I don't think |38.o17 would have worked either: 39.n10 40.h18 41.j16 42.j19 43.l17 44.l20 45.n18 46.o20 47.q20 48.q21 49.o19 50.m19 51.r22

Maybe I should have played |18.f7 19.g6 20.e9 21.h8 22.g10 23.i10 24.i11

|38.o17 39.n10 40.h18 41.j16 42.j19 43.l17 44.l20 then 45.n18

Woah, I believe you're right. So maybe white should have played |37.o16 first followed by white O12 later

I mis-edited. I meant |38.o17 39.n10 40.h18 41.j16 42.j19 43.l17 44.l20 45.n18 then 46.n19

But if |37.o16, isn't the advantage still Black's? 38.s14 39.o11 40.m11, for example.

|37.o16 38.s14 39.o12 not O11.

Well, dang. That o11 peg is evil.

I mean o12.

Great game David! Thank you. I was affraid of 28.i16 actually. We would end up probably in something like:

28.i16 29.i14 30.g17 31.j16 32.k17 33.l17 34.m18 35.n18 36.o19 37.p19 38.q20 39.u19 40.r18 41.t17 42.r16 43.s15 44.r5

and then o12 wouldn't be evil anymore.Although I'm not sure if I'm not missing something.

How about |28.i16 29.i14 30.g17 31.p17 and now

32.j9 33.s6 34.s14 35.j16 36.m11 37.l9 38.n9 39.m7 40.l4 41.k8 or

32.k15 33.r13 34.r5 35.l9 36.n9 37.m12 38.o11 39.o13 40.o17 41.u12 42.q18 43.t18 44.o12 45.t5

There;s a flaw in that first branch of mine:

|28.i16 29.i14 30.g17 31.p17 32.j9 33.s6 34.s14 35.j16 black can play 36.o17 37.k18 38.n9 and now it looks like white's best shot is 39.m10 40.m11 41.l8 42.l7 43.k8 44.k9 45.i10 46.l10 with a draw.

But there is also a flaw in your lline:

|28.i16 29.i14 30.g17 31.j16 32.k17 33.l17 34.m18 35.n18 36.o19 37.p19 38.q20 39.u19 40.r18 41.t17 42.r16 43.s16 and now if 44.p17 45.u12 white wins on the right side. Or 44.r5 45.u12 46.t6 47.k10 48.p17 49.o11

I still conclude that my 18.G6 was losing whereas |18.f7 was winning for black.

What about: 18.f7 19.g6 20.e9 21.h8 22.g10 23.k11

Aren't we basically at the same point as after 21.k11?

Regarding |18.f7, yes that is the line I looked at in the very first post here. But I was wrong and you are right. So how about 19.g6 20.h19 21.h17 22.j18 23.d19 24.d14 25.f18 26.g9 27.d9 28.e11

What about this then?

|18.f7 19.g6 20.h19 21.h17 22.j18 23.d19 24.d14 25.f18 26.g9 27.g11 28.e10 29.i10 30.i8 31.k9 32.n5 33.m8 34.l6 35.p7 36.n9 37.o16

|18.f7 19.g6 I shouldn't have switched to the bottom of the board so soon. 20.g9 would force white to commit to 21.g11, and black might still be able to make a threat on the bottom, although I'm not sure how. So please, let's look at this branch instead. 22.e10 23.i10 24.h4 25.k9 26.o3 27.m8 28.s3 29.l6 30.l2 31.j3 32.k3 33.k1 34.j5 35.m4 36.n3 37.l3 38.l4 What do you think?

Warning: When I clicked on 33.k1 in the move list, I got an error "illegal spot" but if I click on the hole at k1 instead, the move works, then I can continue clicking on the move list. I will inform Alan. Do you experience the same problem?

Whoops, |18.f7 19.g6 20.g9 21.g11 22.e10 23.i10 24.h4 25.k9 26.o3 27.m8 28.s3 29.m4

So I back up: 26.n4 how's that?

Here's a variation in my F7 line which looks crucial.

|18.f7 19.g6 20.g9 21.g11 22.e10 23.i10 24.h4 25.k9 26.n4 27.r4 28.n9 29.m8 30.p5 31.o16 32.s14 33.o12 34.r6 35.s6 36.m11 37.n14 38.p11 39.p10 40.q9 41.q8 42.r7 43.p6 and now, under standard rules, 44.q7 45.q5 would lead to a draw, but since this game is PP, 44.q5 wins for black. White could have tried something besides R4, but it looks like black still wins.

Just to reiterate, 21.d9 does not work because of 22.h19 23.h17 24.j18 25.d19 26.d14 27.f18 28.e11 and then white could play 29.g11 with essentially the same variation as above.

Sorry, didn't have time to look at it for quite some time. Just from the top of my head, what about this:

18.f7 19.g6 20.g9 21.g11 22.e10 23.i10 24.h4 25.k9 26.n4 27.l7 28.l5 29.p5

You're probably right. I found a different flaw with N4 myself. But I missed something in the N5 line. You provided this line earlier:
|18.f7 19.g6 20.h19 21.h17 22.j18 23.d19 24.d14 25.f18 26.g9 27.g11 28.e10 29.i10 30.i8 31.k9 32.n5 33.m8 with a white win.
But with my H4 improvement, I don't need to get fancy with N4.
20.g9 21.g11 22.e10 23.i10 24.h4 25.k9 26.n5 27.m8 28.r5 29.l6 30.l4

38.m11 39.o16 40.s14 41.n14 42.p11 43.p10 44.q9 45.q8 46.q6 47.s6 48.r6 (trying to draw) 49.r4 50.p9 51.s9

(above line not mine, but kindly explained by D. Bush upon my request) (meow)

Wouldn't that bring us to the same place as originally?

|18.f7 19.g6 20.g9 21.g11 22.e10 23.i10 24.h4 25.k9 26.n5 27.l7 28.l4 29.p7

How about |18.f7 19.g6 20.g9 21.g11 22.e10 23.i10 24.h4 25.k9 26.n5 27.l7 28.l4 29.p7 30.n9 31.o16 32.s14 33.o12 34.n14 35.m11 36.n10 37.o10 38.p9