OGC Day 3

Today was day 3 of Osaka Go Camp, after our Wed-Thu weekend. (The pros play their official matches on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so those are our days off.) On Wednesday, I went to Nara on my own.



On Thursday, we had a group tour of Koyasan.

A few of us split off and took a detour through the incredible cemetery/forest.

  

We had told the others we were going to walk to the next bus stop while they waited for the bus, but the next bus stop was so close that we decided to go a little further.  And then further.  And further.  Then we veered off through the cemetery/forest, still thinking we'd meet up with them at any minute.  It was quite a while before we found them again, though.  And our delightful leader Hyodo-san was worried about us.

I feel badly that he was worried, but our detour was the best part of the trip.

Today we were back at the TTS for another league game day.  I played Ohgaki-san, 1 dan.

I won by 5 points.  Our game was reviewed by Maeda-sensei.

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.50] PW[Becci]PB[Ogaki-san 1d]LB[qh:1][rj:3][do:2]C[W+5 (no komi) Reviewed by Maeda-sensei.] ;B[dp] ;W[pd] ;B[dc] ;W[ce] ;B[ed] ;W[pq] ;B[df] ;W[cn] ;B[cf] ;W[ck] ;B[co] ;W[dn] ;B[fp] ;W[hq] ;B[fq] ;W[jc] ;B[po] ;W[np] ;B[qq] ;W[qr] (;B[pp]C[Maeda did not like this move for Black (but I think Guo Juan generally considers this a possibility).] ;W[oq] ;B[qk] ;W[rq] ;B[qf] ;W[nd] ;B[qc] ;W[qd] ;B[rd] ;W[pc] ;B[rb] ;W[qb] ;B[rc] ;W[gc] ;B[qp] ;W[ch] ;B[nn] (;W[qh]LB[rd:A][po:B]C[This is not a good move. Since Black's A and B groups are both strong, this is not an interesting place to play. Also, White owes a move on the bottom.] ;B[rp] ;W[pb] ;B[rg] ;W[og] ;B[id] ;W[ic] ;B[gd] ;W[fc] ;B[fd] ;W[rh] ;B[qe] ;W[pl] ;B[ql] ;W[cb] ;B[db] ;W[bf] ;B[bg] ;W[be] ;B[cg] ;W[cc] ;B[eg]C[Black does not need to defend here. Black should take sente.] ;W[bn] ;B[bo] ;W[kq]C[(It's about time!!)] ;B[pm] ;W[gr] ;B[fr] ;W[jd] ;B[ie] ;W[kf] ;B[jg] ;W[ei] ;B[kg] (;W[gh] (;B[hg] ;W[gm] ;B[ii] ;W[oi] ;B[gj] (;W[fi] ;B[ik] ;W[ra] ;B[se] (;W[do] (;B[bp] (;W[rj] ;B[rr] ;W[rs] ;B[sq] ;W[pr] ;B[mh] ;W[nj] ;B[of] ;W[qj] ;B[mf] ;W[pk] ;B[rm] ;W[le] ;B[fk] ;W[el] ;B[ga] ;W[hb] ;B[ko] ;W[kp] ;B[lj] ;W[nl] ;B[jo] ;W[fs] ;B[es] ;W[gs] ;B[dr] ;W[gg] ;B[dh] ;W[di] ;B[ci] ;W[cj] ;B[bi] ;W[dd] ;B[de] ;W[cd] ;B[ec] ;W[ff] ;B[ek] ;W[dk] ;B[fe] ;W[im] ;B[lp] ;W[lq] ;B[mp] ;W[mq] ;B[km] ;W[no] ;B[mn] ;W[il] ;B[jk] ;W[lk] ;B[kk] ;W[mj] ;B[mi] ;W[hf] ;B[me] ;W[md] ;B[fl] ;W[fn] ;B[em] ;W[fo] ;B[dl] ;W[cl] ;B[ho] ;W[bj] ;B[iq] ;W[ir] ;B[jq] ;W[jr] ;B[ll] ;W[qg] ;B[if] ;W[hh] ;B[ig] ;W[gl] ;B[mk] ;W[gi] ;B[gk] ;W[hp] ;B[io] ;W[rk]) (;W[rr]C[This is the biggest endgame.])) (;B[cp]LB[eo:A]C[Black should defend this way, so that White A is not sente.])) (;W[ao]C[This is a better move for White.])) (;W[fk]C[White could also sacrifice one stone.])) (;B[fi] ;W[fh] ;B[eh]C[The ladder is good for Black; Black should cut and fight.])) (;W[gi]C[This would be normal for White.])) (;W[kp]C[White should play somewhere on the bottom to defend. If Black plays here first, Black can split White and attack.])) (;B[qp]C[He said this is normal: protect the weak stone. ]))

