(;FF[4]GM[1]SZ[9]ST[2]CA[UTF-8]AP[SGFC:1.15]

PB[James]
BR[10k]
PW[Anderson]
KM[6.5]
RE[W+3.50]
RU[Japanese]

C[This is a game I (James) played as Black this past Tuesday at Go Club.  My opponent and I agreed on a 6.5 point komi, and though it's a small board, we by no means took it lightly.
The actual game is the top line of play (the longest of the variations), but I did add a few variations when I went over the game.

Andrew: Hello, I'm Dudzik[2k\] on KGS and I'll be your reviewer for today.  It's very hard to make general comments on a 9x9 game, since everything is so fast and furious, but I'll try to point out some variations that you might not have thought of, and just describe what I'm seeing as the game progresses.  Hopefully that will be of some help to you.

Apologies in advance for any mistakes--I have done my best, but I am still but a humble kyu.]
;B[ee]C[I decided to open at tengen because it's a small board.

Andrew: "Because I felt like it" is also a perfectly acceptable reason, even on a large board. :) Anyway, I think this is the most common pro play here.]
;W[ed];B[fd]C[Andrew: Might also consider F5.];W[dd];B[fc]C[Andrew: Might consider connecting immediately, for example at G5.  F5 is a strong play for white.]
;W[gg];B[ff]C[My opponent took a corner, and I began to worry about the cut at F5, so I protected the cut with a move that also approached the corner.  Was this too timid?  Should I have gone ahead and played a bigger move, especially since white has komi?

Andrew: This move looks good to me, as it makes it hard for the white stone to move in either direction.  Black now has a strong shape and it might be difficult for white to save both groups.]
;W[fg]
(;B[cg]LB[eg:A]C[Here, I went ahead and grabbed the corner.  I chose

Andrew: Corners are often big, but you have to look at what is happening on the board.  A move at A is not only very big, as it seals in white, but it is almost certainly sente, so you can profit without losing the initiative.]
;W[df]C[Andrew: This move is the right idea--black may be trying to take a little too much, with such a big hole in between his C3 stone and his main forces.]
;B[cf];W[ce];B[de];W[be];B[dg]C[Andrew: This move might be better at E4, as that would help fix the liberty problem of the D5 stones.  This move is good for preventing white sente moves on the left side, but I don't think that that's where the action is right now.]
;W[ge]C[The nature of the game centers around these next few moves.  My opponent peeped, and...]

(;B[gf]LB[cc:A]C[instead of connecting (which I judged would be too timid, thoughts?), I went for the cut.

Andrew: It is very important to fight hard on a small board.  There is certainly something unsatisfying about simply connecting.  But notice white's tremendous weakness at A. (if black plays there, white cannot cut him off)  If black connects at F5, white must protect his group or risk losing the corner.  See the variation.]
;W[hf];B[he]C[Here, I cut on the outside first

Andrew: Seems better than the inside.];W[hd];B[hg];W[ie];B[hh]
C[I extended into the corner, but in retrospect, I don't even know if this is a viable threat.'

Andrew: It is--no matter how white plays, she has one fewer liberty than white. (3 to 4)  But it may still be better to connect at F5, as it may still be sente against the upper left corner.  Since white's cut is sente, this move could be double sente, which should usually be played immediately.]
;W[fe];B[ef]C[White is still captured on the bottom, but there is bad aji. (which you found out later)]
;W[gd];B[dc]C[Andrew: It seems to me that black should probably die at the top, but you put up the strongest fight possible, which is quite good.]
;W[cc];B[ec];W[cd]
(;B[hc]C[This seemed like a weird move for me to play, but I thought that G7 wouldn't be enough to live.  I planned to have White capture H7 so I could swing to the left and try to live there.  Is there a better move?

Andrew: You had the right idea--it's a desperate plan, but it's a desperate situation.]
;W[gc];B[gb];W[hb];B[cb]
(;W[fb];B[eb];W[ga];B[bc]LB[da:A]C[This was my goal from the moment I played H7, but was it too costly to cede the northeast corner to White?

Andrew: The northeast is extremely small compared to the capture of these stones.  But are they really captured?  White can put up a tremendous fight by peeping at A.  I can't tell what the result of that fight should be, but at the very least black will have a very hard time.  See the variations--they're quite interesting.]

(;W[ea];B[db]
(;W[bf];B[bg];W[ag]C[Andrew: White is just struggling here.  There are no chances. (though the cut at B8 continues to look scary)]
;B[bd]C[Andrew: Maybe not necessary?  If this were at E3, white would be cleanly dead on both sides.]
;W[eg];B[df];W[dh]
(;B[af]LB[bh:A]C[Andrew: You are in too much of a hurry to capture white's stones.--the vital point is at A.  If white plays there next she gets a nice squeeze and a couple more points on the bottom.]

(;W[ch];B[bh];W[gh]C[Is it possible to kill White's southern group here?  I didn't, so I lost the game by 3.5 points.

Andrew: I can't see any way.  But you can probably find a way to squeeze 4 more points out of the bottom than you did.]

