Game: karlw vs. watsu 05/13/2019
Posted:
May 13, 2019, 9:49 AM
First off, I enjoyed this game a great deal. I've played the opening as P1 in Boat Pente a couple of times against Karl, as it seems (perhaps!) to offer P1 somewhat less sticky and tricky positions than playing the wedge in Boat.
With 8. K6, Karl diverged from both the Pente and Boat Pente databases (quite annoyingly I might add, since I'd invested several hours of interesting if not necessarily accurate analysis on the DB line the night before). I think his move may be an improvement for Boat Pente, though I'm hesitant to say that for certain after only one game.
11. H11 is a nice move, P2 has no good options aside from 11. ... K9, so P1 gains an immediate pair vs. playing 11. K10 and this puts the game more squarely in Boat territory. 11. K10 could have points to recommend it as well for end game scenarios, though I haven't analysed that line at all.
14. O10 - I was expecting something more like L5 here. After looking at 14. ... P10 for a bit, it seemed to come up short in the pair department, so I decided to give 14. ... M10 a try.
15. ... K14!? - I probably should have been more subtle and held off on this move for a bit.
16. ... O11 - I didn't consider N12 here until just now, but it might be worth a look as a possible alternative. (it appears to lose to P12, unfortunately)
17. N7! Great move by Karl. At this point, I knew I needed to find something better than what I'd planned (18. ...Q8 pair threat if 17. Q10 18. P9).
After a bit of study, only 17. ... L13!? seemed to fit the bill. I think this may be the losing move I'm proudest of figuring out. Karl kept me in suspense for a couple of days and moves before finally playing M13, which I think might be the only way to beat it. The game was basically over once he made that move.
A very fun game, especially since I got to temporarily thwart a fukumi with a stone played 6 stones above and two stones to the left of where the fukumi threat was played.
ETA - Re: my favorite losing move - technically also in the running is 19. J9 in the following game, since there are a couple of ways that game can be won by P2 after that move.
Message was edited by: watsu at May 13, 2019 10:12 AM
Retired from TB Pente, but still playing live games & exploring variants like D, poof and boat
Re: Game: karlw vs. watsu 05/13/2019
Posted:
May 14, 2019, 2:34 AM
As promised, here is my side of the analysis:
K10,N9,N10,L9,K11,K9,M9,K12,L8
At first I thought blocking with O11 and then playing L11 could be promising for Black, but it looks like if White blocks inside with M10 he has nothing to be afraid of.
K10,N9,N10,L9,K11,K9,M9,K12,L8,K7,J9,K9,L10
K11 and L11 are more popular here, but this move really forces Black's hand, making calculation easier. Nearly every shot Black has at interrupting White's initiative involves allowing multiple captures.
K10,N9,N10,L9,K11,K9,M9,K12,L8,K7,J9,K9,L10,K8,K6
I just felt like this move would be annoying. If watsu wants me to play K10, it will be at the cost of yet another vulnerable pair.
If this move worked, it would go down as the greatest swindle in Boat Pente history. This shows exactly how subtle and powerful last-minute boat threats can be. Since watsu didn't spell it out, I will also leave it as a puzzle to determine why simply playing Q10 and P9 loses.
One thing playing tournament chess taught me is that when your opponent makes an unexpected, possibly brilliant move, you need to step away, think about something else for a while, and return to the game with a cool head and a fresh set of eyes. What I needed to do at this point was pick my jaw up off the floor, sit back down and completely reevaluate my strategy.
Salvation! Watsu's one vulnerability was his captures. In dealing with my threats to make 5 captures, his boat threat is nullified, and I can make my pente safely. All is right with the world.
A great effort from watsu, one that very well might have stolen the game from me in a live game.
[Edited by: rainwolf on May 15, 2019 10:18 PM]
It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.
Re: Game: karlw vs. watsu 05/13/2019
Posted:
May 14, 2019, 2:42 AM
I think my last post broke the forums, and I can't seem to go back and edit it, so here is a simplified version: . . .
1. K10 N9 2. N10 L9 3. K11 K9 4. M9 K12 5. L8
At first I thought blocking with O11 and then playing L11 could be promising for Black, but it looks like if White blocks inside with M10 he has nothing to be afraid of.
5...K7 6. J9 K9 7. L10
K11 and L11 are more popular here, but this move really forces Black's hand, making calculation easier. Nearly every shot Black has at interrupting White's initiative involves allowing multiple captures.
7...K8 8. K6!
I just felt like this move would be annoying. If watsu wants me to play K10, it will be at the cost of yet another vulnerable pair.
8...M10 9. L11 K11 10. K10 J10 11. H11
Since I blocked on K6, this capture now opens up a threatened pair. At this point, all watsu has is pairs.
11...K9 12. K10 M12 13. O8
Capturing on K13 is probably also okay, but I didn't want him to have L9 with initiative.
13...K13 14. O10
I didn't really analyze this move; it just felt right. He probably can't allow M10, so...
14...M10, P10
Now the threat is O11.
15...K14 16. K15 O11 17. N7 L13!?
If this move worked, it would go down as the greatest swindle in Boat Pente history. This shows exactly how subtle and powerful last-minute boat threats can be. Since watsu didn't spell it out, I will also leave it as a puzzle to determine why simply playing Q10 and P9 loses.
One thing playing tournament chess taught me is that when your opponent makes an unexpected, possibly brilliant move, you need to step away, think about something else for a while, and return to the game with a cool head and a fresh set of eyes. What I needed to do at this point was pick my jaw up off the floor, sit back down and completely reevaluate my strategy.
18. Q10 R10 19. H8 G7 20. M13!
Salvation! Watsu's one vulnerability was his captures. In dealing with my threats to make 5 captures, his boat threat is nullified, and I can make my pente safely. All is right with the world.
A great effort from watsu, one that very well might have stolen the game from me in a live game.
It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.
