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[go]$$Wc
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . X . . X 1 . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . 2 . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . . O . X . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Playing as black in this game, the usual responses of and gave white a huge corner that I never did manage to make any impression on. Were they the wrong moves?

After white played at h17 for , I had a look at invading at A, but chickened out. Would this have been a sensible invasion, or was white already too strong?

_________________
Regards,

Peter

Your and were good, white's kicks, particularly the second, were dubious. White doesn't have a big corner, it has lots of holes in it. The immediate thought after those kicks when you are looking for the shape weakness is the points below, as they make miai of connecting under (a) or else doing something fun if cut off (b). r16 is another possible place to start shenanigans inside, see viewtopic.php?p=133840#p133840.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . X . . X 1 . B . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . 2 . O b . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b B . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 a . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . . O . X . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . X . . X O . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . X . O . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . C C C C |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C C C C |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C C C C |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . C C X C C |
$$ | . . X . . O . . O . X C C C X C C C C |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . C C C C C C C C |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . C C C C C C C C |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

And, further to Andrew's comments, let's not forget the big corner you're building (and that helped you build a little). If your opponent solidifies his territory in the top right, you should work on building and solidifying the bottom right. They're about the same size.

I must be honest and say that, after , I'd have played H17. I don't know whether this is good or not - it just feels too good for white if he gets it. The downside is that this lets white solidify his corner while attacking your O17 stone. But that's go.

Some thoughts on invading.

No guarantee that any play is correct.



Happy Easter!

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.