I am interested in the last move, played by white. It seems like a very small move, or at least, a move that is not very obvious. My first thought is that black will push up one move, after which, I am not certain how possible variations could have occured. Really, I am simply not sure what to make of it. Thank you for your time.

Although the descending toward the side is more frequently seen, the sideways play has a long history in GoGoD. In the 11th century Liu Zhongfu answered as shown below...

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Liu Zhongfu - Wang Jue, Late 11th c.
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . 4 . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

A thousand years later Yamashiro Hiroshi did too...

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Yamashiro Hiroshi - Hikosaka Naoto 36th Tengen, 2009-09-17
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . 6 . O . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4 3 5 X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . 7 2 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The stand at 1 is by far the most common reply, especially when the upper right corner is the same color as the pincer stone. However, it allows the opponent more initiative on the bottom.

Here Peng Liyao answers at the top and opts for speed. Of course the corner is still vulnerable...

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Peng Liyao - Piao Wenyao 6th Changqi Cup, 2009-06-01
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 8 . . 1 . . . . 4 . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . 3 . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , 7 . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

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

Thank you very much, ez4u.