Goodbye Blogspot

I have decided to move my blog to Wordpress.

Here is the new address:

http://everybodycango.wordpress.com/

I don't think I will be writing any more things on blogspot.

Thank you for accompanying me all these years...

Good bye.

Decrease in Go Level = Emotional Maturity?

My Go level has been decreasing recently.

But somebody told me that it is good that it is dropping.

Because it means that I'm growing emotionally.

Hmmmmm.

Really?

But how come I know of people who play better after they found a partner?

Can't my partner also become a motivation for me to play better?



If all the Go Players' level drop when they grow emotionally.

Does that mean those top pros shouldn't grow?

They should remain childish in order to play Go well?

In a way it's true, because now he recent trend is that the younger the player the stronger he is.

And when a player grows older his Go skills tend to drop also.

Furthermore, Go is a game where you cannot get too emotional.

If you get too emotional, you will tend to lose focus and lose the game.



However, I believe that understanding Go alone is not the only way to improve in Go.



If it's really true that I'm growing emotionally, it's good.

But I don't want my Go level to drop either.

Maybe in the future I wouldn't really care anymore.

But for now.

I still want to be strong.

What pros do in last 10 seconds of byoyomi

1s: Think

2s: Think

3s: Think

4s: Think

5s: Think

6s: Think

7s: Think

8s: Think

9s: Puts hand to stone. Continues to think

9.2s: Grabs stone. Continues to think

9.5s: Checking whether the reading is correct

9.7s: One last thinking

9.8s: Plays stone on the board

What's the most important factor to play Go well?

What's the most important factor to play Go well?


Somebody asked me this question.


Stunned with the sudden question, I didn't really know how to answer, so I told her there are many.


And I gave a few examples.


But it is really true that there is no such thing as "most important" when it comes to playing Go.


You need a combination of many different factors in order to play it well.


In my opinion, here are some of them:




1. Reading Ahead


In its very essence, Go is all about reading.


It's a competition to see who can read faster and deeper.


To see who can find out the best move in different situations.


It is very hard to improve in Go if you do not make the effort to read ahead before playing them out.




2. Organising Thoughts


Just reading out the variations alone is not enough.


After reading each variation, you need to organise them properly.


You need to judge which one is better, or which one has a higher chance of winning.


You may have thousands of ideas when playing, so it is important to cut down to the correct ones which are more likely to gain you an advantage.


What if the opponent doesn't respond the way you want?


That's something you need to consider as well.




3. Memory


Go is probably a game which requires more memory work than other board games.


No matter how strong your reading is, it is impossible to read out every single variation on the board.


There are some things which are harder to find out through reading also.


Either you know, or you don't know.


Hence, it is important to spend some effort to remember certain ways of playing in certain situations.


These are commonly known as "Joseki".


These are also the what the great players of the past and modern have found out through research.


Learning them is akin to reading through research papers.


You can only gain, not lose.


Of course, common shapes and tesuji are important as well.




4. Creativity


Just like many subjects, other than memorising those important stuffs, you need to have your own idea as well.


This is not really compulsory.


But if you want to make the game more fun, you should have your own ideas and try them out.


There are also many hidden good moves that are out of common knowledge.


So a little bit of creativity will be useful in finding them.




5. Instinct


This is not really something that can be trained.


Rather, it can only be built with many years of practice.


Some people have better instincts than others.


Just continue playing and doing problems, and your instincts will come naturally.




6. Willingness to Learn


Just like many other things, it's very difficult to improve when you are not willing to learn.


Always have a learning attitude, and never be proud just because you attained a certain level.


Review every game with your opponent, and listen to what stronger players say.


Of course you can have your own ideas, but you won't lose out by listening to other people's ideas.




7. Patience


Go is a game which requires a tremendous amount of patience.


The size of the board is 19x19, and there are 361 coordinates on the board.


Of course you don't have to fill up the whole board, but it's still a very long process from the beginning to the end of the game.


If you rush the game, then the chance of you making mistakes are much higher.


This is especially the case when you are losing the game.


It is important to always be calm and patient throughout the game and wait for chances.


You never know when it will come.


And trust me, it's not easy to do that for the whole game, hence you have to start by doing it consciously.




8. Stamina


After reading all the above points, I'm sure you know why Go requires a lot of stamina.


A typical game of Go usually lasts from 1 hour to 3 hours for amateurs.


For professionals, they can last longer, from 5 hours to even 2 days.


And during all that time, you need to constantly be reading out variations, organising them, and judging whether they are good or bad.


The moment you loosen your brain is the moment you lose.


That's why, if you want to play Go well, get a strong body and build up your stamina.


You are definitely going to need a lot.

Off to Incheon, Korea

Flying to Incheon, South Korea for the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games.

There are pros joining this tournament, unlike the World Mind Sports Games last year.

So it will be harder for us to get into the top 4.

Nevertheless, we will still try our best!

Singapore Team, fighting!

Tsumego #076

http://bit.ly/17NOMEo

#076
★

Black to live.

I like this problem.

Can black live unconditionally?

Tsumego #075

http://bit.ly/116bwH6

#075
★★★

Black to kill.

Some problems are really funny when you see the solution.

They just seem to go against common sense.

Tsumego #074

http://bit.ly/19ovG6K

#074
★★

Black to live.

