The Magic of Kifu

(;GM[1]FF[4]AP[GOWrite:3.0.15]SZ[19]ST[2]CA[UTF-8]GN[CEGO Grand Slam 2022]PB[Pavol Lisy]KM[7.5]SO[https\://www.eurogofed.org]PW[Jonas Welticke]WR[6d]PC[Nis]RU[Chinese]BR[2p]RE[W+6.50] ;LB[cj:A][mq:B]PM[1]FG[257:] ;B[jj]C[Pavol pays respect to my mirror go style and plays Tengen first to avoid any shenanigans. I was quite happy with it.] ;W[dq] ;B[co]C[I was really surprised by 3 as well, as normally when there is an odd number of corners you should take one.] ;W[cd]C[I played 4 on this side as I expected the variation1 to occur and I want a stone that is usually not approached by the direction of A but rather B.] ( ;B[fq]C[Pavol instead pincered on 5 and I moved out with my stone.] ;W[ep];B[fp];W[en];B[fo];W[eo];B[cl] ;W[pq]C[I was once again happy to be able to Tenuki on 12 and I again chose a move which is typically not approached from the direction to which he wants to extend his wall towards.] ;B[gm];W[el];B[dm];W[em];B[dj];W[cp];B[bp];W[bq];B[bo];W[er];B[fr] ;W[pc]C[Up to 24 I was very happy to be able to play Tenuki this many times and still be quite confident that I am gonna make it out alive on the lower left corner] ;B[br];W[ar];B[cr];W[cq] ( ;B[fk]C[29 is a nice cover move, which I thought he might play on 1 in variation 2. I thought about this sequence and thought it's good for me and maybe even better to be more patient than starting the Ko on 8. Probably he also saw this as unnecessary brutish and played the cover instead.] ;W[ck];B[dk];W[dl];B[cm] ;W[eq]C[I made some exchanges to test his conviction to keep me on the same number of eyes and then came back on 34 to be alive.] ;B[cf]C[35 seemed like a speedy move to defend against the Aji on A.] ;W[ed];B[po];W[nq] ;B[lq]C[After seeing 39 I instantly regretted playing 38 not on B as it would make it harder for him to find a great extension to his wall.] ;W[lp];B[kp];W[mp];B[ko];W[kq];B[jq];W[kr] ( ;B[jr]C[I actually thought Pavol might play 47 at 48 like in variation 3 and was slightly scared that because his wall is so close I could not escape with that clump of stones.] ;W[lr]C[Regardless, this whole variation up to 48 felt a bit slow from my side and i thought i should have pincered 37 at some earlier time.] ;B[qq];W[qp] ;LB[nn:A][mo:B][mm:C]PM[1]FG[257:] ;B[pp];W[rq];B[qr];W[pr];B[qo];W[rp];B[ro] ;W[rr]C[The next sequence up to 58 seemed fair, as he got a nice wall and I got to defend my cash.] ;B[pe];W[qg];B[of];W[pl];B[mn];W[pi];B[rl];W[qk];B[rk];W[rj] ;B[nm]C[As he chose not to extend his wall I got to pincer his approach and then his wall with 60 and 62. In the end up to 69 I was quite happy that he needed to connect and I managed to gain Sente.] ;W[qd];B[qe];W[nd];B[ni];W[on];B[no];W[om];B[np];W[nl] ;B[oc]C[74 to 78 also gave me a very positive feeling as he cannot block my groups access to the middle anymore in a great fashion , because A will always threaten a cut at B or C.] ;W[od];B[pd] ;W[qc]C[When he started the fight on the top right, I was quite confident that i'm well ahead and that he believes it to be the case, too. So on the one hand I was happy, but on the other hand i needed to stay alert. Hubris has killed many successes and as the old saying goes "The one to be feared most is the one with nothing to lose".] ;B[nc] ( ;W[md];B[mc] ( ;W[ld];B[lc];W[kc];B[kb] ( ;W[jb];B[pb];W[qb];B[ob] ;W[lb]C[So I took my time and chose one of the variations that seemed like I could understand it the most. I wanted to push a lot, so that I could have more liberties to deal with and then play the double hane 88/90 as I also read that I can get the 94/95 exchange before playing 96. Some of the other main variations I thought about were variations 4-6 but none of them seemed appealing enough.] ;B[mb];W[re];B[rf];W[rd];B[kd] ( ;W[jc]C[The AI