Fuseki in 2-stone handicap game

jts · **#21**

Bill Spight wrote:

emeraldemon wrote:

So it seems there are two questions. One is where white should play :w13:

, and the consensus seems pretty clear that the pincer I played was suboptimal, and taking the corner may be the best choice at that point. Question #2 is whether white has misplayed prior to :w13:

. Bill and Magicwand say yes, pointing to problems as early as :w7:

, whereas mitsun and maybe splatted seem to think those early moves were OK at least.

Does that about sum it up?

My main point is that White let Black set the pace in a two stone game, and let Black get an easy opening. Magicwand's suggestion for :w7:

is good, but I would not exactly call not doing so a misplay. As for a pincer at :w13:

, I like the idea, and do not like the kikasare.

Gotta run.

Hey now! Jowa says - don't run.

Polama · **#22**

mitsun wrote:

I think I am with Splatted on this one. It is true that W treated the B approach as a threat and felt compelled to defend the corner, so you could say that W got pushed around, but the exchange might still be good for W. Not all kikashi are good or profitable. A peep is usually good, because the opponent is required to connect on a worthless dame. The situation here is quite different -- B exchanged a move of dubious future value (as most reviewers agree?) for a move worth 20 points of immediate profit.

I suppose the way to evaluate the quality of a kikashi is the profit you gain from the stone minus the profit your opponent got responding. As long as that is positive, you're good. Clearly white profits. But black's stone is far from dubious in value. In Bill's suggested continuations, black stretches far down the right side. Things are now awkward for white in the top right corner. Approaching on the right is jumping into an attack. Approaching on the left, black could pincer while making a better base for the stone left behind. If black plays close to the stone to capture it more cleanly, white can expand along the top and start a moyo. And even if white does allow black to settle on the top, black can threaten to jump out later on. Something like F14 later on could simultaneously expand a left side moyo and threaten to bring that stone to life. It's hard to quantify, but that sort of left behind stone can be a hassle for the other player all game.

Tommie · **#23**

Clearly there are some high-dan-reviewers around here.

A sparkle of (useless/usefull ?) wisdom lies in a Chinese saying "shuoqilai rongyi - zuoqilai nan " (←→ it's easy to talk, but difficult to do/achieve).

I only speak for myself when stating that I'd be happy to be forced (by B10) too make small (but only) corner territory among 2 groups while the left black 2-point extension is attackable by a (later ) white pincer @ c9.

The black 2-point extension B14 (in the same diagram ) could also be considered 'low' (hence ineffective), and if it is not played (we have seen other ideas) then its original meaning of B10 is unclear to me.

ez4u · **#24**

jts wrote: