Hello all,
I am recently struggling (pretty badly). I got as high as 17k 2 weeks ago, but after a couple of bad losses, I’ve dropped to 19k and sinking fast. I don’t wanna drop back to 20k. I have 2 games below that would like to be reviewed. Thanks in advanced and I really appreciate your time to review my games.
https://online-go.com/game/8116700 - This game I decided to change my opening strategy (since I’m struggling). I decided to open with a san-ren-sei, but the strategy backfired.
https://online-go.com/game/8115970 - This game I thought I had a nice start, but failed to finish him off and made a few big mistakes that cost me the game at the end.
And I present some of my ideas for the second game:
https://online-go.com/review/233707 (it is kind of partially comedic review, but please understand, I am in no way trying to mock you or you game, just trying to have some fun )
Fun fact: In the second game white missed like 44 point endgame, which is probably the most I have ever seen
Overall considering both games I would say:
You are too attached to your stones. Try not to form an emotional bond. And learn to sacrifice stones. It is wrong trying to save a single stone if you can make bigger profit elsewhere. And similarly, do not atari every stone you can unless there is a clear purpose behind it. Otherwise the opponent just escapes and you are usually left with a cutting point.
I liked the fact that the games were long enough for a thinking time. That’s the way to improve. Did you use all of it?
To me, your opening seemed ok, just think about direction of play in later stages and watch out carefully for slack moves. each move has to bring you something…
If it’s not broken do not fix it. In both games you sometimes seem to suddenly fix weaknesses that did not need fixing, while your opponent exploits others… It is good to watch out for weaknesses of course, but you can’t just throw away your moves.
Adam,
once again I really appreciate you taking the time to review my game. Don’t worry I don’t take things personally. I understand you’re reviewing my game and having a little fun.
Unfortunately, I’m struggling a bit lately. When I started playing go, I used to make a bunch of touching, chasing, and pushing-from-behind moves. Then around a month ago I started surrounding (without touching stones), and I thought I did better. But now it seems like I am falling back to making touching moves again AS WELL AS having trouble staying connected. I feel like I am making too many cuts that won’t work and in turn, letting my opponent seperate my groups.
Also, In terms of sacrificing stones, I am making a lot of poor judgements. One of them is when to save a stone/when to sacrifice, when to tenuki, when to invade, etc. I also have poor reading skills. I think I can only read as far as 3 moves ahead. Can you give me some advice on how to remedy all of these issues?
)