I’m doing very well in the Tsumego department! Since the last post I reached problem 463 in the 1000 Tsumego book! Many of those were last night when I had more jasmine pearl green tea (3 tsp., boil the water, let sit for 4:30, steep for 3:00). Averaging it out, that’s 65 problems per day - not bad at all!
One of my “short” tsumego days was Sunday. Bob (from the Southern New England Go Assoc) and I went to Sommerville, MA for the Fall MGA handicap tournament. It was very small (about 20 people) this time (usually about 30) so all of my games were handicapped. I played amazingly well considering the types of games I played!!
Game 1 gave me Black in a 3 stone game versus a 2 dan. The game progressed normally, but turned into a very big fight in the mid-game. I surrounded and killed a very large group… it was a skillful kill, so I was happy!
Game 2 also saw me as Black, this time with 6 stones versus a 5 dan. This was an incredibly tough game. I nearly came out ahead in a joseki in the lower right, but my opponent took the cutting stones to turn the corner around. I went a bit tilt at that point (20/20 hindsight counts this a good thing) and split my opponent into two large eyeless groups elsewhere on the board. I managed to turn the game into a giant liberty race (after nearly killing a group, and getting another 5 dan super-turnabout) that I was losing by 2… a resignation on my part, but a game I could be proud of. (I only hope my high dan opponents were talking about me ;))
My final game against a stronger opponent gave me 5 stones. In another surprising fight, I captured a large group (about 40-50 points worth). At this point in the day, and given my previous performance, I was still in a fighting mood… so I played the wrong game (positional judgement is necessary but boring)! I gave away a large corner for free because I refused to defend strongly and lost by 6.
In the last game of the day I gave 2 stones and overplayed far too much. My joseki was terrible and I thought well punished - simply because I was trying too hard. (Can I rationalize a bit that it was the end of the day)? I finally did manage to cut off a small, but heavy group and attack it… this time it was my opponent’s positional judgement that was a bit off (give up the small group to take the win)! The small heavy group turned into a giant heavy group with one eye. In the end I killed it in gote, played elsewhere (because I thought I was sente) and was suddenly losing by about 60. (I missed an atari that let her either connect out or make two eyes). I will rationalize a bit over my stamina, I was feeling fine, but I was getting tired from so much reading. I managed to make up about half of the difference in oyose, and resigned since I was still behind by about 30.
I was pleased with the day… seems like an odd thing being 1 for 4… but it makes sense to me!
The picture doesn’t really have much to do with anything, but I like it. Took this from my car just before the toll booth at the Newport Pell Bridge.
