This was very eye-opening. I've seen some DDKs (accidentally) pull this off against me when I misplayed my defense but this was a great lesson on how to do it intentionally and effectively.
Another excellent video. It is very helpful to see the thought process that you are using. Reviewing this video on a real board and working through the options is very enlightening.
Great video. Pity I am not always able to poke out the eyes / shape points, allowing my opponent to live (and me to lose) Sometimes, however, it works. At the very least, your tips give me a number of things to look out for / not to do :) Keep up the good work!
There was a proverb saying you should invade just before the area becomes territory. But more specifically, you should try to ask yourself how you're going to invade when the area is just being built. See how Dwyrin puts some blue dots on areas way before he actually plays them, pointing out future invasions or reductions. When there is only one way to invade left, you should take it if needed. It's important to know *IF* you need to invade, too. Sometimes people invade while they don't need to, end up living in gote, opponent getting influence = another big area in sente, and then you're forced to reduce new areas again and again until you lose a group because they're all barely alive. This can show either greed (focusing too much on opponent's possibilities instad of one's own) or playing small (opponent getting better prospects). Sorry for the long message, hope it still helps~
Hey Dwyrin, why is that skinny triangle you lay out at 4:55 guaranteed life? Seems like it’s one of your basic principles but I’ve never actually seen you elaborate on that shape in particular.
As a high-single/low-double digit kyu player, I second getting an explanation on this. While I can manage to make life in more open areas pretty reliably, I'm still having some difficulty wrapping my head around how to ensure a shape like that lives under such outside pressure.
Just getting into the video (1 minute in) and thinking, shouldn't the main idea be to surround first, then see what can be done to poke eyes, keep the shapes heavy inside and limiting space?
are invasions always risk free? if i've surrounded an area and someone invades, i lose 1 point for every stone he places and 1 point for every stone i place there. if i kill those stones, i gain 1 for the capture, and 1 for the territory i regained, so it's basically like nothing ever happened. It's unfair because he could have gained massively while i could only have lost points :(
It depends where the moves are being placed. If all the moves you place "in" your territory, then yeah, they're not really useful and the opponent isn't losing anything. But if some of your moves are more towards the outside, then you're gaining some influence for the rest of the game. That being said, if he ends up dying, it means he just lost a ton of ko threats. And if he dies gote, you get +1 point.
Invasions are not risk free, there is an opportunity cost that you didn’t reduce from the outside, and if the invasion dies the process of death involves being fully surrounded, so there’s no more reduction from outside. That’s why if you can win by reducing from the outside, just do that. If you can’t, invade. If you don’t like being invaded, then play a territorial style rather than a big moyo style. If your opponent has no chance to win except to invade you, then they will. At that point there’s no downside. It’s invade and maybe win or just lose.
