361

Just kidding.

Okay, goal for this game ... read, read, read.

That doesn't help with opening and global strategy, though. I'm going to try following a few simple rules (most of the time, anyways):

1) Read first (do I need to respond to my opponent's last move?)
2) If I don't need to respond, play in the largest open area

Obviously, this will only get me so far. I'm not usually one to think heavily on every move (even when I should) ... so maybe I should practice reading things out this game.

To be honest, I kind of like black's move for white.

I've actually been so inconsistent with my own openings that I'm not even sure what I want to do here, except that I've decided not to play a diagonal opening. Sometimes I do. Let's see what happens.

I like to approach right now, because I feel like it gives me the initiative. I prefer to play on the top side before he goes like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

That's why I didn't play the last corner, yet.

My first thought was to take the empty corner. But, going back to my previous stated mission for this game, I stopped to read some variations first. First variation I thought of:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm5 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This just seems to give White a nice wall. It's not the end of the world, but I'd like to be more active than that in this game.

Next I thought about the kosumi in response. There are a number of variations, but I felt like White was again getting off easy and could tenuki:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . 7 . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 6 . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

From there, my thoughts turned to pincers. I wanted to make this a severe pincer. I know he does not need to respond yet, theoretically ... but I'm in no rush. Pincers have so many variations ... I'll just put one of the more common ones (one that I think White may avoid, actually):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm5 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . O 5 . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . 4 . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 7 . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I don't mind this result, and is still not completely dead.

Still, I doubt White has anything so easy in mind for me.

Hah, we'll see which of us fares better. I get to read all the comments of Kirby's game against aggressive reading and severe pincers, you get to see all the comments of his game against my lackadaisical play .

Also by not putting our ranks in game titles it looks like there hasn't necessarily been a rash of "lowish SDK vs [-]" while Joaz & topazg are having their lulls. Yessss.

Good luck.

Corner, please! I feel good about this order, because I was able to force him to make a decision about the top right.

i have doubts about this way of play for white, considering that black N17 is the most severe pincer against low one space kakari. after black P16 and following sequence, which i am not sure about, the resulting picture seems like if white invaded corner under black stones, exchanging territory for black wall and i guess it is not a decision white would like to make now (similar to sansan invasion under a star)

on the other hand, everything is ok in fuseki

what is your plan if black plays P16 (which is in my opinion first instinct answer to your tenuki)?

Decided on a new rule for my hidden comments: a maximum of 3 diagrams to keep things from growing too large. More for my own sanity than anything. There might still be walls of text (I promised myself I'd ask why I was playing each move), but I'm trying to minimize that as well. Questions are always welcome.

Yes, I did suspect that Kirby would take the empty corner. Nothing wrong with that. I now need to think a bit. It will take at least two more moves to swallow Kirby's pincered white stone, and I'm already a stone ahead in that corner.

Currently, I'm examining the board and deciding on my options:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . c . . . . . . X . Q . . . . |
$$ | . . . @ . . . . . , . . . . a , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . e e . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . @ . . . . . d . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . b . . . d . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

What kind of game do I want to play? Gonna talk a bit about the different areas of the board I'm thinking about.

a) I've already mentioned that it will take two more moves to swallow completely ... a move in the area is still reasonable, but I'm leaning away from playing there right now, just because the board is so open.

b) Approaching this stone might make sense. It puts some pressure in a new area of the board. It's unlikely that my opponent will tenuki. However, since the stones are both 4-4 stones, both this area and a move around c allow my opponent a choice of easily taking sente to go take the next big move.

c) Like the b area mentioned above, putting pressure on this stone makes sense. I want to keep my opponent answering my moves for as often as I can. Like b, however, playing an approach at c gives my opponent the easy option to take sente and play big elsewhere.

The next two areas are big points. I give up sente completely to play in either area ...

d) This area is a point on the edge of both players' reach from the bottom corners. It's a big point for either player.

e) This area is an area that would support both left-hand corners for White. It's a good place for White to play. Black might want to disrupt that side before White begins to build a moyo, if Black doesn't want to fight against a White moyo.

===================================

So, what's my overall plan? I think the game will be more fun for me if I turn it into a whole bunch of fights. Is that overly combative of me?

Anyways, if I were planning on playing a moyo game myself, I would probably play in the d area directly, likely on the star point at K4. Since that's not my plan this game (for now), I'll strike that area off my list of candidates.

Similarly, the style I think I want to play in this game is a more active style. The e area doesn't feel active enough (to me; stronger players may disagree).

