Forcing Moves

A few weeks ago, I played a fun game against snip. We both made our share of mistakes, which got pointed out to me by ivosf. But the big thing I got out of the review was a new sense of the importance of resisting forcing moves. Here's an example from the game.


W had just played M11, and I replied too hastily with M12. I did exactly what W wanted me to do. How disgusting! Ivo showed me that L14 was a way better move here, and I shamefacedly have to admit that I hadn't even considered that one.

But of course, it is not about the actual moves. It is about the attitude. This review stressed a bunch of things for me which I had been getting slack at, or which hadn't sunk in yet. The biggest one being the way I should reply to forcing moves, doing my uttermost best not to give my opponent what he wants. My pro game study will help with that, since they are usually very good at this.

When someone plays a sente move against me, I will triple check whether it really is sente. I will reply so that things get better for me and worse for him. Even more so than I have done before. And I will only make the move he wants as a very last resort and very reluctantly so. Heck, maybe I should resign instead of making a painful or submissive move.