Life In 19x19

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[go]$$Bcm69 black: 1 white: 0
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . O . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . X . . X . . . . X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . X X O . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . W a . X . O X . . . X . . |
$$ | . . 5 , . . 3 4 2 O O O X . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . O 1 O X O X . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X X X X . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . X . . . O . , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . O X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

(Out of interest, this was my initial sequence (sort-of menacing white white 'a'). On one hand, I can appreciate this way of playing is vulgar, but I also still can't see that this is obviously bad: The reason I dropped it is that it feels like black is straining too hard, rather than it being wrong. If someone can clearly correct my confusion concerning this (just hiddenly), I'd be much obliged.

Edit:
Right, I eventually sort of got there myself; white has a more clearly defined thick shape, and it doesn't introduce any aji that wasn't already there, really. Diagrams later maybe.

clever move, but I think I'll manage anyway

This atari, because it affects how close to settling the centre group is (I'd like to squeeze some more sente moves out of the centre). However, points-wise this move/area is smaller, so I don't plan to connect after.

What's going on here? Where are you making territory? Do you still think you can capture m10?

black is playing it correctly for the most parts.
points will come later if you play thick.

I imagine Magicwand gave a more definitive answer already but anyway;

A brief verbose chronology:
43 : I felt top represented enough points for me to win the game.

45 : White just took the extremely large point at c11, and black has no severe followup on the right, which I had misjudged.

47 : Still the only 'good' way I can see to build the centre from top.

50 - 51 : White plays a harsh reduction / limiting move against black's centre, which he has dedicated too many stones to to win another way. Somewhat panicked, black hopes to incite a fight.

54 - 55 : White plays a thick tenuki for 54, allowing black to isolate the centre stones.

To present : White acquiesces to living locally and black gets a wall facing his previously thin bottom position, as well as C10. In sente, apparently.

Epilogue: White still does not have clearly defined life, which black will (try to) exploit to solidify top.


PS:
1. I don't remember saying I was trying to kill white? If I did, it was a moment of idiocy.

2. I consider the result so far a success for black. NB you are talking to the three-stones-weaker-player.

3. Doing an off-the-cuff, solid-points recount: White is up by just over komi, including komi. Black has sente. Black and white should gain points in centre-top, favouring black. Black can gain points on bottom.

Okay, gotcha. I think I was misled by some center plays that seemed ultra-aggressive into thinking that you were making the game revolve around an attack in the center. I'm completely unable to count this board, which is (one reason of many) why I wasn't sure what the long term plan was.

Eh, I sort-of would rather tenuki to bottom (probably 'm') already, but a play here would almost be sente for white, controls how many points white has in the 'a' area, and affects the health/usefulness of the marked black stones (a play around 'b' later nets some points).

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[go]$$Bcm73 black: 1 white: 0
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . O . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . X . . X . . . . X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . X X O . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . O O X z . . a . . O b . B . . . . |
$$ | . . O X x . O . . X . O B . . . B . . |
$$ | . . X y . . . . . O O O B . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . O . O X O B . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X X X X . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . m . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . X . . . O . , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . O X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

If 'x', 'y' then 'z' seems clearly bad for black, so I will tenuki white 'x', which I am sort-of expecting. If white tenuki now, I will aim to come back and make white's life painful.

At move , I did decide to give white a weak centre group and attack it rather than build and defend a centre moyo. Looking back, taking and defending the moyo would probably have been better, but it did seem risky to me then and still does a bit now; white could try and destroy all the points, considering he had no weak group/was generally thick and the moyo would be big but also a bit open and thin. Also remembering white is higher ranked.

So I chose to cut and attack white's group instead. I imagine I could have done better. Anyway, an attack in the centre has been/is happening and the game *does* revolve around it. Keeping a group unsettled to make your opponent play defensively/submissively is what attack is, right?

Essentially, I was betting that this exchange has been good for black:

I think his last move was rather small, he could've put some more pressure on me at least.

The first thing that pops into my mind is the atari below, but following the sequence it might have some complications.

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[go]$$Bcm1 black: 1 white: 0
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . O . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . X . . X . . . . X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . X X O . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . O . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . O X W 1 O . . X . O X . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X 2 . 3 . . . O O O X . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . O a O X O X . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . X X X X . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . X . . . O . , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . O X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Suddenly there's a cut at a now, so my group doesn't look so alive.

Then I thought about simply connecting to the group below.. However, this is just dame points. Another problem is: can I connect in one move?

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[go]$$Bcm73 black: 1 white: 0
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . O . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . X . . X . . . . X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . X X O . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . O . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . X . O X . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . O O O X . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . O . O X O X . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . a X X X X . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . b . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . X . . . O . , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . O X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

I could look at a or b here. b looks like bad shape to me, he can for example play at a and cut. So are there any complications after a?

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[go]$$Bcm1 black: 1 white: 0
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . O . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . X . . X . . . . X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . X X O . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . O . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . X . O X . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . O O O X . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . O . O X O X . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . W X X X X . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 6 2 1 5 . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . 3 4 . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . X . . . O . , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . O X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Looks rock solid to me. Eventhough it's worth nothing, I can't see anything else. Also, after connecting I can gain some points in the center if he doesn't connect somehow.

I feel like this is now the biggest thing. I would like to hane on white's move (avoid bad shape), but I think my move is more urgent. Hopefully I haven't missed anything.

*Yes, my cut here is vulgar style, however, I cannot find a better way (see my post ages ago).

I suspected this was going to happen.. It's quite large, so after this resolves I will count again.

The reason I play here is because there's a lot of aji left if he extends the way he wants to.

...The other way gets captured...

Huge for both sides, and semi-sente. If he plays a, I will play b next, hoping to take sente out of that.

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[go]$$Bcm77 black: 1 white: 0
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . O . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . X . . X . . . . X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . X X O . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . O . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . X . O X . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . O O O X . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . O . O X O X . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O X X X X . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . W O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . a X O . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . X . . . O X , X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . O X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . O . b . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

  seems to have been a mistake. What can ya do. I think I can abandon it and treat N3 and O4 as some kind of miai.