I want a more complicated game, so I want to make more areas of the board active at the same time. For this reason, I'm going to take the a area off the list.

This leaves me with approaching one of the corners. If I approach the upper left, I would likely approach from the left side (C14/D14/C13), as it feels too cramped to approach from the top side, and the top isn't really an area where White can easily expand yet.

The bottom left corner gives a few more choices, as I wouldn't mind playing on either side of the 4-4.

Unless I have some specific strategic reason (which I don't have here), I will always approach low with the standard Knight's approach.

I now have 3 candidate moves:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . Q . . . . |
$$ | . . . @ . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . @ . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Of these three moves, b feels most natural to me. If my opponent pincers it, I can make a double approach and take c (or D6). If my opponent plays c or D16 himself, I'll likely play K4, as it works well with my 4-4 in the bottom right.

Playing at a is interesting, but I'll leave that for later, maybe. It's close to the fight in the upper right already. Depending on the result of that fight, I might not want to play at a anyways, but the option, the potential, of playing up there is something to keep in mind.

Sorry for the long ramble, folks. I always get really involved in my opening choices ...

Yes, it does indeed make for an interesting situation. Especially since I keep forcing myself to stop and think about my move before rashly posing something dumb.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 7 . . . . . . X . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I like this much better for to help support well with black's pincer stone.

Then if white pincered, things might go kind of crazy.

Probably, I'd play on the right side in that case.

I'd like to respond to his approach. Here is my rationale:
1.) I am interested in the action that is happening both in the top right and in the bottom left.
2.) While it's true that I can probably handle a double approach by black in the bottom left corner, I will likely treat his double approach as sente – that is, I’ll probably answer him if he makes a double approach.

So, considering only the top right and bottom left, I can choose to play in either the bottom left or top right, now.
• If I respond in the top right, black can double approach in the bottom left, and I will answer him. After that, he can respond normally in the top right to some joseki sequence. I may or may not get sente after the smoke clears. End result: Even for black and white in the top right corner (assuming we play some joseki), and a superior position for black in the bottom left (since he made the double approach). I may or may not have sente.
• If I respond in the bottom left, we might play some joseki, for example. Let’s assume that I get an even result there. After that, if black plays in the top right, he gets an advantage there, but I definitely have sente. If he doesn’t move in the top right, then I will have the opportunity to get formidable results in both the bottom left and bottom right. So if black is interested in the bottom left and top right more than other stuff on the board, the end result is: Even for black and white in the bottom left corner (assuming we play some joseki), and either an even result in the top right, or definite sente.

Considering these options, it seems better to make a move in the bottom left. That way, I get an even result in the bottom left for sure, and either get an even result in the top right, or I get sente. Either way seems fine to me.

If Marcus decides to play UR corner, will he play (a) or (b)?
((a) has to do with a ladder):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I believe this is the normal sort of joseki if white responds to . I have heard white needs the ladder before. Is this the ladder:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B ?
$$-----------------
$$. . . . . . . . |
$$. . . . . . . . |
$$. X . O 3 . . . |
$$. . . 1 2 X . . |
$$. . . . 4 . . . |[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Yes; Ishida said both B and W need to be careful about this ladder.

Alright, fair enough, and expected.

I said I'd play this move, but I also want to question each play I make. So, why am I playing here, instead of jumping from here to some other part of the board? did say I wanted to fight ...

Well, this comes down to the fine line between "complex" and "chaos". While I might be able to complicate the game further, why should I? Perhaps Kirby has gained a slight tactical advantage by not allowing me to complete the shimari in the upper right. In theory that's true. This move also allows Kirby to jump back to finish the upper right.

Perhaps I could have punished the move much more severely ... but we're still playing a more or less even game, and at our level these little differences in the opening aren't going to decide the game.

There's also a matter of controlling the game flow. The upper right is a point of tension on the board. It must be resolved soon. The longer we both leave that corner, the easier it will be for each of us to choose variations that suit the board.

Personally, I think Kirby will go back to that corner with his next move ... either that or play at R6, approaching the lower right first. Hmmm, actually, I kind of expect that to happen now:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm9 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . 1 . . . b . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I could pincer, but that leaves a double-approach that I don't want to deal with. In this case, I'll likely play at b myself.

If he goes up to complete the upper right corner, I'll figure out what I want to do then.

@Marcus, when you read this after the game is over:

The top right is urgent. The middle lower side is merely big. You really must play in the top right, unless you can play a move that creates a situation of equal urgency someplace else.