Twenty-two seems fine. I would also have considered the attach on top, as I think I mentioned before.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . 6 . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . 3 2 . X b . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . c 4 1 . a . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

(Albeit I only half remember this joseki, I'm not sure if is the best option. Or really.

Edit: It might continue with a-b-c or something, I'm not sure.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 4 3 . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . 5 . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . C X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

I feel this can reasonably be expected, after which I'm thinking about an invasion on one of the circled points (I have some reading to do).

I am changing direction to top and left, because I feel the area I could stake out across bottom by taking gote is not big enough.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . b 3 . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . c . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a e . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . f . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

I'm finding this decision even harder than the last one. Basically, nothing looks particularly good. Again, the lettered moves are the ones that occurred to me listed in the order that I thought of them.

My first impulses are to respond somewhere on the top left, and that seems natural, as my hoshi stone has come under pressure. There are two reasons however that I hesitate to do so. One, is that I would be following my opponent around the board, letting him get the better big points, and two, I have a 2-1 stone advantage on the bottom right, and if I don't get sente on the top left, (and I don't see a way to do so) that advantage will be gone.

How to evaluate? Let's say, I play at f. A white response at e looks to me quite hard to deal with. I suppose I can manage, but how much of a benefit is the move at f? Again, white's secure position on the bottom left could mean trouble, i.e., while chasing o3, my corner could easily become thin.

I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and play on the top left. a looks better than d, just because I have all high stones on the left, and he has gotten strong on the top. b looks like the wrong way to use the hoshi stone. What about c? It seems more consistent with my attempt to make thickness in the center, so that's what I'm going with. I'm imagining the following continuation:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 7 3 . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . 4 5 . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

I'm not necessarily convinced this is going to be better for black than kicking white into overconcentrated shape, but am looking forward to reading Daal's local plan. White J17 still seems to offer him sente...

I have some thoughts to think here, but all of them involve playing .

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm25 Tentatively?
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 3 O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X 1 . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

I think after this invading the left should not be hard. However, if an invasion still seems possible afterwards, should 27 be at 28? Invade the 3-3 and settle top from top right? What if Daal plays 26 at 27? F18 after F15?

I thought briefly about trying to cut and sacrifice for thickness, but J17 seems too well placed for that to work.

A good joseki choice, considering. I would definitely have played the attach on top here had white not had J17.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm27
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 3 . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 6 1 2 O . . W . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X 4 X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

After this, I think the marked white stone is not in a good place. Invading 3-3 seemed redundant if I was invading the moyo anyway.

If there's one thing I've learned so far from this Malkovitch game, it's that whoever said that it's pointless to give amateurs too much time to think must have been thinking about me. In the time that I normally could have played a dozen games, I've been carrying on a pointless debate with myself whether to play a or b. The worst thing, is that I have the horrible suspicion that one of them is infinitely preferable to the other, though I suppose that's just my self-consciousness speaking. Basically, I'm choosing a because it makes a move by white in the corner gote and pretty much permanently removes the cut. Flipping a coin however would have gotten the job done quicker.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . b 7 O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Black's move sacrifices a lot of points (I'm not sure what my proper move is, a or b maybe) in exchange for making his large moyo more solid.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . O O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |[/go]

This seemed like a good spot, but I can't really remember joseki here. He hanes, I probably hane under instead of crosscutting? Maybe. Black must be careful of me getting some mileage out of C6.

Considering living is generally gote, this may be a mistake / opportunity for black.

Basically, I'm only thinking about two moves; a & b.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . 9 X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Other moves in the area to consider might be extensions, but they seem utterly submissive. So, how to choose? (He pulls out his coin). I had a good feeling when I saw white's last move. Seems white is going in for a fight where the results can't be all that great. But what should I be striving for? It's too early to think about killing. Should I be trying to:

a) separate or
b) surround?

