I don't want him to connect under... I also let him get too muchon the top... Oh well.

Okay, I think this move for him was suboptimal. That, however, does not at all mean that I'll be able to punish him for it. He's defending his connection while threatening mine a bit. However, my plan was just to defend my corner in sente, and I pretty much got that. I just have to decide how to treat his response. Either I can say 'that is small' and tenuki, or I can defend my connection in response. The original threat to cut him off remains, so he would have just forced me to defend my stone... in gote. I know Kirby is much stronger than I am, so my criticisms ring hollow. But hopefully I can exploit his weaker moves to last longer before he forces me to resign.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1 Option 1: let him force me to defend, and aim to cut or attack C9
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . O . O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This looks fine to me. If he defends C9 I can cut via the peep. If he does something defensive for his running group, like a double bamboo joint, I can turn to attack C9.

Actually... option 2 was to tenuki to attack C9. However, he has just enough space to run that I'd rather defend here first. All I have to do is prove that the cut still works, and I'll have a plan.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1 Does the cut really work?
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . O . O 9 , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 8 6 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X 2 X 5 7 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . 1 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Looks like not
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 2 9 . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . O 1 O O 7 . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X X 3 4 8 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X X O O 5 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O X 6 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So I'm going to have to think about this a bit longer. If I can find a way to cut, I'm going to play D11.

Okay, the cut seems to not work directly. It seems a little like it might be taking gote unecessarily, but the move still feels good to me. If I get a single stone around K16, the cut suddenly works fine. So I'll play this move now, which stabilizes my group just enough that it makes various attacks sente. He can only defend one side or the other, so I hope to be able to attack him after this, even if it means ignoring what he does next. Let's see, but I would LOVE to take C9, because it would give me solid territory in the heart of where he wanted his moyo. So I'm sure he'll defend, but I'm getting more and more solid as well.

I want to defend on the left, now. I thought about:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

But it seems too small scale. I got my move in on top, which is good enough for me right now.

Not sure if this move is the right way to do it, but I am convinced it is sente against the peep/cut. If I get to capture those four stones, I get a fairly large area of pure territory. If he responds wrong, I kill the big tail of the group. If he responds correctly, I should get to take more of the top. He did what I expected, so I feel like I should go forwards with the rest of the plan. As an aside, he could try to run the top part out instead of capping at H13, but then his group is still weak and he is forcing me to capture stones in the middle.

My group on the left is kind of weak. I can't let him push my stone around too much here, though.

Well, I looked, and my analysis for the cut seems to read correctly now that I have L16. Unless I am horribly mistaken, J17 does not protect him against my sequence. Let's go for it.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1 Prisoners: W=0, B=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 2 O X X X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . O X O 1 O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X X O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X X O O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Crap, there's my misread

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 But this seems fine
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X X a . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . O 6 O 8 O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 5 3 7 9 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X B X 2 4 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O W 1 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I hate to let the fish slip loose at this point, but I just proved I can't capture the group unless he messes up. However, if I toothpaste him out (probably a bad idea, but if it is, it's for reasons beyond me)... it fixes my weaknesses at the top in sente, letting me capture his top stones for solid fourth-line territory. My group in the middle will either eat the loose stones or attack them as it escapes. Once it's safe, it'll have great thickness to attack the bottom and his loose left side. Hopefully I didn't misread anything else, and this is good enough.

If you H13, I

If you H15, I

First, threaten the top, then connect.

Ah, obviously I did not expect that response. Since I decided I could not manage the cut and decided to go for the top instead, I'm going to see if I can still get the top anyways. If Kirby blocks the cut, I will kill the top stones. If he defends the top stones, I will try to surround his running group.

My center group is a bit stronger, while his group on the left is rather weak. He can attack my top two stones, but I should be able to get some profit from them.

Well, I said if he defended the middle I'd do the best to take the top. I think my middle group's safe enough for the moment, so I'm going to try for the cash money.

Going to try to live inside...

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1 Prisoners: W=0, B=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . O . O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . B . B . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . W . W . B . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

My intuition of this move would be to attach outside as shown. Black has already invested five moves here, so white can consider treating as light and sacrifice them as necessary.

Playing at a feels rather heavy.

The timing of Kirby making life on top seems suspect to me. Yet again I think the simple move is more effective here:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Prisoners: W=0, B=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X X O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . O . O O O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . X B . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . a . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This is a classic example of urgent before big plays. can best be described as closing the fist prior to an attack, it applies pressure to White's group and Black can expect profit from it. If White ignores, then 'a' is severe...after the dust settles, THEN the top can be contemplated.

This was the move I was most concerned with, but I believe it works out okay.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Black can try to threaten the corne, but I think I retain most of it.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . a 7 8 1 2 X . X X O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 9 O O 3 O W O O O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 4 6 . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Let's live...

Oh, that's all he wants. If we do this a while longer, he can save some of his stones on top. However, if he pushes me once or twice more, it builds me a great attack on his top right corner, so I'm not sure I mind. This will take a good chunk of points from me on top, but I think I'll make most of it back with the power I'm gaining to expand on the right side. I really need to run my center group soon, but what he's doing now is weakening his running group as well. I'll never kill it, but it's giving me a little more capacity for running.

I am hurting my top right stone a bit, but at least I am taking away top points.