Need to understand invasions
uffehellum (25k?) won his rematch against me by 7.5 moku in a 0.5 komi match. erislover (21k) and pucko (22k) helped me review afterwards.
I thought I should play another game this evening with a lower handicap. I wanted to see the flaws in my strategies and tactics by challenging myself in an almost even match.
The game might have turned in my favor but for a late invasion I made in White's territory which was also too high and difficult to defend. erislover and pucko felt that there might have been a better chance of survival had I descended more quickly.
Both were also kind enough to point out errors in my tactics. I still find myself not reading deep enough and seeing threats where there are none.
Overall, though, the match was a very useful learning experience and I'd again like to thank erislover and pucko for their counsel.
My readings this weekend were only about the 3-3 and 4-4 josekis and those helped me in my last matches. I think I'll need to learn more about effective invasions.
1 Comments:
Glad to help any way I can. The thing about invasion, from what I can tell, is that it is about the timing of it more than the tactics. After all, against an even opponent her tactics will be just as strong as yours. ;)
The stronger your opponent's stones get which establish a framework or outright stake a claim to territory, the harder it will be to successfully invade. But if he is weak, or has many unconnected groups (many hane-extend cutting points for example), knight jumps, and so on, then you can often use that bad aji to complete an invasion and/or escape (for a reduction, which is often just as good).
But when invading, be prepared to sacrifice stones. The smallest living shapes in the corner take up 8 intersections, and your opponent has to contain it with at least seven stones himself, meaning making that invasion took 15 points from him (and gave 2 to you!). Even if you have to sacrifice ten stones to do this you'll still be ahead in the points.
Anyway, whenever you have time for a free game you can pick any handicap you want. :)
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