Best games for Saturday

Here, I slowed down and thought it out.

gGra (26k) gave me my most difficult challenge for Saturday and forced me to think more carefully. He didn't have a lengthy record so I opted to stick with the 3-stone handicap.

I didn't play well in the right-hand corners and just barely carved territory to the right side. I was, however, more successful in carving and defending a large area in the lower left.

What I most had to struggle with was a strategy for invading the upper left corner and the top to reduce his territory. It probably made more sense to play closer to the top but I instead opted for K15. My thoughts were that I might be able to create a linking framework to my right stones with 2-3 keimas. Instead, the link evolved from my center stones.

IMHO, the key turning point was his failure to put my K12 group in atari when he had the chance. This allowed me to create the potential for a living group within his moyo. This harkens back to the importance of mindfulness.

Of course, that criticism applies to myself as well.

Here, I didn't.

Tokimaru (29k) won his rematch against me because, on two occasions, I just clicked without re-assessing the board and lost large groups. What could have been a win for me turned into a 22.5 moku loss. I imagine that mungo (4k) may be just a tad peeved with my sloppiness. (You don't need to look at that SGF. Really. You don't.)

Tokimaru mentioned that he had been reading Cosmic Go. I had heard of the book but didn't have a clue as to what was special about it. It seems to be a center-focused strategy for 4-stone handicap games.