In the following 3 stone handicap game I was playing white, and had a clear lead (about 100 points) when starting the endgame ("starting the end", sounds weird huh). Everything was going fine and easy, so I started playing fast and light headed. Suddenly, I saw a whole group of white stones disappear! What happened!? I asked myself. My beautiful stones, vanished into thin air! I bet that playing on a computer has a much higher risk of heart attack, compared to a real board... Vanishing stones are a real health threat, really.
Why did this happen? How could this happen? Can it be possible that you can lose a game like that. Fortunately it is, and for me this is one of the beauties of Go, and what makes it really interesting. A group is not dead till it's dead. Groups are never captured unless necessary, and while the game progresses, pressure gets higher and higher. Not to mention if a Ko takes place. Buying oneself tranquility may have too high a cost.
Besides lack of attention, I made the mistake because instead of doing things the easy way, I preferred a "smarter but riskier" way, maybe appropriate for another circumstance. I hope this gives me a lesson.
This is the game, move 223 is my fatal mistake.
Move 223 - Your previous move should not be at A. If you play at A that will be snapback Instead you just need to capture that black stone at H5 and then you would have been safe.
ReplyDeleteHaha, you're right! I missed it twice!
DeleteI suppose you meant H15 instead of H5 (notice that clicking on the upper left of the board, an option to show the board coordinates appears).