Student OZA round 4 Report

(March 12, 2010 at 3:37 am by Mile Gu in Analysis, Tournaments)

The final round of the 8th World Student OZA has finished, and with it, concludes the student OZA.

Player	Record	Result	Player	Record
XiaoLong Meng [China]	3-0	1-165 Black won by resign	Yutae Seo [Korea]	3-0
Takunori Yamamoto [Japan]	2-1	1-183 Black won by resign	Sunah Lee [Korea]	2-1
Yucheng Lai [Chinese Taipei]	2-1	1-279 White won by 14.5	Yohei Taniguchi [Japan]	2-1
Hongbing Lin [Chinese Taipei]	2-1	1-243 Black won by resign	Artem Kachanovsky [Ukraine]	2-1
Zhuo Wang [China]	1-2	1-143 Black won by resign	Reiko Sekine [Japan]	1-2
Gabriel Benmergui [Argentina]	1-2	1-202 Black won by 15.5	Nuttakrit Taechaamnuayvit [Thailand]	1-2
Zxang Xiang [Singapore]	1-2	Black won by 2.5	Garcia Emil [Mexico]	1-2
Mile Gu [New Zealand]	0-3	1-214 Black won by 18.5	Anna Prokov [Czech Republic]	0-3

The battle for the finals was intense, as the Chinese and Korean champions launched into heated battle in the background of the Japanese press. The game started off favoring Yutae Seo by a large margin, and it seems like XiaoLong Meng’s fuseki was in shambles. By the start of the mid game, the only way for Meng to take the lead would be slaughter Yutae’s floating group.

Yet, later when I talked to XiaoLong, it was apparently his style. He barely used any time in the fuseki, and saved almost all the hour given for the mid game. Here he launched a severe attack, sending the board into chaos. Yutae, who had spend a full half of the time in fuseki, was forced into a complex battle on byoumi. 30 seconds per move was just not enough… and finally Yutae made a fatal mistake. He’s group was killed, forcing resignation. The kifu of the game is attached.

Several there games were also of interest. Artem was pitched against HongBing Lin, the female representative of Tiepei, and a 9d on Tygem. Artem played extremely well, entering the mid game with an impressive lead. However, as both entered byoumi, HongBing’s superior reading skills under limit shown as she punished Artem for a careless tenuki, leading to the death of a 30 point corner.

As for me, the last round was the first round where my opponent wasn’t 6d! The game turned out to be reasonably relaxing. My opponent, Anna Prokov, at around 2d level, was ill-equipped to deal with my unorthodox fuseki, and entered the mid game at a significant territorial disadvantage. After missing a few opportunities to play aggressively, I had a 20 point lead. From then on, I simplified the game, giving no chance for a recovery. The game ends in what’s called professionals call a ‘happy death’ for white.

White 10: Should be at R-18. The corner variation favors Black, white wastes a stone, black doesn’t.
White 20: The tenuki is uncalled for, since White 22 is not an important place.
Black  35: Black is strong on both left and bottom, white has a difficult time choosing a good way to black this 3-3.
White 48: This is a big move, white should play E2 first and force Black to live in gote, gaining significant thickness. White can then play 48.
Black 51: Intended overplay. After playing the first 50 moves, I had read Anna’s playstyle and suspect should respond at white 52. This exchange spoils whites chances of a large moyo on the right side, allowing me to defend the corner with 53.
White 52: Another mistake, white must play E2 first.
Black 55: Bad move, white need not respond to this peep. However, white does anyway, allowing Black to play 55. I had gained another exchange I was never meant to deserve.
White 62: This exchange gains white almost nothing. White should play D17 instead. White does end in sente, but his group is far from settled.
White 66: This move seems at odds with white 64, white should have played at Black 67. Anna’s only chance now was to wall a large center moyo.
White 74: Too submissive. Its counterattack or lose now. L7 to cut off black( is the only viable strategic option.  Black manages to confine white’s moyo in sente and then play 77, causing whites top group to feel immensely uncomfortable.
White 104: Perhaps last chance to create complication by playing at O2 to move out the 2 stones. Once black removes all aji with 105, Black has a 20 point lead with no weak groups. White has already conceded defeat.

So, with this game, I’m glad to announce that I achieved my original intention of not being last!