I've been studying a lot of strategy and attack and defense recently. To the point that when I lose games anymore it's because I fail at life and death or just get out-tactic'ed. So my hope for this game is that my opponent makes some weak groups that I can push around for profit and things won't get too complicated. But he probably won't let that happen I'm probably aiming for a low chinese opening but we'll see where my mood takes me.

I really toyed with the idea of using the Great Wall opening, because it would make this a very different malkovich game and I'm sure the comments afterwards would be fun But that seems a bit crazy since the great wall really needs you to just invade everywhere like crazy when I'm playing a handicap game against an opponent who's presumably much stronger tactically. And I haven't had much success with it in even games.

I will refuse to play 4-4's this game. I have to make up 40 points and I don't want Numsgil to have the luxury of being able to invade at the 3-3 point at his whim. 3-4 points can lead to lots of variation and complexity I want to feed off of that. I aim to make lots of territory and fast. Territory is usually how I like to play. I used to always do double 3-4's. 40 points feels like so much ahhhhhhhh what have I gotten myself into!

Knowing him, he won't let you do that, even if he wasn't stronger tactically than you. He likes solid shapes, he doesn't normally just leave weak groups on the board. In fact, one of his stronger points is exploiting bad shape, so if you could actually read this, I would advise you to keep your stones solid and exploit the 40-point advantage you have off of the get-go.

Continuing with the low chinese opening. I reserve the right to play somewhere crazy for my third move, though.

I'm choosing this side because I'm high on a side he's low on. So I have good direction here.

I think I'm winning so far

I don't really want Nums to get a well known opening like the high/low chinese. We'll see where he decides to play next.

I play somewhere crazy!

Well, not so much. I think I know what I'm doing. White's move seems like the wrong direction. It prevents the chinese opening I was going for, but doesn't really coordinate with his first stone.

With this move, I'm threatening mutual damage (basically the idea is I mirror white's response to the other one. So if he defends, I defend. And if he attacks, I attack), and my two stones on the bottom work more or less together to form a (very) loose moyo on the bottom. The direction of 5 agrees with the direction of my 3-4 stone. White's two stones do not really work together. My top stone is looking sort of lonely, though, but no matter how I respond I can't get all three stones working together, so it's an acceptable compromise.

There's still an empty corner I could play, but I don't want to get in to a situation where I allow white two approach moves against one of my corners ala my game with topazg.

A pincer here would also probably work reasonably well but I don't really know my 3-4 pincer joseki, so I'm not going to go down that route as long as there's a simpler line of play that leads to joseki I know and understand. If I were to pincer, it would definitely be high to form a nice framework with the top stone.

One of my favorite pincers. I am hoping for something like the following:

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[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 7 . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 9 . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O 6 X . . 1 . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O X . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . O . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . a X . . . . . . . . . . . b X . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Black can play at "a" instead of 3 as he has the ladder, but it is a lot more dangerous. I hope to take b as a second approach.

As I said before I don't know much 3-4 pincer joseki. I know contact rules well enough that I can usually muck through a 80% okay result playing carefully by the rules, if it comes to it.

But no need for any of that. I'll just mirror. It's possible he could drive me to a joseki that's favorable for the left corner and unfavorable to the right corner, on a global scale, but not at this point. Plus, as I said last time, if I were to pincer it would be high. So it's basically like he's walking me through the first steps of a joseki I don't know but probably wanted to play. If things start progressing such that mirroring won't work well, I'll break off and use my probably okay 80% play-by-ear.

The downside is that the game might become complicated rather fast. There are three distinct black groups and three distinct white groups. Which indicates some complicated fighting that will certainly overflow to the center.

My guess is that he'll jump his stone on the right out with a one or two point jump. It starts to enclose my right corner stone. I can do the same with my stone on the left, but it's not as effective for me against his left corner stone since I don't have a stone around D12. But such a jump does work on a grander scale for me since it sort of ties the entire top together and threatens to form a large scale moyo

eg:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O , X . . 1 . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Not quite a moyo yet (angles feel too acute) but the stones are all at least within sight of each other.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O , X . . O . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ {LN E4 Q8}
$$ {LN E4 E7}
$$ {LN E7 Q16}
$$ {LN Q8 Q16}[/go]

was a total surprise for me. Just upon seeing it, without any slightest hint of reading, it struck me as highly unusual, in a "this cannot be right" kind of way. I cannot offer a direct explanation, though. Can someone help?

I don't feel the timing of his pincer is right. If I get sente it will be painful for him. I hope he isn't just copying me. I am going to aim for something like this:

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[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O , X . . O . , . . . . 3 , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O , X . . O . , . . . . 3 , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 5 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Some more mirroring. I will need to probably break off soon since white is building up on the bottom in a way that works together with the rest of his stones. Whereas a wall facing north from my E4 stone would be less useful if I have to make it in gote. That is, if white builds up a wall facing the bottom in gote, his stone at H4 makes it all work just fine. A little overly wide but very playable. If I build up a wall facing the top in gote, white will just play to neutralize the wall and my thickness will be less useful. Maybe even worthless. So I need to come out with sente on the left to make an extension.

