Commented Game - Chunlan Cup 2014 - Fan Hui 2p vs Cho U 9p

Hello Go-addicts !

Today, I chose to comment on one of the Chunlan Cup games for many reasons. First because it was played by Fan Hui (early this morning - Europe) who is one of our european champions, 2p, and - imo - one of our best KGS Teachers.

He has been living in France since 2000, won plenty of European tourmanents (too many to list them all), won the European Championship 2013, and the list would go 2 pages-long.

He is also the author of  "L'âme du Go " (in english : the Spirit of Go") which can be purchased here or read there (for english speakers)

His opponent is no less than Zhang Xu, more famous as "Cho U", 9p from the Nihon-Kiin, also winner of PLENTY of tournaments. You can find the - almost - complete list on senseis.

This game shows how patient and wise a 9p's play is, preparing his attacks from the very beginning of the game in order to kill a quite big group (which he succeeds at). Admirable game, really. Have fun replaying it !

Edit : I was told earlier that it is not easy for everybody to understand chinese. So here is a basic translation of what is said on the websites for which I gave the links below :

首轮赛果： (Résults)

古力(中) 　执黑217手中盘胜 金庭贤(韩) Gu Li (Chine) wins by resign - Move 217 - against  Kim Jung Hyun 
芈昱廷(中) 执黑193手中盘胜 睦镇硕(韩) Mi Yuting (chine) wins by resign - Move 219 - against Mok Jinseok
河野临(日) 执黑293手中盘胜 范廷钰(中) Kono Rin (Japon) wins by resign - Move 293 - against Fan Tingyu (Chine)
唐韦星(中) 执黑219手中盘胜 山下敬吾(日) Tang Weixing (Chine) wins by resign - Move 219 - against Yamashita Keigo (Japon)
村川大介(日) 执黑217手中盘胜 连笑(中) Murakawa Daisuke (japon) wins by resign - Move 217 - against Lian Xiao (chine)
柁嘉熹(中) 执黑167手中盘胜 江鸣久(美) Tuo Jiaxi (chine) wins by resign - Move 167 - against Mingjiang (USA)
张栩(日) 　执黑211手中盘胜 樊麾(欧) Cho U (Japon) wins by resign - Move 211 - against Fan Hui (FR)
井山裕太(日) 执白1/4子胜 王元均(中华台北) Iyama Yuta (japon) gagne contre Wang Yuan Jun (Taipei)

Pairings for the next round :

16强详细对阵：
　　古力(中) VS 李世石(韩) : Gu Li vs Lee Sedol
　　唐韦星(中) VS 朴廷桓(韩) Tang Weixing vs Park Junghwan
　　芈昱廷(中) VS 崔哲瀚(韩) Mi Yuting vs Choe Cheolhan
　　柁嘉熹(中) VS 金志锡(韩) Tuo Jiaxi vs Kim Jiseok
　　陈耀烨(中) VS 河野临(日) Chen Yaoye vs Kono Rin
　　时越(中) VS 村川大介(日) Shi Yue vs Murakawa Daisuke
　　周睿羊(中) VS 井山裕太(日) Zhou Ruiyang vs Iyama Yuta
　　江维杰(中) VS 张栩(日) Jiang Weiji vs Cho U

Cho U (above) , Chunlan Cup 2014, playing vs Fan Hui. (left)

More of Fan Hui's games.

More of Cho U's.


More pictures from the Chunlan Cup 2014

Pairings and results on wikipedia (in chinese only)
or here, on sports.sina (chinese also)

                                         