To my mind, these options correspond directly to the two candidate moves. Without doing any reading, surrounding means he lives with maybe 5- 10 points, and I have potential for territory on the bottom left and the center. However, depending on who gets sente, he will be able to reduce one or both. Separating means something of his dies while the rest is running into the center. My potential territory is on the left or the right and I can continue to chase something. My gut says separate. Just letting him live seems like going too easy on white. My reading (at this stage means: "what I hope") is that if he doesn't want to be separated, I get to surround him in a smaller space than had I played b.

Hane was to be expected.

I chose this counter-hane to move away from his influence without a hard fight; if he tries to play strongly, with C6 aji as well it will be hard for everyone.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm30
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . c 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . d Q X b . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . e 1 a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . Q X T . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Once again, these are my first ideas. One could just as easily say: "He has no idea."

If I recall, my last move was designed to separate the two marked stones, and a seems to do that most effectively, also reducing the aji around the triangle. Of the other moves, c seems to be the most interesting, and I tried to read it but it got too complicated for me to make any sense of it. I'd be interested in hearing how a stronger player would evaluate c. For now though, I'd rather avoid the complications which white is trying to create, and see if I can enclose and chase him. I'm vaguely thinking of blocking his running group somewhere around the shaded area and then trying to make a framework facing the marked stone. Unfortunately, this idea presumably sucks, because the marked stone is low and there is still plenty of room on the right for a white invasion, but...

I wish I had a better idea. I wonder where these good ideas come from? Atm, I just have to see what happens on the bottom.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm30
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . ? ? . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 6 . . . ? ? . . . . . . Y . . |
$$ | . . O X . 7 . . . . . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . Q X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

My hopefully generic attempt at sabaki.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm30
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . Y . Y O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . Y . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . c O b 4 . d . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

My opponent's move surprises me a bit, because I thought he would make a base first. I guess though that it makes sense for him to get out into the center first. I might be able to cut off something, but I won't be able to kill it if he gets out into the open. So the question arises, should I try to stop it in it's tracks, for example with d? This depends on two things:
1)Can I afford this move? That depends on whether my groups on the top and bottom are strong enough to withstand white's counter attack. Particularly, the marked group seems vulnerable. And
2) Will letting white out put me at a severe disadvantage? Well I guess that if I stop him from making a base, that I might have the chance to cap him later. I dunno.

Again, the labeled moves are the ones that I considered. Although the saying goes don't peep if you can cut, I prefer a to c because it strengthens my corner group and I'd prefer to give white as little leverage there as possible. b would also cause complications which white could also use to isolate the corner. d seems premature, so I'm going with a, which affects the bases of two groups.

I assume he'll connect, and I see the following sequence, leaving him with more holes than me:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . 5 . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X 1 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

I thought about tenuki, but I may want an eye against the edge later.

Basically, I've lost my inner motivation for this game. Playing out sequences on the board and then choosing a move is too unlike playing go, but it's hard not to do so, because even posting a diagram lets you see further into the game and invites further analysis. I'm not quite sure what to do.

For me to connect to D11 here seems clumsy, and also smaller than the game move (consider, only black can make points there). Also when black cuts there, I gain a forcing move.

However, it is apparent I should have played this at 35. 35 was not in the spirit of 33.

I'm not sure what to play on the right yet.

If connecting at e11 is clumsy, was connecting at c11 also clumsy?

Short answer; no.


Lecture on my personal semantics answer:


Relevant to the game answer:

His move surprised me. I wouldn't have played d17 yet so perhaps it was too early. He wants most of the corner, and I could try to stop him from getting more, but then he'd just pull out his d11 stones and I'd be short-changed everywhere. My first impulse was to cut right away at e11, and I guess it would remove most worries, but my gut feeling says it's letting w off too easily and it would be better to capture on a larger scale. Besides, I've been feeling a bit bored with this game because it's going too slow, so I hope that this will charge some excitement into it, and we'll get to see some dan-level fireworks from Loons. I think he has to try to cut my top left group off if he is going to come out of this ahead. I don't think he can do it.

The larger capture, eh. I will take some forcing moves and see if I can grow top.

Aw man ... isn't C16 just HUGE for W? I don't know, it kind of jumps out at me ...