advice for move 100 was maybe my biggest takeaway from reviewing this game. It recommends to take the stone on 1 in var. 7. I was afraid of that because of the sequence up to 6. However, instead of answering the Atari on 3 I can fight this Ko like in var. 8 and that would be quite a lot better than 100 in the game.] ;PM[2]FG[257:];B[ke];W[mf];B[ng];W[kf];B[jf];W[le];B[kg] ;W[lf]C[When I played 108 I really expected Pavol to take the stone on 110, but when he defended his two stones I kind of understood what he was trying to do.] ;B[je];W[ka] ;B[na]C[111 however seemed pretty greedy and I was thinking a little bit about playing 1 in var. 9 instead of 112. It seemed to work as the black stones didn't have that many liberties, but I also felt the need to manage my time carefully, so I thought "If I simply capture the stones on top, am I in a great position? - yes - If I try to go out and fail, will I horribly lose? - yes - So is the upside of maybe being in an even better position really worth the time and effort? -no". In hindsight the variation is really not that complicated, but I am happy that I have this sort of mindset in my toolbox now.] ( ;W[pa];B[lg];W[la];B[qf];W[rg] ;B[se]C[When I played 116 I simply expected Pavol to answer by descending and got caught off guard by the severity that 117 poses. The idea is that if I Tenuki, then 1 in variation 10 becomes a nuisance that might end up in a sort of two-step Ko. I was happy when I found the answer 118, as this move at least also speeds up the semeai on top by 1 and therefore creates more cutting points in the middle.] ( ;W[qa];B[ri];W[qj];B[mm];W[mg];B[mh];W[pg];B[ok];W[sg] ;B[hc]C[121 was fairly weird by Pavol although I understand where he is coming from and as I felt good I tried to simplify with the variation up to 126, just making two eyes.] ;W[gn];B[ib];W[id];B[ge];W[jg];B[he];W[fc] ( ;B[hd];W[ig];B[hg] ;W[oa]C[127 was a big surprise again and shows Pavols fighting spirit. I did not even think of such a move, but if you think about building your Moyo in a speedy way it makes sense. Thus he also ignored my attach at 128 to strike hard with his Kosumi. I then proceeded to make a few exchanges that had the purpose of securing my corner and increasing Aji in the middle before coming back with 138 to kill his stones. His move 135 seemed to be overly submissive and variation 11 would have posed more threat to my win. I can't fight back with the cut in var. 12. While this would manage to capture a few black stones the more important Semeai is suddenly lost 4 to 3. I can however fight back with the moves in var. 13, but the complications this creates should be well worth it.] ;B[de]C[Anyway 139 made me a little nervous as I realized that there's not that much Aji left inside his Moyo and if he gets it all, he might be ahead after all...] ;W[cj];B[ci];W[bi];B[ch];W[bl];B[bm];W[be];B[ap];W[aq];B[bf];W[gb];PM[2]FG[257:];B[ia];W[ma];B[hm];W[nj];B[mj];W[nk];B[mk];W[li];B[lh];W[ml];B[ll];W[oi] ;B[mi]C[But when he simply played 153 instead of cutting at 176, I felt I got room to not have to use the Aji to the fullest and instead opted for the variation up to 163 reducing his territory and making a few points of my own, instead of trying something crazy.] ;W[ek];B[ej];W[fj];B[fi];W[bh];B[gj];W[bg];B[ag];W[bj];B[ak];W[an];B[bk] ;W[fn]C[Then I changed my mind for a second and tried out some moves on the left, looking for an opening. In the end I figured he captured me, hoped I didn't lose too many points from it and got back to the biggest point in 176. I definitely got the feeling that I had messed up and it seemed to me that it was getting close.] ;B[dd];W[dc];B[ee];W[hn];B[bc];W[cc];B[bd] ( ;W[ce];B[ae];W[bb];B[ab];W[ba];B[af];W[aj];B[al];W[am];B[bl];W[fe];B[ff];W[fd] ;B[jn]C[In