
63.●S4

Afterwards I was a bit unhappy with this move, and would rather have played the marked point. The AI disagrees, although its ways seem too mysterious to me.

64.○S5
65.●R5
66.○S3
67.●R9
68.○R10
69.●Q10
70.○R11
71.●N2

Noooo. So bad. I need to take care of my groups before dreaming of silly endgame moves like this.

71.●B6

..is a great move, as it becomes much harder for White to kill my corner group.

72.○C5
73.●A5
74.○C7
75.●E4
76.○D5
77.●F5

..and White has a lot to deal with.

71.●L5

71.●J7

So many good moves her, and I played none of them…

72.○B6
73.●B15

Greedily, I do not want to give up the option to make his left side smaller.

74.○K3

74.○G1
75.●D1
76.○K3

75.●K4
76.○L4

A beautiful tesuji that I had missed. Now I faced with a choice, to get cut intwo, or to sacrifice the corner. I decided that the latter was the best option.

77.●L3
78.○K2
79.●J2
80.○G1
81.●L2

81.●D1

Is the right move to live in the corner, but then…

82.○J1

..and my marked stones are dead, while the rest are weak.

82.○D2
83.●Q4
84.○R3
85.●S6
86.○T4
87.●Q7
88.○P9
89.●O6

Once again, it was impressive to see how fast Lín Póyu saw that there was a better move.

89.●Q5

90.○Q5
91.●O8
92.○N7
93.●O7

93.●O9

Is better.

94.○R6

This felt small, and I was happy to cut, and then take the shape point.

95.●N5
96.○N4
97.●M4
98.○M6
99.●M9
100.○K7
101.●O9
102.○H6
103.●C12
104.○D11
105.●C11
106.○C10

106.○P10

..is a key point for us both.

107.●B10
108.○C9
109.●F10

I was very critical of this cut immediately after the game, and felt that Imgave away my advantage her. However, it turns out that it was all right. It was my follow up that was wrong.

109.●H10

, is natural and goo, but it worried me a bit that White can cit at the marked point later.

110.○G9
111.●H9
112.○H8
113.●J8
114.○H7
115.●P10

110.○D12
111.●C14

111.●H10
112.○G9
113.●H9
114.○H8
115.●J8
116.○G8
117.●E11
118.○E12

, and I can play away, since White cannot cut off my stones to the left. In this way I would be in the lead with almost ten points, after komi.

119.●P10
120.○C13
121.●B13
122.○B14
123.●A14

…and White cannot connect!

124.○C14
125.●D10

112.○H10
113.●P10
114.○R8
115.●S9
116.○Q8
117.●R7
118.○S8
119.●S7
120.○S10
121.●K9
122.○J8

At this point there are three rather big (marked) endgame point on the board, and since I wanted to play two of them, I decided to play a sequence that would end in sente for me. It was not the best sequence…

123.●Q12
124.○P12
125.●O11
126.○Q11
127.●J11
128.○L15
129.●K15
130.○L16
131.●L17
132.○M13
133.●L13
134.○M12
135.●L12
136.○N10
137.●N11
138.○M11
139.●M10
140.○J10
141.●K10
142.○K11
143.●J12
144.○L11
145.●P8
146.○T9
147.●Q6
148.○P5
149.●P6
150.○H5
151.●P2

The game is incredibly close, and I really tried to count how many points we had. A few moves ago I thoguht I was leading, but now I realized that the margin was ridiculously small.

151.●L7

If I play here, I am ahead with about 1.5 points!

152.○O2
153.●O1
154.○Q2
155.●J9
156.○H9
157.●M14
158.○N14
159.●O12
160.○O13
161.●B9

After this move I lose my lead. On the upside, I had my eyes on some very unpleasant aji in White's position.

161.●H8
162.○G8
163.●C13
164.○E10
165.●T13

And I would be ahead with 1.5 points!

162.○M8

This is also a mistake, and so is my next move.

163.●L10

163.●L8
164.○K8
165.●N8

164.○S15
165.●B8
166.○B7
167.●T15
168.○T14
169.●T16
170.○P3

Now I am half a point behind, and perhaps the most impressive thing in the whole game, to me, is that my opponent, directly after the game said "I was leading with half a point". The coming year I will aim to improve my counting skills.

171.●C2

The next few moves were played earlier. Don't know exactly when.

171.●D1
172.○B1

172.○B1
173.●D1
174.○F1
175.●P1
176.○P11
177.●O10
178.○L5
179.●L8
180.○L7
181.●K8
182.○H7
183.●J6
184.○J7
185.●K12
186.○N13
187.●H4
188.○G4
189.●A7

I am avery tricky guy…

190.○A8

This is absolutely necessary. If instead…

190.○A6
191.●C13
192.○E10
193.●A8
194.○H11
195.●H12
196.○N6
197.●N8
198.○O5
199.●K6
200.○R5
201.●M7

AI-sensei first gives this as "even", but when I played out the kos, Black wins with half a point.

196.○N8
197.●N6

191.●A9
192.○Q1
193.●N1
194.○H11
195.●H12

Now, there is a deadly aji in the bottom left corner, but at this moment I only saw that it would cost White one point later in the game.

196.○N6
197.●O5
198.○N8
199.●N9
200.○R5
201.●K6
202.○L6

Now I counted, two or three times, and realized that I might be behind. I needed something that gives me more points…

202.○E10

Would win the game for White.

203.●G9

This also a mistake since it takes away a ko threat for me.

204.○H8
205.●C7

Still, this is the winning move…

206.○C5

206.○D7
207.●A5

And White is unable to stop Black's connection.

207.●D7
208.○E10

208.○E7
209.●D8
210.○D9
211.●E8
212.○E9
213.●E11
214.○E12
215.●F8

And White has a choice between the variation in the game, or…

216.○A6
217.●E10

209.●A4
210.○A2
211.●A5
212.○A6
213.●E4
214.○A8
215.●C1
216.○E1

If I live with my group in the corner, the game is over.

217.●A7
218.○N3

218.○D5
219.●E6
220.○A8
221.●E5

219.●D5

This is much bigger than losing the stones on the bottom, since I both reduce White's territory, and save my stones in the corner.

220.○M1
221.●K1
222.○M2
223.●G5
224.○H3

224.○F5
225.●H3
226.○K5
227.●H1

..and I get a second eye.

228.○H2
229.●F4

228.○G6
229.●H2

228.○J4
229.●J5

225.●F5
226.○J4
227.●S13
...

White resigned. I am very happy to have won the game, but if we play another three or four games, it is very unlikely that I would win again.

maxiGos 6.64