Posts: 4511 Location: Chatteris, UK Liked others: 1589 Was liked: 656
Rank: Nebulous
GD Posts: 918
KGS: topazg
Magicwand vs topazg, the rematch. I took White last time, so I'm taking Black this time. It was a great close affair before, and I hope to make it that way again. Closed Malkovich so people won't be reading each other's comments, nor the observers with the exception of specific questions. I'm totally open to using joseki dictionaries or not, as at this level I'm not entirely sure whether that's a help or a hindrance anyway. If magicwand wants to use them, fine, but I suspect he won't as I suspect he feels similarly to me I'm intending to make a move a week for sure, and 2 or 3 moves ideally. Forced sequences will happen quickly.
So, without further ado, good luck magicwand, may the best player win, and have as much fun as the goban allows
I like 5-3 points. They are interesting, have a number of ways to handle approaches (including tenuki), and I've still not mastered what I'm supposed to do with the things. Makes a good learning exercise.
last time i played him i lost the game until he made a mistake. this time i will not put myself in that situation. he is far stronger than 1d in my opinion
_________________ "The more we think we know about The greater the unknown" Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson
Last edited by Magicwand on Fri Jan 21, 2011 8:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Now THIS I am eager to see. I don't even have anything to say, just enthusiasm. Now that I think of it, Topazg's been changing his style a bit lately, so I'm curious how that'll come into play...
_________________ Someday I want to be strong enough to earn KGS[-].
this game i am going to concentrate from fuseki and finish him clean.
i expect his next move to be as below. (i am about 90% sure) if i play starpoint on the corner the his approach will be ideal. so i will not play as below.
if i play 'a' then it will be too timid. my past experience tells me he like high approach. i will start attacking by pincer. it will give him more to think about. i will not let him out easy on every move.
I'm going to, as before, have beginner stuff in green, strategy in red, tactics in black, and counts/score estimations in blue. I'm also going to reintroduce my reborn evaluation system, GAHP (Graham's arbitrary happy points) which I'll apply to each of my thoughts.[/b]
First half of my analysis
"a" - Lower right 4-4 point
My eye was immediately drawn to this point for a few reasons. Firstly, it makes the right side really interesting to develop for me, and also the bottom side, which makes the followup I'd like to look at around F3 quite attractive. Also, if White approaches in the top right, the joseki + extension still feels nice to my eyes:
I play high to work with the lower right corner, and I think this fuseki looks nice for Black. So, we still have to seriously consider what's happening in the top left, but I really like this development idea. 7/10 GAHPs
"b" - Upper left 3-5 point
My analysis is fairly short for this one. It's a slight equivalent of "move 2 lost the game" for me. The approach at "a" feels too nice for White:
It's supposed to be locally bad to approach here as Black gets too large a corner, and White's corresponding group is left with an open skirt, as follows:
Black gets sente, which is nice, but the fact White gets an easy job of developing the left doesn't sit easily with me. Of course, I'm slightly interested as to the approach in the lower left, which now seems feasible:
Maybe should be low instead of high. It's possible White can't play this way, but I'm not confident enough in it. Also, the 5-3 works to develop the top and not the left, so other than completing the shimari (which is fine, and big, but gives White dibs on the left hand side next move) it feels hard for me to know what to do with it. On the other hand, it makes completing the top right shimari very interesting, as White wedging on the side has to come inside Black's area of development. However, I don't like the fact I'll end up flat across the top, and the extension from the top right feels unambitious:
It has value, but it feels hard for my meager abilities to make it valuable enough for my comfort. 5/10 GAHPs
[hide]"c" - Upper left 3-4 point
I dislike this one even more. I don't see any reason why I should give White the ideal high approach, especially when it isn't clear just what I want to do in the top right just yet:
Obviously, the contact joseki from here gives White ideal development, and I don't see any reason why I should be allowing this. Alternative (normal) pincer joseki:
Oh look, that gives White an option of approaching high of here too. Sorry, not buying this one, even if it does disrupt White's left side development. 4/10 GAHPs
Addendum, actually, the other 3-4 point up there is kinda interesting. I probably should have considered that more seriously
Second half of my analysis
"d" - Upper left 4-4 point
Actually, I rather like this option. It makes the top right shimari standard (albeit kinda boring) and will enter into a very typical opening fuseki:
Boring, boring, yada yada yada. Where's the fun in this? In all honesty, this is absolutely fine, but it scores one less happy point because I don't find it very interesting. 6/10 GAHPs
"e" - Lower right 3-4 point