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2] RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.00] GN[10th Chunlan Cup]PW[Fan Hui]PB[Cho U]WR[2P]BR[9P] ;B[qd] ;W[dp] ;B[cd] ;W[pp] ;B[oc] ;W[ed] (;B[gc]C[It is normal to pincer here. Black has a lot to exploit on the top side. (see variation to compare)] ;W[cc] ;B[cg]C[A new fashion. Modern joseki.] ;W[dd]LB[ce:A]C[Connecting with A "looks" good, but it leads to white getting an ideal shape. In consequence, it's not the right move. (see variation)] (;B[bd] ;W[eb] ;B[jd]LB[bc:A]C[In this position, there is no thinking. white needs make life in the corner. Allowing black A is unbearable.] (;W[bc] ;B[cj] ;W[qm]LB[pj:A]C[White extends to the side where Black would like to extend the most (A being the perfect extension for the shimari)] (;B[fq]C[Pay attention to the side chosen by black to approach here. If he aproached from the other side... see variation.] ;W[hq] ;B[dn]C[To avoid being "flat", as shown in the other variation, black double-approaches with a high move.] ;W[fp] ;B[cq] ;W[eq] ;B[cp]LB[fr:A]C[Normal. White is supposed to add a move. The aji of the black stone is enormous.] ;W[ph]C[But White refuses to add an extra move... ( He feels behind ?)] ;B[jq]C[and gets punished immeditaly for it.] ;W[oq] ;B[gq]LB[ph:A][oq:B]C[It certainly is a big risk to take, by white. But on the other hand, he got A and B. Let's see how it turns out.] ;W[gp] ;B[hr] ;W[hp] (;B[er]C[This black connection is not easy to see. At first glance, it looks very soft, but black is not careless. He'd rather connect, leaving K3 behind than jump into a fight he is uncertain about.] ;W[ir] ;B[gr] ;W[iq] ;B[jo]C[A light play.] (;W[kr]C[White connects ? This move seems extremely slow.] ;B[om] (;W[qk]C[There is a proverb that says " answer a cap with a knight's move = keima" R9 might be too patient ?] ;B[np] ;W[nq] ;B[lp] ;W[mq] ;B[qn] ;W[pm] ;B[qp] ;W[po] ;B[pk] (;W[qj]LB[ol:B][rm:A]C[In retrospect, this is possibly a mistake as it allowed forcing moves at A and B] ;B[qo] ;W[qr] ;B[qq] ;W[pr] ;B[rr] ;W[rs] ;B[pn] ;W[on] ;B[rm] ;W[rl] ;B[ql] ;W[pl] ;B[ol] ;W[ql] ;B[nn] ;W[oo] ;B[sq] ;W[rn] ;B[ro] ;W[sm] ;B[ss]C[Black gets a Ko. Extremely painful for white. Note that black has nothing to lose in this area. It was white's place to begin with.] ;W[sr] ;B[jr] ;W[js] ;B[ss] ;W[dr] ;B[dq] ;W[sr] ;B[pq] ;W[mp] ;B[ss] ;W[pc] ;B[pd] ;W[sr] ;B[no] ;W[op] ;B[ss] ;W[es] ;B[ep] ;W[sr] ;B[lr] ;W[rq]C[White has no threats left. Must take the ko. ] ;B[kq] ;W[ks] ;B[lq] ;W[hm] ;B[mo] ;W[em] ;B[mm]LB[mm:A][mo:B]TR[em][hm][fp][gp][hp][hq][iq][ir][kr][js][ks]C[Black uses 2 moves to fix his shape. Right side reduction is accomplished perfectly. And better than that, the marked group is cut apart and eyeless. Utter success for Black. White has 35 points on the board. Black has 25 in lower right + big potential on top. White has to inflict severe damage there, without risking his middle group. An extremely hard-to-handle position.] ;W[dm] ;B[en] ;W[fm] ;B[og]C[Black takes sente to enlarge top, inviting white to jump in. From here and 50 moves onwards, black's target will be the middle group. Pay extra attention as to how he prepares the kill, by creating thickess at top.] ;W[ob] ;B[pb] ;W[nc] ;B[qc] ;W[lc]C[Tip : In a dangerous place, play light ! (and expect to have to abandon the tail)] ;B[kb] ;W[le] ;B[kf] ;W[mg] (;B[nd]LB[nd:B][lf:1][kh:A]C[One would expect black to play at A. But he plays B. Why this slow-looking move ? One reason : it's a threat to cut white's tail. Second, it makes points and