I wasn’t going to say anything. But when I saw THE SAME WEAKNESS 2 games in a row, I had to say something. So in my most recent game, I came to this position where White had just played this: Then both sides played a few moves to solidify their position (even though KataGo was screaming attack the weak shape […]
There’s that shape again: 2 games in a row – the old knight’s move in a weak position
The Road to 5K requires playing and reading the cuttable 1-space extension
I was recently playing a game and I felt hopeless in this position: My group marked “X” looked doomed. Any direction it runs White is already there. “Attack from afar but defend up close” Have you heard this proverb. In this case, Black is desperate and needs to defend… so UP CLOSE is the part of the proverb to adapt… […]
Let’s see how well the Shygost method of move selection works in the heat of battle…
In the heat of a Go game, one can become myopic and only see one threat and your one group threatened. It is very important to see all the connections and weaknesses of your groups and the same for your opponent. Seeking for a way to look at each move with objective dispassion, I’m checking out Shygost’s Move Selection Algorithm: […]
Is there a common name for “kosumi leaning against iron pillar”?
I was recently playing this game and upon reviewing it I came to this position: As you can see it has an attack point at “X” – this shape often also occurs in corner joseki’s and also has the same attack point: After searching through Sensei’s we see both iron pillar and kosumi on the shape attack points page but […]
Cut Sorcery: 4 weak-SDK examples of when the cross-cut would’ve gained me some advantage.
Ignore my peep if you want to pay the price So I was playing this game and I played a peep in order to build the center: Black ignored me, so I made good on my threat to push through his group: Black protects and I surround: Black now thinks he is safe to roam into my center: But there […]
The Road to 5k Requires Seeing the Power of the Push-Cut
Not once, but TWICE IN THE SAME GAME could I have taken a commanding lead if I had only studied the position and considered the push cut. What the hay is a push cut? A push-cut occurs when you perform a two move sequence consisting of a push followed by a cut. let’s break it down, step by step. First, […]
A Pattern Re-Emerges – the 2-on-2 stone formation
Not even 4 days ago I played a game and after studying it in katago, I came to move 73 and was so astonished at the pure savagery that could occur in an innocent position that I posted the position on reddit. I am going to highlight what I call “the 2-on-2 stone formation’: So, just yesterday I was playing […]
The Baduk Homicide Files
The “bye-bye 2 eyes” murder Approximate time of homicide – February 11, 2023 4:35 PM – March 10, 2023 3:24 PM Named in honor of one of my favorite Columbo episodes, this kill spanned a vertical column that was sky high. The murder sequence began on move 151. It only took me 100 moves to leverage the cut that AI saw […]
Moments in Baduk (8k)
Unsure of the Best Move… So I’m at a move in this game: and I’m not sure what to play. But let’s think about it: He just played B17 and I almost had a knee-jerk reaction to fiddle around with that group over there. But the main thing of importance is his R12 group… it is not settled and if […]