UK beat Turkey to End Fifth

For the final game of the season our team had to play another mid-table team, Turkey. With Des Cann dropping out of the match at short notice, captain Sandy Taylor stepped in and led the team to a three-one victory. Daniel Hu and Alison Bexfield were the other winners. This left the team in fifth position in the B-League after Germany beat top team Netherlands to stay in fourth. Italy was the runner up and Finland was third.

League Page with game records

Daniel Hu wrote of his game against Kaan Malçok: I played solid shapes for a moyo game. My opponent made a few too many weak groups and though I spent a long time wondering if I was able to kill their big group that invaded my area, I decided it didn't work due to a shortage of liberties on the lower side. Still, I could attack by using some driving tesujis. In this way, I won two semeais, in the centre and right, sealed off the lower side on the 3rd-5th line and solidified the upper right, all in sente. My opponent's compensation was solidifying the upper left and breaking into my lower right. I even threatened to capture a large moyo on the upper side but you can't get everything. At least I forced white down to the 2nd line on the upper side. My lead only increased when my opponent tried to kill me on the left inside their big moyo and their group ended up dead.

Sandy Taylor wrote of his game played against Ugur Arikan: In a messy game my opponent ended up with three weak groups and one large territory. I can't say I played especially cleanly, but this was enough weakness that, although one group lived and one escaped, the third had nowhere to go. My opponent played it out a bit but that essentially decided the game, it would have been close if everything lived.

Jamie Taylor wrote of his game against Eren Kurter: I lost after a pretty messy game. My opponent was happy to omit a lot of defensive moves and we had a big fight that was probably good for me, but with one bad move I let him off the hook. I managed to get him on the ropes a second time in the bottom right, but made a couple of very bad moves there, letting him off the hook even more and dying in the process. I managed to kill something on the right which might have made us more or less even, but he managed to kill something on the left, that I used the wrong move to defend, and then it was pretty hopeless.

Alison Bexfield wrote about her game against Hulya Çolak: I was playing white and soon started an attack on some of my opponent’s stones, not really intending to kill them but to take thickness in the middle and build a large moyo. I boxed her in but instead of letting her live very small, I went for the kill, but misread it and killed my own corner. Fortunately the centre thickness I had built was good compensation. My opponent then obliged by letting me attack her in various places using this thickness. I killed a large corner, playing carefully to keep my stones alive, and she resigned.