As usual, Maeda-sensei reviewed our homework.  Then we had a lecture by Ha Yongil, 6p.  He reviewed the official game he played yesterday.  There was a really interesting life-and-death problem in the middle of it.  None of us saw the answer (including Francis Meyer, 1p).  When Ha Yongil finally showed us how to solve it, Francis said he had never seen that tesuji in a game before, only in books.  Here, Shawn and Arthur are taking a stab at the problem:

I signed up to play in the simul games against Ha Yongil.  I took 3 stones, knowing I didn't stand a chance.  Here's the game.

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]HA[3]KM[0.50] PW[Yongil Ha, 6p]PB[Becci]AB[pd][dp][pp]LB[dc:5][mk:1][dm:3][gn:2][qr:4]C[W+res.] ;W[cd] ;B[jp] ;W[qn] ;B[ql] ;W[qq] ;B[pq] ;W[qp] ;B[po] ;W[rn] ;B[om] ;W[nc] ;B[lc] ;W[ne] ;B[qf] ;W[ic] ;B[le] ;W[ng] ;B[lg] ;W[pb] ;B[qc] ;W[ni] ;B[li] ;W[pg] (;B[mk]C[This was my biggest mistake of the game. It's not a bad move in and of itself, but Black R13 is urgent.] ;W[qg]C[Now White gets to become extremely strong, and makes Black really weak in the corner.] ;B[qb] ;W[rf] ;B[re] ;W[qe] ;B[rd] ;W[pf] ;B[ob] ;W[oc] ;B[pc] ;W[nb] ;B[pa] ;W[fq] ;B[eq] ;W[fp] ;B[cn] ;W[hp] ;B[jq] ;W[in] (;B[gn] ;W[hn]LB[gn:A][hn:B]C[The A-B exchange is bad -- it fixes White's problems.] ;B[kn] ;W[en] (;B[dm]C[This does not protect the corner in this case.] ;W[em] ;B[dl] ;W[do] ;B[co] ;W[cq] ;B[cp] ;W[er] ;B[dq] ;W[dr] (;B[qr]C[This is not sente while Black has the cut at Q8.] ;W[rr] ;B[pr] ;W[bq] ;B[ch] ;W[ed] (;B[cc]C[This is not good, since it secures White's corner.] ;W[dc] ;B[bd] ;W[bc] ;B[ce] ;W[cb] ;B[rs] ;W[rl] ;B[qk] ;W[rk] ;B[hd] ;W[hc] ;B[ef] ;W[fk] ;B[ej] ;W[fj] (;B[kl] ;W[ei] ;B[di] ;W[eh] ;B[cg] ;W[je] ;B[ke] ;W[jf] (;B[ji]C[This is not necessary. ] ;W[qj] ;B[pj] ;W[pi] ;B[gr] ;W[hr] ;B[ir] ;W[hs] ;B[gf] ;W[de] ;B[df] ;W[be] ;B[jb] ;W[jc] ;B[kb] ;W[cf] ;B[bf] ;W[ce] ;B[rq] ;W[rp] ;B[sr] ;W[oj] ;B[ol] ;W[ih] ;B[dg] ;W[ek] ;B[dj] ;W[iq] ;B[ip] ;W[hq] ;B[ha] ;W[gb] ;B[ii] ;W[il] ;B[fi] ;W[gi] ;B[fh] ;W[fg] ;B[gh] ;W[gg] ;B[hh] ;W[hg] ;B[hi] ;W[ff] ;B[ig] ;W[if] ;B[jh] ;W[ee] ;B[hl] ;W[hk] ;B[jr] ;W[an] ;B[bn] ;W[ao] ;B[am] ;W[bp] ;B[bo] ;W[ap] ;B[bl] ;W[bg] ;B[bh] ;W[af] ;B[el] ;W[fl] ;B[qo] ;W[ro] ;B[eg] ;W[jk] ;B[kk] ;W[qm] ;B[ok] ;W[pk] ;B[pl] ;W[io]) (;B[ee]C[Probably this is best, ]) (;B[be]C[Or maybe this.])) (;B[ei]C[Black should probably just respond here.]) (;B[jm]C[If Black is going to play on this side, this is probably better.])) (;B[fd]C[This should be better.])) (;B[cr]C[Black should just play here, which is normal.])) (;B[dn]C[If Black wants to protect the corner, Black should play this wya.])) (;B[kn]C[Black should just play here.])) (;B[qg]C[Black should just play here.]))

