I played another tournament game against the opponent who appeared
here:
http://www.lifein19x19.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8381.
He has rightly promoted himself to 3 kyu. I still languish at 4 kyu.
Unusual attachments and early invasions were to be expected,
and they duly appeared. I had decided in advance to try to put into
practice Bill Spight's suggestion at the end of the thread just referenced.
It did not go well. (Only I am to blame, naturally.)
I could draw the conclusion that it is better to challenge this opponent to a
fight and take my chances, since we are about equal in fighting strength. Instead,
I am reflecting ruefully on the need for balance in the approach to the game. Such as
the balance between attack and defence and the balance between determination
and flexibility.
Away with the abstract nouns! Here are the moves.
(;GM[1]FF[4]
CA[UTF-8]
AP[Quarry:0.2.0]
SZ[19]
GN[Milton Keynes, 2013]
RU[BGA]
KM[7.5]
TM[3900.0]
OT[30 moves in 5 minutes]
PB[thirdfogie]
BR[4 kyu]
PW[A.N. Other11]
WR[3 kyu]
ON[Irregular]
RE[W +19.5]
;B[pd];W[qo];B[cd]C[Aiming to play the small Chinese, as usual with
Black.]
;W[qf];B[nd];W[fc]C[No more small Chinese in this game.]
;B[hc];W[oc]C[The first of the tradmark early invasions.]
;B[od];W[nc];B[mc];W[mb];B[lc];W[lb];B[kc];W[qb]
(;B[qc]
LB[pb:a];W[pb]C[Should Black take the empty corner now?]
;B[dc];W[me]C[Another unusual move.];B[of];W[ph]C[Hmm. I'm not so
happy now. Black's triangled stone has turned into an effective
inducing move.]
TR[me];B[dp]C[But this can't be bad.];W[ce]C[I have learnt to expect
the unexpected.]
;B[de]C[This reply was good, because it strengthens Black and separates
White.]
;W[cf]
(;B[df]C[Would Black a have been better than pushing from behind like
this?]
LB[ch:a];W[cg];B[dg];W[dh];B[eh];W[di];B[cm];W[ed]C[Personally, I would
not play a raw peep like this unless I was in deep trouble. Maybe
Black should reply at a and challenge White to fight it out.]
LB[ge:a];B[dd];W[fg]
(;B[eg]C[Would cutting through at a have been better than meekly
connecting? During the game, I just thought that White's peeps were
strengthening Black more than White, so I was happy to connect.]
LB[ff:a];W[hd];B[id];W[he];B[gc];W[ie];B[jd];W[fd];B[kf]
;W[jg];B[jf];W[ig];B[if];W[hf];B[ff];W[gf];B[fe];W[gd];B[kg]
;W[ee];B[ef];W[gb];B[hb];W[eb];B[db];W[da];B[ca];W[ea];B[bb]
C[Now the Black corner group is definitely alive.];W[fh]
;B[ei]C[Now White is squeezing out the toothpaste. How can I lose?]
;W[fi];B[dj];W[cj];B[ck];W[bj];B[bk]C[I was trying to follow the rule:
don't try to kill a weak group in the opening: just wall it in and take
sente.]
;W[bh];B[np]C[I expected White a followed by Black b.]LB[jp:b]
[pq:a]
;W[jp]C[Wrong again.];B[hp]C[Better at a?]LB[hq:a];W[pq]
;B[hn];W[jr]C[Another unexpected move. What now?];B[lq]C[Trying to
grab whatever eyespace there is before White gets it.]
;W[gq]C[Another surprise. All I could think of now was to make White
choose which of his stones will be cut off.]
;B[iq];W[ir];B[jq];W[kq];B[kr];W[kp];B[lr];W[hq];B[ip];W[dr]
C[White chose to make his third live group along an edge of the board.
Surely I cannot lose now!]
;B[gp];W[eq];B[ep];W[dq]C[The empty triangle was another surprise.]
;B[nm];W[on];B[nn];W[ng]
(;B[nf]C[This move was played quickly and without thought. I should
have chosen to fight. See (highly speculative) variations.]
;W[mg];B[mf];W[pl]C[Now White has four live groups and a big side.
Somehow, I failed to notice this during play.]
;B[cp];W[cq];B[fj];W[gj];B[fk];W[hi];B[hl];W[ml]C[I thought I could
simply threaten to cut this stone off by playing on the marked points,
then destroy White's territory on the right side.]
TR[nj:nl]
;B[nl];W[mk];B[nk];W[nj]C[Another surprise. Now White may get
territory in the centre. And Black has been pushing from behind again.]
;B[ln]C[Probably not big enough.];W[km];B[lm];W[kk];B[kn]
;W[jm];B[jn]C[Played in the hope of capturing all the marked White
stones, but that was unrealistic.]
TR[kk][mk:ml][jm:km]
;W[gk];B[gl];W[oj]C[Black should not have let White be the first to
play in this area.]
;B[ki];W[ga];B[og];W[oh];B[oq]C[A ruse designed to break into White's
side territory. It worked, but not well enough.]
;W[pr];B[pk];W[ok];B[pm];W[ql];B[om]C[Better at a? I was still playing
low risk moves, as if I had a safe lead.]
LB[pn:a];W[qm];B[pp];W[qp];B[or];W[bp];B[bo];W[bq];B[ps]
;W[qr];B[ao];W[ak];B[al];W[aj]C[No further moves recorded. White won
by 12 points on the board, or 19.5 points with komi.]
)
(;B[pj]
(;W[md];B[nf];W[mf];B[mg]
(;W[lg];B[mh]
(;W[lh];B[lf];W[mi];B[nh];W[oh];B[og];W[ni];B[ng];W[lj];B[ok])
(;W[lf];B[lh];W[je];B[ke]))
(;W[og];B[lf];W[pf];B[rc];W[mh];B[lg];W[ok];B[oj];W[nj];B[ni]
(;W[mi];B[nk];W[mj];B[ol])
(;W[mj];B[mi];W[li];B[om];W[pm];B[pl];W[ol];B[qm];W[pn];B[nk]
;W[pk];B[qk];W[ql];B[nl];W[pl];B[lj];W[mk];B[lk];W[ml];B[ll]
;W[mm];B[oi])))
(;W[nf];B[md];W[je];B[ke];W[le];B[og];W[oh];B[nh])))
(;B[ff];W[eg];B[gf];W[fi];B[np];W[pq];B[jp]))
(;B[ch];W[df];B[ee];W[dh];B[ci]))
(;B[pb]C[Would this have been better? It seals White in, but ends in
gote.]
;W[pc];B[qc];W[ob];B[rb];W[pa];B[rc];W[dp])
)
By the way, do Americans spell "Opening" with three "n"s, as rendered by EidoGo?