(;FF[4]GM[1]SZ[13]ST[2]CA[UTF-8]AP[SGFC:1.17]

GN[gtl]
PB[Nick Mame]
BR[30k]
PW[GNU Go]
DT[2010-01-02]
RE[B+12]
RU[Japanese]
US[MultiGo]

C[black - nickmame
white - GNUGO 10

nickmame:
This was my first game not on a 9x9 Board and the first slow game I have played. It took about an hour (even with instant white responses). I must admit, it was quite fun.

Hey!  I'm jemwest on KGS.  Hope I can help!  If you ever have any questions, or want a teaching game don't hesitate to ask!

Against a weak bot, the game isn't very meaningful. But since it's the first game where I thought out each move, I figured it would be worth a review.

I comment a lot, sorry about that. And thanks for the review!
-Nick];B[jj];W[dd];B[dj];W[kd];B[ic]C[nickmame:
I have no idea what this move does. I just wanted white to respond.

This is actually a good opening, at least on a 19x19.  I'm not as familiar with 13x13 but I'll do what I can.  If you haven't looked, there is a website called Sensei's Library online that is an amazing Go resource.  It has many pages of "joseki", which are opening sequences, which are good to review (but bad to memorize!).  This is one such opening.]
;W[je];B[kh]TR[ic]C[nickmame:
I thought L6 gave white a good shape, so I played it instead. I expected to sacrifice J11 here.

There is no reason to sacrifice A.  A group needs one of two things: a base or an escape.  W6 here blocks your escape, so all that is left is a base at F11.  On the 13x13, this move does two things; builds a base and attacks white's corner.  Two birds with one stone!]
;W[hd]C[W8 blocks this, but all isn't lost.  Sacrificing it here is ok, but it still would be possible to save and getting a corner for it would be great.  To comment, your 7 is also a good defensive opening but saving your stone up there should've taken priority.  7 is more of a tenuki really.]
;B[df]LB[fd:A]C[nickmame:
I thought Black A (F10) looked bad for white. I doubted I could live in the top, however, and wanted to build up to it with D8.

9 is a much better approach than A.  You are right that A would have a hard time living, but it isn't impossible.  It's more that it isn't worth it, since you'd most likely live small which is almost always bad because it would give white a lot of influence]
;W[jb]TR[ic]C[nickmame:
I think the computer expected me to live with J11. Otherwise this move seems quite wasted.

It was possible to live with A, but this was a mistake on whites part.  Very rarely do you see moves on the second line in the opening, unless it's the direct result of a battle.  The second line gains very little points when there is much more to gain from the sides and middle.]
;B[cc]LB[fd:A]SQ[df]MA[ic]C[nickmame:
I wanted to play A (F10) earlier, but thought white would take the left edge if I played it now.

C11 was an extension from D8. I gave up on J11 long ago.

A would be ok after your move at B, but I do like 11 better.  If you had planned on doing this earlier, an approach at C8 would be more appropriate.  A C8 approach, as well as the C11 follow through is a more territorial game, while say a D8, F10 combo would be a more influential game.  Both approaches to Go works, I personally prefer a more influential game because a lot of people don't know how to deal with it.  But again, both work and in fact a balance is needed in the upper levels.]
(;W[dc]TR[ic]C[nickmame:
I had expected C10. I suspect a better player would have done fancy stuff with J11 if white did not respond here.

This is the smarter move for white.  This is another typical Joseki, and in fact the most common: the 3-3 invasion.  The proverb here is "block on the longer side".  In other words, white should play on the side that her influence would give more territory.  In this case, a move at C10 would be trouble because she would have a hard time building a base and getting alive.  This side strengthens her upper right corner.]
;B[cd];W[fk];B[dk]C[nickmame:
I felt like I had won after this move. The left edge should be worth more than the top, the right corner should be worth more than the bottom.

I became very defensive here because I did not feel as if I needed to fight.

That is all true.  However, E3 is just as defensive, gives you a couple more points, and forces white to run.  There is nothing wrong with this move, E3 is just a little better imo.]
;W[hk]LB[lg:A]C[nickmame:
Would White A (M7) be better? It felt like the strongest move on the board for several moves to come.

