Kirby has gained a stone from confidence (well, until he reads unkx80's post) and lost a stone on the board, so it's still a 4H game.

I decided to read your comment. I was going to ask, "How should we know whether to read it if we don't know about the content?", but quoting your message gives me the message text :-p

It is interesting that you think that it is a 3 handicap game at this point. I hadn't thought that I had made a mistake, yet. I feel like each of my moves were necessary. I'm also surprised that the difference is a full stone...

I'm not sure that I totally agree, but I will try to be careful in the upcoming moves to make sure that I don't make any mistakes (assuming I have at this point... :-p).

The benefit of playing here for me is too much to ignore. My groups are all fairly strong, and my center group is also healthy.

The move I'm playing here stakes out potential territory, and keeps white from getting that strong with his left group.

For example, if I pincer his stone, it would be bad for me:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . . O . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . O X O O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

After this, my two stones in the corner are somewhat weak, I'm sealed in, white gets some influence... All in all, it's pretty bad.

As for supporting the left side, I didn't consider many alternatives to the move that I played. If I kick him, for example, it just strengthens him.

I think that the move I chose is the correct move for this position.

I'm not sure about what other people thing, particularly since unkx80 said that I lost a stone already, but I feel perfectly fine with this board position.

one more time.

Instinct says to play D10, but my group in the center might get kind of weak. I'll need to give this more thought.

I basically agree with unkx80. Maybe the loss does not amount to a full stone, but it's pretty close. It is not just that Black has sacrificed a stone. Black has lost a base, and White has gained a base.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Tewari
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . . O . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . B X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . O . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

For tewari I have removed one stone of each color. They are not exactly equal, this pairing favors White by a bit. But now it is clear that the stone is pretty well wasted. (Yes, it prevents a peek, but the corner is still insecure.)

Hmm. I guess that makes sense. Maybe one of my problems in go is my board evaluation function. I thought that the marked stone was a good move. I feel much more unsafe without it, but I guess it is just a bad feeling that I have :-S

I have gone back and forth about the move I want to make at least 5 times. I keep going back and forth between two options:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1 Diagram A
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . B . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . . O . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . O X O O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

and

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1 Diagram B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . B . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . . O . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . O X O O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Diagram A is great in the fact that I get a lot of good points. Furthermore, it works great with my top left stone.

It really feels like a good move that I want to make.

But I know that when I do that, white will attack me. For example:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I think I can live for sure... But just living is not great. Magicwand will get many forcing moves, and he can build a great deal of power... Just like he has done for the last two games.

I cannot let him have that power, because his group on the bottom right is strong... Furthermore, my bottom right group is strong, but it may become weak if a fight erupts here.

So I decided to go with Diagram B. The good part about this is that it limits his central power. The bad part is, it doesn't gain me a lot of territory, and it doesn't give me a great attack.

The thing that pushed me over the edge in selecting Diagram B was this posting:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=742

I am not sure if I am applying the idea correctly, but it is my attempt to do so.

i would have played the side if i was black.

Playing this move makes me completely safe just about everywhere on the board.

I don't have a lot of points, I guess, but at least I am not in danger.

I considered a couple of alternatives:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

But both of these would allow for white to press me in and make me live very small in the bottom left. I can't go for that. I guess I have to just be patient.

although it is a 4 stone he can not protect everything. sooner or later he will have weak group and i will not miss that chance.

In playing these games, I am kind of curious: What makes me different than Magicwand? I guess you can get a feel for how I play vs. how he plays.

I have always thought that go is all about reading. When I lose games online, I often feel I have been outread... But I don't get this feeling with the Malkovich games, but sometimes I still end up behind...

What is the difference between Magicwand and me in this regard? Is there something other than reading that I am strategically weak at? Any patterns?

People brought up emotions before. Anything else? ... Or is it really all just reading, and I am not reading as well as I think I am?

P.S. If you read this and respond with a comment I can read, please address it "To Kirby", so I know I can read it.

Magicwand beats you with positional judgement, decisiveness, and experience. His reading is probably a little better, too, but reading isn't what tells you not to do things like that peep you played, or not to just barely live tiny in the center.

This is a very educational game for people learning about the concept of sector lines.

I gather that you are about KGS shodan? Then why are you taking 4 stones from Magicwand?

When I was a up and coming bridge player, I took to heart something that Terence Reese wrote in Bridge for Tournament Players: "The man who plays up to himself is hard to beat." I pass that thought on to you.

Magicwand may be overconfident. But that is not just bluster. He is a seasoned veteran. He tested himself, over and over again, against the best players that he could play against. Now when he plays, he is the man to beat.

So your advice to me is to "play up to myself"?

Confidence is worth 2 stones. I don't sense confidence in your moves, just confusion. I think you are too easily psychologically attacked.

In comparison to magicwand your moves are not the least bit hungry.

4 stone is very big handycap.. for people who want to give more handycap to others...
if you look at my game..i didnt have any group that was seriously attacked by black.
it's partly Kirby's fault. but...when i have 1 stone...i dont move them and use it as aji.
make sure my group is not under attack... which means i have 2 ways to run. (also means it is thick)
i can tenuki and live..but getting attacked wont be pretty. but i seen many sdk's tenuki because he wont be captured.
make sure to play without weakness and do not get attacked.

Normally, I would want to pincer white. The first thought is a low tight pincer. However, I can easily be attacked with the move that Magicwand seems to do against only me:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I might be able to do something with the pincer stone, but it seems like the marked black stones could get a lot weaker.

I thought of a different approach, but I'm not sure I like this way, either:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

It seems like white has good potential to do something effective, and , above, doesn't do a ton.

I thought about pressing:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

but it doesn't gain me much because white can jump in at "a". I'm just giving white free territory.

The low move is OK, but I don't really feel great about it since I don't have support on top, and I wouldn't like below:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Prisoners: W=0, B=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . . O . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . X . O X O O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Something high and loose for a pincer could also work, but it is somewhat disconnected from my group in the bottom right, which isn't super strong:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

So I decided to just defend the corner. I first thought of the small knight's enclosure, but...:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

A large knight's enclosure will induce white to invade the 3-3, which I like fine since it weakens the right side.

Of course, black can still play as above, but I get more territory with the large knight's enclosure.

Plus, I can still try to invade later if I want to.