DietersMistakesIn2021/Solution2

Sub-page of DietersMistakesIn2021
[Diagram]

Mistake 2

Answer: the top is relatively small and it's not clear how to use the remaining aji. The left side is the big/urgent area to play.


Discussion by xela: The top looks big! It took me a long time to learn this principle: if you don't save the stones right now, chances are that black won't capture them right now either. They can sit there unresolved for quite a long time. Why? Because if black does capture, white gets a free move elsewhere.

[Diagram]

Good exchange for white

After this B2, black has maybe 20 points of territory at the top. 20 points would be big for an endgame move. But at this stage of the game, W1 and W3 together are worth more than that. Black would do better to answer W1 at a.

[Diagram]

Other options

For me, W1 at c is not intuitive! (This is a problem with my intuition. It's a fine move.) I was tempted to play instead at either d or e in this diagram. My first choice would be d, thinking that I want to restrict Black's moyo at the bottom.

KataGo tells me that the difference between all these options is fairly subtle. Even the worst of these options, W1 at a, only loses about 2 points compared with c. All of b, d and e are about equal to each other, maybe 1 point worse than c.

[Diagram]

Followup to d

If W1 here, KataGo recommends B2-W3. I guess this is a form of aji-keshi: the W1-B2 exchange loses the chance to invade around a.


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