I did wonder about this instead:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm31 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 4 . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O 5 X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . 7 . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . b . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . a 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The more common response of "a" seems to be ok enough for me, as I should be able to settle on the bottom and leave his lower middle stones floating a little bit, but he will develop a thick left hand side, and I was more concerned with having an even smaller corner if he played "b" instead - was this better than my game choice?

Why D6 specifically? Why not C6 or F4 or F3?

Did you consider blocking on the R16 side for the 33 invasion instead of Q17?

I'm just trying to make my moyo as large as possible. It works with my two high stones on the side and the thickness to the top. If you're going for big influence then play high stones.

Yeah, I did. The reason I chose against it is because that would give White at least as big a corner as this way, and it allows White to walk happily into my territory at the top. I think the thickness in the top left is far enough away that this works to build a moyo, as opposed to being overconcentrated. If I block the other way, I have a very uncertain territory on the right because of how generally few stones I have there. Comparing these two diagrams:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm39 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O 1 . . . . . 7 5 4 O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . a . . . . . . 6 . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 8 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 9 . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . B . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

My hope here is that I can get enough points on the top and the right that it's hard for White to guarantee enough points from his moyo to overtake Black's score. The problem is, White's moyo could get really very big, so I honestly don't know. It's also quite possibly greedy of Black to try and get points on both sides like this, I don't know, but I don't want to make a further push at "a" because it makes White thicker in a way that benefits White more than I think Black gains. Alternatively:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm31 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . 6 . 4 O 2 W O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X 5 3 1 X B . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This may well be fine - certainly, Black's right side has very good potential, but the bottom seems to be almost completely gone now. This does look better than I thought it would, so maybe this would have been the better way to play, it just feels very uncertain to me at the moment

Gosh, I really didn't expect him to hane on that side, and I'm delighted he has (rightly or wrongly). It struck me that one of the few possible issues he might have had was the weakness of the lower side White stones. Hane on the other side both gives me a squishy small corner and seems to build up influence facing outwards from both sides of the corner... this seems to put his own group in pressure:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm41 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O X 1 . . 3 . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Now I either get to hurt that group and live, or he strengthens it and I run upwards towards the White moyo. I'm probably missing something crucial somewhere.

Continuing as per plan. I did wonder slightly whether White would consider switching directions .. the following seemed quite an interesting alternative to me, although it does feel somewhat inconsistent with the original hane:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm41 at A also seems interesting
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 4 6 O . . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . 5 O X 1 . 2 . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . 7 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'm reasonably happy with the position at the moment, although it's far too early for me to feel confident making a judgement on who's currently ahead (if anyone).

I'm actually going to do something a bit strange here. It's not really possible to make much of a base because of , so I'm not going to bother at keeping them connected just yet. Instead, I'd rather keep up the pressure on the White stones to the right, and move towards the middle with an aim of restricting White's moyo. I think this is probably a more globally sensible direction than connecting the group and, I suspect, making it rather heavy.

Of course, it does mean he can capture those stones, but it seems a bit small right now compared to some of the other things going on - as I said, it would be another thing entirely if it properly stabilised my stones, but I don't think it does. I might aim at K2 to stabilise, or I might aim more centrally - let's see what he does first.

He's not bad at all. 5 is a good move. He has to do it, because other moves are too submissive. I can still pressure him though with 6 to defend my stones. If he jumps again, I defend the left side. I also don't want him sliding under my high stone here.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm41 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O 4 5 6 . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O X 1 . 7 3 . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

If he had played 5 then I have the clamp at 6.