I just realised I still have not posted this famous problem.

It may be difficult for those who see this for the first time.

This problem also illustrates the wonders of Go. :)

Tsumego #073

http://bit.ly/12wvPA4

#073
★★★

Black to kill.

The end result of this problem is quite funny.

Dan-phobia

Every time I hear somebody say something like "I will never be a dan player" or "I will never get stronger", I feel like giving that person a huge slap on the face.



Unless you have a mental illness, I don't think there's are any reasons why you cannot be a dan.



The speed may vary from people to people. I've some friends who can get from nothing to 1-2 dan in 2 years. Some even faster.



Everybody will definitely get there eventually, if you have two things.



1. Belief in yourself



2. Interest aka passion



If you have these two things there, there's no way you are not getting there.



Getting to the dan level is not like getting into the top university in the world or getting full score for SAT.



The requirement is not very high.



All you need is to know some basic josekis and shapes and be able to perform some basic reading and judgement.



That's all.



If you are still struggling at the kyu level.



That means you are either lacking one or more of the two things I mentioned above.



Or you are learning it the wrong way.



In which case I would suggest you look for a proper teacher.



Otherwise everything will be alright.



Believe in yourself!



Go is not so difficult.



And once you get to the dan level, Go will be much more enjoyable.

End of Crazy Stone Era

In the 3rd game of the GS Caltex Cup held on Monday, Kim Jisuk won Lee Sedol by resign.

And hence he claimed the title by winning the legendary Lee Sedol 3-0.

Nobody could stop Dynamite aka Crown Prince Kim Jisuk from claiming the world champion.

Even the Korea No. 1 Crazy Stone aka Lee Sedol.

This is actually the first time Lee Sedol to 0-3 to someone in a 5 game match.

However, he lost 0-2 to Park Junghuan just recently, so people were speculating that he would lose to Kim Jisuk in this championship.

We just didn't expect it to be a clean 3-0 for Kim Jisuk.

The third game was also very complicated, and in fact out of the 3 games, it was the game in which Lee Sedol had the most chance.

Let's take a look at how the 3rd game was like:

(Skip the game and go to conclusion)

The game until here was quite "normal". No new josekis, no new variations this time. I wonder if this is because in the first two games Lee Sedol's new josekis were not very successful so he didn't dare to use them in this game, or he thinks that he has a higher chance of winning this way. Whichever it is, when white played 28, this game was going in a very simple direction. Black attacks, white defends. Black needs to gain profit through attacking, while white needs to live the group while not letting black getting too much profit at the same time.

Black had a few choices but in the real game black chose to go for the cap at 29. White 30 is not really a common move in this case. Usually white would go for moves like A so as to make eye shape while not making the group too heavy at the same time. Black 31 is a very severe move, and is also a must to prevent while from making living on top. White 34 was what Lee Sedol was aiming for. He thinks that those few black stones there are not strong enough. Instead of defending, he counter-attacks black's stones instead. A very Lee Sedol way of thinking.

Black 35 and 37 is a common tesuji. Up to 40 black strengthend itself in sente, but paid the price of losing the top left territory. Black 41 could also have chosen to play at A, but it would become a ko and maybe Kim Jisuk didn't have the confidence to fight the ko. Black 41 is also a severe move and now white needs to run out.

White 44 is the only way out for white. White exchanged 46 and 48 first to emphasize that black also has weakness. However black continued to play strongly at 45 and 51, and Lee Sedol thought for very long here. White 52 is a good move, but black 57 was also very painful for white.

Playing directly at 52 is also possible, but Lee Sedol probably didn't feel good about the cutting aji at 53.

White 58 had no choice. Until 65 locally white can live by ko, but white plays at 66 first to create aji for black and creating ko threats at the same time. Until 71, black's territory is all gone and black's outside is still not thick, plus black itself is not all connected yet. So if white could live inside, this would be a huge success for white. However...

If white plays at 58 this way then when black cuts at 59 white needs to play another move at A to defend.

72 = A

The ko starts. White 78 is a nice ko threat, and black 79 is also the strongest move. Even though it gives white more ko threats, but in terms of territory it's the best move. While 80 is also a very Lee Sedol-like move. He wants to ensure that black is cut so as to make the ko heavier for black.

82 = 88, 85 = A

White 86, Black 89 are all very good ko threats. White 90 is actually a very ambiguous place.

White 90 could also have chosen to play here. This would also reduce Black's liberty by one. When takes at 91, if white continues to fill black's liberties at B, black would connect at C and white loses by 1 liberty. But white can continue to fight the ko and black also would not dare to use the ko threat at A because it would further decrease black's liberties. Maybe playing here would have been better.

91, 97, 103, 109 = 114
94, 100, 106 = 112

From the actual game, it can be seen that Lee Sedol didn't have the intention to go for a capturing race at all. He was bent on winning the ko.

The long ko fight finally ended at 114. Even though white had a lot of ko threats in the centre, black also had a lot on top left corner. When black played at 95, white wasn't happy with the exchange where black live in the corner and white live on top, so white continued to fight the ko, ending up in blacking having more ko threats. When black played at 113, white could not answer it anymore.

If white answers at 114, black would have many more ko threats around the A area, and even B is also a ko threat. It would be impossible for white to win this ko.

