In this Championship, I have felt a little bit like Robin Hood, taking rating points from the highly ranked players, and giving them to lower-ranked players. I hoped this trend would continue with György, but it was not to be.
I think |1.e4 is too strong. It was a gift. But there is no first move so strong in Twixt that it will guarantee victory. Especially against György. At the time of this writing, György is #1, with a 180-point ratings gap between him and the next highest player. But I don't let it intimidate me. I just try harder against the better players.
My |10.q11 and |12.q5 moves set up the threat of T8, because his responses had to leave gaps. But I didn't feel my connection to the left side of the board was strong enough. I don't remember exactly what I was thinking, but for example, |14.t815.s716.s1017.n1018.o1019.j9. So I had to strengthen my path to the left, without losing my connection to the right side. And so |14.r13 (I strongly considered |14.p13, but decided that György could actually make a run up the right side if I did that, though at the moment, I don't see how.)
At |15.j9, György wrote, "This is just way too complicated for me..." I didn't reply, but I took that as a good sign. If it was easy for him, then I was in trouble, because to me, it was way too complicated.
His |21.l10 was brilliant. Suddenly, nothing worked: |22.n1023.n924.p925.m7, or |22.m1323.g1224.i1225.i13. I believe that battle is lost. If there is a winning move for me at that point, it is somewhere else. I tried |22.j17; maybe |22.j18 would have been better? I puzzled over it for a long time. Such is Twixt.
On
2007-09-16 at 21:34,
csiz
said:
I believe I made a mistake with 7.r9. Or perhaps already 5.m12 was a mistake. (I know alan thinks that 1.e4 was a losing move, but I am not sure about that...;)) I didn't feel good about the game afterwards. However, I think 12.q5 was a mistake from Alan. He forces to connect me to the top. Why not 12.r5? Unfortunately, he was so far ahead, that he was still winning. At 15.j9, I had no idea what to do, and was under strong time pressure. I expected 16.j6, but didn't know yet what to do after that... Anyway, 16.j6 was a mistake, I think something like 16.l10 could have been better (although I did not analyse it much). After 16.j6 I found the winning move of l10 and black had little chance after that.
On
2007-09-18 at 15:37,
dushoff
said:
csiz wrote: I expected 16.j6, but didn't know yet what to do after that... Anyway, 16.j6 was a mistake ...
Is this a typo? Did you really expect j6, or something else?
On
2007-09-20 at 17:27,
csiz
said:
No, it is not a typo. I knew that j9 cannot connect to the top, even if I add a peg at k11, because black has an excellent defensive move at 16.j6. I also knew that Alan would find this move. But I did not have any better idea, and I hoped that there is a good attack somewhere at the top, and I would be able to connect my j15 peg to the u6 peg. I know this doesn't sound convincing, and it really isn't, but I was in serious time trouble at the time, so I had to make a move following my feelings. I found the winning combination only on my next turn (right after 16.j6).
On
2008-12-20 at 03:45,
twixter
said:
Maybe 22.j18 would have been better for black than j17. White cannot play the same way:
I think |1.e4 is too strong. It was a gift. But there is no first move so strong in Twixt that it will guarantee victory. Especially against György. At the time of this writing, György is #1, with a 180-point ratings gap between him and the next highest player. But I don't let it intimidate me. I just try harder against the better players.
My |10.q11 and |12.q5 moves set up the threat of T8, because his responses had to leave gaps. But I didn't feel my connection to the left side of the board was strong enough. I don't remember exactly what I was thinking, but for example, |14.t8 15.s7 16.s10 17.n10 18.o10 19.j9. So I had to strengthen my path to the left, without losing my connection to the right side. And so |14.r13 (I strongly considered |14.p13, but decided that György could actually make a run up the right side if I did that, though at the moment, I don't see how.)
At |15.j9, György wrote, "This is just way too complicated for me..." I didn't reply, but I took that as a good sign. If it was easy for him, then I was in trouble, because to me, it was way too complicated.
By |20.o12, I thought I had led us out of the woods, to victory for me. You can never be too sure of that against György, however. I was thinking, for example, |21.k11 22.n10 23.j5 24.k4 25.i7 26.i5 or |21.k13 22.m11 23.j11 24.l7.
His |21.l10 was brilliant. Suddenly, nothing worked: |22.n10 23.n9 24.p9 25.m7, or |22.m13 23.g12 24.i12 25.i13. I believe that battle is lost. If there is a winning move for me at that point, it is somewhere else. I tried |22.j17; maybe |22.j18 would have been better? I puzzled over it for a long time. Such is Twixt.
Is this a typo? Did you really expect j6, or something else?
22.j18 23.l16 24.l19 25.n17 26.p21 27.p22 28.p17 for example.
22.j18 23.m17 24.m13 25.g12 26.o20 27.l19 28.k20 29.m21 30.l22 31.l23 32.i12 33.i13 34.j14 35.h10 36.k16
and the black wall looks unstoppable.