What went wrong? 20k vs 13k 9x9

Teaching Reviews requests
1

I think I was doing fairly decent in this game, when I made a critical mistake?

And also sometimes I feel that 5.5 Komi is too much for 9x9 boards, especially games involving beginners.

Can somebody please review this game? Thanks.

2

Here’s a review:

I don’t play much 9x9, so I’m not that great on general strategy, but here are my thoughts:

  • You left lots of weaknesses in the early game. Diagonal jumps, in general, can be easily cut, and you start the game with two of them, one of which ends up getting cut
  • You never really defend your weaknesses. This is appropriate in some cases, when there’s something bigger on the board, but you leave yourself open for some serious attacks. This happened in the middle game, where you traded the top for the bottom right.
  • Focus more on reading. You walked into an atari at the end of the game, which cost you the win. Move 43, specifically. If you descent and protect, you win. If you extend, you get atari’d and die. And then lose.
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3

The debate runs hot about whether it is too much for white or too much for black.

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4

That is why I said, Komi involving beginners.

5

I think I might be able to illustrate your point for you using 5x5 as an example.

For professionals and players who have learnt the solution to this scenario, the correct komi is 25points Chinese Rules(24points Japanese) as Black can and will consistently wipe White from the board. This results in a draw every time.

However; for complete beginners who may still fail to recognise atari on a regular basis, the correct komi is probably somewhere between 5 and 10 points so as to give an equal chance of winning to both players.

That said, while I’m prepared to believe that komi could be a little lower for less experienced players, I don’t think it’s worth implementing and I would note that it is already available as an unranked/custom option.

On every board size and at every level there are those players who prefer Black and therefor might be said to think komi inadequate and there are those players who prefer White and therefor might be said to think the komi too high.

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6

I agree, but I have no bias for colour. I like to play with both white and black. On some correspondence servers I even have seen Komi set to 7.5 with handicap stones. In live games it is bit difficult for beginners to judge positions so fast.

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