White plays 116 and starts another fight in the centre. From black 117 to white 124 they look like amateur moves and a bit funny. But in actual fact both sides didn't have much of a choice here. Black needed to get sente to play the big move at 125, but the price was the huge white wall in the centre plus the moyo in the bottom left. At this moment the commentator said: "If the whole bottom left belongs to white, this game is already over."

Because the top left is still a ko, normally black should play a move there to get rid of the ko. However white 126 is a super big move, and it is also most likely sente because white can take the stone at A to threaten the whole black group next. So black had no choice but to play at 126 and fight the ko on the top left.

131 = 135
132 = A

Thankfully black had local threat at 133 to save the group. White 134 is the correct move. White takes the stone at 136 to start another fight here.

If white answers at 134, after black wins the ko black can play the endgame move at A, so white will lose more territory this way. No matter how exciting the game is, always remember to protect your territory, because ultimately that's what will decide the game.

144 = 149

Black takes the ko and makes the top left group live, while white runs out the stones by playing at 138. White is not only trying to make the stones but he is also trying to attack the whole group of black stones in the centre. Remember white still has a huge moyo on the bottom left. If white manages to successfully live on the right side and play another move on the left side, it would be game over for black. Hence at this point the game looked better for white. However this whole white group was actually more dangerous than expected, especially after black's strong move at 161.

The reason white played at A instead of here in the actual game is to prevent black from making an eye in sente like this. With an eye it would be easier for black to fight. Also, in this diagram white also loses its eyes. With a stone at A, at least white still has half an eye at 158, plus white can destroy black's eye in sente like in actual game.

White 162 is a tesuji. Black played 165 to detroy white's eye, and black had to defend at 167 because black has a cut at A. White 168 is a good move. Until 173, now it became a huge fight that involves the right black group and the top right white group as well.

179 = 184

White was not content with just living the group, so he tried to kill the black group by playing at 178. White 180 is a nice ko threat. Black didn't have many ko threats, so black played at 183. White connected at 184. Another difficult ko fight has started.

White could actually live by playing this way. But probably he was not happy with this result because the top right died and black gets sente to play on the bottom left white moyo.

If black tries to kill by playing at 179, white will connect the ko at 180. Even though black can kill the top right white stones, white gets an eye in sente at 186 and lives at 192.

If black 183 plays here, white will connect the ko at 184. This time white will be able to live the whole group in sente, and plays another move to defend the bottom left moyo. Just like the commentator said, the game is practically over if the whole bottom left belongs to white. So this is a no no for black.

185 = 191
188 = A
189 = B

Both sides didn't have many ko threats, and another exchange happened here. When white played at 192, black couldn't answer because if he does more big ko threats would appear. White gets to eat the centre black stones at 194, while black gets the whole right side. Even though black still got sente to invade white moyo at 195, this exchange was good for white as the centre was super thick now. Now Lee Sedol's chance has come.

197, 201 = A
200 = 202
White 192 cannot connect here, because black would also connect the ko and the right side would end up in a seki, which also means that the whole white group is dead. Even though white still gets sente, dying a whole group is never a glorious thing.

At this point the game was definitely better for white. White just needs to gain profit through attacking this group.

White 196 was probably not a very good move. Black 197 is a common tesuji. And black 205, 207 cut was a very strong move. The centre black stones are dead, but because black still has 4 liberties black still can make use of them. Up to 209, black is almost alive. But Lee Sedol still doesn't give in. He goes for the kill at 210.

White could have chosen to let black live by playing this way. Now black has around 100 points on the board, while white has around 65 excluding the bottom moyo. This means that White just needs 30 points in the bottom moyo in order to win, which doesn't seem very difficult. So why didn't Lee Sedol choose this? 1 word: Kisei. "If I could win by killing the group, why should I let it live?"

216, 222, 228 = 234
217 = A
219, 225, 231 = B
226 = C
232 = D

Black has no choice to play at 213 to start a ko for life. White makes use of ko threats on top right, while black can only make use of local ko threats. When black played at 235, white's 236 was the last losing move.

White should have answered at 236. Even if black plays at B later, white can still play at C and nothing will happen. Most importantly, because white didn't play at A, white's left side group has one more liberty, hence the ko is less of a burden for white.

Probably Lee Sedol already saw this exchange coming when he played at 236, just that he couldn't tell whether it's good or bad. It's impossible to read out all the variations and judge them when you are in the last byo-yomi. The fact is, after this exchange, black is leading by so much it's hard for black to lose now. This is because white's left side stones are all dead, but black could still play at 243 to make white play moves in his own territory to eat the black stones. that's a huge difference. The situation is quite desperate for white after this exchange.

Black gave in a little bit on the bottom, but black's lead still has not changed. White needs to do something on the bottom, so white played at 266. Black played at 267 to exploit white's aji. And white a super strong move at 268. This was white's last attempt to win the game.

270 = C
If black answers at 269, white will play this way and now there are two cuts at A and B. Things will get complicated for black. 

Black 269 was a good move. Even though white gets territory on the bottom, black also gains the corner and the game would still be good for black. 

After that white was desperately trying to create trouble by making use of the dead stones on the left, but black answered everything correctly and nothing serious happened. White 290 was really the last attempt, and black also didn't hesitate playing the strongest move at 291.