OGC Day 2

Yesterday was our second day of Osaka Go Camp. For my league game in the morning, I played Joel Sanet. He's an AYD member and I've played him online before, but this was the first time I played him in person. And he said this is his first-ever selfie:

He's playing as 1 dan, so I had to take white with no komi.  I won by 11 points.  The game was good for him after I invaded too early (before defending my group).  But then he played some slow endgame moves too early so I was able to come back.  I left a weak group, so he had a chance to kill it, but my group lived.  Here's the sgf, with some comments from Ting Li:

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.50] PW[Becci]PB[Joel Sanet 1d]LB[gq:1][hq:2]C[W+11 (no komi) Reviewed by Ting Li] ;B[dp] ;W[pd] ;B[cd] ;W[ec] ;B[pp] ;W[cn] ;B[fq] ;W[cg] ;B[de] ;W[dj] ;B[fd] ;W[fc] ;B[gd] ;W[gc] ;B[hd] ;W[ic]C[She said this is fine for Black, though In-seong doesn't like it because Black builds influence and can't extend from it. ("Influence needs an extension.")] ;B[id] ;W[jc] ;B[dc] ;W[qn] ;B[np] ;W[rp] ;B[ql] ;W[qq] ;B[qo] ;W[ro] ;B[pn] ;W[pm] ;B[qm] ;W[rn] ;B[om] ;W[qf] ;B[em] (;W[gq]C[This was my big mistake of the game. Ting Li says to only play this when Black has already sealed the area and White needs to create some aji.] ;B[fp] ;W[fr] ;B[er] ;W[jq] ;B[cm] ;W[ed] ;B[ee] ;W[oj] ;B[pk] ;W[jd] (;B[lq] ;W[hr] ;B[fs] ;W[lr] ;B[mq] ;W[kr] ;B[mr]C[This move is slow. It's hard to attack this White group, and this move is not even making points.] ;W[be] ;B[bd] ;W[qi] ;B[ci] ;W[cl] ;B[bm] ;W[dm]C[This is an overplay.] (;B[dn] ;W[dl] ;B[bl] ;W[bk] ;B[co] ;W[cj] ;B[jo] ;W[ip] ;B[gr] ;W[io] ;B[jn] ;W[gp] ;B[bf] ;W[oc] ;B[oh] ;W[pi] ;B[mh] ;W[ng] ;B[oi] ;W[pj] ;B[og] ;W[pf] ;B[lf] ;W[mj] ;B[ne] ;W[md] ;B[nk] ;W[nj] ;B[nd] ;W[nc] ;B[me] ;W[ld] ;B[ll] ;W[kp] ;B[lo] ;W[eb] ;B[bg]C[This was also slow.] ;W[bi] ;B[eg] ;W[jf] ;B[kh] ;W[en] ;B[bn] ;W[cb] ;B[pr] ;W[qr] ;B[ir]C[This was Black's chance. ] (;W[hq]C[White should not settle this part first. Instead, White should jump out first to see how Black will respond.] ;B[hs] ;W[gn] (;B[fn]C[This is a mistake.] ;W[gm] ;B[fo] ;W[iq] ;B[in] ;W[go] ;B[il] ;W[el] ;B[fm] ;W[js]C[Once