My initial reaction is one of the following:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm41 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . d . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 . e . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O 4 c . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O X 1 . . 3 6 . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . a b . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think locally is massively urgent, so I'm not really considering tenuki right now, but there are lots of pros and cons in detail later, but in short: I really don't want White to get "a", it's just annoyingly painful and very sente. However, descending myself seems to risk making me heavy. The hane at "b" + atari + hane again also appeals in some ways, but it also makes White ridiculously thick locally. I'd be happy enough if I can double hane, as that would almost completely fix my group, but I don't think I can because he can just cut. "d" is if I can't find any local continuations I'd be happier with, but it's still a bit painful because of White "a". "e" is an intellectual curiosity more than anything. I'm considering it primarily out of some desire for sabaki should he try to wedge - however it's not entirely clear if it leaves useful aji that would make it better than the hane at "b" directly. I also think there's a risk of Black losing and White letting Black live low on the bottom, which is unacceptable. I'm leaning most strongly towards "a" at the moment, but I need to do some reading before committing myself here.

Well, time for a change of plans

Originally I was looking at the descent, but it doesn't really achieve anything - all it does is give White good kikashi and leaves Black weak:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm41 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O 4 . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O X 1 . . 3 6 . a . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

It's still very clear Black doesn't have two eyes, and it's very unclear the best way to proceed for me. Sure, it gives some cute aji at points like "a", but moves like that are designed to remove bases in order to attack and separate. I can't see any way of doing that that doesn't put my group in more trouble.

The next thing I looked at was jumping out the other way to see if I simply need to make ground before responding locally:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm41 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O 4 . . . . O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O X 1 . 9 3 6 . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . b 8 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Again, this doesn't seem to achieve anything, and I still have no eyes (ok, I can make an eye in gote with "b", but it feels a bit painful). I actually scrapped looking after the two stones almost immediately. I can't use them for eyespace because of the descent in the corner that White made, and they aren't all that valuable in and of themselves - they don't really serve me any purpose, and their only points value is them not dying, which is maybe 4 or 5 points, which I'm not going to go saving in gote right now.

So, the next thing I looked at was strengthening White's group in order to secure mine:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm47 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . 7 8 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . 5 6 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . . 3 O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . X O 4 . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . 1 2 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I really like this sequence - I had looked at playing @ , but after White cuts and black connects, I can't find any way of not ending up in a worse position than this sequence, and it's very clumpy and ugly looking.

Unfortunately, I think White can do this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm47 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . b X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . 3 2 4 O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O X X . a X O . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Now the "a" and "b" cuts are miai, and Black has conceded a lot of points without really gaining anything of value - in particular really looks like a waste. I could play to connect underneath:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm47 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . B . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . 2 4 O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O B B . . B O 3 5 . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But now all the marked Black stones look really really unhappy, and this sort of thickness is precisely what White wants to use with his result in the top left.

So, I ended up going with the move in game because it gives me a similar result to the one I want, but with a different move order that sort of prevents this wedge unpleasantness:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm47 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . 1 2 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . . 5 O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O X X . 7 X O 6 . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

All in all, this looks very satisfactory to me. Of course, I can't prevent the wedges, but then I can treat some of the stones lightly and make some form of kikashi to become strong:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm47 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 9 7 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . 5 . 3 6 8 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X 2 1 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . . 4 O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . X O . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm47 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . 5 . 3 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X 2 1 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O a 7 6 4 O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O X X 9 8 X O . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Either way I'm conceding something to White, but in exchange, I'm developing a nice strong group - in each situation, seems to be a key point, but I can't see an easy way for White to exploit it (that doesn't mean there isn't one of course )

Hmm, interesting. Well wedging through him seems like the natural thing to do here. Black won't have a base and I'll start pushing him. I just have to make sure that I get the left side so that when I run him out I'm not running him into my moyo.

As planned... I'm expecting to him to push and cut now:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm49 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 9 7 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . 3 . 5 6 8 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X 4 X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . 1 O 2 O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . X O . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

If so, this works quite nicely for me I think with regards to reducing his left hand side

Connecting is obvious, I don't think it changes the situation much.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . O X O . X . . . . . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . . . . , . X . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . O O O X X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O O . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 7 . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 . 6 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O X X . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . X O O O . . O . X , . . . |
$$ | . . O X X . 2 X O . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Stabilizing my bottom group while getting sente to play at a is first and foremost on my mind right now. This seems to be the right tempo, but I need to think out counter strategies from his perspective.