My plan is to work on the right direction of play. White is becoming my favorite to play, because white has to be more flexible. White has to adapt to any plan black wants, which adds a lot of variety to the opening, and I want to learn to handle anything black can throw at me.

I feel more comfortable with 4-4 stones in the opening as white. I don't like giving good approaches from one direction or the other until I've decided which direction I care about. So I'll keep it flexible and go from there. I'm allowing black to take diagonal stones if he'd like, because that mostly prevents him making any form of special strategic formation. Those strategic formations are mostly designed to beating komi, whereas diagonal fuseki kind of skips into midgame earlier, which is fine for white.

The diagonal opening makes it so that there are likely going to be four small groups that are all separated from one another. Since all of the groups are small and separated, it sets a good stage for a fighting game.

I feel like playing a fighting game, so I decided to play this opening.

Well, I said I'd be just fine playing diagonal, so let's continue. I still have no reason to prefer one side or the other, so I'm going to keep my stones flexible: 4-4. I expect some low knight's approach, to which I will fall back with another low knight.
A 4-6 would not be good, because I will not have the adjacent corner. Everyone who's reading this probably already knows this, but I'll show an example here, just in case.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 If I played the high response, I would have a weakness at triangle facing black's other corner.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . T . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . 2 . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]

If, after this corner, black tries for a double-wing-like approach on my other corner, I will pincer, to reduce the effectiveness of black's growing framework. Or perhaps I can ignore and approach the other black corner. Worth considering.

Nothing special, yet...

I played a diagonal game because I wanted a fighting game... So, I will keep his groups small and separated. Let's fight!

Okay, he approached in the 'double wing' direction as I'd expected, so I pincered as I'd said I would. Again, I pincer because otherwise all of his stones are working too well together. I'm choosing the low near pincer instead of one further away, because the bottom left is black's. If it was white, then a wider pincer would better help to set up a framework with that stone. An alternative I had considered is to pincer or kick O3, because he tenuki'ed my defensive move, but I'd rather keep things simple a bit longer. No need to force him to double-approach or something similarly complex. If he jumps into the corner, I'll seal him in and build a wall facing southwards. Alternatively, if he jumps out, I'll chase him with a one-space jump from the star.

Again, this is a fighting game. I will jump out to keep his groups disconnected. I want for him to get weak stones.

I am okay with this so far. Every decision so far has made the eventual total score for both sides smaller. For example, playing diagonal fuseki makes it harder to get quite as massive of a framework. Similarly, pincering often makes smaller stable groups on both sides, instead of one large group of each color. All of that said, everything is still fairly even. I'm going to start roping off side of the board while pressuring his group (a little). Kirby has several options here. 1) Press my pincer stone low in an attempt to build a wall. 2) Keep running. 3) Counter-pincer my pincer stone. I imagine he will take option one, which is even, and fine with me. The wall faces the middle, but the middle is not huge right now. If he does that, I can approach the top right (from the east) the next time I have sente, hopefully. There are a lot of moves I want, but first I intend to focus on the health of my groups. If black jumps again, I will take a two-space jump with my western group, to start stabilizing, for example. If my groups are stable, I cannot be pressed as hard, so I have a lot more power.

I want to keep fighting, of course. Pincering keeps his group small on the side.

I thought about the following, but didn't really like .

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Prisoners: W=0, B=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So he might get some stones on the top, but it's nothing to worry about. For now, let's just pincer!

Hmmm, I'm a little hesitant to do this. This should give my group enough safety for now, and it'll make him give me some more territory along the top. I'm tempted to tenuki it, but I think I really cannot afford to lose that stone (giving his group safety and territory) so early. Now that I think about it, my stone couldn't entirely be killed in one turn, but this does induce him giving me territory, so I think I'll still do it.

I must keep white separated. Still fighting!

Fourth line, and at least part of this will be territory. Black will probably turn and jump south, and I will too. He'll have to stop and defend his lower group, so I can either help out my group in the middle more or tenuki. I was originally thinking that I would jump to C10 if black jumps to G10, but I'm thinking I'm better off jumping more lightly to E9. Black seems to have a lot of potential and loose framework, but it's far enough apart and weak enough that hopefully I can reduce it sufficiently.

Helps me, weakens him.

As I mentioned, I was looking at this move and liking what I saw. It's well-placed to reduce black's growing framework, even if I end up sacrificing C12. The peep at F13 is interesting, but I'm going to need to link up and get some liberties, first. Ideally, it would be nice to shut out the corner first as well, but I can only do one thing at a time. If black defends around C7, I intend to jump out with my group, to better clear his sector lines. I'm not out of the woods, but he'll have to reinforce before he can attack strongly.

Magicwand says, "One stone is aji"... So I'll approach on the top, first.

The stone on the left side is the weakest group on the board, the white group almost around it is the second weakest. The three white stones on top are not weak. The four black stones below that could become weak again when the white group on the left becomes strong.

I guess it has become clear that I think the black move is bad.

Okay, I'm considering a few options. I shall name them 'The Peek', 'The Split', and 'Thenuki'

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Peeking threatens to cut, and it's starting to look like I could safely cut black off here. Black can get some eyespace in the corner, but I don't see it being enough for two eyes. Since this is intriguing, let's read a bit deeper.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 The Peek part two
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X X O O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 2 O O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O 1 X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 6 5 . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This atari seems not to work, because white gets out. Let's check out what happens if he starts differently.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 The Peek part 2b
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X X O O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 4 O O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O 3 X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 1 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 8 5 6 . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X 9 O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Okay, this seems to work for black because of the tesuji at 1. I think that's similar to one from early in Davies' Tesuji, but I'll try one more time to find a way around it.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 The Peek part 2c
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 O . O . O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X X O O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O 2 O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I don't think I have enough liberties to go much of anywhere with this. Perhaps black 3 would be the slide, but either will probably turn out fine for black. So I just barely can't peep.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

If I try to attack black's newest stone, I think it lets him push at the weaknesses of my group to rip it apart. Same for if I tenuki (somehow black is getting the big points while I keep running and defending). Okay, not somehow. He's attacking my weak spots. Perhaps I have to play something passive, like walling off my corner...

Wait. I think that if I defend the corner with C16, it is in sente. If black were to tenuki, I would do the peep and win with diagram 2c, because I would have enough liberties to outlast. So I can defend the corner in sente. It means that black will attack from the outside (to make my sequence not work). I will block and presumably end in sente because of my new stability. He will have prevented the peep, but then I can tenuki safely to somewhere like D7 (I'll have to read again to see where specifically) or R15, or L3. So after all that, I'm doing none of the above, and defending my corner. Hopefully in sente.