(;B[eh]
(;W[ei]C[Andrew: Perhaps black can still win.]
(;B[ci];W[fh];B[gi];W[ig];B[bi];W[di];B[da];W[bb];B[ae];W[fa]
TW[ha][ia][gb][ib][hc][ic][id][he][if][hg][eh][hh][ih][fi][gi]
[hi][ii]TB[aa][ba][ca][ab][bb][ac][cc][ad][cd][dd][ed][be][ce]
[bf][ag][ah][ai]C[So, I lost by 3.5.  When did I lose my chance to win?  Did I make any decidedly bad moves?  Did I miss any chances to exploit my opponent's mistakes?
Thanks in advance for your review.
-James Craver (elciego@gmail.com)

Andrew: It seems that more careful reading on the left would have made the bottom side work out better for you, but you also made several suboptimal moves on the bottom that cost you a few valuable points.  Your chance to win was not lost until move 55!

Again, it is hard to make general comments, but you might consider practicing with endgame problems, as this game boiled down to one.  Any kind of problems will improve your reading, which is almost always the biggest barrier to progress.

You played well, but I hope that you have learned how difficult it is to accurately assess some situations!  Even your post-game judgment that you needed to kill the group on the bottom, was incorrect.  So read more and deeper, keeping in mind that very strange and surprising situations can easily occur in this game!

Thanks for listening, and I hope that you continue to enjoy go.]
)
(;B[gi];W[fh];B[hi];W[fi];B[ci];W[ig];B[bi];W[ih];B[di];W[ii]
;B[eh]C[By capturing these two stones, black has enough to win by a half point!]
))
(;W[fh];B[ei]C[I was hoping for this, but that would just be winning by White's bad play.

Andrew: It's nice to kill stones, but it wasn't quite necessary here.]
))
(;B[hi];W[gi];B[ci]
(;W[ei];B[bi];W[ig];B[di];W[fh];B[eh];W[dh];B[ch];W[ih];B[eh]
;W[ii];B[da];W[fa];B[dh]C[Black wins in this case.])
(;W[eh];B[di]
(;W[ei];B[bi])
(;W[ig];B[ei];W[ih];B[fi];W[ii]C[Black wins.]))))
(;W[bh];B[ae];W[ch]))
(;B[bh];W[ch];B[bi]C[This is better for black than the game.]
))
(;W[bb]C[This move doesn't work for white--it transposes to one of the variations after move 39.]
;B[ba];W[ab];B[ac];W[da];B[aa];W[bb];B[ab];W[fa];B[ca];W[ad]
;B[bf]))
(;W[da]
(;B[ca]C[This might work.]
(;W[ea]C[This does not work for white.];B[db];W[bb];B[fa];W[ea]

(;B[ba];W[ab];B[ac];W[ad];B[aa];W[bb];B[bf];W[fa])
(;B[ab];W[ba];B[aa];W[ad];B[bd]))
(;W[ab]LB[ea:B][ac:A]C[A thought.  A and B become miai.]
(;B[ea];W[fa];B[db];W[bb])
(;B[bb]C[This could work for black.]
(;W[ea])
(;W[ac];B[ad]))))
(;B[ea]C[This is a disaster.];W[fa];B[db];W[bb])
(;B[db]C[This seems to work for black, but it's dangerous.]

(;W[bb]C[This is a very strong move by white, but it doesn't work.]
;B[ba];W[ab];B[ac];W[ea];B[aa];W[bb];B[ab];W[fa];B[ca];W[ad]
;B[bf]C[White is one liberty short.])
(;W[ea];B[ba];W[ab];B[bd];W[ad];B[bf];W[ae];B[af];W[ac];B[bb]
))))
(;W[bb]C[Andrew: Black is probably dead here.]))
(;B[gc];W[hc];B[hb]
(;W[ic];B[cb]C[I doubt White would be kind enough to let this happen.]
)
(;W[gb];B[fb];W[ib];B[ga];W[db];B[ic];W[id];B[eb];W[ea];B[ha]
;W[da];B[ia];W[fa];B[ic];W[gb]C[I also didn't think I could win the capturing race, so G7 was out of the question in my mind.]
))
(;B[hb]C[How's this?  I didn't think of it during the game, and it doesn't look like it works.]
;W[db];B[eb];W[cb];B[ib]
(;W[gc];B[gb];W[ea];B[fb];W[hc];B[ic]C[It looks like I might win if I played H8.  Is that a correct assessment, or did I miss something?]
)
(;W[hc]
(;B[ic];W[gb];B[gc];W[ea]C[It doesn't look like White will let me kill the eastern group.]
)
(;B[ha];W[ic];B[gb];W[ea];B[fa];W[gc];B[fb];W[da]C[Maybe we can live together in harmony =P]
))))
(;B[fe];W[ec]C[White saves the top.];B[gf]C[Now black's cut becomes more powerful than before.  White can perhaps live in the corner, but it is going to be painful and gote.  Whether it is enough to win is hard to say.]
))
(;B[eg];W[eh];B[dg];W[gf];B[ge];W[he];B[hd]C[If white struggles like this then black will be happy to gain strength and eyespace, and territory in the upper right.  If white doesn't struggle like this, the corner may die.]
))
