This is a probe. He has two ways to respond.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm1
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . a O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . . . X O O 6 . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , X O . O O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X O 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X X O . X O 4 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X O 2 7 |
$$ | . . X . . . O . . . . . . . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X 3 |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X O . 1 . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
If he ataris at

above, I can get the hane at

in sente, Later, if he gets a move around 'a',

lets me play 'b' to connect.
(Alternate variation:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm1
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O 4 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X X X 1 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . . . X O O 3 . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , X O . O O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X O 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X X O . X O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X O X . |
$$ | . . X . . . O . . . . . . . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O , O |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X O . O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
Then

and

remove most of his options for targeting this group of stones.)
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm1
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , X O . O O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X X O . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X O 1 . |
$$ | . . X . . . O . . . . . . . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X O 7 4 . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . 2 O 9 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . 0 . |
$$ | 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
Whereas if he connects with

, then

has more force behind it. I may not play

right away, but when I do, if he responds elsewhere, I can take over the corner. And if he responds locally, it either makes

sente or gives my group even better shape. (There's also the bad aji of me playing

at

.)
In the middle, his last move has left me a couple of good forcing moves against his middle group to make a couple of my groups stronger:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm40
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O 4 3 X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . B 1 2 . X O O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , B O 6 O O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . B O . 5 . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X X O . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . O . . . . . . . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O , . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
On the plus side of this sequence, I get the useful

and

stones. However, I lose a useful liberty on my

stones, so it's not a sequence I want to play automatically without first considering the benefits and drawbacks carefully. That's one of the reasons I'm playing this probe on the right first - to see how he responds before I decide whether I should play the forcing sequence above now or not, and what I should do afterward.