2018 MA State Go Championship

We had our first-ever state championship yesterday at MIT. I really love this initiative (to have state championships) by the AGA. It promotes both competition and community building. We had a great turn-out yesterday, with quite a few strong players, including our new 8 dan, who cleanly swept the tournament.

I went 2-2, which was better than I expected, given the relatively fast time settings and my general busy-with-work mindset. My first game was with Hantong (Jenny) Li, one of several women in the open division (another thing I was happy to see!).

I won this game by komi. My colleague An (who is about 6 dan and was there for the day just to hang out) kindly reviewed the game with me afterwards, so I added some of his comments in the game record.

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.50] GN[2018-12-01a]PW[Becci]PB[Li Hantong (Jenny)]BR[2d]DT[2018-12-01]EV[MA State Championship]PC[Cambridge]C[White+7.5] ;B[dp] ;W[pd] ;B[dc] ;W[pq] ;B[ci] ;W[gc] ;B[de] ;W[fq] ;B[ip] ;W[cq] ;B[dq] ;W[cp] ;B[do] ;W[dr] ;B[er] ;W[cr] ;B[eq] ;W[cn] ;B[fp] ;W[jd] ;B[po] ;W[pl] ;B[mp] ;W[oo] ;B[on] ;W[no] ;B[nn]C[This is not the usual order of play. I decided to just extend, which should revert to a normal variation, but maybe I could have done more to counter this move?] ;W[mo] ;B[pp] ;W[oq] ;B[qq] ;W[qr] ;B[rq] ;W[lp] ;B[qm] ;W[ql] ;B[rm] ;W[qf] ;B[ob] ;W[pb] ;B[oc] ;W[pc] ;B[lc] ;W[kc] ;B[ld] ;W[jf] ;B[ic] (;W[jc] ;B[lf] ;W[kh] ;B[kg] ;W[jg] ;B[lh] ;W[ki] ;B[li] ;W[mg] ;B[lg] ;W[kj] ;B[ie] (;W[je] (;B[og] ;W[me] ;B[mf] ;W[ne] ;B[le] ;W[ph] ;B[pf] ;W[pe] ;B[oh] ;W[pi] ;B[nc] ;W[ff] ;B[cl] (;W[df] ;B[cf] ;W[cg] ;B[dg] ;W[ef] ;B[ce] ;W[dh] ;B[bo] ;W[co] ;B[bn] ;W[bp] ;B[bm] (;W[ar] ;B[gd] ;W[fc] ;B[fd] ;W[hc] ;B[ec] ;W[bg] ;B[fh] ;W[eg] (;B[jr] ;W[rr] ;B[mq] ;W[lq] ;B[lr] ;W[nq] ;B[nr] ;W[ko] ;B[lm] ;W[io] ;B[jp] ;W[jo] ;B[go] ;W[il] ;B[ln] ;W[lo] ;B[gl] ;W[hk] ;B[gf] ;W[gg] ;B[qg] ;W[pg] ;B[of] ;W[rg] ;B[qe] ;W[rf] ;B[qj] ;W[pj] ;B[rl]) (;B[lq]C[An pointed out that Black can play this way, which is really nice.] ;W[mq] ;B[mr] ;W[np] ;B[kq] ;W[nr])) (;W[dl]C[An also recommended probing on the outside first. It's hard for Black to kill the White group if it's out.])) (;W[cm]C[An recommended playing here first.])) (;B[qh]C[An suggested Black should invade here now. I expected something like this in the game. I think Black let White off easy.])) (;W[ke]C[An suggested playing this way against the peep -- again, more of a threat against the Black group.])) (;W[kb]TR[lc][oc]C[An (who kindly reviewed the game with me) suggested coming down instead, which is a stronger attack against the marked group.]))

In my second round game, I lost to Micah.

I think I got behind pretty early. There were some close calls, but I never managed to get back in the game and ended up resigning. I really like Micah and was grateful for the opportunity to play with him.

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.50] GN[2018-12-01b]PW[Becci]PB[Micah Feldman]BR[4d]DT[2018-12-01]EV[MA State Championship]PC[Cambridge]C[B+res.] ;B[pd] ;W[cp] ;B[pq] ;W[dc] ;B[ep] ;W[gq] ;B[cq] ;W[cm] ;B[dp] ;W[bp] ;B[dr] ;W[jq] ;B[bq] ;W[cj] ;B[dd] ;W[cc] ;B[ed] ;W[ec] ;B[fd] ;W[gc] ;B[dh] ;W[qo] ;B[qm] ;W[oo] ;B[nq] ;W[qk] ;B[qi] ;W[pl] ;B[qp] ;W[ro] ;B[pf] ;W[qc] ;B[pc] ;W[rd] ;B[qj] ;W[rk] ;B[pb] ;W[rf] ;B[rb] ;W[rh] ;B[qg] ;W[qh] ;B[ph] ;W[ri] ;B[jc] ;W[kd] ;B[jd] ;W[kf] ;B[ke] ;W[le] ;B[je] ;W[mf] ;B[lg] ;W[mg] ;B[mi] ;W[lh] ;B[li] ;W[kg] ;B[lc] ;W[mc] ;B[mb] ;W[md] ;B[nc] ;W[oe] ;B[qf] ;W[qe] ;B[pe] ;W[rq] ;B[lq] ;W[qb] ;B[qd] ;W[rc] ;B[re] ;W[sb] ;B[ra] ;W[sd] ;B[rg] ;W[qa] ;B[ib] ;W[gd] ;B[ff] ;W[cg] ;B[ch] ;W[dg] ;B[eg] ;W[bh] ;B[df] ;W[bg] ;B[dj] ;W[dk] ;B[ej] ;W[kp] ;B[mo] ;W[ek])

In the third round, I played another stalwart of the Massachusetts Go Community: Eric Osman.

