I want to overcome this. Let's take my time and win this game decidedly.

Can't say I've done it until I have, though. It will be tough.

believe it or not.. two stone game is getting taugher every game.
i can see that kirby is improving and soon we will be playing even

Ho ho ho, let's jump into action asap!

On dasher, on dancer, on prancer, and vixen... Full speed ahead!

when i want to win badly i usually play timid.
always playing knight move to secure corner as above. if i am confident that i can win easily i will play unpredictable move to confuse my opponent and try to finish him quick. you can see that i am giving kirby enough respect with two stone.

Let's dive down the chimney, and look for some cookies!

♬ I'm~ dreaming of a whi~te Christmas, like all the ones I used to know ♬

'Cept this Christmas is different, because the snow on the bottom of the board is flat! It's flat!

Why would I want to go play in flat snow on the bottom of the board?

White is flat on the bottom, so there is little risk of snow storm - erm - development. Hence, the left is the place to be!

Yes the bottom side white position is flat but your one-space jump in the lower left corner is aiming at attacking there. Why attact a place where White con't develope easily? And you also missed playing first in the upper left corner which was the biggest point on the board.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring...

Let's throw some coal down in that third line chimney!

In general, I prefer approaching the 3-4 on the fourth line. However, I feel that it is more balanced with my side stones to hit up the 3rd line here.

tuniki is a form of an art

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , 0 . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O 1 . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , X 2 . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . 6 . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Maybe something like this?

In an old game, Kirby was praised for the two space low pincer against this double approach. Let's see if that is repeated.

I thought for a long time about playing here:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

It seems kind of cool because I get two objectives in one move: pincer and extend.

But I feel like this is giving MW the flow. He thinks I will play here, and then he can have a hayday by jumping out:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'm not scared of this picture as black - it's a fight for both sides.

But for some reason, I started to think, "screw that! he ignored my play in the bottom right. let's cash in. give me control. you can do what you want on the left. i'm strong enough there to take it!"

In other words, I feel that black is fine even if white plays again on the left - more fine than white is in the bottom right. Plus, I like the shape in the bottom right. It's a favorite of mine.

Let's give MW some coalthis Christmas!

One thing I find interesting is that MW does not try to help out his group when he is (in my opinion) disadvantaged in the area. Instead, he offers an alternative, and leaves the stones as they are. He doesn't try to run away, but just counters. It's very interesting to me. I wouldn't have considered the move he just played.

I want to think about this for a bit...

I've heard it said that real gangsta-ass go players can't run fast.

I'm going to assume that being a "gangsta-ass go player" is a desirable state. If so, presumably I should not have to run to play well.

Thank you for the tip.