White is alive, the game is hard for Black.] ;B[ig] ;W[fi] ;B[rk] ;W[qp] ;B[po] ;W[rj] ;B[os] ;W[qs] ;B[is] ;W[jr] ;B[gs] ;W[ls] ;B[ie] ;W[kf] ;B[gh] ;W[le] ;B[lg] ;W[of] ;B[nf] ;W[fh] ;B[fg] ;W[if] ;B[hf] ;W[pq] ;B[oq] ;W[mk] ;B[nl] ;W[ml] ;B[mm] ;W[ok] ;B[ol] ;W[db] ;B[bb] ;W[cc] ;B[dd] ;W[bc] ;B[ac] ;W[cf] ;B[ce] ;W[ch] ;B[eh] ;W[ei] ;B[dh] ;W[di] ;B[fk] ;W[fl] ;B[hk] ;W[kj] ;B[ji] ;W[jj] ;B[ii] ;W[gi] ;B[hi] ;W[jg] ;B[ih] ;W[kl] ;B[lm] ;W[jl] ;B[lk] ;W[lj] ;B[ek] ;W[dk] ;B[hn] ;W[gk] ;B[gj] ;W[gl] ;B[fj] ;W[ps] ;B[or] ;W[ko] ;B[kn] ;W[lp] ;B[mp] ;W[ba] ;B[pg] ;W[qg] ;B[hc] ;W[hb] ;B[je] ;W[ke] ;B[ab] ;W[ij] ;B[hj] ;W[ph] ;B[mi] ;W[ni] ;B[nh] ;W[rm] ;B[sj] ;W[si] ;B[sk] ;W[df] ;B[oe] ;W[pe] ;B[ef] ;W[od] ;B[mg] ;W[bh] ;B[qk] ;W[ms] ;B[sm] ;W[sn] ;B[qj] ;W[ri] ;B[sl] ;W[ns] ;B[nr] ;W[al] ;B[am] ;W[ak] ;B[kk] ;W[jk] ;B[li] ;W[ag] ;B[ae] ;W[hl] ;B[km] ;W[ik] ;B[im] ;W[ho] ;B[af] ;W[ah] ;B[pl] ;W[ca] ;B[ad] ;W[jp]) (;B[fm]C[Since White already played H3 on the bottom, Black should play this way to prevent White from getting a second eye.])) (;W[gn]C[White should play out first, to ask Black how he will respond.] (;B[fn] ;W[gm] ;B[fo] ;W[hq] ;B[hs] ;W[iq]) (;B[fm] ;W[fn] ;B[fk] ;W[hs]))) (;B[dl]C[Black should atari this side and kill one group or the other.] ;W[dn] ;B[ck])) (;B[bl]C[Ting Li recommended this for Black. It secures the corner and is almost sente against White's side group.] ;W[bj] ;B[pc]C[If White responds, Black can come in here now.])) (;W[dl]C[White should just respond. This keeps Black's wall useless, and makes points. Black's skirt is open on the bottom, so this is just normal.]))

Maeda reviewed our homework from the first day.  (A bunch of us won small prizes for getting them all right.  I chose a Kansai Ki-in handkerchief.)  There's a lot of pressure to get them right because they're all mid-kyu level problems now.  The tsume-go problems have been easy so far, but I feel less confident about the opening problems because they are so wide open.  Here's Maeda-sensei looking for weak groups:

We had a lecture by Yokata Shigeaki 9p in the afternoon (with translation by Francis Meyer).  Here are a few notes I took from the lecture:

