I'm not sure about the last two moves from black. White next at K8 looks pretty awesome for white to me.

if he plays it other way..weakness covered as below.

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[go]$$Bcm41
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O O X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . O O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X O . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 8 . O . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . X 4 X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 7 . 5 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

if i dont play as i did....

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[go]$$Bcm41
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O O X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . O O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 5 . X X O 8 O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 6 . 4 . O 9 O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . X . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm51
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O O X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . O O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X . X X O O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 1 X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O . O . O X O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . a O b . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . X . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

as you see above...i have a weakness.
my move will make him strong but i will cover my weakness in sente.
focal point of this game is in the middle.
i will show you how black will crumble in next 50 moves.
i might be behind now in points but i have thickness that worth more than points i gaveup.

Maybe I'm being overly simplistic, but I would have played this:

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

So in case you're wondering, I don't care about those two stones. I know that's sacrilege. But if you look at it, the White group I was attacking was pretty strong. There's no reason for me to invest more in my middle group especially when I can directly profit from cutting him. I have like ~55 points or so of honest to goodness territory.

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[go]$$Wcm1 PRISONERS B:1 W:0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O O X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 7 X 8 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 5 O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 6 X 1 . 0 . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 2 X O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . 9 . O O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X O X X O . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O . O . O O O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . X . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

First off I'm not worried about this area. I have a sequence to handle him if he thinks he can cheat me out of our agreement. Also notice 6 is sente.

So he handed me the lower right and in return he got no points, just a strong connection on dame points. In exchange for two stones and making a 95% alive group a 100% alive, he ditched his other group when he could have defended, and I got 20 points (albeit with some aji but I've read it, nothing I can't defend against). The only thing I have to do now is split up the left side, live without letting him seal me, and win.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm51 PRISONERS B:1 W:0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O O X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . X O . O X . . |
$$ | . . 5 , . . . . . , . O O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X O X X O . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O . O . O O O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . X . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'm pondering this move or A....

Time to see if he can make points with his thickness.

I must say that I would prefer black in this situation. I wonder what Magicwand can do from here.

It seems that most prefer black. But, I must say that the situation that we are at in this game is similar to many of the games I've played recently. My opponent takes a lot of early profit (on one occasion, I was 50, solid, pts behind), leaving me with an enormous amount of influence.
These games usually ended up with me killing a dragon and winning by a considerable margin.
Now, obviously, Yithril is slightly better than my usual opponents ; But, then Magicwand is slightly better than me .
So let's just wait and see. I think that either the game will be over by the beginning of the endgame or it will be even.

Sure, black has tons of cash, but from here on out the score will only get better for white. Will white catch up? I'm not sure, but in a game of me vs. me I'm really not sure which color would win. I wanna say I slightly prefer white, but perhaps that's just me being contrary.

Black's "cash" is less liquid than people think.

s6 is simply huge, and white is almost guaranteed to get it.

Additionally, the combination of p18 and the remaining aji of whites four encircled stones is a problem as well

This seems to approach from your thickness. what do you think about your prospects on the top left versus the bottom left?

GET EM JON!

i am thick everywhere. i dont think there is much difference between two approach but i have good enough reason why i approached from this side.... i will discuss them after the game.

assuming that my opponent's reading is equal or better than mine.. he should not have played as he did...
i am now thinking that his local reading is strong...but his global reading is a suspect.
if i have to choose white or black at this point..i will pick white 100%. i wonder if my opponent agrees?
i wonder if observers agree?? i wonder if professionals agree???
hopefully i will find out after the game...

Directionwise:

I think Magicwand wanted/needed to add stone(s) on top as it is the loosest (least developed) part of the board, and for that reason pushed C10 into D16. As others've identified, it seems he can fight stronger on the bottom half, and so adding just c8 in sente may also be fine there for now (as fighting will favor white).

Few of the three space extension variations I looked at seemed particularly favorable (in fact, let's just say none), so we're going with two space. Now, just so we're all clear, I see moves like s6, ~q 17-p18-ish moves, and the fact he can atari in the center. Totally aware and have plans for each one. Does that make me feel less confident: no. Because what I also see are...

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[go]$$Bcm51 PRISONERS B:1 W:0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . b . . . O O . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X . X , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . O O X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . f X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . g X O . O X . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . O O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . O X X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . X O X X O . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . d . . . . O . O . O O O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . X . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . c . . . . . e . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The exact spot for b I'm still reading out, but these are all wonderful moves that either remove aji, are invasion points, or can just nab territory away from my opponent. The idea from now on is balance. First off, no kos! Second, the bottom side I can clinch and the center is not big for him so the main battle will be fought at the top. I thought he should have made the extension from the top rather than towards it. He probably has visions of ransacking me in the center. Will I be attacked this game? Duh. The idea is to keep an eye on how he plans to gain and thwart it. Will it require immense reading. Thankfully yes, that's about the one part of this game I'm good at

Happy holidays all.

if he had extended one space more... i would have humped in.