Journal

An Exhilarating Battle

In light of the new blog redesign and format, I will also be including a new section in every game that I post: My Opponent, Mistakes and (if relevant) Prized Moments. [OUTDATED]

Overall

This has got to be the most intensive game that I’ve played in quite awhile. For those who haven’t been following, I joined the ASR League and have been playing a lot of even games with people who are much stronger than I. As a result, I’ve been on an incredible losing streak and have had a hard time regaining my composure.

Today’s game is probably one of the best games that I’ve played in quite awhile. It’s not the fact that I won, but the fact that a majority of my moves were well thought out and expose weaknesses that I would’ve never been able to exploit before. Not to mention that the ability to all of a sudden see the value of each move as I fought multiple ko battles was incredible.

It’s as Toshiro Kageyama said in Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go, the ability to actually read something out and knowing what will happen not only boosts a player’s confidence but brings an entirely new appreciation for the game.

My Opponent

Honestly, my hat is off to my opponent. Based on the screenname, I’m going to assume that she is a girl. That being said, she was amazing to play with. She really took her time with her moves and I could definitely tell that she was reading everything to the best of her ability. It ended up causing her to lose on time, but it really was a magnificent game.

Kifu

Mistakes

  • Move 68 (L12) - This wasn’t necessary. I should have skipped this and moved onto P16 first. I was lucky my opponent responded to it.
  • Move 80 (N17) - Should’ve been played at M18.
  • Move 108 (E10) - Should’ve been played at E9 or E8.
  • Move 142 (H18) - I read out a capturing race that I thought I could win. One liberty short…
  • Move 158 (J11) - This was a reckless move. There was not way I was going to live. I shouldn’t have even bothered.
  • Move 194 (P4) - This was really small. Too slow.
  • Move 198 (Q13) - Again. I’m luckily my opponent kept responding to local moves, but this was slow.

  • Move 296 (F6) - I didn’t read the follow-up properly. White not only has no good follow up, but an incorrect response would kill the H2/D6 group.
    Prized Moments

  • Move 56 (P15) - I managed to read out a relatively complicated sequence that gave my group a chance to live if I fought well.

  • Move 72 (N16) - Words cannot describe being able to read this out…
  • Move 174 (G2) - I was glad I could see the importance of this move, and my gut told me that if my opponent wasn’t careful, things were going to be pretty bad for her.
  • Move 260 (C1) + Following Sequence - tears of joy
  • Move 310 (S10) & 312 (R7) - Endgame awesomeness….