Life In 19x19

When diagonal shapes meet straight shapes in Go, straight shapes usually win.

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[go]$$W Case 1, straight shape meets diagonal shape.
$$ ----------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . X . . . W B . . . |
$$ . , . . . . W . B . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]

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[go]$$W White can often hit black's head
$$ ----------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . X . . . O X . . . |
$$ . , . . . . O . X . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]

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[go]$$W Black is flattened to the second line.
$$ ----------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . X . . . O X 6 . . |
$$ . , . . . . O 5 X . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . W 2 . |
$$ . . . . . . . . 3 4 . |
$$ . . . . . . . . 7 . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]

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[go]$$W Or black has multiple cutting points and a tricky fight.
$$ ----------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . X . . . O X . . . |
$$ . , . . . . O 3 X . . |
$$ . . . . . . . 2 W . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]

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[go]$$B Black usually cannot hit white's head.
$$ ----------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . X . . . O X . . . |
$$ . , . . . . O . X . . |
$$ . . . . . . 1 . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]

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[go]$$B Black is cut up.
$$ ----------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . X . . . O X 4 . . |
$$ . , . . . . O 2 X . . |
$$ . . . . . . 1 3 . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]

And also...

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[go]$$W Case 2, straight shape meets diagonal shape.
$$ ------------------------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . O . O . . . W B . . . . X . X . .
$$ . . , . . . . W . B . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

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[go]$$W White's invasion threatens connection under
$$ ------------------------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . a . . . . . . . . .
$$ . O . O . . . O X . 1 . . X . X . .
$$ . . , . . . . O . X . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

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[go]$$W White connects
$$ ------------------------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . 5 6 . . . . . . . .
$$ . O . O . . . O X 7 W 3 . X . X . .
$$ . . , . . . . O . X 2 4 . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

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[go]$$B Black's invasion does not threaten connection under
$$ ------------------------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . O . O . 1 . O X . . . . X . X . .
$$ . . , . 2 . . O . X . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

And also...

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[go]$$W Case 3, straight shape meets diagonal shape.
$$ ----------------------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . W . B . . . . . . .
$$ . . , . . . . W B . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . X X O O . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

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[go]$$W After giving each side a few symmetrical moves...
$$ ----------------------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . O . . . . O . X . . . X . . .
$$ . . , . O O . O X . X X . . . . .
$$ . . . . . X X X O O O . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

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[go]$$W White's territory on the top is larger
$$ ----------------------------------
$$ . . . C C C C . . . C C C . . . .
$$ . . . C C C C . . . C C C . . . .
$$ . . O . C C . O . X C C . X . . .
$$ . . , . O O . O X . X X . . . . .
$$ . . . . . X X X O O O . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

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[go]$$W And white still has good followups (if black defends against white 'a', white keeps sente).
$$ ----------------------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . 3 1 2 . . . . . .
$$ . . O . . . . O . X . . . X . . .
$$ . . , . O O . O X a X X . . . . .
$$ . . . . . X X X O O O . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

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[go]$$B Black can't even play this modest move without leaving a weakness.
$$ ----------------------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . . . . . .
$$ . . O . . . . O a X . . . X . . .
$$ . . , . O O . O X . X X . . . . .
$$ . . . . . X X X O O O . . . . . .
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

When you kick a stone and the opponent extends, you are giving yourself bad shape. Those diagonal shapes next to the opponent's straight shapes can drain quite a few points away from you in subtle ways that you might not realize, so you had better get good compensation in the bigger picture.

This guy felt stronger than most 10kyus, in fact he just registered so maybe he isn't. He was really strange. He kept wanting to mark his own stones as dead.


I am mostly curious about the lower left hand corner. I feel like he got a lot of territory.

Move 10: As soon as he strengthens himself with C16 on the previous move, you know that eventually you are going to have to do something about the weakness at B18/D18. The standard shape here is E18.

Move 12: Necessary, but cramped. Now your previous move now looks way too small. It would feel better at F16 or G17, or maybe even H17.

Move 16: This ends in gote. How big is it? It looks rather small for your 8th move.
Probably better is the hane on top.

Can someone give me some advice on how to save the group?