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[6.50] PW[White]PB[Black]AW[fc][jd][pd][ch][pp]AB[dd][df][qj][dp][jq]C[Many people think only about their own stones. Need to think about opponent too. 1. Which group(s) are weak? (for both players) -- in this case, the Black upper left group and the single White stone on the left side 2. Which of those groups is weaker? -- in this case, the White stone is a little weaker 3. Have to think about the situation (like when you dress -- if it's raining, you bring your umbrella) 4. If you're weaker, defend; if you're stronger, attack. 5. Need to think about getting profit from attack.] ;B[ck]LB[cj:A][dj:B][ck:C][dk:D]C[Black should pincer -- attack and build the lower left. (Which pincer is not so important.)] ;W[eh]C[Now White is stronger, so Black should defend.] ;B[fd]C[Black should escape, rather than defend the corner, since Black can keep the pressure on the two White stones. Attaching here is the best way to escape. When you attach, you should know that both you and your opponent will become stronger. ] ;W[gd] ;B[fe]C[Sort of joseki])

Note the two little kids sitting eagerly up front.  Their mother thought this was a camp for kids.  (Oops!)  They seem to be having fun anyway.  

In the afternoon, I asked for a friendly game with a former insei, Yamagita Tomoya 7d.  He graciously agreed to play and beat me with 5 stones.  (!)  In my game against the pro on day 1, I played very thickly, just taking points and not leaving a lot for White to do.  In this game, I tried to attack more.  It would have been ok anyway, but for a few rather obvious mistakes.  I should know better.  I am sure I can do better, but I was very conscious of trying to not take too much of his time, so I played faster than I usually would.

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]HA[5]KM[0.50] PW[Yamagita Tomoya 7d]PB[Becci]AB[dd][pd][jj][dp][pp]LB[ff:1][lh:3][co:2]C[White+Res.] ;W[cn] ;B[cl] ;W[dg] ;B[ci] ;W[gd] ;B[ef] ;W[di] ;B[dj] ;W[ej] ;B[dk] ;W[eg] ;B[ch] ;W[gg] (;B[ff] ;W[gf] ;B[fg] ;W[fh] ;B[gh] ;W[fi] ;B[df] ;W[cg] ;B[cc] ;W[en] ;B[fl] ;W[ii] ;B[fp] ;W[ij] (;B[nc] ;W[gn] ;B[hl] ;W[hp] ;B[fo] ;W[fn] ;B[ho] ;W[go] ;B[gp] ;W[hq] ;B[io] ;W[bp] ;B[cq] ;W[bq] ;B[gr] ;W[gq] ;B[fq] ;W[hr] ;B[fr] ;W[kq] ;B[br] ;W[hm] ;B[do] ;W[dn] (;B[co]C[This is slow.] ;W[il] ;B[hk] ;W[ik] ;B[nq] ;W[ko] ;B[qo] ;W[bg] ;B[bj] ;W[ec] ;B[be] ;W[qi] ;B[qk] ;W[qf] ;B[qe] ;W[pf] ;B[ok] ;W[lc] ;B[ne]C[Good.] ;W[nh] ;B[le] ;W[jc] (;B[lh] ;W[qc] ;B[re] ;W[pc] ;B[oc] ;W[md] (;B[nd] ;W[me] (;B[mj] ;W[mf] ;B[jh] ;W[nn] ;B[oi] ;W[oh] ;B[om] ;W[ce] ;B[bd] ;W[db] ;B[cb] ;W[ar] ;B[cr] ;W[bn] ;B[bh] ;W[rk] ;B[rl] ;W[pq] ;B[qq] ;W[oq] ;B[op] ;W[nr] ;B[qr] ;W[mq] ;B[np] ;W[rf] ;B[sf]C[This is the (final) losing move.] ;W[rd] ;B[qd] ;W[pb] ;B[rc] ;W[rb] ;B[sd] ;W[sb] ;B[qa] ;W[ra] ;B[ob] ;W[pa] ;B[oa] ;W[qb] ;B[nf] ;W[mg] ;B[pe] ;W[mb] ;B[sc] ;W[sg] ;B[se] ;W[ll] ;B[nm] ;W[kg] ;B[ji] ;W[ed] ;B[jg] ;W[de]C[Oops...]) (;B[nf]C[Even now, Black should come out.] ;W[mf] ;B[ng] ;W[mg] ;B[oh] ;W[oi] ;B[ni] ;W[mh] ;B[pi]C[Black's corner/side is huge.])) (;B[oe]C[Black should defend this way.] ;W[me] ;B[ng])) (;B[mc]C[Black needs to defend this cut.])) (;B[ik]C[This way, Black is out and White is in trouble.])) (;B[gn]C[Black should cover.])) (;B[gf] ;W[hf] ;B[ff] ;W[hg] ;B[fg] ;W[fh] ;B[gh] ;W[fi] ;B[hi]C[Black should play this way.]))

