Sverre wrote:
Don't play atari all the time, just make your stones safe and don't fix Black's weaknesses for him. 'a' is more useful than 'b'. Black is cut into two weak groups.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$c
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O 2 . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X X O 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a X O 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . b 4 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
You beat me to it.

In the position above and original SGF is normally a bad atari. It helps white and it removes the option of playing the other atari at

later should that move become useful later. It's possible for most DDKs who have the atari reflex to gain a couple of stones by avoiding most ataris that don't instantly capture important stones.
In the OP's variation:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$c
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O O . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a 7 X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 6 O X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
This also a bad atari, partly because it is not possible to capture the black stones right away, but for another reason, too. I can understand this reflex a little, too, because maybe you've learned that giving black an empty triangle at 'a' is sometimes good. But there is a big difference between this diagram and, for example, josekis where forcing an empty triangle is common:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$c Start of a joseki, empty triangle at 'a'
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a 5 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 7 3 4 . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
In the above joseki, white can't cut with

. In the earlier variation, the cut is possible and important, and so defending as Sverre saying just by getting more liberties for white leaves black with a problem: black has weakness in several spots and it is hard to continue.
So my question for cherryhill now is: are you comfortable with white's prospects after seeing the position in Sverre's suggestion over does it still look like an even fight to you?