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TeachingGame22
PageType: OngoingGame
A TeachingGame between Scartol and JamesA.
JamesA: Yup, your analysis looks good to me! Therefore, I think I will have to play crudely. But first, W81. Scartol: Hmm. The capture at A would let white play at 2, forcing black to connect. White could then connect at B and make some progress. Of course, Black 82 lets white atari at C and possibly break out into the center. But I like the idea of not having large black groups in atari, and forcing white -- if she chooses to use atari -- have to spread many single stones around. JamesA: Well, here goes nothing... By the way, 82 is a great move - gets rid of a fair bit of aji in that area and is rock solid. White should suffer now. Scartol: B84 seems to be the only move. I'm worried about white moving out to D, but I think I can keep her contained if she does.
JamesA: W71: Right then - it's time for me to start squirming! B70 threatens to capture my stone on a very large scale so I feel I have to run. Personally, I think B70 may be a little loose - it gives me too much space to cause problems. A play at 'a' would be much more secure and I think white would need to make some sacrifices to survive. Scartol: Yeah, you're right. However, I think I can use the dead stones up top to capture those two and get some territory in the lower left. It will get interesting, if nothing else. JamesA: W73 - no other move. I'm sorry I've not moved for a while but I've been moving house. The job's now done so I will update more regularly. Scartol: No problem about the posting. Maybe I was hasty in stating that I would be able to capture those two. But let's try it. JamesA: W75: No, I don't think it's wrong to try to capture my stones - white is right in the middle of black's sphere of influence. However, I won't go down without a fight... Scartol B76: Well, heck. I've never been afraid of a little fighting. JamesA: That's the spirit! Now, what will you do about W77? Scartol B78: Make trouble. What else? JamesA: Once again, work finds a way to fill up my life... Sorry for the delay! W79 - time for tricks ( I just hope they work).
Scartol: Hmm. I like the idea of stretching white out, in case she tries to encircle the bigger group. This way I start out with the cut and force white to leave more cutting points. I feel like I may be setting myself up for oiotoshi, but playing at a feels dangerous, and nothing else seems reasonable. Now..
What if white plays this way? Well, I'd like to play at W4, in order to get out. But 3 seems more urgent. So when white plays 4, black is trapped in a ladder. With the moves to 9, however, it seems like I can break the ladder. Hmm. And even if white extends instead with 6, black has two liberties and can still play the double atari.
What if white plays 6 here? I feel like I can still catch the white stones on the left. Okay, let's play this way.
Scartol: Yeah, I guess you're right [1]. In light of the massive loss I suffered last night due to just this kind of obstinancy, perhaps I'd be wise to tenuki. Let's see what I can get by moving out in the middle with B62. unkx80: I would like to make some comments on B58. [2] JamesA: I've made some response to unkx80's comments... [2] JamesA: B62 looks like quite a smart move to me. I'll start work on my bottom moyo with W63 and see how you respond. Scartol: Thanks for those comments, guys.. I just wish I had thought of that sooner. Oh well, hopefully it will serve me in the future. As for B64, I'll keep pushing in. It would be lovely if I could surround the white stones above and free my trapped soldiers, but I doubt that will happen. Still, they tell me I'm supposed to keep white separated, so that's what I'll do. JamesA: W65 - can you spot my subtle plan? Scartol: Well, I can tell that you're trying to build a nice thick wall, which will happen if I push at A, white plays B, I play C, etc. So instead, let's see what happens if I try a more obstinate B66. JamesA: That's the attitude! Thwart my plans! I think B66 is a really good move - it reduces my bottom moyo and expands your side at the same time. Now, what will you do about W67? Scartol: Well, it looks like white is trying to dragnet B66. If I were white, I'd like very much to play at B68, so I'll play there before you do. I'm not 100% certain I can make it out alive, but if nothing else, white will get stretched pretty thin in the effort, which is likely to help me. Scartol: Hello? JamesA? It's been about a week since anyone moved. Just wondering what the scoop is.. JamesA: Sorry, I had an extremely busy few weeks, which is continuing. W69 - I'll leave my little stone on its own. Scartol: No problem, no rush. Hope things ease up for ya. Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but B60 feels important, to finish the job here.