For instance, this would be very bad for black (obviously this is a pretty fake joseki, but the point is the walls and their direction). Continuing to mirror from this point on in this imaginary position is quite silly for black. The positions are monumentally dissimilar.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 2 X X . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . O O , X . . O . , . . . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . . . . . . . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

...

I could have broken off mirroring here and gone for a corner (attach on the other side) but I think the side works just as well and with any luck Kerby will lead me through a reasonable sequence

There is a danger maybe that this is leading to an avalanche joseki or something like an avalanche joseki, which would be a horrible idea for me since I don't know any of the lines and they're all horrendously balanced on a knife's edge, and I have no idea how two mirrored avalanches would work together on the same board. If it smells like that's what he's doing I'll break off.

Actually this is the first move I've been less than enthusiastic about. I'd feel better if I had any idea what the usual joseki end up looking like. I also think white has corrected the direction mismatch he had before.

I feel if he keeps copying me I will come out ahead on this deal. A) because I will have sente and B) because I will get to choose the path we take. The situations are different in that he doesn't have a stone at "a" which I can tailor the situation to be to my advantage. 40 points is going to be a lot to catch up on though. I'd like to make at LEAST 10-15 points of that in the opening more would be nice, a big chunk will obviously have to be in middle game, and I don't think I can hope for more then 10 points in the end game. A big capture would be nice but I can't rely on that happening. I am going to play go my style and be on the lookout for my chances to gain some ground.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 1 X . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O , X . . W . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Okay Kerby, walk me through it

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[go]$$Wcm12 Move 12
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X 2 . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O , X . . O . , . . . . 1 , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I feel it is better for him to choose this move 4 instead of copying my move because of the marked stones, I hope he keeps on copying

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm12 Move 12
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X 2 . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O , X . . W . , . . . . 1 , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Mirroring like this reminds me of "riding the tiger, it is difficult to get off". As soon as I break mirroring white can counter mirror or rip in to weaknesses in the position he knows well since he's entirely created it. And usually the reasons white makes a move are the same reasons I should make a move in my mirror. With the board as it stands, if white is protecting the corner group on the left I need to do the same on the right.

My guess is he's setting up either a situation where there's a ladder that works for him but not for me, or he's building thickness that will point in a useful direction for him but not for me. Like maybe something like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . . O . . . . . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . O 1 X . . O . , . . . X . 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

White has a better position here by my reckoning than black does. White's influence radiating along the left side is nice and powerful, and generates a nice moyo. Plus it has good access to the center. Whereas black's influence radiating along the bottom is nullified by the strong white position on the bottom left, and access to the center is narrower. Black still has a reasonable framework going on along the right side, but the majority of the influence is pointing in the wrong direction.

That said, is the position 40 points worse? Probably not. And black has sente here. And such solid bases should provide a simplifying aura to the rest of the game. So if this is white's plan I might go along with it.

Time to pick a target group "a" or "b":

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[go]$$Bcm15 Move 15
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X a . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O , X . . W . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X b . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

If I attack "a" he can just copy all my moves as the position is the same, if I attack "b" the marked stone comes into play more effectively. The difference comes in him running towards my extra stone. If he tries to copy he doesn't have the extra stone to help attack my side.

I don't think I can build a wall on the left side in sente if I'm mirroring. So here's where I break from mirroring and try to take the corner instead. A corner works much better if you have to take it in gote than a wall. So I cut the side I don't want.

At the end of this I expect to have both corners on the bottom.

Something like this is what I expect

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 5 . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . 4 O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 X . 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'm giving white a ponnuki facing the left edge, which is probably a mistake. But I think I should be able to get either the bottom left corner in exchange (and that's a lot of corner) or get a ponnuki of my own pointing into the bottom on the right and ruining white's chances for a moyo there.

Although looking at it some more I think black is in a better global position than white, so white might not go for this.

I want the outside, I don't want to be trapped small in a corner while he gets superior influence.

I assume it will go like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 7 X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . 6 O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . 8 . . . . . . . . . 5 X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 X O 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

or

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 5 X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . 4 O , X . . O . , . 9 . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . X O X 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8 X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I am fine with either way. The first way I will have to be diligent in looking out for the ladder. The second I am happier with as I get to push him down on the bottom while getting lots of thickness. Either way I should get sente to take the other corner, and have a strong pincer attack on his lone stone on the right.

As per plan. I grab the right corner. White probably builds a ponnuki facing along the top, and then has to decide between grabbing the left corner or letting me have a ponnuki facing along the bottom.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm20 Move 20
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 3 X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . 2 O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . 6 . . . . . . . . . 5 X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 X O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

as per plan