prevents white from doing any sort of pressure against his corner. (see variation)] ;W[jc] ;B[kc] ;W[kd] ;B[ke] ;W[ld] ;B[ic] ;W[je] ;B[id] ;W[lb] ;B[jb] ;W[ne]C[White fixes his shape.] ;B[kh] ;W[oe] ;B[nb]LB[kh:B][oh:A]TR[lb][lc][kd][ld][le][ne][oe][mg]C[Black takes the free points.White's group is not yet alive, if Black plays A. More than than, the move at B is already threatening the center group. ] ;W[qf] ;B[oh] ;W[oi] ;B[ni] ;W[nh]C[Tip : Sacrifice technique. Black gives away 2 stones to make thickness in order to attack center.] ;B[mi] ;W[pg] ;B[oj] ;W[pi] ;B[hn]C[And there he goes.Very violent move.] ;W[in] ;B[io] ;W[gm] ;B[im] ;W[il] ;B[fo] ;W[go] ;B[jn] ;W[fn] ;B[do] ;W[ho] ;B[dk] ;W[hk] ;B[cm]C[Black takes free points again (and denies any descent here) Careful and patient play. Here white has 62 points (assuming center lives). Black has 63. (all captures included) If white survives and can destroy black's point, it's still playable. But living alone is pretty tough.] ;W[kl] ;B[fk]LB[hl:A]C[Black just defends left side, threatening to steal white's eye at A.] ;W[ml] ;B[kj]SQ[kh][mi][kj]C[He fixes another shape, makes sure white has no weakness to exploit.] ;W[nk] ;B[ok] ;W[nj] ;B[mh]SQ[kh][mh][mi][kj]C[And again, with the "table" shape.] ;W[km] ;B[ln] ;W[ji] ;B[ki] ;W[jk] ;B[ng] ;W[lg] ;B[kg] ;W[of] ;B[hi] ;W[gj] ;B[gh] ;W[fh] ;B[fg] ;W[gi] ;B[hh] ;W[dh] ;B[eh] ;W[ei] ;B[fi] ;W[fj] ;B[ej] ;W[fh] ;B[mr] ;W[or] ;B[fi] ;W[kn] ;B[ko] ;W[fh] ;B[eg] ;W[di] ;B[cl]C[Patient move again. Getting rid of all threats.] ;W[dg] ;B[fi] ;W[ip] ;B[lk] ;W[fh] ;B[df] ;W[ef] ;B[fi] ;W[ll] ;B[jp] ;W[fh] ;B[ff] ;W[ee] ;B[fi] ;W[lh] ;B[li] ;W[fh] ;B[pe] ;W[bh] ;B[fi] ;W[nf] ;B[fh]C[White resigns.]) (;B[kh]LB[od:A][oe:B][qf:C]C[If black jumps too early, White can force at A or B. And later jump at C (black's corner is not fully alive)])) (;W[rl]C[Perhaps it would be wiser for white to play s8. It also kills the corner more easily. ])) (;W[pk] ;B[qo]C[White is annoyed by this move.] (;W[qp] ;B[qn] ;W[pm] ;B[oo]) (;W[po] ;B[qn] ;W[pn] ;B[rm]C[Easy for black to live.]))) (;W[hm]TR[ph][hm]C[It may be not too late to use his strength to attack. ] ;B[jr]C[White is probably afraid of this.] ;W[is] ;B[jm]C[Very difficult to attack black.]) (;W[kp]C[Black tries to play light ? What about making him heavy bfore connecting below ?] ;B[jp] ;W[kr])) (;B[iq]C[If black connects here] ;W[er]SQ[ph][qm][oq]C[After white plays sagari (descent), Black is not fully alive yet. And thanks to white stones on the right side, a fight in this area is good for white. Black refuses that.] ;B[gr] ;W[lq]C[This would be too good a follow-up for white. At this stage, all black can do is "live". He doesn't have a chance anymore to reduce right side efficiently if he has to care about his group at bottom.])) (;B[cn] ;W[fq] ;B[bp]C[He can pretty much play "joseki", but black's position on the left is flat.] ;W[cq]LB[ck:A]C[And now there is no good move for black. He should extend at A, but there is already a stone. Broken shape.] ;B[en]C[He would have to find something else, a jump for instance.] ;W[jp]C[And white would get another move at bottom.])) (;W[ci] ;B[bc] ;W[cb]C[White is not alive at top and won't be free to act if he has to run. Avoid.])) (;B[ce] ;W[db]LB[jc:A][cj:B]C[White's shape is perfect. Both sides (A and B) are miai. Black cannot protect protect both and will find himself under attack.])) (;B[ec] ;W[fc] ;B[dc] ;W[gd] ;B[cf] ;W[kc]LB[kc:A]C[The A stone is perfectly placed to deny any black potential at the top. PIncering makes more sense.]))