I am trying to make a clear decision. Kirby has played high on the left. His joseki choice on the left has well-known followups, especially if I play a move around c12. For this reason I expected him to add an approach to my 3-3, perfectly sente at this point in the game. I could play on the left directly. I will get a result on the left, he will likely take the next move on the right.

Widest area. Perhaps over or after the next couple moves, if you feel I've made some sort of mistake or an okay choice, you can give me some feedback on this.

Edit: I should have given the distant approach greater consideration (e2: because black prefers to pincer). Still, I'm happy. (E3: Became progressively happier)

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a Y . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . Q . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I feel that should have been at (a) and should have been at (b) to discourage a pincer.

I think it makes sense to approach the 3-3, now, since I played high before. I think that this way of approaching works well with my stones on the left.

Mind clarifying which joseki you meant?

I did consider playing sente in the bottom right, but I think it is unnecessary to complicate the game so.

One space approach - attach underneath - hane - descend. Result is quite similar to this conventional joseki, but adding the stop-being-sealed in move is a little less urgent. Can lead to fighting if black doesn't protect his cut. Dig up some Bloodarena (on KGS) games if you want to see it in action. Also, I might be wrong about it being Kitani Minoru's innovation.

I'll probably pincer on the right - but what's the best way to do so?

The kitani joseki: http://senseis.xmp.net/?KitaniJoseki

I think this move feels best, since it not only pincers, but also makes my top right stone feel slightly happier.

I am intentionally being terse in my comments. Are our observers fine with that ? Would you prefer diagrams to illustrate every passing point ?

Anyway, looking forward to Kirby's pincer choice. So far I think we've played a transposition of an Ishida Yoshio game. I don't recall what pincer followed though. Oh, and while waffling the three space low has appeared. Hmmm.

Maybe not every passing point, but certainly what you consider the juicy ones.

I would like a thickness result here, to gain some board presence. At the moment I have taken (quite thick, but low) territory.

I am familiar with some lines of this joseki, and have looked enough at others that I trust myself to handle the "black aims for complications" variety.

Black has two real options. P3, an exchange of territory and thickness or Q4, fight. I'll add a salient diagram when Kirby shows me his mind.

I don't see any reason to mix things up much, yet. I'll take some territory here.

This is sensible of Kirby, as the low stones limit the bottom for much development:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm11
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . W . W . . . . . . . . 7 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The "complications" start with B's push-and-cut, which Kirby avoided:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . O 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Better for B than cutting, considering the wide pincer. Is he going to push another time ?

Edit; Although there are many similar techniques used, the joseki changes substantially if he pushes again or not. I have a fun tesuji line to look at if he pushes again...

I will continue to play normally. Though this is joseki (I think), I feel more comfortable as black in this position. Maybe it's because I like territory.

I forgot where I was going with this. Second worst problem in correspondence games, to second guessing yourself. Right, I wanted thickness, ideally central. Playing territorial options here are good though, eg.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1 Black is thick - slightly favorable locally.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . j . f . g . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . i d 3 O b . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . h O O 2 4 7 . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . X 5 X X 1 8 c |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 0 . 9 a . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

One possibility, some other but ultimately quite similar options also possible. Numbers-> letters, once it starts hitting letters and the letters go on, there are more options most of which are similar, and my given move order might be a little hazy.

I'm on the fence with whether a counterpincer is okay and whether pushing for thickness is bad and if so for whom. Will decide presently.

Sente to play in the top right is interesting. Kirby does have an option to start a running fight instead, but- can't really play much at all without giving your opponent chances to start running fights.

If I live with points in sente here as per the joseki in the last diagram, I would like to try a pincer/approach at R13. We'll see how it goes.


Edit: Hm, I would really rather have the ladder in the event of said running fight. I will consider a few more white results here.

My first instinct is to play as below:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . B O O , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . X . X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But I don’t see much value to stressing the bottom side, since white is low there. So, I will try to take some local profit.

Connecting is a variation for white here. I think I can play fine without the ladder though.