Why not push and cut, as so?

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[go]$$Bcm11 Prisoners: none
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6 4 . . |
$$ | . . X , 1 . . . . , . . . . 2 5 X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . X . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I expect below, or something similar. I thought of peeping first, by playing at now, but I don't like a White play at 'a'.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11 What I expect
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . 9 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . X , 1 . . . . , . . . . 2 6 X 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 a . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . X . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

While previewing, I just noticed another(probably better) possibility for White:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11 What I expect
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 8 . |
$$ | . . X , 1 . . . . , . . . . 2 6 X 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . 9 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . X . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

feels necessary, I don't think I can peep immediately at ,but I'll read that later.

Nice shape no!?

Like I said in the previous post, the alternative line felt better for white.
This lets me go on the attack.

Hmm ... I don't like ... there must be bigger plays on the board right now, right? The top is a nice open space. I think I'd play there.

I agree. Once white has decent looking shape there, white's not very attackable, and a 2nd line move so early feels tiny. I was looking a little bit at putting pressure on white's looser lower right, which is in the process of being surrounded. Perhaps by pushing against the centre white group as a leaning attack?

This move looks annoying, as in I wouldn't like this move played against me so why not play it myself!

I wasn't expecting this one. I was expecting him to try to attack me with the above white group, while getting eyespace for his stones.
I'm just solidifying my group to avoid this:

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[go]$$Bcm21 Prisoners: none
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 2 3 |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 4 b . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . X a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . X . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

'a' or 'b' would give part of the group up, letting him be safe. So I need to protect.
This seems the better way

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wm Prisoners: none
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . O W X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X a . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . 1 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . X . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Since if Black's group gets cut off his shape aims at making an eye at a later, White should aim at placing a stone at . This is an attacking tesuji called the "eye-stealing tesuji". The relation with the marked White stone is what makes it work. Now no matter how hard Black tries, he cannot make an eye at a without first capturing . Incidentally, this makes a critically important stone that must be saved once played.

At this point, however, Black can probably capture if it is played, but White's play at b practically makes Black strengthen himself, losing the chance to play later.

It's worth noting that Black should play at before White, if he gets the chance.

I could just connect and avoid the cut, but it seems too slow for me.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm21 solid, but slow
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 1 . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 3 . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . X . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

He can now play wherever he wants, making better shape for his center white group, for instance.

With the move I played, I believe the cut doesn't get him in a much more favorable position:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm21 What I expect
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 1 . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 4 6 . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . 3 . X 5 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . X . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Ok so he has a "weak group" and no real potential territory. Just lots of high stones with lots of influence, I'm sure I can combat that

I think this works:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm21 Prisoners: none
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 8 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 1 . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . 3 . X . 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . X . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

How do you plan to respond to this?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm21 Prisoners: none
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 1 . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . 3 . X . 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . X . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I didn't have a definite plan. I know that if it comes to worse and I need to, I can connect at R9.

I think I'd likely play one of the letters below. 'a' is probably the best, as it forces him to deal with the cut, but I still have to go back and protect at R9. 'c' doesn't have that R9 problem, but hurts my corner. 'b' would likely mean playing 'a' (or 'c', depending on his response) later.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm21 Prisoners: none
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 c . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 1 . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . 3 . X . 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . X . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Building thickness whilst attacking his group on the right.

I like this one better, I guess.
I expect:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm21 Prisoners: none
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X 7 9 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 8 c |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b a . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 1 . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . 3 . X . 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . X . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'm not sure which of 'a','b', or 'c' would be better for his .

Edlee? Are you out there?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm30 Prisoners: none
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O 2 |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 1 . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . X . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . X . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Black's shape looks pretty broken to start with, and I would be tempted to do something like this and fight on a larger scale. White has a cutting point at b, but black's not getting much out of this other than survival, I think.