5 Years to 5 Dan: Penultimate Day of Camp

Yesterday was our second-to-last day of camp... already! The time has gone by so quickly.

I played my league game with Nikita Prikarev, one of two 12-year-old Russian 1 dans who recently joined our camp.

I won this game by 6.5 points (I played White, no komi). This puts my overall record at 4-3, so I'll at least break even in my league games for the camp.

Here's the game with some comments from Mariko Deguchi 1p.

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.50] PW[becci]PB[Nikita Prikarev]LB[ob:4][jd:1][kl:2][jq:3]C[White+6.5 Reviewed by Mariko Deguchi 1p (I think our only female pro teacher besides Li-sensei). She didn't have much English, and I don't have much Japanese, so I am interpreting her reactions here.] ;B[cp] ;W[pd] ;B[dc] ;W[pq] ;B[eq] ;W[cf] ;B[cd] ;W[ci] ;B[gc] ;W[cl] (;B[nc] ;W[qf] ;B[kd] ;W[qn] ;B[hq] ;W[mq]C[Ok, but White might think about playing further.] ;B[ne] (;W[jd]C[I think she thought this was crazy.] ;B[df] ;W[cg] ;B[je] ;W[id] ;B[ie] ;W[hd] (;B[kc] ;W[gd] ;B[fc] ;W[gf] ;B[eg] ;W[gh] ;B[ei] ;W[oc] ;B[nb] ;W[pj] ;B[qj] (;W[qi] ;B[pi] ;W[qh] ;B[pk] ;W[oj] ;B[ql] ;W[rj] ;B[qk] ;W[on] ;B[nl] ;W[mj] ;B[oh] (;W[ll] (;B[nn] ;W[om] ;B[nk] ;W[nj] ;B[lm] (;W[kl] ;B[mm] (;W[jq]C[This was the point she came back to in the end (i.e., big mistake for White). This is the wrong direction.] ;B[jn] ;W[mg] ;B[ng] ;W[hp] ;B[gq] ;W[ip] ;B[im] ;W[ik] ;B[gj] ;W[hi] ;B[hj] ;W[ij] ;B[hg] ;W[gg] ;B[lj] ;W[li] ;B[lh] ;W[ki] ;B[mh] ;W[of] ;B[nf] ;W[kh] ;B[qc] ;W[ob]C[White can't quite get away with this.] ;B[pg]C[This was a really good move by Black.] ;W[qe] ;B[qg] ;W[rg] ;B[rf] (;W[re] ;B[rh] ;W[sf] ;B[ri] (;W[cn] ;B[qq] ;W[qp] ;B[rp] ;W[qr] ;B[qo] ;W[rq] ;B[rn] ;W[po] ;B[ro] ;W[ir] ;B[bo] ;W[be] ;B[bd] ;W[bn] ;B[hl] ;W[ib] ;B[op] ;W[pp] ;B[lq] ;W[lp] ;B[mp] ;W[nq] ;B[kp] ;W[lo] ;B[np] ;W[lr] ;B[ko] ;W[kq] ;B[oa] ;W[pa] ;B[na] ;W[pc] ;B[qb] ;W[pb] ;B[qd] ;W[oe] ;B[pf] ;W[pe] ;B[jb] ;W[hb] ;B[kg] ;W[jg] ;B[kf] ;W[fa] ;B[eb] ;W[ad] ;B[ac] ;W[ae] ;B[ce] ;W[bg] ;B[bb] ;W[gs] ;B[fr] ;W[jp] ;B[ih] ;W[hf] ;B[an] ;W[am] ;B[ao] ;W[cm] ;B[sh] ;W[rd] ;B[ph] ;W[sg] ;B[jl] ;W[jk] ;B[mk] ;W[lk] ;B[if] ;W[ig] ;B[jh] ;W[hh] ;B[jf] ;W[hg] ;B[mi] ;W[kj] ;B[ln] ;W[qm] ;B[rm] ;W[co] ;B[bp] ;W[dp] ;B[dq] ;W[nd] ;B[md] ;W[mo] ;B[no] ;W[el] ;B[fl] ;W[em] ;B[fk] ;W[km] ;B[kn] ;W[dj] ;B[dh] ;W[ch] ;B[gp]) (;W[no]C[This is bigger.])) (;W[rh] ;B[re] ;W[rd] ;B[qd] ;W[se] ;B[pe] ;W[sf] ;B[od]LB[ob:B][qd:A]TR[lm]C[White should save the other side to keep the marked Black group weak. (Actually, in retrospect, White should have just played A instead of B.])) (;W[jn]C[White should play here.] ;B[ko] ;W[ip]C[Continue the attack on Black.])) (;W[km]C[She recommended this move instead.]) (;W[mm]C[She also looked at this move (which looks to kill Black), but she backed off to the outside hane in the end.] ;B[nm] ;W[ln])) (;B[mk] ;W[lk] ;B[nj] ;W[ni] ;B[ok]C[Black could try this ko....])) (;W[lk]C[Her initial reaction was to play here, but she said my cap was ok too.])) (;W[qk]C[Her initial reaction was to hane on this side, but she didn't seem to think my hane was particularly bad either.])) (;B[gf]C[If Black plays here, White is in trouble...])) (;W[pb]C[Originally, she considered this move,]) (;W[pi]C[And this, ]) (;W[ef]C[But after seeing what happened in the game, she liked this move best for White.])) (;B[qo]C[Black should probably approach around here instead.]))

She didn't have much English, and I don't have much Japanese, so "her comments" are my interpretation of her reactions to my moves. I think she's the only female pro teacher we've had at the camp (aside from Li-sensei, of course).

After Maeda reviewed homework (I did terribly on this set -- even one of the ones I got right I read wrong!), they did something a little different. We played a team game against Deguchi-sensei. Our entire camp was on one team, with Nick playing Hikaru to our Sai (or Aja Huang to our AlphaGo). But for our team, Komatsu-san (with assistance from Francis) would offer three moves (sometimes with some explanation) and we voted on the move we wanted to play.

We chose Nick to represent us because he happened to be wearing the fancy new kimono he just bought.

I met up with Nick for lunch at the place across the street that he said has the best coffee in the world. I wouldn't go that far, but I think it might be the best I've had in Japan. Anyway, when you get coffee like this, they serve it with the most adorable tiny little cream containers. They come in various shapes and styles, but here's one take: