I don't think I properly said what I was trying to achieve with the fuseki I've chosen. The idea was that, after
, I would have an extension from the wall I'd be building, while White wouldn't.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc Black already has an extension (marked stone) while White doesn't.
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . B . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -----------------------------------------[/go]
The problem is that I almost certainly end up in gote, allowing EdLee to protect his moyo, as well. As I looked through the possibilities, I was not sure what I would do in this position, for example:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc How to deal with White's moyo?
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X O X O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -----------------------------------------[/go]
Even though this position should be playable for Black, I was concerned that White would be building territory on at least as large a scale, if not larger, as Black would.
Thus, I decided to try to be clever about it by trying to get a stable living group on the right side before going about building my territory on the bottom. However, I then decided to be adventurous and played a knight's jump after a pincer without fully investigating the possible consequences. The problem now is that if I try building my territory on the bottom straight away, my group on the right will likely become weak. See for yourselves:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wc White to move; marked stones make Black's group on the right noticeably weaker.
$$ ---------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ , . . . O . O . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ , . . . . . X O . . |
$$ . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . W W . O . . . |
$$ . . X X X O . . . . |
$$ . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ . . . . . X , . . . |
$$ . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ --------------------[/go]
Professionals seem to have a lot of faith in the resilience of Black's structure, allowing similar situations in a few games, but I am no pro.
Therefore, I find myself in a tricky situation that is hard to handle. Well, it serves me right for playing things I am completely unfamiliar with.
Then again, I am learning things big time.
As far as how to reinforce my group, I mentioned the following possibility, but it fails after the indicated sequence:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ -----------------
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . O . O 3 . . |
$$ . . . 2 1 5 . . |
$$ . . . 6 4 X . . |
$$ . . . X . . . . |
$$ . . . . X O . . |
$$ . . . . X O . . |
$$ . . . . X O . . |
$$ . . . . . O . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |[/go]
Black group gets cut, leaving Black with a heavy floating group in the middle. Perhaps I am underestimating Black's chances in the coming fight, but I'd rather steer clear from such an outcome.
The possibility I am investigating presently is the following, where I am still unsure whether to exchange "a" for "b" first or not (in fact, I am not sure, yet, whether White has to answer at "b" or whether White can be clever and play something like "c" instead):
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bc
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 6 . . 3 . . 1 . 2 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . O b O c . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . d . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -----------------------------------------[/go]
seeks to break up White's position on top.
aims to stabilize the group there, but White might not need to reply at
, which is a big concern. Then, I hope (read "pray") that I could get away with playing
(and the sequence that follows) without needing to play at "d" first.
Another possibility I am looking closely at is playing at one of the points around "d" right away.
The proper way to proceed still seems very elusive to me at the moment. Good times!