Right now, white had to worry about life before she could tenuki.  I do agree that the side is one of the places that has the most points right now, but since this is still technically the beginning a play on the second line wouldn't be wise.  L7 would be a stronger play.  A play on the second line here would only be good if your lower right corner was struggling for life and eyespace.]
;B[ik]C[Good.  White has no base right now.  She could maybe make one eye from the space she has, so her goal will be to escape at this point.]
;W[hj]C[Which she tries.  A knights move at h5, or a two-space jump at H6 would be severe.  I prefer the latter, since in general a touch like h5 would make white stronger, so if you want to attack stones it is best to do it from a distance.]
;B[il];W[hh]C[White beat you to the punch, and successfully gains a good amount of influence in the middle, and therefore good eyespace and threatens to connect her two groups which would pretty much be guarateed life.]
;B[de]TR[ff][fg][fh][fi][kf][kg][lf][lg]C[nickmame:
I want to build a base on the left and squish the center from both sides to limit white territory.

White still has a large move around M7, but I felt like I could force white to respond to me at the top while building center influence.

Limiting whites territory is a good way to think about things at this point.  A lot of people try to steal territory, and that just doesn't work.  You need to always gain from every move.  A possible gain is just not worth enough.  With this move, you are building center influence but I believe there are bigger moves, like F9.  Your stone at D8 is most likely fine.  If split from your corner, it can run to your bottom left corner.  Therefore, a move like F9 limits whites influence even more, gives you more influence, and threatens to cut white's bottom group from the top.  If you succeed in that, then whites bottom group would still be contested for life.]
;W[ei]C[nickmame:
Here I begin to regret my defensive strategy. I am still relying on the left edge containing more territory than the upper white group.

Which is a fine assumption at this point, but you're right.  Being too defensive for too long puts you on your heels and can really come back to haunt you in the endgame.  Go is all about balance: offensive vs. defensive, influence vs. territory, thin vs. thick, etc.]
;B[dh]C[nickmame:
And I think this is a very bad move. It 'felt' right, but I think it made very little sense.

It isn't bad.  It secures the left side for you.  If you were worrying about life of either group,  you really shouldn't.  Both groups should be able to live on their own.  Corners are the easiest place to live, and require the least amount of space.  However, I like this because a successful cut here would take away your main advantage, and that is your left side.  I prefer a simple D5, because as I said earlier touching is typically more defensive.  I think what white was really doing here was forcing you to react, while building good shape and eyespace for her group.  Now you'd be very hard pressed to kill that group, so I would call it alive at this point.]
;W[db]TR[ic][eb][fb][gb][hb]C[nickmame:
Here it felt like the computer was pointing out a major point I had never noticed. I must admit that I like the hook shape with J11.

Would black invading at D12 have done much?

Not at this point, when there is still a lot of space in the middle that is up for grabs.  W24 is a mistake imo.  B24 is a great endgame move though.]
;B[kf]LB[fd:A][lf:D][el:C][fl:B]TR[lg]C[nickmame:
A (F10) and C (E2) felt too small. B (F2) felt dead on placement. D (M8) felt safer, but I like shape of L8 better.

I played this L8 entirely because it made my corner look pretty (and to stop White M7).

Quite honestly, "pretty" is a decent assessment of a move in the beginning.  One of the reasons I fell in love with Go is the beauty of it all.  Usually, there is a reason behind why it looks good.  A isn't too small, it starts to block white from the center.  C is too small.  B isn't necessarily dead, but it doesn't get you much for the risk anyways.  Therefore, I would agree that B25 is a good move here, maybe F10 would be better but they are both about the same.]
;W[di]SQ[dj][dk]MA[cj][ck][cl][dl][el]C[nickmame:
Here I panic. I thought I would lose the D4 group. It felt like white could play somewhere in the X'd area and win the corner.

Would a white invasion work?

Most likely not, although at this point I would be a little worried because you're being attacked on two fronts here, F3 and F5.  Therefore, you don't have an escape route if things get hairy.  A reaction here is needed, and C5 works despite leaving aji.  This is why I liked D5 as opposed to D6.  Playing thin likes this tends to leave aji.  BTW, if I use any terms you haven't heard before, Sensei's Library is a good place to learn.  Just google it, and it's the first page that comes up.]
;B[ci];W[hl];B[el]SQ[dj][dk]C[nickmame:
I still felt insecure about D4. I played this move randomly in hopes that it would somehow protect against an invasion that may not exist.

B29 is pretty pointless at this point, when there is still a lot of territory in the middle.]
;W[cb];B[bb];W[fl];B[le];W[ld]
(;B[fe]C[nickmame:
There's not much left except the middle.

If you go back one, I play a possibly interesting alternative to this that uses your J11 stone.]
;W[fc]LB[fd:A]C[nickmame:
I was surprised it was F11 instead of A (F10). What did the computer fear here?