Note that black cannot connect here. Due to the exchanges on the left side white can play at 292 to eat the 3 black stones. Now A and B is miai for white, and white succeeded in turning the game around.

Black 295 is a good move to make use of the aji in the corner. When black played at 297 white has no choice but to play at 298 to prevent black from living. When black played at 303, white resigned.

308 = A
If white continues, black would connect at 305, and even though there's damezumari, black would still win by 1 liberty.

I can totally imagine Lee Sedol crying after losing by 0-3. Even if he didn't actually cry, he would be crying in his heart. First he lost to Korea No. 3 0-2, and now he lost again to Korea No. 2 0-3. He seems to be losing his place in Korea.

Is this the end of Crazy Stone Era? Most likely, yes. He is still one the strongest, but sadly to say probably the time for him to shine is over. Just like how he ended the Stone Buddha Era.

This actually brings another problem. There is news that Lee Sedol will be having Ten Match Series with Gu Li soon this year. After his defeat in the recent two championships, people may start to question, is Lee Sedol still the world No. 1? Would the event still be worth organising?




On the other hand, Kim Jisuk is definitely happy with his new found champion. In the interview he said that the all 3 games were very difficult and he only could win because of luck. He said maybe he played better because Lee Sedol had always been a senior he admired and hence he could play the game with a more relaxed mind. No matter what the reason is, we all witnessed Kim Jisuk's strong fighting skills that are no weaker than Lee Sedol's. Lee Sedol had almost no chance in the first 2 games, and even in the 3rd game Kim Jisuk managed to turn back the game under unfavourable conditions.

I will of course still be looking forward to Lee Sedol's games. But from now on, Kim Jisuk will be another star worth looking forward to.




Kim Jisuk's Interview:
http://www.cyberoro.com/news/news_view.oro?div_no=A1&num=517837&pageNo=1&cmt_n=0


Full Kifu:

Black: Kim Jisuk 9p
White: Lee Sedol 9p
Black won by resign

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;B[pm]LB[cb:137][oj:138][ok:139][nk:140][oi:141][nj:142][ni:143][pi:149] [ph:147][qi:145][mi:146][nh:148][ml:150][lm:151][ol:152][pk:153] [mj:154][mn:155][lg:156][kf:157][nn:158][no:159][on:160];W[qm];B[pl];W[pn];B[om];W[nm];B[pp];W[rl];B[ro];W[rn];B[rj] ;W[rk] ;B[rb]LB[pn:164][pm:161][qm:162][pl:163][om:165][nm:166][pp:167][rl:168] [ro:169][rn:170][rj:171][rk:172]L[mo];W[rg];B[rh];W[si];B[sh] (;W[qk];B[og];W[qo];B[rp];W[pg] (;B[po] ;W[og]LB[rg:174][rh:175][si:176][sh:177][qk:178][qo:180][rp:181][po:183] [pg:182];B[qn];W[nl];B[sn];W[qo];B[mh];W[lh];B[qn] (;W[km];B[rm];W[ll] ;B[dk]L[qo][mh]LB[qn:191][nl:186][sn:187][lh:190][km:192][rm:193][ll:194];W[fk];B[cn];W[bn];B[bm];W[dn];B[cm];W[bo];B[bi];W[bh];B[fj] ;W[ej];B[ek];W[fl];B[bk] (;W[ci]LB[dk:195][fk:196][cn:197][bn:198][bm:199][dn:200][cm:201][bo:202] [bi:203][bh:204][fj:205][ej:206][ek:207][fl:208][bk:209];B[en];W[em];B[cj];W[ai];B[aj];W[bj];B[ei];W[eh];B[bi];W[qb] ;B[qa];W[bj];B[do];W[dm];B[bi];W[ra];B[sa];W[bj];B[fm];W[el] ;B[bi];W[pa];B[oa];W[bj];B[eo] (;W[dj]L[ei][bi][ra][pa]LB[en:211][em:212][cj:213][ai:214][aj:215][bj:234][eh:218][qb:220] [qa:221][do:223][dm:224][sa:227][fm:229][el:230][oa:233][eo:235];B[bi];W[sm];B[ah];W[rn];B[gm];W[so] ;B[rc]LB[dj:236][bi:237][sm:238][ah:239][rn:240][gm:241][so:242];W[qj];B[qd];W[ql];B[fp];W[dp];B[fr];W[mp];B[mr];W[lr];B[sd] ;W[sg];B[se];W[ri];B[mq];W[lq];B[ja];W[ia];B[mo];W[np];B[oo] ;W[ms];B[or];W[hr] ;B[bq]LB[hr:266];W[fq]LB[hr:266][bq:267] (;B[cp];W[dg];B[fh];W[be];B[af];W[ag];B[ae];W[ai];B[bj];W[ep] ;B[fo];W[am];B[cl];W[gp];B[gq];W[eq];B[go];W[dl];B[ck];W[al] ;B[gl];W[cq] (;B[gr]LB[cp:269][dg:270][fh:271][be:272][af:273][ag:274][ae:275][ai:276] [bj:277][ep:278][fo:279][am:280][cl:281][gp:282][gq:283][eq:284] [go:285][dl:286][ck:287][al:288][gl:289][cq:290];W[hp];B[hq];W[iq];B[cr];W[bp];B[er];W[dr];B[ds];W[cp];B[ir] ;W[hs] ;B[es]C[Ω÷æŒ˝¡„∑‚¿Ó ¿ Ø∂·µ√∏ˆ»Àµ⁄2π⁄]LB[gr:291][hp:292][hq:293][iq:294][cr:295][bp:296][er:297][dr:298] [ds:299][cp:300][ir:301][hs:302];W[gs];B[br];W[jr];B[aq];W[cs];B[bs];W[an] ;B[ap]L[cs]LB[es:303][gs:304][br:305][jr:306][aq:307][bs:309][an:310]) (;B[bp] ;W[br]LB[bp:291]TR[am][al]L[hp][gr])) (;B[gq];W[fn];B[gn];W[go];B[fo] ;W[eq]L[gr][gp][fn]LB[gq:269][fq:268][gn:271][go:272][fo:273])) (;W[dp] ;B[bi]LB[dp:236]L[dj][gm][fn])) (;W[dm];B[ci];W[ch];B[dj];W[ei] ;B[dl]LB[dm:210][ci:211][ch:212][dj:213][ei:214])) (;W[rm];B[li];W[mh];B[qo];W[qj];B[sk];W[sl];B[ri];W[sj];B[sk] ;W[sj];B[so];W[sg] ;B[sm]L[sk]LB[rm:192][qo:195][li:193][mh:194][qj:196][sl:198][ri:199][sj:202] [so:203][sg:204])) (;B[rc];W[og];B[qd];W[qj];B[sd];W[ql];B[se];W[sj] ;B[sf]LB[rc:183][og:184][qd:185][qj:186][sd:187][ql:188][se:189][sj:190];W[ri];B[sg])) (;W[sk] (;B[sm];W[og];B[rc];W[sj];B[sd];W[ri];B[qd];W[qj];B[se];W[qk] ;B[sf];W[ll];B[km] ;W[lk]LB[sk:178][sm:179][og:180][rc:181][sj:182][sd:183][ri:184][qd:185] [qj:186][se:187][qk:188][sf:189][ll:190][km:191]) (;B[og] ;W[sm]LB[sk:178][og:179]))) (;W[nn];B[mj];W[lj];B[li];W[mk] ;B[lg]LB[li:157][lj:156][nn:154][mk:158]L[mj])) (;W[dg] ;B[da]L[bg]LB[dg:134])) (;B[ee] ;W[pb]L[oh]LB[ee:125])) (;W[ca] ;B[hd]L[cg][eb]LB[ca:114])) (;W[eh] ;B[hd]LB[eh:90]L[fj][fh][gd])) (;W[he];B[ig];W[if] ;B[ih]LB[he:58][ig:59][if:60]L[id])) (;W[ji] ;B[ie]LB[ji:52]))

