I assume this is what Emerus was alluding to, which I'm sure we've all happened past on Kogo's at some point.

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[go]$$Wcm16
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . X . . . . . . . 3 O 1 . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . 2 B . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

I prefer either of the following variations, I think.

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[go]$$Wcm16
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 5 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . X . . . . . . . . O 3 . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B 4 . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm16
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . X . . . . . . . . O 2 . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . 3 4 . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . . . . . . 5 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Of course, I'm slow at posting and Laman chose the first diagram... My thought is that making a somewhat symmetrical weak group with black's may not be the best strategy.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Move #16
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . X . . . . . . . O O O . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . . . . . . a X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

I like this picture, in my opinion, the threat of being surrounded at A is weak because the bottom is not easy to grow.

no real choice, giving black hane at the head of two stones would be too big. if he plays on the bottom, i am happy, if on the right, i should be good enough

this is of vital importance locally (compare with black playing here) and strong sente against the corner (otherwise w P4 seals black in). i am still undecided what to do next

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[go]$$Wcm1
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . X . . . . . . . O O O . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . 1 . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . . . c . B . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Aiming at a and b, to a lesser extent, c? A fighting fuseki, huh...

i had a hard time deciding whether to play here or invade upper right corner:

if black plays R15, he has a big and secure corner, with extension along one side. my four stones group can get a base on the right side or jump to the center, so it is not so urgent to settle it immediately

on the other hand, an invasion generates new thickness for black, so he can easily compensate for points lost in the corner. it also affects negatively my 4 stones and reduces prospects of me pincering black's upper side keima kakari. and my jump affects black floating group a bit, by limiting its possibilities to run

i am not thoroughly satisfied by the board's position, but we will see

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[go]$$Bcm1 Move #22
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . X . . . . . . . O O O . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . O . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . c . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Here are my jumbled thoughts. A is my first idea as it's vital for both sides, seems to make the top interesting if black gets it and less interesting if white does. The points on the left are also very big so I want to play in a way so I get that 'last' big opening point. The secure profit at B just doesn't sit right with me. The entire shape on the right would seem inefficient. Also there is at least one chapter in "Come up to Shodan" urging us kyus to invite the 3-3 invasion.

May I ask what you're anticipating, for the next couple of moves?

This next white move is a real swing imo. Does he take the corner or play on the left? So I really haven't anticipated anything beyond that.

I do want to settle the left if I can.

i was missing the cut a bit until now, but it has grown pretty big. i would also love to play on the left side to stabilise my group and prevent black getting base there, but then he could connect, his group would become to attack and he could return to the upper-right side

I wonder what his plan is. As far as I can tell this cut is gote and I can make a nice position on the left. Interesting.

straightforward. i could atari black's one stone, but that would be a thank-you move with no profit for me

my position looks quite disadvantageous. actually, if i played an even game with someone four stones weaker than me, i would expect him to stand better after 30 moves than i do right now. one of those sad moments...

Assuming you take Laman's assessment of the position seriously, where did White go wrong? It seems like the lower left and lower right have gone inconsistently, but I'm not really sure.

up to my kakari at the lower right, it was still a pro game (see post #19). so it could be the first dubious move. on the following move, i could have pushed at Q5 instead of descent R6, leading to a slight variation of joseki, allowing me to extend along the right side. last, maybe i shouldn't have cut black at lower left after all and instead extend along the left side, forcing him to do something about his stones

anyway, i should stop crying (which i abhor at others) and instead focus on doing something nasty. though my assessment of situation from the previous post holds, it is still only like giving some handi to an even opponent and one has not too bad chance to win a game handicapped 2-3 stones wrong

otherwise, i see this game as a proof that everyone has style and that it affects your playing ability in a specific game (as opposed to opinions like "amateurs don't have a style" or "shouldn't have a style"). Cho Hanseung managed the situation much better than me, but still i wouldn't feel good as white in his game

and last, not long ago i saw someone writing that he is okay with losing if his opponent is superior and outplays him, but hates when he makes dumb mistakes that loses him an otherwise playable game. for me it is sort of opposite - if i make a blunder, i think "pff, it sucks, but i can still beat him, he's not that strong" or if the damage can't be repaired, i can look forward to a rematch. however, i hate when i try to do my best and even then everything goes wrong and he just beats me to a pulp no matter what i try

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[go]$$Bcm1 Move #29
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 4 , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B X X 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . X . . . . . . . O O O . . |
$$ | . . O X O . . . . . . O . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

This position is a little more concerning than I thought it would be. My first instinct move is , allowing myself to be cut and following through in the upper left. However, the gap at worries me. I think I can give ground in this fight and be satisfied?