Wasting time in a won game

   

exswoo Imagine a situation when you're nearing the end of yose and after counting your totals, you find that you're losing by about 4-5 points...

As you resign to your fate, you are taken back by your opponent when he begins a hopeless invasion that has no hope of surviving. You block, wondering if he's hellbent on winning by a landslide. After a few moves in however, the truth is clear: Your opponent has not counted the score and thinks that he will lose!

Please, count your score in close games so this type of situation doesn't occur :)


Jasonred Firstly, you'd better be darn sure that:

a) It's a hopeless invasion.

b) You ARE in fact, losing.

After all, your opponent, did have the skill to get to that point, maybe he knows something you don't...

Secondly, you know, you could always just resign... that would save time. Even better, resign without any explanations, and let the fool think the invasion was successful...


Thomas: Is it really a bad habit not to count score in close games? Well if you have more time on your clock than I usually do, and if you are sure that you can produce the correct count, (I am not) then you have to count, but being as bad as I am, I feel free to try for the best score regardless of the overall situation. Should I feel bad?


tderz: Anecdote obout a chess grandmaster, only having few time left before his time control. He is winning, as he is clearly only some moves away from giving checkmate.
However, he thinks and ponders ... the flag falls.
Some bystanders ask him "Didn't you see the mate in 5?"
He replied "Of course I saw it! I also saw another one in seven ...
and couldnt decide which one to chose."

This is perhaps a general problem (cf. [Munzert: ChessPsychology]):

  • not being able to chose
  • even among (very) good (enough) opportunities, looking for the best, instead that what works sufficiently (in time)
    • => lack of pragmatism

Heck, if you ask me, he had no reason to consider the mate in 7, because that would take longer, and be more risk-prone.


fake3d: If you are convinced the game is over and you have lost, then you are the one who is wasting time. You should simply resign and move on to the next game.

ChrisSchack: I think this is set up as the game is about to end, so it may as well be played out ... and then the winning player makes an unreasonable invasion. I don't see any reason not to play things out if you're THAT near the end...

MrTenuki: On a side note, this happened to me once. As I was about to pass in a close game, my opponent made a speculative Invasion. I passed again, responding only if needed. Thanks to the invasion, I won by 0.5 points. I would have lost by 1.5 points if my opponent had counted instead of "wasting time in a won game" (yes, I passed twice before responding).

Moral of the story: if you're on the receiving end of this mistake, simply pass and hope that your opponent will turn your 0.5-point loss into a 0.5-point win.


Wasting time in a won game last edited by OneWeirdDude on March 22, 2008 - 00:42
RecentChanges · StartingPoints · About
Edit page ·Search · Related · Page info · Latest diff
[Welcome to Sensei's Library!]
RecentChanges
StartingPoints
About
RandomPage
Search position
Page history
Latest page diff
Partner sites:
Go Teaching Ladder
Goproblems.com
Login / Prefs
Tools
Sensei's Library