JamesA: W51: Ok, you were probably expecting the cut so I will play it. Let's see what tricks you can come up with here. The last few moves have passed without comment - once this fight is concluded (probably still quite a few more moves!) we'll do some analysis. Scartol B52: I'm willing to admit that I don't have as much of a plan as I wish I did. I figure if nothing else, I can push and claw and scratch my way into the north here and do some damage. JamesA: W53: I'm happy to do what I'm told here. Did you read out some variations before playing B50? If so, what did you see and are things going according to plan? Take your time over your next move, I'm away until 12th July. Scartol: I did, and this is basically what I envisioned -- you cutting me off, me barrelling into the top. I figured that even if I couldn't rescue the stones on the right, I could use them as a decoy as I pushed in.. It's worked in the past for me; sometimes I can cause enough collateral damage to offset the loss of the five or so stones.. JamesA: Good, That's the right kind of way to use the hasami. Let's see how much damage you can do here though! Scartol: I've had plenty of practice lately with using stones I'm going to lose anyway.. <g> Let's make things interresting with B56. JamesA: Had to think a bit about W57... It looks natural though and I couldn't find a way for black to punish it. Let's see what you have come up with. Scartol B58: I guess I should save the cutting stone and extend.. JamesA: W59 - the question is: can you save the cutting stone? My move indicates what I think the answer is but what does your reading tell you? Scartol: Yeah, I think I can make it useful.. I don't have a plan for what happens after 7 here, but it seems like I can cause some kind of trouble, which will help. [1] JamesA: Hmmm.. I must admit that I can't see any trouble stemming out of 1-7 below... It looks like a straight capture for white with very little aji remaining.
[2] unkx80: It appears that B68 could be played as either of the two diagrams below. In both cases, white's suffers damage on the upper side, no?
JamesA: I think white should response to black 1 with 2 here. Although white has to sacrifice the marked stones I don't think black can penetrate the top fully (or at least sever the connection between white's groups here). unkx80: Um... yah. Agreed.
JamesA: OK, W41 - I'll see what can be done with that lonely white stone. I'm just wondering why the top right corner went so wrong for black - I think the answer probably lies in the aji that remained when black answered W21 at B22. It is very rare for a contact move like to W21 to go unanswered, except perhaps where it is a ko threat. The reason is that whoever plays first in a contact fight will gain a large advantage locally, and to leave two stones in contact means a lot of aji will remain. I would like to say a little about answering W21 as you didn't appear to consider the usual responses to this kind of move.
This is probably the standard aggressive response. White has to think carefully about what to do next.
If white extends then he becomes a little heavy. Black can then play at 3 to undermine white. If white then plays at 'a', black can attack strongly (due to B3) by playing at 'b'. Alternatively black could just play 3 at 'a'.
Perhaps white might crosscut with W2 here. I think B3 after this puts white in a very difficult position - if white plays at 'a' black can simply extend at 'b' and white is in trouble.
If white plays under with 2, B3 seems fine. If white extends with W4, B5 gives black a good position.
White will more likely extend with 4, then live in the corner. Of course, this result is excellent for black - his thickness is enormous. White's profit is small.
The other main responses for black would be 'a' and 'b'. 'c' is usually too submissive (black gains almost nothing and white gets some useful aji - a straight gain for white). Have a think through white's responses to 'a' and 'b' - black should always be able to get a good position.
To summarise, black should be very careful about ignoring a contact move like W21 - your instinct should be to answer with one of the moves above. Only play away if you have a very good reason to! Scartol: The short answer is: My mind wasn't on the game. I probably responded to W21 while I was at school, after an insane day of insane 13 year olds, before I tackled a mountain of essays. I probably looked at the board quickly, panicked when I saw the corner getting crunched, and played the first move that looked right. I know I'm supposed to hane when someone attaches to me -- I just wasn't thinking. As for B42, I'm very worried about losing the marked stone. But I feel like I still have options if white decides to try and surround it. Keeping the lone white stone trapped seems more urgent. JamesA: Hmmm, actually we discussed B22 - or at least you came up with some possible lines. What worried me was that the hane was not even one of the options you considered - it should be automatic. Scartol B44: Hmm. Maybe I don't have as many options as I thought.. JamesA: W45 - let's see where this leads. Of course, I have to connect here. Scartol B46: I feel somewhat desperate here, I'm willing to admit it. But I also feel like something should come of this.. JamesA W49: I really feel I'm starting to get the hang of knight jumps now! Scartol B50: Maybe this will help, maybe it'll only make things worse.. This is a copy of the living page "TeachingGame22" at Sensei's Library. (C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0. |