First Day

First day of Go camp!

I won my first league game today!  My opponent was Arthur Touchard from Paris:

I played the Yunguseng opening.  I made a mistake coming out with my group, so he cut me off, which was a good result for him.  Later, he made a reading mistake and resigned.  Here it is, with a few comments from Maeda-sensei:

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.00] PW[Arthur Touchard]PB[Becci]LB[ne:2][mi:1][qk:3]C[B+Res. Reviewed by Maeda-Sensei] ;B[pd] ;W[dd] ;B[pq] ;W[dp] ;B[fq] ;W[cn] ;B[ip] ;W[qn] ;B[po] ;W[rp] ;B[pl] ;W[pn] ;B[on] ;W[om] ;B[nn] ;W[qo] ;B[pp]LB[qo:A][pp:B]C[Bad exchange for White.] ;W[pm] ;B[ql] ;W[pi] ;B[oj] ;W[ol] ;B[pj] ;W[qh] ;B[qj] ;W[qf] ;B[qe] ;W[pf] ;B[nc] ;W[mk] (;B[mi]C[This is not a good idea because it leaves a cut.] ;W[mg] (;B[ne]C[This is a mistake, because now White can cut.] ;W[ni] ;B[oi] ;W[nh] ;B[nj] ;W[mj] ;B[nl] ;W[nk] ;B[ok] ;W[nm] ;B[ml] ;W[mm] ;B[ll] ;W[li] ;B[lj] ;W[mh] ;B[lk] ;W[mi] (;B[rk] ;W[mn] ;B[mp] ;W[kn] ;B[cf] ;W[lp] ;B[lq] ;W[kq] ;B[mq] ;W[kp] ;B[dr] ;W[cq] ;B[iq] ;W[ji] ;B[ci] ;W[fc] ;B[bd] ;W[cc] ;B[ik] ;W[im] ;B[gk] ;W[dj] ;B[ek] ;W[cj] ;B[bi] ;W[hj] ;B[hk] ;W[fi] ;B[fn] ;W[fp] ;B[gp] ;W[go] ;B[fo] ;W[ep] ;B[ho] ;W[gm] ;B[gn] ;W[fl] ;B[hm] ;W[hl] ;B[hn]) (;B[rm]LB[rh:A]C[Black should play here. This take's an eye from White in the corner, and then this move is not sente for White. Black can live this way because Black has A.])) (;B[oi]C[Maybe here?])) (;B[mj] ;W[lk] ;B[oh]LB[qj:A]C[This is one idea. Black's A group is not strong, so Black should fix the problem, not leave a cut.]) (;B[oi]C[Or maybe just turn here.]))

In the afternoon, we had lectures by Maeda-sensei (introducing our homework) and then by two pros, Frances Meyers 1P and Takami Hoshikawa 4P.

After the lectures, they did teaching games.  I got to play a simul game vs. Takami Hoshikawa.  I think all 4 of us might have won our games (not sure what happened in Gabby's game), which makes it seem like that might have been intentional.  We did have large handicaps (he gave me 5 stones) but still...  Anyway, here's the game.

