Category: Commentaries

Monday Go Meditation: Game 47

For this week's go meditation, the primary theme is illustrating how to bounce back after failing to kill a group. I'm sure that most players have encountered this scenario multiple times. Think about the numerous times you thought your opponent was going to die in your influence, only to have your opponent suddenly live. It can be quite a hard pill to swallow. However, in this game, I'm hoping that you'll see that failing to kill a group is often a far cry from the game being over. This game contains to large hunts that should be quite entertaining. Enjoy!

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Monday Go Meditation: Game 46

For this week's go meditation, one of the primary themes of this game is trying to recognize when it's worth it to respond to your opponent and when you should ignore your opponent. Throughout the game, there are numerous times where responding to my opponent locally would not have technically have been "wrong," but it would have been difficult on the board as a whole if I simply let my opponent get sente to play where he wanted. So be sure to pay attention to when I respond and why I have no problem doing so, but then it is equally important to note when I ignore my opponent and tenuki. Hope you enjoy!

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WGW 33: Gu Li vs Lee Sedol - Jubango Game 2 Amateur Review

Weekly Go Wednesday: Issue #33

Credit to GoGameGuru

As some of you know, Gu Li and Lee Sedol recently had their second game in their jubango. And because the feedback on my review of Gu Li and Lee Sedol’s first jubango game was positive, I am happy to announce that I will continue reviewing every game from this jubango! Before we get into the review itself though, there are a couple of things I wanted to mention.

  1. In response to your feedback from my review of Gu Li and Lee Sedol’s first jubango game, this review was created to include more of my reactions and thoughts on the game as opposed to simply trying to “teach people what’s going on.”
  2. However, I do want to emphasize that I still believe firmly in providing a thorough breakdown of the game in order to allow players of all strengths to be able to follow the game and gain more enjoyment from it. So continuing with the same format as before, there is commentary for every single move regardless of how “obvious” it might seem.
  3. Though frozensoul and I were able to combine forces on the first game, I was unable to get together with him in time for me to release this post. So this game review is solely my doing and therefore all ideas and analyses come from the best I have in my SDK brain. Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to collaborate with him and/or other stronger players as well.
  4. For more advanced reviews, be sure to keep an eye out on World Go Online and GoGameGuru since I’m sure they will have their own in the near future.
    I hope that you enjoy the review and improved format. Be sure to leave comments as the format is still a work in progress and I am always trying to make the reading experience a more enjoyable one for you!

Credit for the kifu and some insights go to GoGameGuru

Update: There is a correction to the score I reported in the kifu. Due to Chinese counting, the final score was actually a half point win for Lee Sedol. Though it didn’t change the result of the game, it definitely only adds to the epicness and excitement of the game!

Monday Go Meditation: Game 44

For this week's go meditation, I am happy to welcome my friend Bonscott back to being featured on MGM. Though our KGS ranks might say there's a 3 stone difference, this game shows that the gap has closed a bit since last time we played. xD In terms of the game however, I think that this game goes to show how a lack of positional judgment and overestimation of your own territory can be the end of you. Hope you enjoy!

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WGW 31: Gu Li vs Lee Sedol - Jubango Game 1 Amateur Review

Weekly Go Wednesday: Issue #31

Credit to GoGameGuru

For those who didn’t know, Gu Li and Lee Sedol had their first epic match of their ten match series jubango. And though many of you might have watched the game or checked out the game record later on, I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of weaker players like myself were left in bewilderment most of the time. After all, even though it was really exciting, it’s hard to learn from a game where so much is going on at once!

So I came up with the idea to team up with my sensei, frozensoul, and do a review together in order to provide a step-by-step review of every move in the game. Now granted, I’m sure that many strong dan players might refute some of my comments or argue that there is so much more to what I reviewed, but my goal is simply this: To provide a game record that would allow kyu players to easily follow the game and understand some of the most significant moments of the game. As a result, it should be no surprise that complicated variations and advanced theoretical discussions are intentionally avoided and left to other people who are much more qualified to speak to those things than I am (i.e., World Go Online and GoGameGuru). The following is the result of our efforts:

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Monday Go Meditation: Game 42

This week's game is a great example of how to play against an opponent who is extremely aggressive and overplays on a consistent basis. Throughout the game, you'll see my opponent try to fight for what he thinks is important; and how I respond in kind in pursuit of bigger territory or more important areas. In addition, you get to watch me hunt him down when he invades my moyo. Hope you enjoy!

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Monday Go Meditation: Game 40

First and foremost, I will start by stating this game was played on OGS recently. Two reasons for that: (1) I don't want you to think that this is an old game. (2) Although my rank says 7k, the ranks in OGS are completely weird and is really a poor indicator of your true skill level. So in other words, my opponent could be way stronger than 7k. That being said, this game is a weird one where my opponent played a lot of odd moves. Overplays if you ask me, but I'll let you be the judge of that. Enjoy!

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