My first Go tournament
Yesterday I played at the MGA’s fall handicap tournament; it was my first Go tournmanent, and overall I had a really good time. I entered at 12 kyu (according to some recent recommendations placing me in the 10-12 range) and played 4 games:
The first was against a 19 kyu player, so I had to give 7 stones. I am not used to that sort of a fight, so I got out a little slowly. Also the clock kept ticking and making me nervous, so I made a few silly mistakes early on, and ended up losing by ~20 points.
The second round was against an 8 kyu player, and with 4 stones he resigned at the end of the mid-game period. He had a large center section which probably would have given him the win, but I had a big reduction through a weak position of his stones, and as he tried to hold on, one of his larger groups ended up being cut off.
I took 8 stones in the 3rd round, and the fighting was very intense. There were big swings at the end, and I missed a big cutting point (I thought I was connected, but I was not), so I was forced to resign. My opponent was able to successfully invade a large moyo I had created, and I killed many eyes, but he made his way to the corner and found life there.
The fourth round was against a younger opponent, and I took 6 stones, but this may have been too many. He resigned after I cut off a big group, taking a big chunk of the top left (I had retained the other 3 corners as well).
All in all it was a fun day, and the clock stopped bothering me after the first round. I also played a 6-stone handicap game against a club regular whose name I don’t recall, but it was also extremely close - white won by 5 at the end.