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]HA[5]KM[0.00] PW[Takami Hoshikawa 4P]PB[Becci]AB[dd][pd][jj][dp][pp]C[B+Res.] ;W[qn] ;B[nq] ;W[nc] ;B[kd] ;W[qf] ;B[oe] ;W[qc] ;B[pc] ;W[qd] ;B[og] ;W[pe] ;B[pf] ;W[qe] ;B[od] ;W[pb] ;B[ob] ;W[qb] ;B[cf] ;W[fq] ;B[cn] ;W[jp] ;B[dj] ;W[fc] ;B[ec] ;W[fd] ;B[hd] ;W[ef] ;B[dg] ;W[hc] ;B[ic] ;W[gb] ;B[hb] ;W[gd] ;B[gc] ;W[eb] ;B[db] ;W[hc] ;B[hq] ;W[hp] ;B[gc] ;W[ce] ;B[de] ;W[df] ;B[cd] ;W[hc] ;B[iq] ;W[ip] ;B[gc] ;W[cg] ;B[be] ;W[hc] ;B[jq] ;W[kq] ;B[kr] ;W[lr] ;B[lq] ;W[kp] ;B[mr] ;W[gq] ;B[ls] ;W[he] ;B[dr] ;W[bf] ;B[ce] ;W[id] ;B[ql] ;W[qp] ;B[qq] ;W[rq] ;B[qr] ;W[po] ;B[rp] ;W[ro] ;B[qo] ;W[do] ;B[co] ;W[qp] ;B[go] ;W[fo] ;B[qo] ;W[ep] ;B[dq] ;W[qp] ;B[gn] ;W[gp] ;B[qo] ;W[dh] (;B[qp] ;W[eg] ;B[qg] ;W[rg] ;B[qh] ;W[rh] ;B[qi] ;W[pl] ;B[mo] ;W[qm] ;B[rl] ;W[pk] ;B[qj] ;W[om] ;B[oo] ;W[ml] ;B[kn] ;W[in] ;B[kl] ;W[nj] ;B[lj] ;W[nh] ;B[mf] ;W[li] ;B[ki] ;W[lh] ;B[mj] ;W[mi] ;B[oi] ;W[ni] ;B[dn] ;W[hl] ;B[jg] ;W[lf] ;B[mg] ;W[kh] ;B[jh] ;W[kf] ;B[me] ;W[ld] ;B[le] ;W[ke] ;B[lc] ;W[jd] ;B[md] ;W[ii] ;B[ji] ;W[il] ;B[ln] ;W[fn] ;B[cj] ;W[el] ;B[cl] ;W[kb] ;B[lb] ;W[kc] ;B[oc] ;W[ri] ;B[rj] ;W[bg] ;B[ea] ;W[fb] ;B[pn] ;W[pm] ;B[gj] ;W[aj] ;B[bk] ;W[gk] ;B[fj] ;W[hj] ;B[jf] ;W[ld] ;B[em] ;W[fm] ;B[kd] ;W[je] ;B[ka] ;W[ja] ;B[la] ;W[jb] ;B[rn] ;W[rm] ;B[so] ;W[hr] ;B[is] ;W[nn] ;B[no] ;W[sm] ;B[oj] ;W[nk] ;B[oh] ;W[oa] ;B[na] ;W[pa] ;B[si]) (;B[eg] ;W[qp] ;B[eh] ;W[sp]C[This is good for Black.]))

Unexpected

Yesterday I went to Mt. Takao to do some hiking.  It was beautiful (and very popular).

They promised views of Mt. Fuji, but it was too cloudy.

It was such a lovely hike; I could have gone on forever.  I ended up hiking at least 16 kilometers, much more than I thought I would.  To get to the last peak I hit, I ended up on a side path that was *much* harder than the main path.  I descended all the way to the bottom of valley between the peaks and switchbacked up the very steep side.  There were fewer people on that path though.  And the top (where I enjoyed a beer served with pickles) was stunning.

There were shrines all along the path where you could pray to the gods for good fortune.  Someone tenderly provides bibs and little knitted hats for them.  

I loved this old worn-down one:

I was not expecting any Go-related adventures on this outing, but I ran across one anyway.  On the way down from Mt. Takao, I chose one of the less-traveled paths.  It was more like the hiking to which I am accustomed in the US (dirt and stone paths, often along a stream bed instead of paved path with ice cream stands every half kilometer).  Even on this path they had educational signs posted every so often.  One of them was this:

I might have slipped a small piece of slate into my pocket as a souvenir...  (Not nearly so bad, I think, as stealing a cobblestone from Blarney Castle.) 

