So in general getting to here is why I wanted to play a Malkovich game. It seems sure that I have had some totally wrong thinking up to this point because I don't much like my position, but I now I am at a period where I need to make some strategic choices, so I want to write a longish post where I attempt to analyse the position.
Ok, so I am now quite sure that I am behind, which means that what I have done has been too slow.
Captures: White: 1 Black: 0
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm41 Captures: White: 1 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . S S . . . . S . . . . . . S . . . |
$$ | . . S S . . . . S . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X S X S S S . . x . O . S . . . |
$$ | . O S X . . . . . X . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . . |
$$ | S S O . x . . . . . . . . . O . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X S S |
$$ | S S X . . . . . . . . . . . x . . . . |
$$ | . . S , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . S . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . S . . . . . . . . . . x . . O . . |
$$ | . . S . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X S |
$$ | S S X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . , O S S S S S O S S . . O X . . |
$$ | S S O S . . x . . . . . S O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . S O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S S . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
Taking the squares as guides, I have 10 on the left, maybe 9 on the top, 13 or so in the top left, 10 in the lower right, 42. W has 7 komi, a prisoner, 35 on the bottom, 9 or something top corner, 51.
But that doesn't seem like very much of the story. W has a nice wall in the lower right, is really high on the bottom, and is making a giant moyo. I have a little room to grow on the left and on the top, but nothing like what W has.
In exchange, W's upper left group doesn't have that much room to grow and his upper-right group is theoretically weak if it were the only thing on the board.
So I need to do something to turn the tide here. If I had a bunch of moves in a row, the x's are first glances around places I would like to play, I guess.
What W needs to do to basically end the game:
-connect his weak group on top to his other stones or make eyes with it.
-solidify his bottom territory
-enclose his moyo.
W doesn't need to do anything to me in particular, I think, because if he accomplishes these things I just wont get enough of the board to have a chance to win.
I am not sure what the correct order of those things would be for W, i.e., which of them is biggest. I think that enclosing his bottom territory is probably the smallest, bc even if I make a living group in there he will be alive on both sides.
But is enclosing his moyo or dealing with his weak stones more important? I think enclosing his moyo probably is, especially if he can just connect his top group to his stone on the right side.
I am worried about him being able to make his bottom territory invasion-proof, but it seems like the only way I can accomplish 2 of my goals at once is to try to reduce his moyo while separating his 2 groups, if that is even possible.
I see that I might be able to build a N/S wall from K17 toward Tengen if he runs to the left, which would be nice, but really an E/W wall from R12 going left won't do anything except separate his stones as far as I can see. However, that seems a really important objective right now. But I don't like the idea of just helping him enclose his moyo unless I am committing to trying to kill the top group, which might not be possible.
I would like to play M17 to make it difficult for him to make eyes on top, but if I do he will be able to play something like P11 and it will be hopeless to try to separate the 2 groups. Or maybe not? If I play at Q10 could I really stay in between him and the other W stones all the way across the board? I am wondering if that is possible. Sooner or later he would have to defend the bottom and I would get an extra move. I need to return to that idea later.
But what if I can't separate the 2 groups and he lives above and encloses some moyo below? I will at least have reduced the bottom some, but will I have anything else to show for this? I won't make any territory. I'll just make a useless string of stones.
I am thinking that M17 and P11 (assuming he can then connect) are kind of miai--W can either make life on top or connect to his other stones. So unless I can let W have a running move and still keep him apart, M17 is definitely wrong. I think that I need to find a way to play P11 such that he has to respond with his bottom group and I can then get sente later to play M17 and maybe later make some territory in the upper left centre whether he lives or not. I need to do this in such a way that I don't ruin my chances to invade on the bottom and/or run my group out from there if I can't make eyes. But if I can play some kind of move like P11 or something maybe I will have a stone closer to be able to run out from the bottom if I need to?
Anyway, there are several things I need to look at: Whether I can separate W's two groups or not. That's what I'm going to do here, then I will come back later to consider whether I can give W a running move and still keep W apart. So, some initial concrete stuff. This plan would have me playing somewhere around P11 to separate the 2 groups. But whether I play Q12 (which is too slow I think), Q11 or P11 I am worried about this cut:
Captures: White: 1 Black: 0
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm1 Captures: White: 1 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O . X . . . . . X . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . O 5 O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 8 0 . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 7 9 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . , O . . . . , O . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
Captures: White: 1 Black: 0
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm11 Captures: White: 1 Black: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O . X . . . . . X . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . O . 4 X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X 2 . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X O O O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X X 1 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . , O . . . . , O . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
...which I guess comes out ok. But that is only one variation. It is slightly further than I could read from the initial position (I couldn't tell whether I was short of liberties once W retakes the ko or if I never take it at all, so over the board I would've had a really tough decision and might've rejected the move to play the safer Q11 diagonal move instead.
Anyway, that's only one variation and I am maybe not looking at very good moves for W yet, so I need to come back later and look at more.
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