F10 probably would've been better.  Maybe the computer was still scared of your J11 stone... lol.]
;B[hf]C[nickmame:
This was a cut attempt. I think I should have attacked the lower group instead. Seems pointless to cut something that may yet live alone.

That is a good point.  There isn't really any point to divide two living groups.  Division is only necessary when you're dividing a contested group from a living group, therefore creating a battle for life. In this case, both groups are pretty well alive and cutting them for the sake of cutting them doesn't have much of a point.  What this does is take more of the territory in the middle for your own.  I'd prefer G7, since it claims territory for yourself as opposed to just making more territory neutral.]
;W[fd]C[Slow and heavy.  A bad move.];B[ig]C[nickmame:
I really must like cuts.

I was like that too for a while ^^];W[ba]C[nickmame:
I never get to play these edge peeks first. When's a good time to consider playing them?

Not now.  This was a mistake on whites part.  Always think, what do I win?  Is there somewhere else I can get more points?  And the answer here is yes, the middle still has points to win.]
;B[ac];W[me];B[mf];W[md];B[ie]TR[ic]C[nickmame:
This made me smile. After a long game of ignoring J11, I threaten something with it. Although white would have responded anyway...

That tends to happen.  A reason why sacrificing this stone wasn't that bad of an idea, but imagine where you'd be if you had the top as well!  But yes, stones like this tend to wind up as thorns in the side later in the game, and it's good to use them as such when you can.]
;W[id];B[jf]MA[fh][ii][ej][fm][hm]TR[fi][fj][gi][gj][gk][gl]
[gm]C[nickmame:
I felt confident I had won the game and began to fill in my center weaknesses.

Probably should have still attacked lower group...

Eh, attacking anything at this point is pretty pointless, although there are better moves than this.  You've almost completely skipped the middle game in this.  Imo, the opening is just developing and claiming opening territory and bases, starting development in the corners and progressing into the sides and then into the middle.  After that proceeds the middle game, where life and death battles are fought.  After the life or death of groups have been decided, things move into the endgame where both sides scramble for whatever more points they can get.  I like F6 the best here, since it claims a good portion of the middle for yourself, and does force a response from white because a followup at F5 would be troublesome and make white's group contested again.  The triangles are the eyespace I see of that group, so a move at F5 would take most of the eyespace away.  So F6 would be best.]
;W[ke];B[lf];W[im];B[jm];W[hm];B[jl];W[eh];B[dg];W[ih];B[jh]
;W[ii];B[ji]C[Don't worry about this.  You'd lose maybe a point if you didn't go here now, and there is still a good amount of space in the middle.  What the endgame is all about is priorities, going after the biggest points first, then eventually settling for moves that only gain 1 or 2 points.]
;W[gg]C[White now is coming back and claiming all that space in the middle that your influence was claiming.]
;B[gf];W[fg];B[ed];W[ec];B[ee];W[he];B[if];W[ek]C[Now you have no territory in the middle, and white has gained quite a bit.]
;B[dl];W[ej];B[bj];W[em]C[Another thing to consider in endgame is whether or not a move has "sente".  This move by white is considered "gote", since although it forces a response from you, it requires another response from white and therefore you get the freedom to choose where to move next.  Therefore, if you can take all of the sente moves and constantly keep your opponents on his/her heels, you can gain a lot more points than trading gote moves back and forth.]
;B[dm];W[fm];B[ge];W[gd]C[See, B75 had sente and you get to choose where to fight next.]
;B[ij];W[ce];B[be];W[hg];B[ab];W[ca];B[eg];W[ff];B[tt];W[ef]
C[nickmame:
Computer loves filling stuff.

lol.  Where you by any chance scoring Chinese?  If so, filling neutral points gets you more points... Japanese it doesn't matter.]
;B[tt];W[aa]
(;B[bd]TR[bb][ab][ac][cc][cd]C[nickmame:
I do not know if this was necessary. The top left felt very weak... so I played it on a whim.

Actually, it was.  See variation.];W[tt];B[tt];W[tt]C[Good game overall, and you still came out with a win.  You are right in that your left side is probably what won it for you, and it was right to defend that.  You could've won by a greater margin by taking the middle earlier, as well as keeping the stone in the upper right alive.  This would've given white very little territory to work with.  If you have any further questions, feel free to email me or find me on KGS.  I wish you the best of luck!]
)
(;B[mm];W[ad];B[bc];W[bd]C[Serious loss.]))
(;B[fd];W[fe];B[gd];W[ge];B[hc]))
(;W[cd];B[bd]SQ[df]C[nickmame:
I expected this sequence. Would black be able to connect to D8?

I suppose this outcome is rather terrible for white's top?]
))
