This was a very well-fought game. It might not look like it, but spd_iv really held my feet to the fire, leaving me few choices besides the ones I made.
It's also an example of a squeeze style opening, starting with |5.p9. It's a little unusual, but it seems to work. By |9.q14, I'm restricted to a narrow path. There is very little hope of making a viable threat across the top. A threat across the bottom could still happen, but probably not strongly enough to play it yet. I need to respond with a move that ensures my group's connection to the right side.
It would be easy, at this point, to just simply play something like |10.q12 or |10.q10. But then, 11.s13, and then I'd have to respond again or he could end my line with R10, and meanwhile that s13 peg forms a gauntlet that threatens to shut down any possibility of making a threat across the bottom. So, how do you guard against s13?
Of course, at this point I still don't know how spd_iv will choose to block on the left. Maybe there was something better than |11.j11. When I saw that, my first thought was |12.k17 or |12.k18, but everything seems to fall apart. The threat of M14 was too strong. I almost gave up and played |12.k17, and hoped for a blunder from my opponent. It took me a long time to find 12.j14, because it's not obvious that it should work. Even then, the threat of M14 loomed, but J14 is high enough that L10 can form a double threat.
Maybe there's still something spd_iv can do, but I was relieved to see |13.i13, because I'd mostly worked out that variation in my head. Or, I thought I did. |15.g12 came as something of a surprise, but just a few minutes of staring convinced me that |16.L10 still worked, just barely, and was the game winning move. Still, he almost fooled me with |19.j8, because |20.j7 was my first impulse, which looks winning, but isn't: |20.j721.k1022.k923.l8. Fortunately, |20.k8, which I thought led to defeat at first, wins, because of that odd-looking |22.f8.
Whew! (wipes sweat off brow)
On 2020-07-31 at 13:19, Peyrol said:
13 years later, very well done!
Maybe Michal could have blocked you with a Medcalf?
It's also an example of a squeeze style opening, starting with |5.p9. It's a little unusual, but it seems to work. By |9.q14, I'm restricted to a narrow path. There is very little hope of making a viable threat across the top. A threat across the bottom could still happen, but probably not strongly enough to play it yet. I need to respond with a move that ensures my group's connection to the right side.
It would be easy, at this point, to just simply play something like |10.q12 or |10.q10. But then, 11.s13, and then I'd have to respond again or he could end my line with R10, and meanwhile that s13 peg forms a gauntlet that threatens to shut down any possibility of making a threat across the bottom. So, how do you guard against s13?
I think my |10.r10 accomplishes that. I'm not 100% sure, but if |11.s13, then I'm free to ignore it for one move, and I can still poke thru; for example, |10.r10 11.s13 12.i13 13.r11 14.q8 15.p10 16.o7 17.l9 18.q10 19.q9 20.p8.
Of course, at this point I still don't know how spd_iv will choose to block on the left. Maybe there was something better than |11.j11. When I saw that, my first thought was |12.k17 or |12.k18, but everything seems to fall apart. The threat of M14 was too strong. I almost gave up and played |12.k17, and hoped for a blunder from my opponent. It took me a long time to find 12.j14, because it's not obvious that it should work. Even then, the threat of M14 loomed, but J14 is high enough that L10 can form a double threat.
Maybe there's still something spd_iv can do, but I was relieved to see |13.i13, because I'd mostly worked out that variation in my head. Or, I thought I did. |15.g12 came as something of a surprise, but just a few minutes of staring convinced me that |16.L10 still worked, just barely, and was the game winning move. Still, he almost fooled me with |19.j8, because |20.j7 was my first impulse, which looks winning, but isn't: |20.j7 21.k10 22.k9 23.l8. Fortunately, |20.k8, which I thought led to defeat at first, wins, because of that odd-looking |22.f8.
Whew! (wipes sweat off brow)
Maybe Michal could have blocked you with a Medcalf?
|13.h14 14.i12 15.h12 16.f14 17.j15 18.k16 19.f13 20.i17 21.f17