17

I have been playing for just under a year. I haven't done any real opening study at all and I don't really think that's a big problem. I try to play good moves and I look up joseki sequences that confused me after the game.

Because I started off at 20 kyu getting handicap and even now most of my games at 12kyu are either getting or giving handicap due to the relative dearth of DDKs, I am more familiar with star point joseki. So I always play my first 2 moves on adjacent star points and am learning how to handle the 3-4 point corners etc from when my opponent plays them.

I should probably get cracking on learning some general opening lines soon, but I really don't feel like this is a big issue right now compared to my biggest issue which is unquestionably the balance between playing too slow and overplaying, making overconcentrated vs thin/weak shape, etc. My Go development has been a series of swings back and forth between playing too defensively and not getting enough of the board versus my opponent's overplays and going on a wild killing attack versus my solid opponents where my shape ends up being so thin that I get cut apart and lose if I can't kill his stones.

So, I'm going to play an adjacent star point when he plays something, then he'll play something else and I'll have a think then about where to play move 3.

I will give him the possibility to select diagonal fuseki, which I hope would favor me. However, I anticipate he will take upper left corner, and I will take the last one. I choose 4-4 point as I think it is most flexible.

As above.

As expected. Let's experiment a little. I've seen Antti Törmänen use 3-3 quite a lot, so it can not be altogether bad.

White's last seems like a good idea, to play something perhaps a bit different. Perhaps W plays this 3-3 all the time and is familiar with it and likes it or perhaps is just to take me "out of book".

Instinctively I want to just play the 4-4 shoulder hit without thinking, and is an example of a kind of chess idea that I have: "that's weak and slow etc, punish, grab everything!" I'm trying to get this out of my system as it is a problem for me. I know perfectly well this is a good move, but I have never played it myself as it just doesn't feel big enough.

Anyway, I do have some thinking to do here, in preference to looking it up in a joseki book and not really improving my thought process. I don't want to re-invent the wheel (which is a huge problem for me in tournament games to the point where if I can say to myself with confidence "this can't be bad" in the opening I just play the move), but I do want to have an idea of why I am making the choices I'm making.

I want to extend along either the left or the right in concert with my star point stones, or I want to take the big point on top.

The big point on top seems a little lame, although as black I am a move ahead here and I am sure it is playable. Also, if W had played 4-4 in the lower left I would be happy to play the big point as I know that if we continue taking star points it'll favor Black, so W must do something about it sooner or later. I also kind of have a feeling that W would like for me to shoulder hit the 3-3 stone as we are then fighting.

If I take the big point on top, what might W do? Maybe approach one of my corners, which is ok. Maybe play K4 which is ok. Maybe play some kind of 5-4 point like E4? I can still get in later on the bottom if I need to.

I think B is still ahead here. If we keep trading big points does the fact that one of W's corners is territory matter that much? I don't think so.

I don't have much more at this intractible stage. K16 is less aggressive than my instinct but I don't think there is any way it can be bad and my instinct is usually too aggressive. Also, if W ends up having to approach from the inside on top for some reason I am pretty familiar with those sequences.

I think blacks san-ren-sei is one of the best anwsers to white's san-san. San-san isn't good for moyo battles and that is exactly what san-ren-sei aims to set up.

I kinda suspected he might play sanrensei. I'm tempted to approach from the top, but I'd like to see how he responds to this. If he pincers (which I think he should), I may choose this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Ok, so he's approached there, which looks pretty standard.

My first thought is how I'm going to get my stones to work together. I've got a sanrensei shape here, so I'm building a moyo, at least in principle.

I don't like the look of the standard (for me) joseki here that will look like:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . 9 . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X . 8 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I don't like the way that I have 4 stones on the upper right side and still M17 is invadable. Plus it seems somewhat out of character with my other stones which are all 4th-line stones. Maybe I should play 7 high instead.

The attach and extend seems to build a kind of up-and-down wall with holes in it. I don't play it much and don't know exactly where the cut-protects go but something like:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm7 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1 O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

That's ok for me, but it also looks really nice for him-his right side is really settled. I don't like it compared to the other idea, the pincer.

What I'd really like to do is pincer him and build a big wall to make a vertical box shape but I can't evaluate what happens if I 1-space pincer and W just jumps to P14, then I play O16 then R10 looks good for him and my plan looks a little silly maybe? I have to jump and so it looks like:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm6 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . c . 4 . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . a . 3 . 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . f . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . d . 6 . 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . e . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . b , 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think he then plays 'a' or 'b'. If 'a' then I 'c' and I can run to 'd'or 'e'. If 'b' then either 'd' or 'f' seems ok. At some point he's going to have to worry about his top right group and play S16 before I get to play it.

But what is happening with my overall game at that point? Is that a good development? I'm no longer building a north-south wall to make a big moyo, but the top is looking reasonably strong and it seems like I can either threaten the white group with death or get an extra move to cap somewhere like 'a' or maybe approach another corner or attack the weak '10' stone.

I can't read all this out to a nicety, even with as much time as I want, but all my stones are out at that point, his are separated and it seems that I am ok even if he doesn't play what I'm hoping for. What I'm hoping for is:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm6 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

...and I know the vast majority of 10kyus that I play would let me have this. I can't see anything absolutely horrible that will happen and I can see a very good outcome if he allows it, so I'm going to try this.

tl;dr: I only know about 4 or 5 josekis, a couple of them aren't appropriate, playing O17 doesn't really do much for the overall plan suggested by my stones.

As expected. I really don't know where this will lead us, but I'm happy to experiment and find out.

So I didn't read this move last time, and I don't think it's ever been played against me. I'm obviously familiar with the double approach to a 4-4 corner, but not in response to a pincer.

My first feeling is that this must be fine for Black, as White now has 2 weak groups. Also, I feel like this is reasonably easy to play, as the only reasonable moves seem to be to run or to attach to either stone. I can't really see anything else. I can't really see why my possible responses to this double approach move are different because of the pincer or the K16 stone, although those stones seem to help in later moves.

So my first thought is that I want white to take the corner so I can stick with my plan of building a wall. If I can get white to go into the corner and play the corner joseki now then O17 becomes the same sort of useless stone as in the basic 3-3 pincer joseki.

Anyway, obvious choices are a, b, c

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm9 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . a . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

'a' looks like wrong direction to me. W takes a bunch of territory on the top, maybe the corner, or maybe we play something similar to what I'm about to look at, but either way if I make a wall it seems to be facing the wrong way. Also the pincer stone is closer at R12 and seems like a big help in fighting.

'b' seems kind of soft, but does keep W separated and asks him what he wants to do with R14 especially.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm9 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

'c' is what jumped immediately to my eye when I saw the position. Attach, build a big wall, lock him in! But this is usually a sacrifice move in the context of a side 3-space extension where I should play on the inside and sacrifice if I want to take the outside. What happens if W hanes between my stones?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm9 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a 1 O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

a and b seem kind of miai for W, and I am not sure about:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm9 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1 O 9 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

W gets the outside, which means that I am not planning on a big moyo anymore. And if I play at 'a' in the previous diagram and save my stone, W is out.

But this can't be that bad for B, can it? W is on the outside, I have territory, W maybe has no base and isn't yet alive, etc.

Maybe a different 13? If I play 13 at R13, there are a couple of ways that W could play, but after he saves his stone with 14 I might be able to:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm9 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1 O 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

and this looks very good to me. So much so that I think W can't play this way.

This 16 maybe looks better for W. I end up with territory on the right but W's group doesn't look very nice. The variation with the other 13 where I connect and end up with better shape seems better.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm9 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1 O 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

W can maybe force with a different 14 which looks like it leads to the same place:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm9 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 3 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1 O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Hane on the other side doesn't seem to work for W.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm9 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

W is out, but this looks poor. Since I am comfortable (ofc I could've made a mistake somewhere but I am not seeing it if I did) that that 10 doesn't work for W (at least I can't see how it does), and it doesn't look to me like he play the standard 'connect out' play on the other side:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm9 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a 4 b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1 O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

a and b look like miai.

I am happy with both of those.

What else can W do? If he takes territory on the R I am fine with that, or if he jumps into the corner.

