The Secret Of Success

If you have a good head/brain, you'll realise that you need 2 ingredients to achieve success.

The 1st is self-confidence. Find something that you can do well in and spare no effort to do well in it. When you can do well in something, you naturally feels that you can do well in anything.

The 2nd is motivation. Start with the end in mind and you're already half-way there.

All the best.

My Childhood Hobby

Breeding Bettas ...

An Epic Battle

In the eyes of the kyu-level players, it was an epic battle. It took place over the internet between me, Lihyenn (White), and Zhangyiaoo (Black). If not for our many amateurish moves and mistakes caused by scarce thinking time, I would've called it our masterpiece.

It was professional-looking until B7. Black should've played a retreat at Q-6 or a pinch at L-3.

I was happy that Black played B21, a slow move. I was not sure whether my W22 was a good move. I guess I was worried that it would become difficult to infiltrate Black's right side if it raised its head at P-7. B23 should've approached the corner at F-17, the wider side.

W28 tried a Korean favorite although I did not know the follow-up variations. I just wanted to apply pressure on Black and remain in a sente position.

I thought my block with W32 was quite big. In retrospect, I should've played I-3 instead. It would've been a totally different game if I've done that. My W32 was worse ...and I felt sick to the core after playing those moves.

W40 couldn't let the black stones connect. B41 also didn't want to let the white stones connect.

W42 attacks. W54 tried to connect. When B55 attacks, White couldn't retaliate because it had to connect first, allowing B58 to form a moyo on the lower-right. W60 had no choice but to infiltrate it (只此一手).

The infiltration was quite successful but White was lagging in territory. It had to capture the black dragon if it wanted to win.

W72 found an opportune time to attack again. Were the scattering of white stones in the lower-left quadrant safe ? Making 2 eyes should not be a problem. White continued to attack with W100. W104 and W124 tried to cripple the black dragon. Was W134 necessary ? Shouldn't I've just played at C-9 ?

Was B157 a ko ? Oops, The black dragon lived with B165. I tried to get a consolation by chopping-off the dragon's tail with W170. However, this could've been a suicidal move because my own white dragon on the right could've been slaughtered.

B173 overlooked the chance to kill my white dragon at O-9, giving me the opportunity to save it with W174. However, White was still seriously lagging in territory.

B177's gote gave me the break I needed, another chance to win. This time, I've to target the total annihilation of the black group at the top. After W22, the black group was annihilated. Nevertheless, White was still lagging by 16 points. It was 官子功夫 thereafter. I must try to maintain sente all the way.

I must be wary of B203. Black should've played O-2 instead of B207. By not doing so, it allowed me to maintain the sente to play W208 and W210 which were what I was aiming for. It was huge ! B255 was a poor 官子 move.

I was able to close-out this battle with a win of 5.25 points ... albeit with the help of a couple of Black's mistakes.