GR Game 2

This is a RenGo.

Teams (about 18k EGF):

White: PeterA and MattHope

Black: Migeru and BenS

Tromp-Taylor Rules, Komi 6.5

GR Game 2 (moves 1-10)  

BenS: Hopefully this is how I'm meant to mark positions...

ppadams: Here we go again - already looking a bit like the last game.

Migeru: grmtpft

MattHope: what's grmtpft???

BenS: Sure we'll hear Miguel screaming about his partner soon.

ppadams:

Migeru:

MattHope: influence not territory?

Migeru: You are playing on the 2-3 point, Matt. How is that influence?

MattHope: Perhaps my interpretation of influence is wrong but I figured this move strengthened 4 as well as taking control of the SE corner - I could of course be wrong, hence the question mark. I though 3-3 would have been too close to 4 and be too compact

Migeru: A 2-space jump on the 3rd line is generally considered a good base, clearly territory. What you are avoiding is overconcentration.

MattHope: Ah yes - I knew there was a term for it, I am never sure whether it is being correctly applied when I try it though :)

Alex: Although a two-space jump on the third line is more efficient than a one-space jump in most cases, here ends up on the second line, which is rarely an efficient place to play. The one-space jump would have been much better. Anyway, the concept of "influence" doesn't really exist on a 9x9 board, except maybe if Black chooses his first move at tengen.

Migeru: Personally, if I had to play in that direction I would have chosen a knight's move (at the point between and ).

MattHope: I See. I suspect I am getting bad habits from only having enough time to play real people on a 9x9 board. Would you or Miguel suggest playing against a computer (say gnugo for starters) or taking the trouble to get on a go server against real people. I would find it easier to be able to pause a game for a while to do other things so I'm guessing playing against people would annoy them.

Migeru: KGS is an outstanding teaching server. And you can play against GnuGo bots there if you feel so inclined.

Alex: I would strongly recommend playing on KGS against real people when you have the time, but I would strongly recommend against playing a computer, ever. Computers have abysmally poor style and you will learn nothing but bad habits from playing against them. If time constraints prevent you from finishing real-time games in one sitting, you might consider DGS.

MattHope: Thanks. I tried KGS (played a bot first to get used to the game mechanics. Played my first 19x19 and got thrashed. became completely boxed in. Supect I need to play on 13x13 or 19x19 from now on. I will try DGS if KGS becomes a problem. It is scary watching how fast some people play (and win!)

Migeru: Try the "Beginners' Room" and "Teaching Ladder" rooms on KGS. Also, playing fast is good for you. It develops your intuition.

BenS:

ppadams: Hey, it all feels quite exciting.

GR Game 2 (moves 11-20)  

Migeru: It's hard to play when you have no good choices.

MattHope: perhaps a little aggressive?

BenS: I'm still in the learning stage of playing. And at the moment I'm learning from my mistakes...

Migeru Hint: if your partner is stronger than you, try to read their moves for clues.

ppadams: Be interesting to see how this all works out.

Migeru:

MattHope: all packed into the center aren't we :)

BenS:

Migeru: Matt, witness Ben's chickens coming home to roost.

ppadams: I have to confess to feeling mildly concerned.

MattHope: Peter!!!! aaargh

Migeru: This is the kind of forced move I like to make.

MattHope: Damage limitation called for, wish I had looked at this earlier :(

MattHope: try to stop you taking that corner

GR Game 2 (moves 21-30)  

BenS: Do I have any other choice? And should I remove the one that should go or mark it in some way?

Migeru: Of course you have a choice, and yes, you need to remove the captured stones.

ppadams: Poor white stone, RIP. OK, let's try and run away this way then.

Migeru: Your problem is not so much that you lost a stone, but that our group found life.

Migeru: This, on the other hand, is the kind of move I don't like to be forced to make.

MattHope: Can't afford to leave this point for black, plus a ko threat.

BenS : hmmm.... I don't want them to get this spot.

Migeru: If they did, we'd be dead. Well played.

BenH: I'm surprised at -- I thought white was going to have a very hard time living, but after that move it looks alright.

Migeru: I think if white gets to play at they live easily and take away the corner. The extra liberty at TenGen helps.

ppadams: And slowly we're getting there.

Migeru:

MattHope: filling in

BenS: Ok, after the game has finished I want someone to tell me what I should have done here.

Migeru: I'd say this is correct but premature.

LukeNine45: Now that the game is over: would have been much better around ... is 1 point in gote; is somewhere between 5 and 15 points and possibly sente. The top right area of the board is also big.

Migeru: Yep, I comment at the bottom that should have been at .

ppadams: I wonder if this is taking things a bit too far?

GR Game 2 (moves 31-40)  

Migeru: Peter is leaving some bad aji behind...

MattHope: don't know if going that far in gained us anything

BenS: I feel I should really be doing something top left, but I have no idea what...

ppadams: Well that was fun. Top left is coming I expect.

Migeru: Looking for a place to resign.

MattHope: nice threat though

BenS :

Migeru: Arrgh, Ben! After I cannot see a way for black to even break even on the board, so given the komi we might as well resign.

ppadams: Hopefully safe to ignore the bottom. Are things really that bad migeru?

Migeru: Resign. After things are really bad, as we needed to play the first move at the top. Let me show you an optimistic estimate of Black's territory:

GR Game 2 (score estimation)  

That's 36 to 45 points on the board, plus 6.5 komi. If had been at we were likely to get 3 more points in sente. Then We can play one space above 38 and make 2 more points, plus one extra point on the right edge where we lost two stones. So, up until 29 we could hope to win 42 to 39 on the board.