Li League Match 9 - Senko vs Wakagoi
Match 9 — Senko (home) vs Wakagoi (away)
Preview
Another juicy round to enjoy. This time with both teams stacking in order of skill, whether deliberately or accidentally. 1st round has the Ueno sisters facing off with the Japanese number 1 versus the Japanese number 4. ELOs at league start were 3290 versus 3179. Asami has also beaten Risa recently in a finals. Board 2 has the closest pairing with Mukai at 3031 and Suzuki at 3035 being incredibly close in points. If the other games go to the higher ranked player then this game might be the decider. The final has Okuda Aya (2972) facing off against Izawa Akino (2736). This in itself was interesting as Wakagoi is sticking with Aya who has had a fairly torrid time in the league so far whereas Senko have put their 4th player back in (perhaps as she won her sole game so far whereas Tsuji Hana who is higher ranked has had a similar experience to Aya).Pairings:
| Board | Fukuoka | Senko | Result | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board 1 | Ueno Asami | Ueno Risa | W+R | Ueno Asami/td> |
| Board 2 | Mukai Chiakai | Suzuki Ayumi | Mukai Chiakai | B+ |
| Board 3 | Izawa Akino | Okuda Aya | Okuda Aya | B+R |
Full you tube cast here
Board 1 — Ueno Asami (White) vs Ueno Risa (Black)
Opening
This was a great game, Risa started 44 top right, Asami 44 bottom left, 34 facing own, same for white, Black then knight approached the lower left with White taking a 1 space enclosure, Black then 1 space high approached the other white corner leading to the standard Joseki which was played out almost in full with Black poking the 1 space extension on the bottom left instead of taking a more central point, white blocked and Black slid into the corner allowing White to pincer very low. As is standard in many fighty games a fight started here which spread over the board so the opening could be said to stop now..
Midgame
Thus fight basically consisted of Black and white each managing about 2 groups and taking turns to lean on and threaten the others leading to the following (to me) horrifically complicated board position
Asami had it in hand for most of the game bar 2 points where Risa could have (or did) pull it back then was unable to capitalise. The first was here
Where Risa poked and did not connect (at the x) so killing off a bunch of stones. Even so that would only have given Risa a potential point in the lead. Later Asami invaded the top right and Risa almost trapped 4 stones enough so that Asami had to spend a considerable amount of time thinking of the situation before she found a wonderful side connection that I don't think Risa expected.
At this point the white stones are dead and T15 is a safer way to operate, Risa dropped a 5 point to a 1 point lead but then Asami played T16 and Risa went for the Ko. Now this kept that white group dead but allowed White to burrow into what should have been Black territory.
So above you can see the extra purple stones white forced in and the sad black stones that were needed to keep those white stones dead and stop Black dying. That was enough to swing the lead back to White by to a 5+ point lead which Asami never surrendered to the end and a Resignation.
Endgame
Summary
White steered the game into a broad, influence‑driven landscape and consistently won the key fights in the centre. Black built promising territorial outlines, but White’s timing on reductions and invasions was sharp, repeatedly undercutting Black’s frameworks. Once White secured the large central capture and stabilised the right side, the balance tipped decisively, leading to a clean resignation win.
The killer blow though occurred 20 moves later when White bent downwards therefore trapping itself
Akino managed to pull back within touching distance by move 140 by gaining some small advantages on the left
But this was let down by an attach invasion at R4 that Black could attack, AI suggested pushing at O7 then invading at S3, then invasion was intended to die but as as a side result of that O7 push it should be possible to kill the Q11 black stones!
Endgame
This was quite epic though admittedly Aya did not let up on her lead. There was a long ko fight though with multiple threats occurring from both players across the board. Aya had more though and Ayumi eventually resigned. Amusingly it looks like the Kifu software does not like multiple ko's when move numbers are on the board... Look at O11
Summary
Asami had it in hand for most of the game bar 2 points where Risa could have (or did) pull it back then was unable to capitalise. The first was here
Where Risa poked and did not connect (at the x) so killing off a bunch of stones. Even so that would only have given Risa a potential point in the lead. Later Asami invaded the top right and Risa almost trapped 4 stones enough so that Asami had to spend a considerable amount of time thinking of the situation before she found a wonderful side connection that I don't think Risa expected.
At this point the white stones are dead and T15 is a safer way to operate, Risa dropped a 5 point to a 1 point lead but then Asami played T16 and Risa went for the Ko. Now this kept that white group dead but allowed White to burrow into what should have been Black territory.
So above you can see the extra purple stones white forced in and the sad black stones that were needed to keep those white stones dead and stop Black dying. That was enough to swing the lead back to White by to a 5+ point lead which Asami never surrendered to the end and a Resignation.
Endgame
Summary
White steered the game into a broad, influence‑driven landscape and consistently won the key fights in the centre. Black built promising territorial outlines, but White’s timing on reductions and invasions was sharp, repeatedly undercutting Black’s frameworks. Once White secured the large central capture and stabilised the right side, the balance tipped decisively, leading to a clean resignation win.
