Li League Match 10 - Fukuoka vs Nagoya

 

So the final match of the 1st half of the season is here with two teams trying to avoid being last place. Like the previous this seems to have fallen on strength lines with player v player and few if any shenanigans

Board 1 has the two co-captains pairing off with 2922 Yanagihara Saki versus Nyu Eiko 3023. Board 2 has the 3rd string players with Jo Bun'en 2849 versus Takao Mari 2895, you'd have to favour Mari but she has had some difficulties with fighters before. Finally the two captains on Board 3 Hoshia Shiho 3001 versus Kato Chie 3031. If ELO at start of league rules then you would expect Nagoya to win all three but Shiho has had a strong tournament so far winning 2 and losing 1 versus poor Kato Chie who has last all her games so far. I would not want to bet against Eiko so the key match might turn out to be board 2 where both teams have decided to play their 3rd strongest players.

Board	Fukuoka	Senko	Result	Winner
Board 1	Yanagihara Saki	Nyu Eiko	B+4.5	Nyu Eiko
Board 2	Jo Bun'en	Takao Mari	W+R	Jo Bun'en
Board 3	Hoshiai Shiho	Kato Chie	B+R	Hoshiai Shiho

Full Cast Link

Will be updating with the match report Sunday, sadly a little busy tonight and tomorrow..

Board 1 — Yanagihara Saki (White) vs Nyu Eiko (Black)

Opening

Both players showed signs of nerves prior to the game start which was interesting. Eiko started with the common 44 and 34 facing opponent and Saki went for the more influency duel 44. Black then knight approached the bottom left 44 with White following the most popular professional Joseki here and knighting back then the game took a more AI bent with an instant 33 invasion. I wonder if Eiko was trying to make Saki uncomfortable as she is known as favouring more traditional play and not always liking the AI variations - Classic Stylish Go, if you like. Anyway she defended with the sente variation and Black forced to the 3 stone then hane variation at which point Saki hane'd the bottom side. She has played this way before and I think it is because it fairly tightly squeezes Black into the corner but gives opportunity for pressure if needed but also provides some potential low value escape moves for Black. Black defends the hane, white sacrifice cuts, Black defends and white counter atarism and now with Sente (If white takes black counter ataris at the top) Black enclosed their 34 corner.

White now 33'd the remaining corner, this matched the previous until Black switched into the more traditional variation and pushed twice giving white Sente to take the extension between two Black walls, Black 1 space approached this stone from the bottom (makes sense more space so more points ) and white knighted away with Black capping white defended with a dogs head and at this point Black re-switched back to the top left and atari'd on the inside, white protected and Black crept putting pressure on the 3 stone wall. White then knighted from underneath making potential territory causing Black to jump 1 space and then White took a 3 space extension from a 3 stone wall giving Black Sente to threaten the lower group from below at D10, White ignored and protected the top left atari which put Blacks group under threat so Black had to take the B15 stone and then White protected with an armpit hit on the invader that Black (loosely ) jumped from allowing White to defend.

Middle

Both players next focused on a delicate balancing act between group survival top left and the same top right where a fascinating 'this group for that group' structure was set up. White used it to, very, marginally pull ahead in that Black took the top right but there were White stones in the area to reduce and White took territory on the left and Black had to live in the top left corner giving White Sente to secure their position.

Here's the position 

Anyway White lost her lead when she attempted to reduce in the bottom right and decided to live in the corner whilst giving Black influence which Black then used to pressurize the center right white group  and made that live small.

End Game

To all intents and purposes that was it for White and Black maintained a tiny lead to the end and success and a 4.5 point win

Board 2 — Jo Bun'en (White) vs Takao Mari (Black)

Opening

White was under some pressure this game, due to the first loss but it looked to me as it Mari was more stressed. From the state of her cup of water she appeared to be jigging with nervous energy throughout the game whereas Bun'en seemed calmer. Black opened dual 44 and white 44 and 34 facing self before Black knight approached the bottom left 34 on the left side with White Shusaku Diagonalling. Black then approached the 44 same side and White carried out the popular reversing knight Joseki allowing Black to take a loose extension on the left which White promptly invaded, Black ignored to threaten the Diagonal and White 1 spaced the invasion out before protecting the corner. The interactions of those 6 groups (3 each) then took over until on move 27 Black took an enclosure bottom right before both players returned to the left.

Middle

The mid game started very slightly in White's favour as White took the right side and Black ignored allowing White to get a largish potential position (if a little low and flat) in the middle of what might have been Black territory. White then used this to lean on the top right corner which generated a race condition between several threatened groups, the problem was that in surrounding and killing a big chunk of Black stones White allowed Black to be able to threated a big chunk of White stones on the mid left and keeping that kill safe below swung what looked like an 8 point lead back to an 18 point! Black lead.

Now to survive White had to get that B10 sad stone group to live but Black could pressure and push and there isn't a lot of space. Black though made a mistake and a 1 place misplay gave White life and swung the game hugely back in White's favour.

End

White did not misplay in the end game and Black lost out. Great game though..

Board 3 — Hoshiai Shiho (Black) vs Kato Chie (White)

Opening

For once both players opened dual 44, Shiho who has a wonderful presence in game and seems to fear no one then knight approached the bottom left with White following the popular knight response Joeski, she then repeated this top left and White ignored to 33. In a common sequence Black went for the AI variation and White pushed to the 3 stone pillar variation with Black then ataring low instantly then sacrificing to allow her to shut White in. I like this play and will try to use myself.... That and study Saki's similar defence in her game earlier..

Anyway white then took the extension from this nice Black Wall and black dove into the corner allowing white to pressurise those stones for a bit. Getting Sente off of this she then knight approached the left remaining corner  and Black attached on top to gain an equally interesting position and another wall. Both players then protected positions especially when White cut at the top right. Leading to this position

Middle

Now there isn't a lot of commentary to make. Both players groups were essentially alive with the only weakish group being the White cut stones around P14.

Black might be said to have stronger threats. It could chase that white group and had territory facing walls whereas, to me at least, white seemed a bit flat. 

Black essentially now steadily applied the thumbscrews and gradually increased a minor lead not letting anything prevent it. There was an interesting potential issue in the mid right when White might have been able to attack the 3 stones on R14 but Shiho handled it well with an atari of 3 white stones setup to secure territory and hanging there a while whilst both players took bigger moves.

End Game

Chie fought for a long time but Shiho was around 10 points ahead when Chie resigned.