ChoiceGoGame1 / Discussion

After Black 28...

lavalyn: 12 stones is pretty hard to beat. It looks like it's strictly winning for Black, doesn't it? Both players with the handicap? I don't think so... things get really out of control in that. The Choice Go handicap doesn't work well with more than 6 stones exchange, and its handicapping feature only shows up in real fuseki and tsumego. It's not easy for me to lead a game into that kind of direction anyway... believe me, it's still a big handicap.

ChessWhiz: Actually, I thought you were winning. Although Black is ahead on the board, practically any invasion you choose is very dangerous for me. For example, at a or b. Although they look like crazy moves, they are tough, if not impossible, to refute. If you want to stop, however, that's OK with me. How about 3-stone game?

lavalyn: I expected you to tenuki more often - to the point of sacrificing a corner in building an impregnable position elsewhere. Often the choice should be between tenuki and a tough fight, or even two tenukis. Remember, the player taking the handicap has a HUGE advantage in any fight.

Maybe my estimate of 17 stones is not overdoing it enough.

Three stone game. Standard Japanese rules. Let's play! ChessWhizAgainstLavalyn

Ok, what do you all think? Who is winning at this point, SL lurkers? Post your opinions here.

JoeSeki: White did not play the kind of game I expected him to play given the choice handicap option. I would have expected White's choices to be on two different parts of the board. Starting two fights and give Black the choice of which one to defend. Heck, starting lots of fights and giving a choice between two of them could be very tough for Black to decide which to give up on and which not to. I would think that both players would learn a lot from this variant. White having to think how each fight would interact especially if Black gives one up. The endgame is where I think it would start to show the most. White usually wins in the endgame as he ties his groups together and snookers Black for points. If Black can't find equivalent plays in the end, then he'll lose a lot of points in the endgame.

ChessWhiz: According to JoeSeki, we should continue the game. What do you say, lavalyn? I think we can handle two games at once. Let's revive this game and finish it! After all, it was pretty fun making all those bad moves. :-)

JoeSeki: I might have misunderstod the game as well. I thought White was giving Black the choices. I could see that being a very large handicap advantage. White gives Black the right to choice of White's moves. But in this game Black got a lot of handicap stones and he's choosing, which seems to be a reverse handicap. White will overtake Black in the endgame if he just plays solidly. Black will be on the losing end of all fights in this game if the fights are set up properly by White. Imagine there being only one way to defend in a fight. It turns into a kind of ko fight. A bamboo joint is no longer secure in choice go. I say play on :)

ChessWhiz: So, lavalyn, want to continue? It's your move.

And the game goes on...