Board 2 — Mukai Chiakai (Black) vs Suzuki Ayumi (White)
Opening
Same as the previous game for both players even with the knight approach by black after the 4 corners were taken. We now change though as Ayumi ignored this to knight approach the top right 44 with Black pulling back with a Knight and White again ignoring to Knight approach the other Black 34 with Black using the Shusaku diagonal to try to get sente. White now finally responded to the first black approach and pulled back with a knight allowing Black to one space high approach the final corner with the usual popular attach and extend Joseki being played out by both players exactly giving White Sente to 2 space extend on the right side. Black then approached the left corner with an extension, white defended the corner allowing Black to push down on the right side stones twice with the second ignored to Diagonal hit the J3 stone, Black crept on the 3rd line once and white pushed one more before black ignored and switched back to pressurise the left corner, white defended with a 2 stone pillar and Black sent a stone between the two White groups with a dogs head. Opening likely closed here and apart from one side unfilled was a decent one for most players to get.
Midgame
Black and white both pushed those two bottom Groups up into the center before white nicely went into the top right corner and was starting to pull ahead, by pull ahead I mean 7 points so there is that..
Anyway things first started to go wrong on the right where White took a low move here
Instead of the Ai suggested Orange. This allowed Black to make white live small and gain strength to potentially attack whites central group which was scattered but not actually alive. But equally this game went on a see saw of advantage switching such that Asami (who was in casting at this point) even commented これは楽しい。Or in English this is fun. The reactions to the casters of the lead switching furiously was also most amusing.
Firstly White made a mistake by trying to attack the upper Black group here
It looks like threatening to get 104 out and using that to gain life might have been a better choice. That mistake flung Black 8 points ish ahead, the problem now is that lead is large enough that some of the choice to kill black groups are now not enough to help white win so it's arguable as to their utility.
We have here for example
Now that N14 hung around for the next 20 or so moves
Now here white again could have gained a lead
Possibly by atariing o9 but Ayumi was under time pressure now and Chiaki never let go of the 8 point lead she built.
Endgame
Summary
Black controlled the pace from the opening, shaping strong territorial frameworks on the right and lower sides. White’s attempts to disrupt the flow were met with efficient counter‑attacks, and Black repeatedly emerged with profit and thickness. As the middle game clarified, Black’s territorial lead became unassailable, closing out an 8.5‑point victory.
Black and white both pushed those two bottom Groups up into the center before white nicely went into the top right corner and was starting to pull ahead, by pull ahead I mean 7 points so there is that..
Anyway things first started to go wrong on the right where White took a low move here
Instead of the Ai suggested Orange. This allowed Black to make white live small and gain strength to potentially attack whites central group which was scattered but not actually alive. But equally this game went on a see saw of advantage switching such that Asami (who was in casting at this point) even commented これは楽しい。Or in English this is fun. The reactions to the casters of the lead switching furiously was also most amusing.
Firstly White made a mistake by trying to attack the upper Black group here
We have here for example
Now that N14 hung around for the next 20 or so moves
Now here white again could have gained a lead
Possibly by atariing o9 but Ayumi was under time pressure now and Chiaki never let go of the 8 point lead she built.
Endgame
Summary
Black controlled the pace from the opening, shaping strong territorial frameworks on the right and lower sides. White’s attempts to disrupt the flow were met with efficient counter‑attacks, and Black repeatedly emerged with profit and thickness. As the middle game clarified, Black’s territorial lead became unassailable, closing out an 8.5‑point victory.
Board 3 — Izawa Akino (White) vs Okuda Aya (Black)
Opening
Aya again opened San Ren Sei whereas Akino went for the 44, 34 facing standard, White knight approached top right and Black attached allowing white to push through and Black to look somewhat threatened in return for corner territory. Both players made some support moves for their groups here but this spilled into another general fight so is the best place to finish the opening.
Midgame
Now that white group on the Q line and the Black group on N17 both ran out downwards and since Black was on the outside it had more options than the White. I think White was trying to get to the bottom to give space for life but Black was having none of it. The following move might have been safer at S10 giving an extra potential eye (and N12 might do for the second)
The killer blow though occurred 20 moves later when White bent downwards therefore trapping itself
Akino managed to pull back within touching distance by move 140 by gaining some small advantages on the left
But this was let down by an attach invasion at R4 that Black could attack, AI suggested pushing at O7 then invading at S3, then invasion was intended to die but as as a side result of that O7 push it should be possible to kill the Q11 black stones!
Endgame
This was quite epic though admittedly Aya did not let up on her lead. There was a long ko fight though with multiple threats occurring from both players across the board. Aya had more though and Ayumi eventually resigned. Amusingly it looks like the Kifu software does not like multiple ko's when move numbers are on the board... Look at O11
Summary
A sharp opening fight on the right set the tone, with Black reading more cleanly in the early tactical skirmishes. White tried to complicate the centre and upper side, but Black’s groups stayed solid while White’s shape frayed under pressure. Once Black captured key cutting stones and secured the top‑side territory, the position collapsed for White, ending in a resignation.
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