Crazy Joseki

Crazy Joseki that filled up the whole right half of the board!






Full Kifu:

Black: Jin Siyoung 4P

White: Hong Kipyo 4P

White won by resign.

(;SZ[19]C[http://weiqi.tom.com ∆ •µ¿≥°-->æ´≤  ±æ÷ 20:00Ω¯––]EV[µ⁄7ΩÏ∫´π˙ Æ∂Œ’Ω∞À«ø»¸]DT[2012-02-13]PC[]PB[≥¬ ±”≥]BR[Àƒ∂Œ]PW[∫Ȫ˘Ëº]WR[Àƒ∂Œ]KM[6.5]RE[W+R]US[∆ •µ¿≥°]SO[http://weiqi.sports.tom.com];B[pd];W[dd];B[qp];W[dq];B[oq];W[qf];B[nc];W[rd];B[qg];W[pg] ;B[qh];W[pf];B[qc];W[pk];B[ph];W[oh];B[oi];W[pi];B[rf];W[re] ;B[rg];W[ni];B[og];W[oj];B[nh];W[of];B[oi];W[od];B[oc];W[oh] ;B[ng];W[oi];B[nf];W[qe];B[rk];W[rc];B[rb];W[rj];B[qj];W[qk] ;B[ri];W[rl];B[sj];W[sh];B[ql];W[rm];B[qi];W[oe];B[ne];W[sl] ;B[qm];W[rn];B[sf];W[qb];B[pb];W[sk];B[rj];W[pj];B[qn];W[ro] ;B[qo];W[rp];B[rq];W[qq];B[rr];W[qr];B[pq];W[sr];B[sq];W[rs] ;B[ss];W[qs];B[pr];W[sr];B[mi];W[mj];B[ss];W[se];B[li];W[lj] ;B[kj];W[kk];B[jk];W[lk];B[fc];W[nd];B[md];W[df];B[jj];W[ge] ;B[nk];W[nj];B[kl];W[ll];B[lm];W[mm];B[km];W[mn];B[dc];W[cc] ;B[ed];W[de];B[ff];W[fe];B[ee];W[ef];B[fg];W[db];B[ec];W[sr] ;B[hc];W[hd];B[ss];W[ic];B[hb];W[sr];B[cb];W[bb];B[ss];W[ki] ;B[lg];W[sr];B[cd];W[bc];B[ss];W[je];B[ml];W[nl];B[sp];W[sr] ;B[pl];W[mk];B[ss];W[rh];B[so];W[sr];B[ok];W[ol];B[ss];W[si] ;B[sg];W[sr];B[sh];W[sn];B[ib];W[jc];B[jb];W[ld];B[eg];W[kb] ;B[dg];W[be];B[eb];W[mq];B[oo];W[np];B[mr];W[lr];B[nr];W[jh] ;B[le];W[mc];B[me];W[kf];B[kd];W[kc];B[lc];W[mb];B[nb];W[lb] ;B[do];W[lf];B[ji];W[kh];B[mg];W[cm];B[bo];W[op];B[lq];W[lp] ;B[kq];W[kr];B[kp];W[jq];B[lo];W[no];B[hq];W[jp];B[mp];W[nq] ;B[jo];W[ip];B[go];W[io];B[fq];W[hn];B[gl];W[lh];B[qa];W[ca] ;B[ga];W[mh];B[qd];W[ci];B[bh];W[bi];B[bf];W[bn];B[cn];W[bm] ;B[ir];W[jr];B[im];W[dj];B[pp];W[jn];B[ko];W[in];B[hm];W[gn] ;B[fn];W[ce])