Today we take the Shinkansen to Osaka!  We're headed to Go camp!

Nihon Ki-in

Shawn and Pete and I spent the day touristing around Tokyo yesterday.  One of our highlights was a stop at the Nihon Ki-in.

They had a little museum downstairs with some Go artifacts.  My favorites were the old handwritten kifus.  

Unfortunately, we couldn't go in to the fancy playing room because this game was being played in the room while we were there:

(;EV[4th Japanese Aidu Chuo Hospital Cup, final 3] DT[2017-06-23] PB[Xie Yimin]BR[6p] PW[Fujisawa Rina]WR[3p] KM[6.5]RE[W+R] SO[Go4Go.net] ;B[qd];W[dc];B[pq];W[dp];B[nc];W[qo];B[qk];W[op];B[oq];W[np];B[mq];W[qq];B[mp];W[pp];B[mn];W[nq];B[nr];W[qr];B[ce];W[ci];B[fc];W[ed];B[fd];W[ef];B[fe];W[ee];B[gg];W[bd];B[mf];W[pj];B[pk];W[oj];B[ok];W[nj];B[ri];W[lj];B[jg];W[fq];B[jj];W[ml];B[nm];W[km];B[gp];W[gq];B[ip];W[mm];B[ph];W[ln];B[lo];W[ko];B[kp];W[jo];B[jp];W[nn];B[mo];W[ng];B[nh];W[pd];B[qc];W[mg];B[mh];W[lg];B[lh];W[kg];B[kh];W[og];B[oh];W[ke];B[jf];W[md];B[kc];W[nd];B[pe];W[lc];B[nb];W[kb];B[kd];W[jb];B[jd];W[mb];B[ib];W[oe];B[nf];W[mc];B[le];W[qe];B[pf];W[of];B[ld];W[pg];B[qf];W[qg];B[re];W[rf];B[qe];W[qi];B[qh];W[rh];B[qj];W[pi];B[sh];W[rg];B[rk];W[rm];B[pm];W[qm];B[pc];W[od];B[nl];W[nk];B[om];W[sj];B[no];W[si];B[rj];W[on];B[pn];W[oo];B[sk];W[pl])

When we went back to the nearest subway stop, we saw this:

Kanpai!

I made some new friends in a diner/bar in Tokyo last night:

It definitely felt like a Japanese version of Cheers, with me as the topic of last night's episode.

It was a great test run of my limited Japanese language skills.  They dug out a few laminated cards with questions on them (in English for me and in Japanese for them) like, "Where are you from?" and "How long will you stay in Japan?"  I managed to communicate that I'm a Go player, at an amateur 2 dan level (but hoping to get to 5 dan and hence going to Osaka for 1 month to study), that I'm from Boston and teach math at a university (this elicited an excessive amount of awe), and that it was my first time in Japan.  I *think* the wife of the husband-wife proprietor team was trying to tell me that another woman there (who left before this photograph, but after going out and coming back with parfaits for everyone) was some sort of TV personality.  Oh, and the wife-owner also asked me if I was single and then proceeded to try to hook me up with everyone in the bar.

I also got to test out my cards that say I'm allergic to shrimp and shellfish, which seemed to work and resulted in much of the evening spent on a discussion of what I could/should eat.  The guy with the mustache in this photo wanted to get me to eat natto, but I know better.

In the photo: next to me is the wife-owner, the husband-owner is waving, and the other folks are a couple who are clearly regulars.

I'm off!

I'm in the Seattle airport, waiting to board my flight to Tokyo!  I'll have a few days in Tokyo to recover from jetlag, and then off to Osaka Go Camp!

I've been enjoying a lovely layover in Portland and Seattle with Lauren and the Burgess family.

We'll do a bit of sightseeing in Tokyo, but I'm really looking forward to settling down to study in Osaka.