I won this game by 20 points, in spite of some misreads and questionable plays. The time settings were quite fast for me (30 minutes open, plus 5 30-second byo yomi periods).

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[7.50] PW[Eric Osman]PB[Becci]C[B+20] ;B[pd] ;W[ec] ;B[pq] ;W[qo] ;B[op] ;W[qi] ;B[qf] ;W[dp] ;B[cd] ;W[de] ;B[ce] ;W[df] ;B[cg] ;W[rq] ;B[kq] ;W[gq] ;B[cq] ;W[cp] ;B[dq] ;W[ep] ;B[eq] ;W[bq] ;B[br] ;W[fq] ;B[bp] ;W[bo] ;B[aq] ;W[cn] ;B[jc] ;W[hc] ;B[qk] ;W[oi] ;B[qm] ;W[oo] ;B[np] ;W[qq] ;B[pp] ;W[qn] ;B[pm] ;W[on] ;B[nl] ;W[mi] ;B[ll] ;W[mn] ;B[kn] ;W[pr] ;B[or] ;W[qs] ;B[ki] ;W[nd] ;B[ld] ;W[kh] ;B[jh] ;W[lh] ;B[jg] ;W[kf] ;B[ph] ;W[oh] ;B[pg] ;W[je] ;B[me] ;W[ne] ;B[nf] ;W[mf] ;B[lf] ;W[mg] ;B[of] ;W[lc] ;B[kd] ;W[kg] ;B[nc] ;W[mc] ;B[md] ;W[oc] ;B[nb] ;W[od] ;B[kc] ;W[ob] ;B[lb] ;W[qc] ;B[qd] ;W[rc] ;B[pc] ;W[pb] ;B[rd] ;W[na] ;B[mb] ;W[rb] ;B[pi] ;W[ji] ;B[cc] ;W[ci] ;B[dg] ;W[eg] ;B[di] ;W[eh] ;B[cj] ;W[dh] ;B[ch] ;W[cf] ;B[bf] ;W[bi] ;B[bh] ;W[bj] ;B[ck] ;W[dj] ;B[ei] ;W[fi] ;B[ej] ;W[ek] ;B[fj] ;W[ah] ;B[bg] ;W[bk] ;B[dk] ;W[cl] ;B[dl] ;W[gj] ;B[fk] ;W[dm] ;B[el] ;W[gh] ;B[ed] ;W[fd] ;B[dd])

In the fourth and final round, I got crushed by a 4 dan named Sammy Zhang.

He totally outplayed me. I'm looking forward to the review of this (and my other games) by Guo Juan.

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.50] GN[2018-12-01c]PW[Becci]PB[Sammy Zhang ]BR[4d]DT[2018-12-01]EV[MA State Championship]PC[Cambridge]C[B+Res.] ;B[dp] ;W[pd] ;B[cd] ;W[ec] ;B[qp] ;W[cn] ;B[dk] ;W[de] ;B[cf] ;W[ce] ;B[be] ;W[df] ;B[cg] ;W[fp] ;B[fo] ;W[cq] ;B[cp] ;W[dq] ;B[ep] ;W[eq] ;B[gp] ;W[fq] ;B[en] ;W[dj] ;B[eh] ;W[bf] ;B[bd] ;W[dd] ;B[ej] ;W[jd] ;B[qf] ;W[qh] ;B[of] ;W[nd] ;B[qj] ;W[op] ;B[oq] ;W[nq] ;B[pq] ;W[np] ;B[pn] ;W[jp] ;B[rd] ;W[qc] ;B[pi] ;W[go] ;B[gn] ;W[ho] ;B[lc] ;W[kc] ;B[ld] ;W[me] ;B[ke] ;W[je] ;B[kf] ;W[mg] ;B[ng] ;W[lg] ;B[jf] ;W[hf] ;B[ic] ;W[kb] ;B[lb] ;W[ob] ;B[ie] ;W[id] ;B[hd] ;W[he] ;B[if] ;W[hc] ;B[gd] ;W[ib] ;B[gc] ;W[hb] ;B[ff] ;W[cc] ;B[dg] ;W[bc] ;B[bg] ;W[gb] ;B[hg] ;W[ck] ;B[bo] ;W[dl] ;B[ek] ;W[bn] ;B[bj] ;W[cj] ;B[bi] ;W[el] ;B[fl] ;W[bq] ;B[an] ;W[gl] ;B[fm] ;W[pm] ;B[om] ;W[ol] ;B[pl] ;W[qm] ;B[qn] ;W[nm] ;B[on] ;W[pk] ;B[ql] ;W[qk] ;B[rm] ;W[ok] ;B[rk] ;W[oi] ;B[ph] ;W[nn] ;B[hn] ;W[io] ;B[jm] ;W[jk] ;B[kn] ;W[lo] ;B[kk] ;W[kj] ;B[lk] ;W[jl] ;B[kl] ;W[lm] ;B[km] ;W[ji] ;B[mi] ;W[mk] ;B[kh] ;W[lj] ;B[mj] ;W[li] ;B[lh] ;W[mh] ;B[nk] ;W[ml] ;B[oj] ;W[gg] ;B[gf] ;W[ig] ;B[hh])

All in all, it was a great day. And great to get 4 games in on the first day of the month!