Today I played these 2 games on IGS. In the first one I tried playing an influence-oriented game and lost.



In the second one, I switched to playing for territory and won.



I'm still wondering if it is better, when playing for influence, to just distribute my stones across the board at strategic locations and wait for an invasion, instead of attacking the first enemy group that appears and thereby starting a fight. (Bad habit of mine ) In the first game, the Black 7 pincer came too early; White replied with D8 and this probably coordinated well with the White sanrensei. Probably should've built up the left side before the approach or counter-pincered White 8.

Here's my short review.



I recommend you not to stick on those words like influence and territory. Just play your game and the moves you like, but you should always try to play moves that can turn out into territory. You play too many "dame"s during middlegame, that is, moves that have no or very few territorial value. Even in influence games, when you look at Takemiya's 80's and 90's Go, he playes moves that looks dame but eventually helps building territory. That is the point.

To say a more personal opinion, try to play games with hoshi. It is very neutral and helps you lot in understanding the nature of go.

_________________
Wait, please.

When it comes to territory vs. influence, I don't think there is anything wrong with experimenting. In fact, I would almost argue that if you can't seem to get your influence games down you should try to play for moyos and influence more often. Losing a game of go because you are learning something new isn't bad. It can be said that you lose a stone before gaining two as you integrate new knowledge and try new things.

I will give you some simplified rules for territory vs. influence that I've heard.
#1 - 3rd line is the territory line, 4th line is the influence line. This applies to opening moves and is generally true. If you play a 3rd line stone you want to secure territory. If you play 4th line you want influence toward the center. Ideally you want a mix of both "making waves" in your opening, but this is sort of a rule of thumb. For this reason the star point stone is seen as an influence stone, not a territory stone, while the 3-4 is some of each and the 3-3 is pure territory.
#2 - Many joseki are a territory/influence trade off. The idea is that, when you play a joseki, one person typically gets corner territory and the other gets a wall facing the outside (influence). I'm not really sure why this is a rule when I know so many exceptions to it, but I've heard it a lot so this is something to consider when picking a joseki. The best example joseki for this is the 3-3 invasion to the 4-4.
#3 - Influence is for building big things. If you play the sanrensei or some other influence-oriented opening you are trying to get a moyo (territorial framework). However, a moyo is not necessarily going to become your territory. It is more like a threat to make something into territory. Moyos can be invaded and reduced from the outside. Territory is territory. If you are playing a territorial game you build some territory pockets on the board that are hard to invade or reduce and try to just get enough to win. If you play for influence you try to make something either so big that your opponent can't reduce it enough or gain enough profit from attacking your opponent when they try.


Other than that, I wanted to make some comments about the one-space high-approach to the 4-4 stone in your first game. There is nothing wrong with the high-approach move, but it is not just about making influence vs playing for territory.

This is from The Second Book of Go by Richard Bozulich:

The one-space high-approach at White 1 is used when White doesn't want Black to play a pincer. - The Second Book of Go, p. 40

So you can think of it as the "anti-pincer" move. The "normal" response is a one-space high pull back (like how the typical response to a low-approach is a low pull back). Now, this does translate into the move being about influence because if your opponent doesn't pincer then you do get influence toward that side. The book explains a bit about how the high-approach works and shows some joseki.

If Black pulls back as normal, White would then try to build something on the left. Bozulich shows this joseki:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W Building the left
$$ | . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 7 , . . .
$$ | . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 1 . . .
$$ | . . 5 . . . .
$$ | . . 3 X . 2 .
$$ | . 6 4 . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . .
$$ --------------[/go]

The double high-approach is very severe. For this reason, as MJK mentioned, tenuki from a high-approach is not advisable and it is also why the high-approach is not typically pincered. Bozulich simply recommends counter pincering right away in response to a black pincer and playing out this joseki.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W Response: counter-pincer
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 2 . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 0 . . . .
$$ | . . . 1 8 . . .
$$ | . . . . 4 . . .
$$ | . . 6 X 9 3 . .
$$ | . . 5 7 . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ --------------[/go]

This is the joseki shown in the book. However, your opponent pincered close to you (instead of the 3-space pincer), so likely this would be the joseki.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W Close pincer joseki
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 2 . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . 9 . 1 8 . . .
$$ | . . . . 4 . . .
$$ | . . 7 X . 3 . .
$$ | . . 5 6 . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ --------------[/go]

This seems fine for white. White's group is more-or-less secure in the corner and is damaged, but still can do things on an open board like the situation from your game. Black's wall is okay, but doesn't seem all that useful without another move. But, then again, there is a reason why the pincer is not played often against the high approach.

Your jump out is not necessarily a bad move. I'm sure there are joseki that follow. But as MJK said your moves weren't quite right after your opponent pretty much tenukied. The pincer and attachment underneath are the key points in this type of joseki situation. Something like this is more normal, but I would not say this is common and I'm not sure it's really joseki. (Note that black plays and does not try to help as your opponent did. MJK's suggestion of a pincer is probably best if isn't played.) You could then play something like a or b as white, a is probably better but I generally like to find a way to settle (not sure how you could in this case, but b is probably the move I would try).

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W Jumping out pseudo-joseki
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . b 2 . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 1 . 3 . a
$$ | . . 7 . . . . .
$$ | . . 5 X . 4 . .
$$ | . 8 6 . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . .
$$ --------------[/go]

_________________
"You have to walk before you can run. Black 1 was a walking move.
I blushed inwardly to recall the ignorant thoughts that had gone through
my mind before, when I had not realized the true worth of Black 1."
-Kageyama Toshiro on proper moves

_________________
Wait, please.

I agree that solidifying black's corner is unnecessary if you are only going to run. I tried to find some joseki from this situation on a few websites. brungo.be actually had no jump variations and DailyJoseki.com had the one I showed as the most common from that position. The second most common is to shoulder hit the black stone on the outside or to do a one-space jump down threatening both the corner and the lone black stone. It does show the pincer variation you gave as one of the less common responses, but it does not have the one-space jump. My guess is that there are no real joseki from this situation that have been defined. That or they are so rare that pros just don't play them enough for a database like DailyJoseki to show them.

_________________
"You have to walk before you can run. Black 1 was a walking move.
I blushed inwardly to recall the ignorant thoughts that had gone through
my mind before, when I had not realized the true worth of Black 1."
-Kageyama Toshiro on proper moves

Just what I wanted to say when I read the OP!

_________________
Dave Sigaty
"Short-lived are both the praiser and the praised, and rememberer and the remembered..."
- Marcus Aurelius; Meditations, VIII 21

I've concluded that I'll need a bit more experience before I can distinguish between territorial and influential playing styles. Even so, my kudos to moyoaji for the friendly advice.

I've been playing even games with hoshi openings and I don't always win Such openings have a lot of potential, but I'll have to study more middle game and endgame to help me capitalize on the advantages. It's a bit easier with 置き碁, though.

I find that replaying games helps me to develop an intuitive understanding of "the flow of the stones". I should find game records in which a nirensei or sanrensei occurs. Which players should I look at?

Why not play the moves you like, rather than pressing your style into a form?

Whatever you play, against opponents your level, you will always win and lose about 50% of your games. Correct.