Kisei VS Dynamite

I have TOPIK exam coming up on this Saturday so I shouldn't really be writing this but… The recent two games were too exciting. I couldn't help but write something about it.

Kim Jisuk 8p and Lee Sedol 9p met in the finals of the GS Caltex Cup in Korea. Some people call it the match of the century because both of them are top pros in Korea and are so strong. Lee Sedol is ranked no. 1 and Kim Jisuk is ranked no. 3 in Korea. Kim Jisuk already beat Park Junghwan, the Korea no. 2, to get into the finals. Meanwhile Lee Sedol lost to Park Junghwan 0-2 a few weeks ago in Maxim Cup. Can Kim Jisuk beat Lee Sedol also and gain another breakthrough in his career?

From the result of the 1st two games, it's very likely.

Let's take a look at the first game.

The opening was very interesting and nobody has ever played this before. A difficult fight has started at the bottom left since early game. It's funny how the commentator said that most likely this game will end half-way and not go until yose. This shows that both Kim Jisuk and Lee Sedol are fighters and they don't like calm games.

In the situation shown above, white 40 is the only move. Lee Sedol is showing his talent early in the game.

If white plays loosely like this, black can hane and double hane, white's few stones will die due to lack of liberties.

However, Kim Jisuk also didn't fall down so easily. Black 51 hane was a very good move that white had difficulty answering.

If white blocks, black's pincer will be a very good tesuji.

If white connects, black will atari like this. 57, 59 are all sente. And black gets to connect back with 61. Black destroyed white's territory and separated white at the same time.

If white takes the black stone black will atari at 55 and…

Due to the exchange, now when black cut at 57 white's few stones cannot run away.

In the end the bottom part ended quite peacefully, but another fight broke out on the top. They ended up fighting the ko at A, which concerns black's whole group's life and death. Luckily white didn't have a lot of ko threats, and when black played at 145 white could not answer the ko anymore. However white is not happy with just connecting the ko with A, so he proceeded to destroy black's territory and threaten black's upper right corner by playing at 146, while black also happily takes whites 4 stones at 149. Up to this point, black was thick and had more territory. The game looked better for black. White could only hope to win by making top left big.

Black's top right ended up in a ko, but Kim Jisuk didn't start the ko right away. Instead he ran the top stones by playing at 165. Probably he thought that the stones are too big to die, and because white had some weaknesses as well he had the confidence of making the group alive. White of course cannot let black run away so easily, hence he played at 166 to attempt to kill black's group. This was the last fight in the game and both sides could not retreat.

Despite having said so, Lee Sedol gave up on killing black by playing at 174. After taking the 2 white stones with 175, black is completely alive. Maybe Lee Sedol thought that he could also win by territory this way, or he already saw that it was impossible to kill black. White also played 176 to kill black's top right and played 180 which is very big. But at this point the game was slightly better for black.

White 202 was the last big yose. After this both players played to their best, but black managed to keep the slight lead and won by 1.5 points in the end. This game did end up to be a yose game, unlike what the commentator predicted.

The shape on top was actually interesting. The commentator was wondering why white didn't hane here instead of the kosumi. But he soon realized that it doesn't work because black can play at 205. White can only eat at 206 and black plays 207. Now because white's centre group is not alive, black A and B are miai. Lee Sedol of course would not misread this kind of sequence.

Even though this ended up to be a close game, the local fights were very interesting. In the end Lee Sedol chose to go for yose but still couldn't catch up. Kim Jisuk took the lead by winning the first game.

The second game was even more interesting. 

Another new shape appeared in the bottom left corner. Lee Sedol seems to like to play new moves every time. I wonder if he has done any research or he was just in a "mood" to do so.

The first round of fight begin in the top right corner. Now it was Kim Jisuk's turn to play a new move. White 36 has never been seen before and the commentator was stunned. He said that maybe Kim Jisuk has done research before. 

This commentator was quite funny XD

Lee Sedol of course accepted the fight, and the situation turned out to be very complicated. White 50, 52 and 54 are good moves. Black couldn't bear with just living at the top, so he atari-ed at 53. An unexpected exchange occurred here.

