9x9, 5.5 komi?

General Chat
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We have the same amount of prisoners, I have way more territory (as a percentage, I have twice as much territory). It doesn’t feel like I lost. 5.5 Komi on a 9x9 grid, is that fair? Does going 2nd have an advantage on 9x9?

I feel like I can’t make a single mistake, even if my opponent makes a mistake I can’t afford to b/c I have to dominate so much.

I’d love to know how often you win as black and how often you win as white on 9x9 boards if you keep track of that. I only ever beat really bad players when I’m black. Against some people I feel there’s nothing I can do. I’ve only been playing for a couple days though.

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No, you don’t. As a percentage maybe, but that’s irrelevant.

It is a much discussed topic. I feel like the best answer for you is more or less yeah. In my opinion it does not matter at lower levels. Some even think komi should be higher on 9x9 because you get influence on basically the whole board with the first move. You can search the forums if you want it has been discussed already. (here for example: Is a komi of 5.5 really appropriate on a 9x9 board?)

If you are interested in statistics you can look at database of proffessional 9x9 games here Waltheri's go pattern search - 9x9 games. Seems that black wins slightly more often.

Don’t worry about komi and/or one loss. I would be more concerned about the fact that you both kept playing totally unnecessary moves in your own territory and thus lowered your score. In Japanese rules ONLY the empty interesections count as points. You DO NOT have to completely surround opponent’s dead stones in your territory for them to be your prisoners. :slight_smile:

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If I’m not wrong, komi for 9x9 can sometimes go up to 7.5, depending on the player’s strength.
And I agree with Adam, the first move is really quite impactful, hence the reason why you see many players choosing to play as black.

I used to think the komi for 9x9 was really too high but coming to think of it after MANY 9x9 rounds, it’s actually quite fair. Then again, you could always adjust the settings and make yourself the white seed :wink:

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I left a review of your game :slight_smile: - https://online-go.com/review/243581

As others have pointed out, you and your opponent played a lot of moves that cost you points at the end of the game. Without these, you may have won!

Besides that, you played well! Keep playing more games and you’ll improve quickly. Try not to get hung up on a few losses - it’s actually a good thing! http://senseis.xmp.net/?LoseYourFirst50GamesAsQuicklyAsPossible :thumbsup:

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since the board is so small, the first move is even more powerful. if you think of it as percentage of the board, instead of number of points, the first move in a corner takes almost 1/4 of the entire board. that is a huge deficit for white to come back from. so yeah, i think the komi is fair and could even be argued to be higher the smaller the board.

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