Gotta Brag: I Killed Something

Not only did I kill something, but I did it in an AGA online tournament. 

I played the 2nd round of the San Diego Go Championship today. The tournament is being played over the course of five weeks with one game per week. Pairings come out on Saturday and games must be played by Friday night.

I won my first round last week. That game was reviewed in my weekly go lesson by Clossius.

Today’s game was won because I managed to pull off a kill. I am 2:0 now in the event. 

I saw that the black group on the left side had not made two rooms yet, and I also saw a potential cut that I could read all the way through to the capture of the c12 stones. If black blocked that cut there did not appear to be a way to separate two rooms. 

The move above at b10 was the killing move. It won the game. Of course, I had to keep the win. I’ve been known to step back too much after a big kill. I tried to keep things solid without losing my lead, and I hope that I played reasonably during yose.

An AYD friend of mine told me that he liked the board for white even without the kill because even though black was ahead on territory there were weaknesses. I’ll have to discuss that with him when we get the chance. I’m interested in his insights.

Here is the final board position. I won the game by 20.5

Anyone who is interested can view the game with AI review on OGS. My opponent and I are both site supporters on OGS. He told me that he uploads his KGS games to OGS for the AI review. I told him that I also upload my games there for that reason, but also because my teacher loads my games on OGS for review during my weekly lessons. Clossius usually streams those lessons live on Twitch. When Clossius is not live, some of his recent VODs are available for viewing.

My opponent and I spent time chatting after the game was over. We took a good look at the dead group, and concluded I could keep it dead regardless of how black responded after b10. If anyone sees a refutation that we missed, please let me know.

My opponent said that he would discuss the game tonight online on OGS with the Yu Go Club. The chat above shows me making a plug for my teacher, Clossius, as usual. 

I may have this game reviewed in my next lesson to see how I could have done better in the opening. I do like to have my tournament games reviewed. When I was taking lessons with Yilun Yang I would always record my Go Congress games and we would review them over the course of the next few lessons. There was always something interesting to learn. I have come to realize through the reviews I get in the American Yunguseng Dojang too, that won games don’t necessarily get a favorable review, and lost games often come with praise for stepping outside one’s comfort zone. 

I am hoping to bring interesting games to my lessons whether they are won, or whether they are lost.