The exchange was slightly bad for black in terms of territory. White also became thick, and black had to make his bottom right corner large. White of course wouldn't let it happen and went in at 58. Another round of fight began.

The fight here was also interesting. White attached at 60, and because the ladder was good for white black could only cut at 61. White 64 is a common tesuji, and for a moment it looked like a they had a peace agreement. But Lee Sedol continued to play strongly at 67, not letting white off easily.

The fight finally ended at 78. In the process, black 71 is a good move. If black doesn't make that exchange, instead of white 74, white can choose to play at A, which is a better shape for white.

The white group is already almost alive after 78, so black played at 79 to make use of the aji he left in early game. This turned out to be the biggest and the most important fight in this game.

Because the bottom black is quite thick white didn't really have chance to retaliate. Black 83, 85 are all sente and here comes the strong blow: 87, 89 cut!! 

I was just expecting black to live by playing hane as above. White also has weakness so white has to connect at 92 and black can go back at 93. Locally black destroyed white's territory and seems to be happy with the result. But I forgot that Black is Lee Sedol…

Actually I thought that maybe Black will cut… But I was still very stunned at the move. Even the commentator said 헉, which is what Koreans say when they are astonished. I don't know how to describe the cut other than using the word kisei. Yes, it's all about kisei. I don't think Lee Sedol read out everything in such a short period of time. But he felt that at that situation, even if the left black group dies, he had to cut.

If it was me I would never dare to play that kind of move because I could see clearly that the left group will die if I cut…

Lee Sedol's kisei is amazing...

The fight here was super difficult. White 94 is a common tesuji to reduce black's liberties. Black 97 is also a must because this is obviously going to be a capturing race so black had to occupy white's liberties. White 98 is also a must. If white just plays simply at 99 he would lose by one liberty. After Black 103 it seemed like a ko was going to appear, but White 104 made a mistake here.

After white 104, if black just plays normally like this, it would become a tiring ko for black because black has to win the ko two times in order to kill the white group. 

Instead of the actual game, white 104 should have just connected here, and the state of the ko on the bottom left would still be the same.

Kim Jisuk seems to have overlooked Black's good move here. Black started by playing at 105 and 107, which seemed strange because Black is playing the ko threats even before the ko has started! But Black had its reasons. And after the exchange, BANG! 109 came the ultimate blow.

The fact that he exchanged the centre moves first was to actually prevent white from eating the two stones by ladder!! If white plays atari at 112 like this, black can go back at 115 and white is not able to eat the two stones at 116 due to the exchange in the centre. What an amazing reading by Lee Sedol in such a short period of time!!

In the end white had no choice to follow what Black wants, and the ko in the corner miraculously became a direct ko! This means black only needs to win the ko once in order to kill white. White seemed quite upset about this result, but surprisingly the game was still complicated. White 116 is a good move and creates many ko threats for white in the centre.

The ko fight was very difficult and especially when under byoyomi it is very difficult to find the correct ko threats. When white played atari at 132, black didn't want to give white more ko threats hence played at 133. However this was Black's losing move.

Black should still come out at 133 instead of taking the stone. White takes the ko, and now Black has two ko threats in the centre A and B, plus one local ko threat at C. White only has 2 ko threats left at D and E, so most likely this will still end up in an exchange like the actual game. But this way black's top left group will be completely alive and much thicker.

The commentator also suggested that maybe black should look for the ko threat in the centre first instead of A which is what black played in the actual game. This way black didn't make bad exchanges at bottom and can hope to get an exchange later by eating the bottom right white stones through the ko.

The actual game ended up in an exchange where white ate all the black stones on the bottom left but black at the top right white stones. Black lost in terms of territory again. And most importantly, white's 136 is very painful and black has no choice but to connect at 137. After white plays at 140, black's bottom is also not alive so black had to play another move at 141. Game was good for white at this point.

But when White could have chosen to play peacefully, he chose to enter black's territory by playing at 144. This was a live or lose move, and it fits what the commentator in the first game said: they didn't want the game to end by yose. Black 145 of course cannot tolerate white living in Black's territory. Now the game was simple. White needs to live to win, and Black needs to kill to win. Nothing else.

Either Kim Jisuk had the confidence of making the group live, or he just wanted to deal a fatal blow to Lee Sedol. He wanted to defeat his opponent both physically and mentally. Even the commentator was thinking about giving Kim Jisuk a nickname called Dynamite, because his moves are so explosive. 

And from the actual game, it seemed that killing this group was not easy.

White 164 = A

Even though Black tried his best, it was still difficult to capture White because Black had so many weaknesses on his own. White 160 is a good tesuji. In the end White escaped successfully to the centre white destroying Black's right territory in the process. Black 169 was either a timesuji, or Lee Sedol had already given up. White ignored and played two more moves in the centre, while Black captured top right by playing at 171. But this was not an exchange anymore because Black lost too much in the centre.

Lee Sedol played a few more moves after this and then resigned. 

The games were really exciting. Lee Sedol seemed to have played more good moves than Kim Jisuk, but in the end he still couldn't withstand Kim Jisuk's "explosive" abilities and went down. If this was boxing, it would be as though Lee Sedol landed many heavy blows on Kim Jisuk but he managed to avoid the critical parts and in the KOed Lee Sedol by giving the final blow.

Seeing Lee Sedol's expression when reviewing the game, I'm sure he is quite upset. The game was so complicated it was very difficult to find the best result.

The first two games ended in a 2-0 for Kim Jisuk. If Kim Jisuk takes the next game, he will win the championship. Will Lee Sedol fight back? A while ago in the Myeongin Championship finals, Lee Sedol lost to Baek HongSeok 0-2 but in the won the last 3 games and claimed the title 3-2, so I'm sure Lee Sedol still hasn't given up yet. Who will get the championship is still hard to say.

All I can say is, I am definitely looking forward to the next game on 22nd April.

I'm so glad that I learnt Go. If not I would not have been able to enjoy such an exciting match. :)

Lee Sedol and Kim Jisuk reviewing their game after the 2nd game:

First game:

Kim Jisuk (B) VS Lee Sedol (W)
Black won by 1.5

(;EV[µ⁄18ΩÏ∫´π˙GSº”µ¬ ø±≠戻¸ŒÂ∑¨∆µ⁄“ªæ÷]DT[2013-04-16]PC[]SZ[19]KM[6.5]US[∆ •µ¿≥°]SO[http://weiqi.tom.com]C[http://weiqi.tom.com ∆ •µ¿≥°-->æ´≤  ±æ÷ 18:00Ω¯––,√ø∑Ω10∑÷÷”,3¥Œ40√Î∂¡√Î.π⁄æ¸7000ÕÚ,—«æ¸1500ÕÚ∫´‘™] RE[B+1.5]PB[Ω÷æŒ˝]BR[∞À∂Œ]PW[¿Ó ¿ Ø]WR[æ≈∂Œ] ;B[pd];W[dd];B[qp];W[op];B[oq];W[nq];B[pq];W[eq];B[cq];W[np];B[do];W[qo];B[ro];W[pp] ;B[qq];W[qn];B[rn];W[ql];B[hp];W[fp];B[go];W[fo];B[fn];W[cp];B[co];W[gn];B[hn];W[gm] ;B[en];W[hr];B[hm];W[gl];B[ir];W[hl];B[dq];W[hq];B[iq];W[ip];B[ho];W[im];B[jp];W[io] ;B[in];W[jo];B[jn];W[ko];B[kn];W[ln];B[jl];W[fr];B[nr];W[kp];B[lr];W[lm];B[jj];W[hj] ;B[gq];W[gr];B[jq];W[dr];B[cr];W[ih];B[ll];W[ml];B[kl];W[kq];B[kr];W[is];B[jr];W[mq] ;B[mr];W[es];B[mk];W[nl];B[dj];W[kh];B[nk];W[ok];B[oj];W[ch];B[jc];W[nc];B[pf];W[hc] ;B[md];W[pc];B[qc];W[od];B[pb];W[ob];B[oc];W[nd];B[mf];W[pc];B[gp];W[fq];B[oc];W[kd] ;B[pm];W[qm];B[jg];W[jh];B[pk];W[ol];B[ni];W[pj];B[qk];W[pl];B[rk];W[pi];B[ri];W[og] ;B[lq];W[lp];B[nf];W[nh];B[mh];W[mi];B[li];W[mg];B[mj];W[ng];B[of];W[lh];B[il];W[pc] ;B[jd];W[ke];B[lf];W[kc];B[lg];W[mi];B[hd];W[kj];B[mh];W[ki];B[lk];W[mi];B[lo];W[mo] ;B[mh];W[bp];B[dp];W[mi];B[hk];W[pe];B[qd];W[qe];B[gk];W[oe];B[mh];W[jf];B[pg];W[gc] ;B[oc];W[nb];B[re];W[rf];B[sd];W[qf];B[eh];W[rb];B[rc];W[qb];B[hf];W[gg];B[fe];W[eg] ;B[fc];W[dc];B[de];W[ei];B[fb];W[ce];B[gd];W[pa];B[fh];W[fi];B[ej];W[bj];B[cs];W[mi] ;B[oh];W[mh];B[ph];W[ds];B[di];W[dh];B[gi];W[fg];B[fj];W[ee];B[bi];W[ci];B[bk];W[cj] ;B[ck];W[ak];B[al];W[aj];B[bl];W[eb];B[rg];W[sf];B[kb];W[lb];B[jb];W[ij];B[je];W[kf] ;B[kg];W[if];B[ig];W[hh];B[ie];W[mc];B[le];W[lc];B[rm];W[fa];B[ga];W[ea];B[hb];W[ik] ;B[jk];W[gj];B[fk];W[rl];B[sl];W[qg];B[rh];W[ec];B[hg];W[gh];B[ef];W[df];B[ff];W[fd] ;B[ed];W[oi];B[nj];W[fd];B[gb];W[gf];B[ed];W[sm];B[sn];W[fd];B[ge];W[hi];B[fi];W[km] ;B[jm];W[ed];B[js];W[hs];B[lj];W[ji];B[qi];W[ka];B[ja];W[la];B[sg];W[ld];B[me];W[kk] ;B[qj]C[ŒÂ∑¨∆µ⁄∂˛æ÷17»’18 ±Ω¯––])

Second game:

Lee Sedol (B) VS Kim Jisuk (W)
White won by resign

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