I have a question.
$$ Dia. 1: :b5: on the left side
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$$ | . . . . . 2 . a . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . 4 . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$ Dia. 1: :b5: on the left side
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 2 . a . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . 4 . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]
I think we're all familiar with joseki, and know that "a" is a possible follow up for B later on.
$$ Dia. 2: :b5: on the left side, :w6: elsewhere
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 2 . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . 8 9 4 . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$ Dia. 2: :b5: on the left side, :w6: elsewhere
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 2 . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . 8 9 4 . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]
This is the continuation that I'm most familiar with - it's easy for me to remember because that wedge looks so odd, but is remarkably tricky for W to deal with.
However, in a game today I saw another continuation that looked thin for W... I thought W could only play this way when he was quite strong on both sides. But it actually proved impossible for B (well, for me!

) to gain much, other than two weak groups.
$$ Dia. 3: :b5: on the left side, :w6: elsewhere
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 2 . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . 8 9 . 4 . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$ Dia. 3: :b5: on the left side, :w6: elsewhere
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 2 . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . 8 9 . 4 . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]
I ended up not being able to attack W on either side, and had to do an embarrassing amount of damage to my corner while I scrambled to live on the second line. Maybe this was just a result of a few bad reads or instincts on my part. Or, on the other hand, maybe I don't understand

in Dia. 2,

in Dia. 3, or even when B can hope to profits from

. Any advice?
The game in question is under the hidden if you want to see how I got myself in such a mess.