I like this for white:

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 8 7 5 1 . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . X 6 4 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The big question is whether black needs to compromise at 9 which is pretty awful or can fight by extending at 10. He can't double hane but white does need to crawl on the second line a lot to get enough liberties to win the semeai. A white stone on the third line towards the right would make this easy for white.

P.S. in topazg's sequence Black could just take a liberty for 5 and then the white stones only have 2 liberties.

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X 7 . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 5 4 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O O 3 2 O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X X d . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . O X X O X X O b . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O X . c O O X a . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

That was the sequence I was thinking of ... although Black has to make the "a" / "b" exchange first or play "c" earlier instead of D1 (Edit, yeah, Uberdude picked this one up already, this seems to make work to split nicely enough) ... White doesn't really have to play "b" here, "d" looks a lot better (but if he does, White is dead in the corner).

Actually, that is generally rather awkward for White on the aji front. Frankly, the whole thing is a giant mess on both sides, I'm sure a stronger dan can find a tighter route through this

I don't think you need the a for b exchange as black...

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X 7 . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 5 4 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O O 3 2 O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X X . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . O X X O X X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O X . . O O X 8 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . X . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

_________________
We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are.
Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness.
We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before,
No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.

Hehe, reading fail ... you're quite right, so I think Black gets to kill White if White tries to close in this way?

Me too I misjudged the value of Black's angle play at the first line, which is funny because my squeeze tesuji starts with the same move

Anyway, I didn't want to suggest White should attempt to shut in those stones right away but rather that they are not as thick as they look because of the aji.

In the meantime I go with Uberdude's diagram. The sacrifice is too brutal after all.

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X 7 8 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 9 5 4 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O O 3 2 O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X X . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . O X X O X X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O X . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I didn't read this carefully, but white seems to win this semeai. But these are all crude early exploitations of aji so it would be better to play more subtle moves aiming at these kind of things after.


But I think it might be a dream without white support on the right (closer than the corner):

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X X . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . z . X 6 4 2 3 5 a c f . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 7 9 0 4 6 b d e . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Seems black can block at e and white f doesn't capture anything thought there's a lot of grovelling on the 2nd line; also black has z which might even live and then the other white group can get chased.

Why assume that the play at signals that the left side is more important than the bottom and that therefore Black will continue with 'a'? Wouldn't the opposite tend to be the case? Isn't it natural to treat the marked stone lightly? It looks impossible for White to capture it efficiently after already playing three stones to separate Black.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 1 . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

_________________
Dave Sigaty
"Short-lived are both the praiser and the praised, and rememberer and the remembered..."
- Marcus Aurelius; Meditations, VIII 21

I didn't assume that, just if black chooses to defend the lower side he has no good way to do so due to the weakness at b so I'm happy as white. Now I'd expect white to pincer the black stone at 4 (or maybe 1 above which invites black to run out or else make a more efficient capture). If black makes a checking extension above 4 white can kill off the lone stone (but yes that does seem a bit inefficient hence the idea of playing one further). But in all of this if black does run out the lower white group is a lot stronger and can settle in the corner due to the thinness of the big knight move

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 f . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 8 7 . 1 . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 0 X 6 9 . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Not saying you should do 6 right away (e-f first?), but this back-up plan means white doesn't fear black splitting so much. With the small knight can extend at 10 so white can't settle like this. And yeah there is also clamp of 7 at 9 maybe better and then we get Knotwilg's sacrifice but white 2 ends up duff. Edit: actually white should answer the clamp with his own counter clamp at 3-3 and he gets the corner again so clamp is not an improvement for black

This reminds me of this joseki:

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 5 . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . 6 . 1 . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

And this variation

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 5 . . , . . . . . , b . . |
$$ | . 6 . 1 . . . . . . 7 . . . a . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

for when black wants to extend further with 7 (often as pincer of white a approach to black b). It does leave a weakness but it's not as bad as this one as white 4 is further away.

Also I had another idea of maybe white wants to use the thinness in another way, namely this 2 here as black needs to defend at 3 and then white can pincer, probably far and high at a, to make a big running fight (or pincer first is better style as depending on if/how black jumps out you might use 2 or kosumi or something else).

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 3 1 . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 1 X . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think It's worth considering this, in the standard joseki, black can hane at "a", but here:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . c X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O b O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 1 X 3 . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

with "c" as a very nifty way to protect the cut at "b" should black try to live in the corner.


So, black can't do this, which means he/she concedes the corner whole, and either plays as follows:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 1 X . d . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

leaving behind terrible shape and a great striking point at "d"

or else black pulls back gives white the easy descent.

_________________
Tactics yes, Tact no...