In our last game, my honorable opponent opened with a 5-4. I've even seen him play a 5-5 vs Zinger. He seems to like the higher opening. So I read up on 5-4 joseki in preparation for this game.
Also, MHO is an attacking player. Last game, I was able to deal with that by using - some might say misusing - my handicap stones. This time I won't have that crutch.
So I'm going to start out with the 5-4, assuming that a fighting game is in the offing, and thus influnce will be helpful.
There is also the psychological factor: if he considers 5-4 a good move for him, he may not be comfortable on the other side of it.

I don't have my Macbook on me, so I won't be able to video-commentate this one. Actually it may pretty much alternate with video-commentaries on Monday-Friday, and text-commentaries on Saturdays and Sundays; but we'll see.

Anyways, I think it's interesting that my opponent chose to 5-4 as his first move, which certainly does bring back memories from our first game as I played the 5-4 against him in a 3h game. To a lot of people it's a bit of an intimidating move. I know Sam Aitken, an EGF 4d from the UK whom I befriended in China, used it very well in his games in 2007. The 5-4 is also rich with hamete, and so I, being the hamete aficionado, am pretty familiar with those variations.

I also had a chance to get some experience with the 5-4 by playing many club games in Beijing with a particular fellow who enjoyed playing double 5-4s in his games. Despite the language barrier, I learned a lot from analysis of our games. With all of these experiences, I was tempted to play the 5-4 myself in this game to see how that would go. However, there is simply nothing that beats a move I am just plain comfortable with - and that would be the 4-4. It's so simple, yet rich with variations. And of course I have much more experience with the 4-4 than the 5-4, so this is why I chose to play the 4-4. Nonetheless, from the experiences I've brought up and many more I have had with the move, I still feel confident in handling the 5-4 that my opponent played.

The hop from 3h to even will make it tempting for me to underestimate, but I think I've played enough games to realize that underestimation is the key ingredient to disaster. I'll promise myself to get this game reviewed with Jang Bi or someone I know who's much stronger than me; this way I will pressure myself to create a beautiful kifu with as little mistakes as I can possibly make.

From my own analysis of both players, I predict the following:

Somewhere in the opening, Solch will play a hamete, and get a good result out of it.

Joaz will try to take control of the game from the opening, and will think he has a better result, but Solch will also be satisfied with his result.

Somewhere in the middlegame, Joaz will miss a very key point due to a misread, and will lose the game because of it.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Prisoners: B=0, W=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 . . . . . , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Ooh, a chance for a Manchurian!

(Don't bet on it, though.)

Takeo Kajiwara, the author of "Direction of Play" has a chapter entitled "How move two lost the game." In the introductory page, he notes that as long as one plays on the 3rd or 4th rank in the corner, it is not possible to lose the game on one's first move. ( I think that I just barely squeaked in on that one. ) He proceeds to analyze a game between two mid-dans, and shows how the second move was indeed inferior, and, with sufficiently accurate play by the opponent, could indeed lose the game.

He continues with the observation that non-pros treat the first few moves as almost arbitrary, just play in the open corner and it's good enough. I don't intend to go that way. I'm facing an opponent who is - depending on how you measure - 1 to 4 stones stronger than I am. I need every edge that I can get.

The obvious candidates are the two open corners. One of them should be a teeny bit better than the other. But which one?

The upper left corner is symmetrical. The lower right corner is not. Let's look at what is likely to happen there. Even if we know no joseki, just on basic principles we can make a good guess at it. Corners are more valuable than sides or center, and so white will want to slide under and take it.

If we know a few joseki, we can be even more sure that white intends to invade. He played the ladder breaker in the opposite corner. ( Yes, there is subtle fencing going on even at move two ).

One of the common josekis is this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

...which is quite playable for white when he has the ladder breaker because black cannot play like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Another common joseki goes like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

...and continues like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

If white doesn't have the ladder breaker, this is good for black as he gets strong outside influence, and white gets territory, but white must finish in gote as black can still play 'a'.


So, having concluded that white invading in the corner is likely, let's look at the inevitable result. Schematically, it looks like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . W . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . # . @ . . |
$$ | . . b b . . . . . a . . . . X , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . # . @ . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

...where both white and black add in some fashion to their original stones. Black gets outside influence, white gets territory. Once we can see the generic shape of black's position, we know where he wants to play next. Walls need extensions, and something around 'a' is needed.

For beginners: see http://senseis.xmp.net/?ExtensionFromAWall

We now have a direction of play developing for the 5-4 stone. It wants to go westward. Something around 'b' is the logical eventuality.

Now we can see that of the two open corners, the lower left is a teeny bit better than the upper right. So my move is over there someplace. Exactly where in the lower left? Well, at this stage, such calculation is beyond me. Reason has run out of steam, and arbitariness has the floor.
I'm going to go with the 4-4 because we seem to be going for an influence game, and it works with the influence-oriented 5-4 stone. It now looks like this:

I expect the general course of the game over the next few moves to be something like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . 1 . a . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . b . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . B . . . . . , . . . . X , d . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'm not sure if I will continue with 'a' or 'b', for I'm not sure how the joseki that follows from 'c' will affect my lower right corner. I would, of course, like to get 'd' after 'b', as then I get a big corner and a strong side. But not playing 'a' leaves him free to do as he pleases, and there is something to be said for keeping pressure on white from the beginning.

In case you haven't seen 'c' before, here is one possible variation that could develop.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc White 'a' next.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . a . . O . . 0 . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I don't know if I agree with Joaz's choice of direction. Consider what happens if black gets to play next in the bottom right corner.

I think so, too. I dont believe it'll happen because of Sols territory oriented style but f.e. a high approach in the upper left corner seems to make most sense regarding the 5-4 stone:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Wouldn't the below be good, and consistent with the rest of the stones? I don't know the joseki for that shape, but it looks good to me.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Consistent?
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

That's definitely playable, but it's also very specific - black is going for the 'I will eat the whole board' school of Go. This kind of extremely high concept opening isn't actually that common amongst strong players (though some strong amateurs do it almost exclusively, of course). I think even professionals known for it, like Takemiya, tend to play a little more orthodoxly.

I think the reason for this is that if white foils the plan, it's hard for black to recover - his stones have only one purpose. It's a more stable, calculated way to play to spread your stones about and probe the opponent before committing to a strategy. This is just my own conclusion, though.

I also think that the left side is better than the right side. Mainly because the right side is less settled.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Prisoners: B=0, W=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

For instance, in this mundane sequence, after we may ask what was the point of - ?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

As for here, I think that it is premature without an extension on the bottom side. The wedge, , hinders Black's natural expansion from the bottom right corner, which is still unsettled.

Everyone seems to agree with me, but for different reasons. What I had in mind was that I prefer this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Prisoners: B=0, W=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . X , a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Instead of this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Prisoners: B=0, W=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

(where 'a' is an alternate place for the enclosing black stone)

You have a point.

But I suspect that the difference is quite small.

The players can't use a database search, but I sure can. Though , I find just 22 matches in GoGoD. Araban's choice for has been tried just once (by Mukai Chiaki against Anzai Nobuaki).

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c a: 14 - b: 4 - c, d, e, f: 1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . f e . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . a d . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

My sealed move:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Prisoners: B=0, W=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . 6 , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X , 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Here is where I go simple. After , if White plays an enclosure in the top right corner, is a good move, ideal for both players.

Why 7 @ R10, and not @ Q10?

What if White skips the enclosure and takes 7 directly? Approach the top with 6 or similar? I wouldn't like to leave the possibility of letting black take .