The Best of Select: Games 9

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Ishi Format Go game | 1994-08-19 | 9.4 KB | 526 lines

EVENT BOARDSIZE 19 COM 3rd Fujitsu Cup, 1990, Second Round White: Jimmy Cha, 4-dan, U.S.A. Black: Cho Chikun, 9-dan, Japan. Komi: 5 1/2 points. Time: 3 hours each. White wins by 4 1/2 points. Date: April 9, 1990. Source: GO World #60, pp. 13-16. Commentary: Kato Masao from Yomiuri Newspaper Recorded by David Forthoffer using GoScribe 2.0 Edited by Anton Dovydaitis. When it was his turn to make a speech at the reception help the night before the first round, Jimmy Cha said, "I'm the luckiest man in the world. I didn't expect to win even one game last year, yet I won two. This year I'm going to try to do even better." Doing better was not going to be easy. Since Jimmy was seeded into the second round, thanks to his succeses last year, winning three games would take him to the final. Moreover, his first opponent was one of the world's top players, Cho Chikun, holder of the Japanese Honinbo title. ENDCOM B 1 q16 COM The weakest part of Jimmy Cha's game is the opening. On the other hand, he plays best when he's behind, so who knows if he would do better if he improved his fuseki? At any rate, Kato had a number of criticisms to make of his opening play. ENDCOM W 2 d17 B 3 q3 W 4 c4 B 5 f3 W 6 r5 B 7 r7 W 8 n3 B 9 o4 W 10 q7 B 11 q8 W 12 q6 B 13 o3 W 14 r8 B 15 r9 W 16 s8 B 17 q9 W 18 s7 MARK #1-17 COM White secures life while Black builds influence. ENDCOM B 19 s4 W 20 n7 B 21 c3 W 22 d3 B 23 d4 W 24 c2 B 25 b3 W 26 e4 B 27 d5 W 28 e3 B 29 b2 W 30 q12 MARK #18-29 h3 a@h3 COM White 30. White usually completes the joseki with `a'. ENDCOM B 31 r14 MARK \t@q8 \t@q9 \t@r9 #30 COM Black 31 shows that, depending on how the game goes, Cho is prepared to sacrifice the three \t stones. ENDCOM W 32 c14 B 33 h4 W 34 f4 B 35 d7 W 36 k4 MARK #31-35 a@f6 COM White 36 is aggressive. ENDCOM B 37 h6 W 38 f6 B 39 f8 W 40 k6 B 41 j5 W 42 g7 B 43 k5 W 44 l5 B 45 l6 W 46 m6 B 47 l7 W 48 k7 MARK #36-47 COM White 48 is too aggressive. ENDCOM B 49 m5 W 50 l4 B 51 m7 W 52 n6 B 53 k8 MARK #48-52 COM White is put on the spot when Black hanes at 53. Jimmy is being greedy, trying to play everywhere. ENDCOM W 54 g3 MARK k8 \t@n3 \t@l4 \t@l5 \t@k4 COM Letting Black capture these pivotal stones is unbearable for White, but if he pulls them out, the four \t stones at the bottom look captured. ENDCOM B 55 h3 MARK g3 a@j7 COM Cho thought a long time over 55, but Kato questioned his decision to block. ENDCOM W 56 j7 MARK #55 COM Jimmy pulls out his stones with 56. ENDCOM B 57 n4 W 58 m9 B 59 l8 W 60 h7 B 61 j2 W 62 j9 B 63 k10 W 64 k9 B 65 l9 W 66 l10 B 67 m10 W 68 l11 B 69 n9 W 70 m11 MARK #60-69 j7 l8 n4 m9 \t@l5 \t@l4 \t@k4 \t@n3 COM In the continuation to 70, Black captures the bottom \t stones, but White built thickness in the centre. White has caught up a little. ENDCOM B 71 m8 PRISONER m9 W 72 c9 B 73 n11 W 74 n12 B 75 n8 W 76 g9 B 77 b8 MARK n11 n12 m11 a@m12 c9 g9 m8 n8 B@c6 COM Black would like to cut at `a', but