I’m mostly learning by myself and I’m still lacking a lot.
I just played a game where I think I lost because I followed my opponents moves too much. At the move 76, his move was small for me and I had a big option: enclosing my center moyo (I lost most of it later).
However, as this game has blow my mind, I think I should be able to use it to improve even more if someone with a better insight helps me… So, I’m shamelessly asking if someone could do it for me
I left you a detailed review of the game. I am very tired today so my mind made a mistake and I thought you were White, but fortunately I left comments for dubious choices and moves made by both players, so it should be useful.
Overall I thought that Black played better, especially up till move 70+ … at that point indeed White played some slow moves and you should have solidfied your moyo, but you didn’t. The reason you lost the moyo were the defects in the shape and the greed with which you tried to contact-fight (I just added an alternative to move 85 in the review). Sometimes it is not possible to kill the opponent. In these cases, attack them from afar. If you play too close to them, you create defects in your walls and that is the way you systematically lost stones later.
By the way, how do you actively practice this topics?
By doing what you just did. Play, have fun, practice, see what works, review the game, try things again in the next game
The initial phase you reviewd as the opponent was useful too. I started learning about “direction” and I was able to see a case of “not building influence towards the oponent is strong”.
I need to be less greedy in the mid game.
No need to comment my bad end game.
Overall, I should practice more using good shapes.
I will do as you said me in the chat and try to play with “not slow good solid shapes”
To avoid following your opponent too much, ask yourself which groups are weak and which ones are strong. For instance your move 77: it didn’t attack anything, and Black didn’t need to defend either since Black’s group was already alive.
I shared my thoughts here. In summary, I suggest revisiting some fundamental concepts, such as the basic instincts, and playing moves that align with the current phase of the game (i.e., opening/middle/end) while avoiding moves more suited for a different phase.
I liked a lot this basic instincts concept (explained in the link), I was starting to walk a wrong and unstable path and I needed some reminding of the base.
“playing moves that align with the current phase of the game” is a weakness I know I have. I should learn to discern what kind of move I’m going to do and which phase is the game at before doing anything. However, I tend to follow my opponent when it does something (usually a pair of endgame moves). I will try to put more enfasis in this issue in my games.
After the review, I found that a lot of my problems started by allowing tiger mouth moves… Some others by helping him make tiger mouths. The self destruction move was a big mistake but the problem was already there.
Finally, at the move 25, you said it was better to enclose the lateral than making a moyo relying on the vulnerable group. It seems related to the concept of direction, is it? (I started learning about direction not too long ago without a proper source and my knowledge about it is a vague)
Absolutely, your observation does relate to the concept of direction. “Direction” refers to the power vested within each stone, whether it stands alone or with others. This power acts in certain directions depending on how all stones on the board interact. Accurately discerning these directions and finding the right moves to match them means having a “sense of direction,” an intuitive skill vital for real strength in the middle game.
Direction isn’t as complicated as commonly thought; it simply deals with how to use your stones effectively at any given time. Essentially, it pertains to the art of linking up individual stones in harmony with the overall situation. Concerning move 25, I think the weak spots in the lower right black group meant that enclosing toward the group (indirectly helping it) might be preferable to playing away from the group (forming a moyo with it).
If you enjoy learning through books, The Direction of Play by Takeo Kajiwara is a good read. It does a fine job of teaching direction and has good reread value much like Attack and Defense.
Ι definitely second that suggestion and I always mention Kajiwara’s book as the most important to read, for anyone that is DDK-SDK and wants to get better at Go (dan players usually know the things contained in the book, so it is not so useful for them).
@Ignasi00 If you want the concept in the most simplistic form it has three main rules/steps:
a) Look on the board and locate your strong or developing stones on the board. (walls, live groups etc) b) Extend from them as far as possible (with the X+1 rule) OR approach the opponent’s weak stones from the direction of your stones. c) While at step b, you should avoid developing your stones towards areas that your opponent is already strong (move 6 in the review is a prime example of what to avoid)
And that’s it for starters, but you should definitely read the book (and, come to think of it, I should re-read the book too, because when I first read it I was around 7-8k as well. There are bound to be a lot of concepts and ideas in it that flew over my head at the time )
I’m haven’t started the book yet, however, I just played a game that made me feel very good with what I did. I think I used the basic instincts concept.
I know that I made some endgame moves at the beggining stage, however I don’t know how should I cope with a monky jump so early… I would appreciate some insights on it if you have some moment (thank you very much and sorry for disturbing).
Additionally, he made some weird moves, at the beginning and later when he was ahead when both of us were fleeting towards the center with solid wall connections. Was he helping me? Maybe forcing the life or death situation?
The monkey jump is famous as an endgame move that can reliably gain 8 to 10 points in sente. But, played too early, its sente value diminishes. Faced with a premature monkey jump, be willing to tolerate the territorial loss and simply respond with bigger middle game moves. So rather than answer the monkey jump directly, I’d play move 55 at F15 (bend at a focal point), J14 (one-point jump), or something like M3 (opening-style third-line approach). The key is patience and a broader perspective. (This is also a recurring formula for improvement in Go: if you think an opponent has misplayed, play where you think they should have played and thereby show them the error of their ways.)
I’m not sure what was going on at the other moments you mentioned, but you seem to have a decent grasp on the some key principles and found a good outcome. After the game, you found some great alternatives for moves 51, 89, and 119. Keep at it and you’re sure to improve.
I finished The Direction of Play by Takeo Kajiwara today, it helped a lot in understanding the global interaction of stones, even when two stones seems to be far away. I will need some time to digest the knowledge and properly integrate it within my style (these days, I found that I focus a lot more in the global direction but the depth I can see on local situations decreesed a little bit so I need to play games and tsumegos). It also opened my eyes toward some moves that I didn’t use before however I will need to put more enfasis on “what is the move in the current situation” (not only an estimate of the area were it is) and the timing of the moves.
I wish I remember the second book recomendation (Attack and Defense) when I’m ready to read another book.
Anyways, thank you very much for the recomendations!
(I think I already thanked for the comment, but right now I can be grateful for the book as I have read it)
