i do not have the control yet but i feel i am not losing

Sometimes the best way to figure out where you want to play is to put yourself in your opponent's shoes and see where he'd like to play if you didn't play in the area of interest. In this case:

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[go]$$Bcm21 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . X , O . . O . X . X . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . W . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . O . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This would be painful for me. So by jumping, not only am I keeping my group safe, but also making it harder for him to gain control of the center + his group on the right is still not totally safe. Neither is his group on the left.

i am going as i planned.
still i dont see myself ahead..but i am not behind.
below is what i expect from my opponent.
i want him to jump into my influence on left or bottom.
that way i can attack and get ahead.

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[go]$$Bcm31 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 3 2 4 . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . X , O . . O . X . X . . O , X . . |
$$ | . 5 . . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 6 . . . . . X . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . O . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This reasoning behind this move is very simple. I don't want him to get the corner, as that will not only stabilize his group, but give him a good chunk of cash as well. Sometimes it's possible to play elsewhere after making this kind of exchange, but in this case I think we can expect MW to pull back and save the stone. It establishes a base.

I want to preface the following statements with the fact that I think so far everything is pretty even, and neither player seems ahead. I have a few stylistic differences with White and I feel uncomfortable dividing the top into a series of running battles. I just feel that there may be a better way to utilize all of his stones globally.

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[go]$$Wcm1 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . X . X . . O , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 1 . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . O . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I might play at 1 to emphasize using White's lower right stones. The reason for that is this: I know the top Black group can be squeezed and pushed into my influence. At the same time, I don't see the real benefit of that with Black's upper left 3-4 point. I feel like White running Black into the center diminishes his investment in the upper right. Black will stabilize the center group, it's 80% stable as it is. Some might say I would be ceding the top, but If I get the chance to play a big spot on the left, I think the trade would be okay overall.

Just some food for thought.

is he going to tenuki???

C10 next? Looks like the perfect move for white if black omits it.

If Araban really wants to prevent W from stabilizing in the corner (the stated goal of ), he needs to add another move locally... otherwise MW can play B18 with quite large follow-ups, no?

I think B C10, W B18 B B16 is favorable for Black--it's an efficient extension and playing in the corner is a little small for White plus it helps patch the weaknesses introduced by not playing B16 in the first place.

I'd be more worried that White would find a way to exploit the thinness of extending to C10.

For that reason, I'd probably play at B16 B15 (coordinates suck!) to begin with. But maybe that's too conservative.

Edit: got the coordinate wrong.

My basic instinct would be B15. However, there is something to be said for the C10 idea as well. Why? When Black exchanged B17 for D17, White's upper left stones became safe. Black's shape in the upper side does not allow Black to slide underneath and attack White's eyeshape. So then what is the point of protecting B17? Black can secure his base in the upper left corner (giving three Black corners to one for White), but that is about it. White takes the initiative next. Would it be better to extend down the side and, if White plays in the upper left, just keep on going? Black has to be careful in deciding how far to go however. White ends up with invasion points if Black extends too far.

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[go]$$Bcm31 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . X , O . . O . X . X . . O , X . . |
$$ | . a . . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . x x . . . . X . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . O . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I was mostly debating between 'a' and 'b'. Again, each move has their pros and cons:

a
Pro: Safe, keeps MW's group in check.
Con: Looks a little slow; the pincer (around 'x') can make anyone feel a little claustrophobic.

b
Pro: Prevents the pincer, speedier.
Con: Still leaves aji in the group, letting W get c not only ensures his group has no weakness, but also weakens my group. It's a move that stabilizes his group and destabilizes mine. 'b' doesn't exactly mean my group is safe, i.e. he could still pincer around 'd' if I play elsewhere. Either way I'd have to ignore his 'c' and play a move like 'e'. This kind of play is not something I enjoy.

The length of how much I wrote for each cons speaks for why I chose a.

if i give black a chance to play 37 then he will gain too many points
i am trying to make him create another weak group so i can erase his points naturally.
he already has one weak group on top..so that shouldnt be too hard..

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm31 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . X , O . . O . X . X . . O , X . . |
$$ | . X . . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 6 . . . . . X . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . O . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

MW talks about how eager he is to create weak black groups, which makes sense to me, but doesn't white already have 2 semi weak groups himself, and is possibly creating a third with this pincer stone? I suppose if we just treat this pincer stone as kakashi more than a new group it seems more reasonable, but I still wonder how MW feels about his two groups on top

I think his upperleft group is pretty solid, so he has only 1 potentially weak group. I think he is overestimating the 'weakness' of black's group at the top though. Araban can make eyes pretty easily there. Anyway, attaching on top seems natural for B (splitting the two groups), eventhough it is bad for the left side.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm31 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . X , O . . O . X . X . . O , X . . |
$$ | . X . . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X . . O . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 7 . O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . X . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . O . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Even if my corner group is safe, the second worst thing after dying is getting sealed. Not only does this move help prevent getting sealed in, but it also puts some pressure on White's top group as well. I expect White to support his stone with an extension around 'a', but perhaps it is a little insipid - MW can get pretty creative, so I'll see what he tries to do.