the upper left I thought maybe I should have played 185 much earlier in Sente as it might protect against the 182 cut as well as the Peep Tesuji 181 Pavol played in the game, but I was not sure of it. I also thought about answering 183 with 186, giving up one stone but being able to get Sente and play again in his Moyo like in var. 12. I should have realized also that 189 was not Sente and I could immediately continue on the lower side and have a great lead, but I believed his gesture of threat and answered instead - also hoping that my own gesture of threat would work on him, but it didn't and he got back to the lower side first with the beautiful Kosumi 197.] ;W[do]C[I thought 198 was a cool move as it's rare that one needs to defend a bamboo shape, like Pavol with 199 here.] ;B[cn];W[hq];PM[2]FG[257:];B[hr];W[ef];B[df];W[eg];B[fg];W[nf];B[og];W[oh];B[nh];W[oe];B[pf];W[hp];B[iq];W[in];B[im];W[cg];B[dg];W[dh] ( ;B[eh];W[di] ;B[ah]C[In the end 216 was my last attempt at a Tesuji and I was really saddened to see that after 221 I can only make him invest one more move inside, while my hope was to capture three stones like in the variation 13. From this point we basically played very normal endgame] ;W[sk];B[qm];W[ql];B[rm];W[ie];B[if];W[sf];B[db];W[eb];B[cb];W[ec];B[js];W[ks];B[ha];W[ga];B[ol];W[oj];B[pm];W[fl];B[gl];W[fs];B[gs];W[es];B[sl];W[sj];B[sp];W[sq];B[so];W[lm];PM[2]FG[257:];B[lk];W[lo];B[ln];W[io];B[ip];W[jo];B[jp];W[pn];B[go];W[qn];B[rn];W[ho];B[oq];W[or];B[ic];W[jd];B[hf];W[op];B[oo];W[pk];B[oq];W[ol];B[ad];W[op];B[ac];W[da];B[oq];W[mq];B[op];W[ca];B[gr];W[nb];B[mo];W[nn];B[aa];W[gc];B[gq];W[ja];B[gp];W[fm];B[ai];W[dn];B[gd] ;W[hb]C[Until at move 265 Pavol decided not to connect his stone, but try and win one point by getting the last neutral point and the Ko. As we were playing with chinese rules, neutral points are points and getting the last one matters. It was his move and there was an odd number of neutral points outside of the Ko left. Thus if he just connects the Ko, I get the last one. Unfortunately there were far too many Dame left and I even had a lot of Ko threats, which meant this Ko was unfeasable and he accepted that fact on move 279. While my counting still hasn't much improved and it fluctuated anywhere from him winning by 1,5 to me winning by 4,5, in the end I won by 6,5 points and felt alot of relief. Finally I won on the European stage and now i am looking forward to some repetition.] ) ( ;PM[1]VW[aa:gs]MN[1]FG[257:] ;B[di];W[ad];B[ac];W[aa] ) ) ( ;MN[1]PM[1]FG[257:] ;W[bb];B[ce];W[ac];B[ae];W[io];B[ip];W[im] ) ) ( ;PM[1]VW[aa:sj]MN[1]FG[257:] ;B[ia];W[oa];B[ja];W[ic];B[gb] ( ;W[kb];B[hd];W[ma] ) ( ;PM[1]TR[me][oe][nf]VW[aa:sj]MN[1]SQ[nb][ma][ga][ha]FG[257:] ;W[hd];B[gd];W[gc];B[hb];W[fb];B[ne] ) ( ;PM[1]VW[aa:sj]MN[1]FG[257:] ;W[hb];B[ha];W[hd];B[gd];W[gc];B[nf];W[kb];B[ie];W[hb] ) ) ) ( ;PM[1]VW[aa:sj]MN[1]FG[257:] ;W[hd];B[rb];W[ra];B[sc];W[sd];B[sf];W[qa];B[mg];W[ma];B[sa] ) ) ( ;PM[1]VW[aa:sj]MN[1]FG[257:] ;W[mh];B[lh];W[mg];B[mi];W[nh];B[oh];W[oi] ) ) ( ;PM[1]VW[aa:sj]MN[1]FG[257:] ;W[ka];B[jc] ( ;W[kb];B[jd];W[mf];B[ib] ) ( ;PM[1]VW[aa:sl]MN[1]FG[257:] ;W[lf];B[kb];W[ng];B[kc];W[li];B[mj];W[nh] ) ) ) ( ;PM[1]VW[aa:sj]MN[1]FG[257:] ;W[jc];B[jb];W[ic];B[re];W[ob];B[nb];W[pb];B[ib];W[rb];B[hc] ) ) ( ;PM[1]VW[aa:sj]MN[1]FG[257:] ;W[lc];B[lb];W[kc];B[pb];W[qb];B[kb];W[ob];B[nb];W[pa];B[jc];W[na];B[mb];W[mf];B[ng] ) ) ( ;PM[1]VW[aa:sj]MN[1]FG[257:] ;W[mc];B[mb];W[ld];B[pb];W[qb];B[lb];W[ob];B[nb];W[pa];B[kd] ) ) ( ;PM[1]VW[ai:ss]MN[1]FG[257:] ;B[lr];W[jr];B[ir];W[iq];B[ks];W[jp];B[js];W[jq];B[hr] ) ) ( ;PM[2]VW[aa:is]MN[1]FG[259:] ;B[dr];W[eq];B[es];W[ej];B[ei];W[dk];B[ck];W[ds];B[cs];W[bs];B[as];W[di];B[cj];W[bs] ) ) ( ;PM[2]VW[aa:is]MN[1]FG[259:] ;B[ep];W[eq];B[fp] ;LB[cf:A][ed:B]W[gq] ) )