I just finished watching the NHK Tournament 4th round match between Iyama and Murakawa.
The game is here... http://www.go4go.net/go/games/sgfview/46034
I've been watching Igo for a few years on TV and play against my phone, so I'm a pretty poor player I'm sure. But the outcome of several NHK matches have had me confused and this one more than most. It seemed to me that Murakawa outplayed Iyama the whole match, winning the bottom right corner and the top left, with some chance to diminish black control in the others yet to be played out... the central battle hinged upon Murakawa being able to keep his chain on the left alive, which I think he managed to do. So why did he resign? Having won so much, was he really in such a bad position? If he continued to play, what do you foresee the score being?
Before I go around claiming nefarious play too much, I'd really appreciate other people's opinions on the game. Thanks in advance!
edit - Using the trial play function, I think if white plays at either D6 or H6 he gets a second eye, and I can't see how black can stop that...?
e.g.
W J7
B J6
W G11
B H6
W D6
Or the other way around with the last two moves. ??
edit2 - Ah that's a bit flawed, a much better play for white is..
W J7
B J6
W H6
White then has three eyes to choose from and ignores the one that black attacks.
black would never j6, he just needs to h6 to connect.
if white d6, aiming to kill d7, black would just j7.
if white g10, black can d6 and after white captures with g11, black will play h10.
As I said befor h7 is in no danger, and that means that white can only get one eye, hence he's dead and that means that half the board is dead and that's too much.
P.S. don't play against your phone, there are nice places to play on the internet like kgs
hmm.... did the variations you mention start from the very last move? I mean, like W146 on J7?
If so... W J7, B J6, W H6, will be continued with B J7 or B J8 and the four white stones are captured. White probably would end up with only 1 eye, by capturing the two black stones at D7 and E7.
If W146 at D6, then black will play J7 and captures the three white stones.
If W146 at H6, then black J7 and white are captured.
Yes, Alfa, you're right! I missed the weak white at J6 being easily captured. I guess I was really disappointed and shocked by the outcome because I wanted Murakawa to win. There are some other games that had strange endings but I'm more inclined to guess I missed something now, hehe. Thanks for taking a look.
Want to play online, will check out KGS, but am scared about not having a "take back move" function.
"It seemed to me that Murakawa outplayed Iyama the whole match, winning the bottom right corner and the top left, with some chance to diminish black control in the others yet to be played out... "
What's interesting here is that by move 64, the lower side has been split evenly. Both Black and White have approximately 35-40 points in the lower left and lower right respectively. In the upper left area, white has secured around 30 points. But if black's moyou in the upper right turns into territory, the value would be an unnaceptable 60! Hence the invasion at w66.
The white group in the center is dead, there is nothing very unclear left on the board. So there was no point for Murakami to continue. The start of the game saw a very interesting trade of territory for white at the bottom right and huge influence for black at the bottom left, whereby white had to make moves to capture a rather small black group, forced by black who improved his strength at the outside while forcing: this proved quite profitable for black in the end, it led to the capture in the center. Well done by Iyama!
Kind regards,
Paul
Replying to the original post: this sort of discussion is better done using the 'Add new comment' form below the game board. Also Go4Go's content management system allows creating diagram easily. Details in the Help menu.