Life In 19x19

I think the hane leaves me too thin, so let's see if I get pushed satisfactorily into Black's territory - I don't think F11 works all that well as a net because of his own weaknesses in shape, so I don't think he can stop me pushing through ... we'll see

still trying not to die.

I need to not get surrounded. This is really bad

Protecting the cut is quite important now, but he can't do it just yet I think

Necessary. On the bright side, I think I can connect my groups now.

Great, now I'm in The game's getting close to another count now

Ok, my big central crawling dragon hasn't got too much to worry about now, but there are some hefty points left. Firstly, I'm pretty sure there's some weakness in my lower left that can be exploited with a couple of cuts, and I'm half tempted to play B2 as I think it's both going to have points value (fixing the cut / cut issue) and threaten to connect underneath. This latest move is somewhat funky shape, but I need to protect somewhere and I don't think it leaves too bad aji. Some of the remaining points I'm after:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm71 W:0 B:0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . X , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . b . . . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . X 6 . . . . . . O O . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , X O . O O , . . X . X , O . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . X X 5 . . . . . a . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . O X . X . O . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . O X X . O X . . . . O . c . . O X . |
$$ | . . O X . . O X X X X . . . . O X . X |
$$ | . . O X . O . O O O . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . d . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

"a" because it's really valuable compared to him getting one point to the right at R9 (which kinda works for him right now, although I'm pretty sure I don't die anywhere). "b" because it carries on the plan of pushing into his territory, although one point below may be stronger, I was kind of planning on treating as light. "c" because it fixes any cut nonsense and allows me to save my central stones without harming the bottom too badly, and "d" for the following sequence that I mentioned earlier:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm71 W:0 B:0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . X , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . X 6 . . . . . . O O . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , X O . O O , . . X . X , O . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . X X 5 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . O X . X . O . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . O X X . O X . . . . O . . . . O X . |
$$ | . 9 O X . . O X X X X . . . . O X . X |
$$ | . 0 O X . O . O O O . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm81 W:0 B:0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . X , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . X O . . . . . . O O . . . |
$$ | . . 9 O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 6 5 X O . O O , . . X . X , O . . |
$$ | . 7 3 4 X O . X X X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 8 O X X O . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . 1 O X . O X . X . O . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . O X X . O X . . . . O . . . . O X . |
$$ | 2 C O X . . O X X X X . . . . O X . X |
$$ | . O O X . O . O O O . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I suspect should be the first move in this, as it creates all the problems, and the choice of which group to go crazy against will depend on White's response.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm71 W:0 B:0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . X , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . 9 . . . . . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . X 6 . . . . . . O O . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . a . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , X O . O O , . . X . X , O . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . X X 5 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . O X . X . O . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . O X X . O X . . . . O . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . O X . . O X X X X . . . . O X . X |
$$ | . . O X . O . O O O . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

looking at a and trying to connect

continuing into Black's area of influence. Killing is now impossible, so I see no reason to look after directly. Instead, I'm trying to keep some forward momentum

This may be slight paranoia but I feel like this is necessary to connect

Is it just me or does anyone else think black 76 was not great?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm71 W:0 B:0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . X , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . a b . . . . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . X 6 . . . . . . O O . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , X O . O O , . . X . X , O . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . X X X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . O X . X . O . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . O X X . O X . . . . O . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . O X . . O X X X X . . . . O X . X |
$$ | . . O X . O . O O O . . . O . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think this move helps black to make shape and relieves some of the pressure on the black dragon.
I was considering something like a or b instead. Maybe white is worried about the connection to the two stones he previously played in the center, but they are kikashi so can probably be treated lightly. Even if they are lost, white can still break into the center by sacrificing them. Also, black is too weak to cut the two stones off immediately anyway.

Black is unlikely to die, so I think white needs to bank a profit out of this attack while black still feels uneasy. I want to know what topazg is aiming for!

I'm pulling back here because the hane likely to be gote. Obviously this doesn't need a response, but the long knight slide is nice enough endgame that it's not unreasonable for Black to respond directly. I'll do a score count at some point, but Black looks a bit short on points at first glance.

I am not certain, but I am fairly confident that this is necessary to avoid getting cut.