White's peep at B would be a nuisance. Black therefore has no choice about defending with 77. ENDCOM W 78 o11 B 79 n10 W 80 m13 B 81 j17 W 82 g17 B 83 m17 W 84 b9 B 85 c8 MARK #77-84 COM Black 85. Not necessary, but Cho has concluded that this is enough to keep him ahead. ENDCOM W 86 l16 MARK #85 COM However, Jimmy nows goes into action with 86 on. ENDCOM B 87 l17 W 88 j16 B 89 f9 W 90 d9 B 91 g10 W 92 h10 B 93 g8 W 94 h9 B 95 e7 W 96 h17 B 97 k16 W 98 k15 B 99 k17 W 100 f11 MARK #86-99 COM White 100. Taking a big centre is White's only chance. ENDCOM B 101 c17 W 102 c18 MARK #100-101 COM Kato: With 102, Cha offers the strongest possible resistance. ENDCOM B 103 d16 MARK #102 COM Cho lets fly with a tesuji, but it doesn't work. Cha's an incredibly strong player. ENDCOM W 104 b17 B 105 c16 W 106 d18 B 107 c13 W 108 b13 B 109 b12 W 110 c12 MARK c16 b17 d18 c13 b13 b12 COM White 110. ENDCOM B 111 d13 W 112 b11 B 113 d12 W 114 a12 PRISONER b12 B 115 c11 W 116 b12 B 117 j15 W 118 h16 B 119 g11 MARK c12 d13 d12 c11 b11 a12 h16 j15 b12 COM After making various preparations in the top left, Cho pushes up at 19. ENDCOM W 120 f10 MARK #119 COM When Cha cuts at 20, the continuation is a one-way street. ENDCOM B 121 g12 W 122 f12 B 123 g13 W 124 f13 B 125 k14 W 126 l15 B 127 l14 W 128 n16 B 129 m14 W 130 n15 B 131 n14 W 132 j14 B 133 j13 MARK #120-132 a@f14 COM Black 133 is a mistake. The correct timing is to force at `a' before making the atari at 133. ENDCOM W 134 h15 PRISONER j15 B 135 k11 W 136 k12 B 137 l12 W 138 m12 B 139 j11 W 140 o14 B 141 o13 W 142 o12 B 143 p13 W 144 l13 PRISONER l12 MARK k12 k11 j11 o14 o13 o12 p13 j13 37@l12 h15 COM White 144. Captures. ENDCOM B 145 k13 W 146 j12 B 147 h12 W 148 l12 B 149 h11 MARK h12 j12 l12 l13 k13 a@p14 COM If Black uses 149 to save his centre group with `a', he would be behind after the komi. That means that Black has no choice but to connect at 149 and fight a ko. But Cha now shows that his reputation as a fighter is not undeserved. ENDCOM W 150 p14 B 151 p12 W 152 p11 B 153 q13 W 154 n13 B 155 q11 W 156 h13 B 157 h14 PRISONER h13 W 158 m15 B 159 j15 PRISONER j14 MARK #149-158 56@h13 COM A ko fight starts with 159, but White has adjacent ko threats whereas Black doesn't. ENDCOM W 160 r13 B 161 r12 PRISONER q12 W 162 j14 PRISONER j15 B 163 s5 W 164 h13 PRISONER k14 l14 m14 n14 j13 k13 MARK #163 j14 59@j15 r12 r13 COM Black 163 is the best threat he can find, but White ignores it. ENDCOM B 165 s6 W 166 p9 B 167 p8 W 168 n18 MARK #164 s6 p9 p8 COM White gets sente to switch to 168, which is painful. ENDCOM B 169 p18 W 170 o9 B 171 o8 W 172 o18 B 173 p17 W 174 p15 B 175 p16 W 176 o16 B 177 d2 W 178 r15 MARK \t@q16 \t@p16 \t@p17 \t@p18 #168-177 COM White 178. White embarks on an invasion which, though it does not capture Black's \t stones, forces Black to eventually spend extra moves capturing the invading White stones. In other words, White 178 gains several points in sente. ENDCOM B 179 q15 W 180 q14 B 181 s13 PRISONER r13 W 182 r16 B 183 r17 W 184 s14 B 185 r13 W 186 s17 B 187 