I still feel this is the correct response here. White still has numerous weaknesses on the right. Now, I've given him the chance to come back and respond in the upper left.

I have to be patient and wait for a good opportunity.

Let's play something a little different. White's calm play so far has made it a close game ... let's see what kind of chaos I can make happen here.

I think his last move is a little premature. I have to think of a good way to play from here.

This is the first move he's made that I think is a little off. Before this, I felt OK about the board, but my thinness on the right side made me think black was a little ahead. I have to take advantage of this move.

The board is so well balanced. I feel like W has a better position though. There are a lot of open areas and it should be a long, fun middle game!

i agree with your feeling about black 23. only thing to worry about is this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm21 Diagram 1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X a X O X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

if white defends this way, his cut at 'a' becomes unpleasant for black, while he still wants to keep sente. but i guess even if black answers and defends the cut with 'b', white still can't feel really safe

after kakari R6 white shouldn't have any serious troubles (though he mustn't become careless about the group)

i don't like black 27, it looks like if black decided to play on all sides, invading white's left area but hurting his own top. we will see how will it go, but i agree with Kirby that it is not a very good move

up to these two moves i believed black has clearly better position, now it is unclear, much depends on upper left

I've gotta say, I don't know the best way to handle this move. There are many places I would like to play. The one I selected seems the safest, because it grabs territory while making his group weaker.

It's kind of weird playing two games at once. With this game, I guess I am being more territorial, whereas with my game with Loons, I don't feel I am as much. I will have to be careful not to mix styles of play between the two boards.

Currently looking at D10 as my move ... need to think carefully.

In my opinion, this move by White lets me off with very little pressure. I have this one stone sitting on the left side, and I believe there are much more severe ways to attack it than the move Kirby chose.

Looking at what could have happened, I think was definitely a mistake, but I don't know where I should have played instead. My only other thought at the time was to play F15, but I'm not sure if that would have been better or not. I could go and play F15 now, and that's the other move I'm currently considering.

Decisions, decisions.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm21 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X O O O O . . |
$$ | . 9 . O . . . . . , . . X . X O X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Ok, this feels like the best way to go. I dismissed D10 because White has a reasonable attack against my group if I play there, one which I don't like much for Black:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

While not unmanageable, White is building up strength to reduce the top side severely.

I dismissed F15 as my move because it's not consistent with my move at C12.

Given the difficulty I'm having with choosing my move here, though, I suspect that C12 is at the very least sub-par, more likely an outright fuseki mistake. I'll have to examine it once the game is done.

I've chosen to make the 1-point jump towards the center. I expect Kirby to maintain the attack.

*sigh* Let's weather the storm and see what I can salvage. This doesn't feel too bad, actually, but it feels like I've chosen a hard line of play. It's going to take some thinking on each move.

Shaddy, how would you respond to...?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm21 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 0 . . X . . . . . . X O O O O . . |
$$ | . 9 . O . . . . . , . . X . X O X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This is a tricky situation, which requires thought. I would like to prevent black from getting a lot of territory on the top. At the same time, I do not want my group to be stuck inside. It seems hard to accomplish both of these objectives.

I have a few moves in mind, but I need to think about this more.

It's a very basic move. I've got to say that I prefer black on this board. I wanted to try something fancier:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm21 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X O O O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X . X O X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . W . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But that will probably draw more weakness in the future.

Magicwand said in another thread, if I cannot formulate a plan to draw a good attack, I shouldn't do it.

Well, I cannot think of a way to turn the game around in one move. So I will patiently play a move, which I think is important. It's a splitting move. I cannot attack black if I am weak. I cannot steal his territory if I am outnumbered.

I simply have to wait for my chance. So here, I am. Waiting for a chance to come back from a board position that I think I am behind in.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm23 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 8 . . X . . . . . . X O O O O . . |
$$ | . 7 . O . . . . . , . . X . X O X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X X . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Now I have a ton of potential eyespace on the left, and if white takes it away with another move he's spent two moves to my one there. The corner is now defended, so maybe it's slightly good for white, but that's the nature of trick plays.

Toughest choice for me yet. Kirby is going to get a fairly severe attack on my two left-hand stones on the 12th-rank ... but I'm not sure how severe yet. If I think too much about this position I'm in danger of freezing up and not wanting to play anything. Let's see how Kirby reacts ...

Doh, again! He chose to defend the top. I have to make something of an attack on his two stones. It's hard to do this, though. He already has influence on the board, so it's hard for me to see immediate use of getting central influence through this deal.

I think Magicwand thinks I am bad at reading. Well, I think he is correct. I need to read as hard as I can here, and come up with a good path. I will try to play in a way so that I can show Magicwand that I can read.