But I am going to call time on this move. The most problematic position seems to be the one where I get territory on the right, but my stones have good potential, I can still fight a bit for the corner, and W is not settled. I can't see anything that obviously loses and the only competing candidate move, running diagonally, just feels like it doesn't make use of the fact that I have more stones in the area. I have read all the way out to my threshold here and can't see what move could be better. The diagonal running move could well be better but there are so many things that W could do in response that trying to read anything seems impossible.

Well, I'm glad that this is the line I read out (some of) on the previous move. I'm going to have a look at those lines, but first I need to investigate what happens if I block from the outside. I read some of this out on the previous move but didn't commit it to analysis there. At some point I just become saturated and it'll take hours before I can look at it again. Blocking from the inside seemed to capitulate more and I figured that if I could successfully block from the outside it'd be a bonus.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

How does this look? B's ponnuki looks mighty, O17 and R12 look weak. Good prospects in the corner and W has good chances on the R side. This is too open for to me evaluate on anything other than general principles but I don't see why I should hate this. 5 at P13 next because it looks unhappy if W plays there and I like this spot.

Can W do anything else with that move while I'm making my ponnuki? The only thing forcing I can see is P14 followed by Q13. But I think I can instead of taking just play Q13 myself and this looks ok to me:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Whether W wants to try to force me to take somehow to get the outside (but now I'm getting 4th line territory) or just connect, it seems worse.

I can't see anything where W doesn't bother to save his stone that worries me.

So W saves his stone and this is the base position. I have cutting points at a and b and obviously if W gets to play them both I get double-ataried:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . a X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So the P16 automatically looks more dangerous bc it is peeped. If I defend there the best I can see for W is that he just gets out. Saving my stone looks correct and I can't see W wouldn't bother to connect out there:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . 3 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I don't actually know how to evaluate this position. I've got my little wall, but W is out and running ahead of me down the 4th line. It seems like I might want to make some move in the corner here but they all seem slow. I have one weak stone and W has one weak stone. The right move feels like to tenuki but I have a huge issue with not settling me stones and these are anything but settled. But what has W gotten here? An option on some of the corner and some power down the R side.

I have looked at defending at 'b' instead, but I couldn't find anything I liked. It all seems really complicated and W gets to make use of his stone on top. I'm not going to reproduce it here but I'm not going to play that.

So I need to compare that position to the position from the previous move where I defend inside. Something like:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm9 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1 O 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

When I defend from inside, my stones are settled at the end, and I am making use of my Q12 stone, while W's shape doesn't seem as good. I guess I could've just as easily said that playing from the inside separates W's stones. I'm going to go this way because there seems to be a clear route to settling my stones and I am not sure what W will do. It's a change of plan from the overall direction I had planned a couple of moves ago but I am not sure how much that means at this early stage.

Ha ha ha we're obviously playing some super-basic joseki here. tj took 2 minutes to move, some of which must've been realising I had moved and editing the diagram. Or maybe that is just the only non-stupid move in this spot

So I don't really like the cutting points I have there after:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm9 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1 O 9 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But leaving that aside I don't think this is bad at all. I'm making territory. W has a strong shape there in the center but it's not an eye and it has no base. It is out into the center but I think on balance B is better here. I have at least most of the corner and even if my 2 stones there come under pressure I have a threat to disconnect W's top side stone from the rest and then they are floating.

I feel like I made a mistake in my analysis of the other line where I play R13 and W plays R15--it's not "about the same" at all. W gets the corner there. And I can't see any other random move that might be good--I have to defend these stones somehow. I see that W can do a few things like playing at P14 or Q13 but they don't look scarier to me than this line. I'm not crazy about the cutting points but I will live with that.

Just fo reference after the game, the "super-basic joseki" is this

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1 Captures: White: 0 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . 5 3 . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . a . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But I don't think this is good for B here because it destroys a part of the san-ren-sei. Maybe should have been at 'a' ?

Last move I looked at the lines where he extends from R14 and they seem ok for me. It seems that I get move out of keeping Q14 alive then he does by fattening the sacrifice. In any event this looks like only move to me.