r18 W 188 s18 B 189 t15 MARK A@s19 #178-188 COM Black 189. Black must collapse White's eye space without letting White get A in. ENDCOM W 190 s16 B 191 s19 W 192 t14 B 193 t13 W 194 s15 B 195 t18 W 196 t16 PRISONER t15 B 197 r19 W 198 p19 B 199 t19 W 200 l2 MARK A@t17 B@t15 C@q17 C@q18 #189-199 COM White 200. White's invasion has been a success. Black will have to eventually capture by playing inside his own territory at A and B. Also, if Black wants points at C, he will have to take them in gote. ENDCOM B 201 g2 W 202 f2 PRISONER f3 B 203 k2 W 204 g1 B 205 h2 W 206 a8 B 207 a7 W 208 a9 B 209 b6 W 210 n2 MARK \t@h6 \t@j5 \t@k5 \t@h4 \t@h3 \t@h2 \t@h2 \t@j2 \t@k2 MARK \t@g2 \s@l2 #200-209 \t@l5 \t@l4 \t@k4 \t@n3 COM White 210. White adopts the same technique here as in the upper right. In order for Black to save his \t stones he will have to actually remove the white \t stones from the board, yielding more points to White. ENDCOM B 211 m4 W 212 l3 B 213 m3 W 214 m2 B 215 e9 W 216 q18 MARK #210-215 COM White 216. Before responding to Black's threat at 215, White stops Black from getting even two gote points here. ENDCOM B 217 t17 W 218 e10 B 219 j4 W 220 e5 B 221 d6 W 222 q19 MARK #216-221 COM White 222. Atari. ENDCOM B 223 t15 PRISONER r15 r16 s14 s17 s18 s16 t14 s15 t16 W 224 e2 B 225 c1 PRISONER c2 W 226 g4 B 227 n14 W 228 m14 PRISONER n14 B 229 o17 MARK #222-228 COM Black 229. Black was probably in byo-yomi (one minute per move) and used these last two plays to give himself time to think about the bottom. ENDCOM W 230 n17 B 231 h1 W 232 k3 B 233 k1 W 234 o2 MARK #229-233 COM White 234. White also takes an extra minute to think. ENDCOM B 235 p2 W 236 l1 B 237 n1 W 238 o1 B 239 g5 W 240 g6 B 241 f1 PRISONER g1 W 242 e1 B 243 p1 MARK \t@h6 \t@g5 #234-242 COM Black 243. White was threatening a ko either to gain seki or capture \t. ENDCOM W 244 d1 B 245 c2 W 246 q10 B 247 r10 W 248 p10 B 249 h5 W 250 g1 PRISONER f1 MARK #243-249 41@f1 e1 COM White 250. Takes ko. White wins this ko and connects. White wins by 4 1/2 points. Kato on Cha: "His fuseki is not good, but his judgement in decisive fights is reliable. If he's ahead, he winds up the game; if he's behind, he launches a challenge. He's good at fighting - he started out badly in this game, but he went all out and prevailed in the middle game." Referring to Cho, Kato said, "His reading wasn't up to scratch." For the second year in a row Cho disappeared from the Fujitsu Cup in the second round. (Last year he lost to Liu 9-dan of China). He has performed below expectations in all four international tournaments so far (the three Fujitsu Cups and the Ing Cup). Shortly after this game he also lost his Judan title to Takemiya. In fact, his record to the end of April was a minus one - 7 wins to 10 losses - which must be almost unprecedented for Cho. Even in a slump, though, Cho is still one of the world's top players. Difficult as it had seemed, Jimmy Cha improved on his international debut last year. One thing is for sure: no one can call him a dark horse any more. ENDCOM