This is an interesting one. The reason I have rejected is that it means both right hand stones are trying to develop the right hand side, and neither have interest in developing the top or bottom edges. As a result, it feels kinda flat. I don't want White to get both points marked "a" below:
So, purely going on gut and the fact it's really not my cup of tea to have restricted development options, I'm not playing it. I thought briefly about playing "b" to develop it, but that just accentuates the horrible flatness of it all. Maybe "b" as high would be ok? 5/10 GAHPs
"f" - Lower right 3-5 point
I kinda like this one. It's spiky, unusual, and reasonably interesting. It also feels like it's trying to be spiky and unusual just for the sake of it. I'm not sure it's got a particularly well defined purpose, at least, I haven't got one for it. There are interesting ideas a la "a":
If was one space closer to Black's top right position, the approach at "a" would give White the chance to make a two space extension, which almost forces Black to pincer. This lack of options is to be avoided where possible in the fuseki - more options = more chances to choose a good one. Less options = more chance for your opponent to make sure that your only option(s) work in his favour. Likewise, playing low would give White the chance to cap at "b" later, reducing my hoped framework more than I want to tolerate. You can't really cap a 4th line stone effectively most of the time. The move at "c", hoping to exploit some thin-ness, is hard with again, as there is no way for White to make a base. As a result, it will be comparatively easy to attack. If was at "d", in my opinion it would be too far away from the top right, and White could poke at Black more effectively. This leaves and "d" as the only extensions I would consider reasonable, and I like better for reasons known only to my subconscious.
he played unusual upper right hand corner. if you try to invade then that is exactly what he wants. i will let it be there and let him suffer. because it is like a weakness that you really want to cover... playing with weakness is not what you want.
P.S.
seriously was his hide tag filled? what i did above is not what i am going to do. it is just to ridicule him for something i dont understand.
_________________ "The more we think we know about The greater the unknown" Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson
Basically, I'm encouraging him to approach at the top now, which gives me exactly what I want on the right hand side. The top is interestingly to develop for only one corner right now, whereas both bottom corners want to develop the bottom. The right hand is interesting, but flexible I think. The left side is interesting too, and I expect him to play there at some point soon. I also toyed with approaching top right because I can pull back and threaten to make the shimari:
However, I'm not particularly fond of my top left thin shape. If I can get a good position on the bottom, I'll do it for sure, but I suspect after the following, White will do something on the top edge:
I was sorely tempted to do it here, but I figure if anyone can rip holes in a loose looking formation, magicwand can. I'm kind of wishing I had now, just to see what the problems with the formations are (I assume there must be some, as I haven't seen it in professional play).
Still, let's see what magicwand's goals are now. I presume he's going to play in the top right, and I have an annoying feeling he'll approach high. I quite like the fact I get sente with my idea, and can approach the top left. This is particularly true now that he's pulled back low here, where I'm not as concerned with White developing a large left hand side. I'm not ahead here, but I'm not behind either. Let the fun begin!
Posts: 4511 Location: Chatteris, UK Liked others: 1589 Was liked: 656
Rank: Nebulous
GD Posts: 918
KGS: topazg
Thoughts:
Confuddle it, that's rather cute. That makes more sense than approaching the top right, and is certainly a key area to play. I'll have a think about it, but my first desire is to play something like this:
many times as skd you dont know how to answer that 5-4 point corner. in you dont go in and let him play the corner then one who played it will suffer more.
_________________ "The more we think we know about The greater the unknown" Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson
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topazg
I'm intending to make a move a week for sure, and 2 or 3 moves ideally. Forced sequences will happen quickly.
at "a", then 
@ 
high to work with the lower right corner, and I think this fuseki looks nice for Black. So, we still have to seriously consider what's happening in the top left, but I really like this development idea. 7/10 GAHPs
should be low instead of high. It's possible White can't play this way, but I'm not confident enough in it. Also, the 5-3 works to develop the top and not the left, so other than completing the shimari (which is fine, and big, but gives White dibs on the left hand side next move) it feels hard for me to know what to do with it. On the other hand, it makes completing the top right shimari very interesting, as White wedging on the side has to come inside Black's area of development. However, I don't like the fact I'll end up flat across the top, and the extension from the top right feels unambitious:
move gives me the willies a bit. It's probably fine:
, I would like to see this joseki. 
