Game #3 complete & commented

This game was a lot of fun. I started off horribly, and came back to lose by only 8.5 stones. My opponent was a 26k, which seems to be about where I should rate. Some of the most fun about this game is that I am still kicking myself for opportunities missed. Here is the corner that is haunting me the worst - I invaded a bit, but not as well as I could have. Black to play:

I learned a lot in the game. I was expecting a timed game, and so it was no real issue. I really played awful at the start of the game. I need to go back and see how I got such bad position. But, I think I did a much better job at "tenuki" in the opening. (Tenuki means to play somewhere else - last game I followed my opponent around like a puppy.) This time I feel I did a decent job of staking out unclaimed territory in the opening. The stones I had sitting around the board on the 3rd and 4th line ended up helping turn the tide of the game - or at least make it closer!

Other things: Wasting moves to kill an already dead group. It is difficult emotionally to leave a big group that you can capture alone, even if it is dead. It feels good to surround and capture - it makes you feel like you are winning! It is an emotional pump, and a momentum shift to remove a bunch of your opponents stones. Unfortunately, it may not be an efficient move. Leaving some big, dead opponent group in atari and using your stone to improve things elsewhere could be a much better move.

Being satisfied at achieving a minor goal and relaxing. Maybe you have a group that is squeezed between opponents stones. You think to yourself, "If I can just make 2 eyes I will be happy over here". You fight and keep the group alive by making eyes and then celebrate. "Yeah! I did it!" What if you can do a lot more in that area now that the group is safe? Maybe you can squeeze your opponent - maybe you can kill one of their groups! Relaxing after a minor achievement and thinking you are done in an area is a mistake. Look for further opportunities now that the first goal is met.

Don't waste stones. I am sure I wasted 10 or 15 stones at a minimum this game and the final score had me losing by 8.5 points. If I had not thrown those stones away I would have won! (To be fair, my opponent made the same mistake, and had some easy opportunities to waste less as well.) Don't play "hope GO" and try to save a group that is dead unless your opponent gives you 3 or 4 unanswered moves - it's dead! Leave it alone! Don't over fortify behind your own lines - resist answering a foolish threat that is in your area but will never make 2 eyes.

More once I have this game reviewed!