Niall vs Daniel Sepczuk - Dec 2011

Daniel Sepczuk (Blue) vs Niall Cardin (Red) Notes about some moves, I start making notes in response to move 25 All blue moves or pieces are in (), e.g. Blue's first move was at (F1). Nothing else is in ().

Game information

• Date: December 2011
• Size: 13x13
• Red: Niall
• Blue: Daniel Sepczuk
• Result: 0-1 (Blue won)
• Comments: Niall
• Location: Little Golem, game [1] in championship 28.1.1

Moves

You can see the diagram for each move by following along at this HexWorld link.

Moves 1 to 8 (In fact Red played A6 which was swapped to F1, so it's labeled as 2 on littlegolem)

Moves 9 to 14

Moves 15 to 21

This is the position I (Red) am considering when these notes start, move 25:

Move 26: Daniel thought that G8 was the way to go, though he says he didn't look for long. I didn't like it after G6 from Blue.

• G6
  • (E9) G8 (F10) G10 (G9) I8 (I6) H7 - might work for Red?
  • (E7) G8 (F10)
  • (F6) E5?
  • (H6) E8 (F6) E5 (E6) F7 (G5) H5 - assert that H5 is connected to the top with C3 and E5
• G8
  • (G6)
    • G7 (F7) I3 (H6) I6 (H7) I7 (H9) H8 (F9) G9 (F11) - looks good for Blue
    • E8 (E7) F7 (F6) - Blue wins
    • H7 (H3) E5 (H4) E8 (E7) - Blue wins
  • (H6)
    • E8 (F6) H5
  • (G7) H7 - looks like a win for Red
• E8 (F6) G6 (F7) G8 (F10)
  • I6 (H7) I7 (H9) H8 (G8) G9 (G10)
  • E7 (G6) I3 (D9) - looks good for Blue
• G7
  • (F10)
    • G8 (E12) F9 (E10) E9 (C12) - looks good for Blue
    • E8 (F6) F7 (H5) I3 (H6) I6 (H7) I7 (H9) H8 (G8) G9 (G10) - looks good for Blue
  • (G8) E8 (F6) F7 (H5) I3 (H6)
  • (F7) G8 (G6) I3 (H6) I6 (
  • (E9) G9 <(F10) G10 (F12) H11> (G8) I7 (H8) I8
  • (E10) E8 (F6) F7 (H5) I3 (H6) I6 (H7) I7 - Red connects
• H7
  • (E10) H8
    • (H9) - looks like Blue wins
    • (I9) G10 - Red wins
  • (H8) G8 (F9) G9 (F11) - seems like Red can't get through
• I7 (H9) - good for Blue

Variations if I play G8 that I noted in the game. I was worried about this G6 response, threatening H3:

Red variation 1a

Red variation 1b

Red Variation 2

The move I actually played and Blue's response:

Move 28:

• I7
  • (H9) I8 (I9) K8 (J8) G9 (H7) H8 (I6) K5 (J6) L6 - Red wins
  • (G9) H9 (G11) F9
    • (G8) G10 (F11) F10 (C12) D12 - Red wins
    • (F10) G8 (C12) F11 - Red wins
  • (G5) I3 (H6) J6
• G8
  • (G5) I3 (H6)
    • G7 (H5) - same old ladder towards the bottom that I seem to lose after (C12)
    • H5 (G7) - same old la... " "
  • (F10) F9 (C12) C10 (B12) F7
    • (E11) G10
    • (G5) I3 (H6)
• F7
  • (G5) I3
    • (H6)
      • H5 (E8) G8 (G7) - think Blue wins, as I didn't get C10
      • E7 (D9) - looks like Blue wins
  • (E8)
    • G8 (F10) F9 (C12) C10 (B12)
    • E7 (H7) - Blue wins
• G8 (G5) H5 (H3) - Blue wins. E5 (D4) exchange doesn't help

Move 34:

• E7
  • (E6) F7 (G5) I3 (D9) E9 (E8) G8 - Red wins
  • (D9) E9 (E8) G8 - Red wins
• G8 (F10) F9 (C12) C10 (B12) E9 (E11) - Blue wins

Move 40:

• L8
  • (K6) J8 (K8) L7 (K7) G9 (H7) H8 (I6) J6 (J5) L4 (K5) M4 - Red wins
  • (K7) G9 (H7) H8 (I6) J6 (J5) L4 (K5) L5 (K6) M6 - Red wins.

Niall: Here is a summary at move 42 , the game has clearly been won by Blue.

The key moves are G8 and G9. However:

• G9 (H7) H8 (I6) - Blue connects
• G8 (F9) G9 (F11) F10 (E11) E10 (C12) - Blue connects

Red cannot threaten the Blue connections to the right with C10 or similar, (C5) stones deal with everything. B10 (C8) exchange doesn't block (C12).

Red can deal with (H3) and (G5) related complications. I3 is a key move for most of these variations. Also

• (G3) H3 (I1) F2 and Red connects.

The game then happens to continue like this, so that Red can ask Blue where he went wrong :)