- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm21
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . b 3 . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . c . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a e . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . f . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]
I'm finding this decision even harder than the last one. Basically, nothing looks particularly good. Again, the lettered moves are the ones that occurred to me listed in the order that I thought of them.
My first impulses are to respond somewhere on the top left, and that seems natural, as my hoshi stone has come under pressure. There are two reasons however that I hesitate to do so. One, is that I would be following my opponent around the board, letting him get the better big points, and two, I have a 2-1 stone advantage on the bottom right, and if I don't get sente on the top left, (and I don't see a way to do so) that advantage will be gone.
How to evaluate? Let's say, I play at f. A white response at e looks to me quite hard to deal with. I suppose I can manage, but how much of a benefit is the move at f? Again, white's secure position on the bottom left could mean trouble, i.e., while chasing o3, my corner could easily become thin.
I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and play on the top left. a looks better than d, just because I have all high stones on the left, and he has gotten strong on the top. b looks like the wrong way to use the hoshi stone. What about c? It seems more consistent with my attempt to make thickness in the center, so that's what I'm going with. I'm imagining the following continuation:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm21
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 7 3 . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . 4 5 . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]