Life In 19x19

The only move.

Big oof.

He doesn't want the corner? Then I take it. I think it's pretty big, not only in terms of points, but also because this secures my group D16 so that I only have one weak group on the board, while making Black's group B14 not completely alive.

Another option would have been to play like this

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm26
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]

This would have enclosed Black while loosely connecting my two white groups and building a huge central influence. Again this is hard to decide but my impression was that the corner was too big and should be taken. But since White didn't play at E12, it's quite possible that Black will play there next, in order to separate the two white groups.

I'm not very happy with this board. I've made some blunders and misreads and everything expected with a mid level SDK. Am I playing at a SDK level? I'm not sure. Probably not. But I am going to keep doing my best.

That's one of the threats I was talking about in post #19. I don't see any way to live in sente nor to get out, so it's a bit sad but I have to live small and in gote.

There were a lot of moves I considered but I decided with this one because it feels big.

I can't imagine anything is bigger, for either side, than B16.

As predicted a few moves earlier. The theory says that whenever Black has a 4-4 point and the two neighboring star points, White should invade at the 3-3 point because one of the stones (the marked stone in the diagram below) becomes inefficient:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm30
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . . |
$$ | . c X O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . Y . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7 . |
$$ | . . . X . X . . . . . . . . . . 4 5 . |
$$ | . . X , . . . d . X . . . . . X 3 . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . |
$$ | . O O . O . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

He might also block in the other direction but I don't think he will, otherwise why did he play H2? Obviously he wants to make territory at the bottom.

Other points I considered, or that I may consider in the future:

"a" encloses Black, loosely connects two white groups and builds a strong influence.

"b": a corner approach is one of the standard moves to play against sanrensei, so it can't be bad.

"c" prevents Black C2 and puts a little more pressure on the black group, but feels a bit premature, I have invested too many stones in the area already.

"d" aims at separating the lower left black group from its friends, but doesn't work at all, not only because in some variation a laddered white stone will run into but also because my central white group is not strong enough and I would probably end up with two weak groups.

The natural move to coexist with my stones.

As expected. Only one possible answer. If Black wants sente he can play like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm32
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . |
$$ | . . . X . X . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . X . . . . . X 1 . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . O O . O . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I thought for a long time how to respond to this. My first instinct is R5 but that leaves a cutting point and reduces the strength of my stones at the bottom. Therefore I settled for this move!

As expected. I could also consider to extend but I don't like the following variation, I feel Black gets too much outside potential:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm34
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3 . |
$$ | . . . X . X . . . . . . . . . X 1 . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . X . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . O O . O . . X . . . . . . 8 7 4 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This one doesn't feel satisfactory either:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm34
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . 9 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 2 3 . |
$$ | . . . X . X . . . . . . . . . X 1 . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . X . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . O O . O . . X . . . . . . 8 7 4 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm44
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . O . . . . . . . . . 1 . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . 3 |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . X . X . . . . . . . . . X O 2 . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . X . . . . . X O 6 . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . X O 4 . |
$$ | . O O . O . . X . . . . . . X O 7 O 8 |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

White gets sente, but I am not sure White has enough ko threats.

This could be a continuation.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm36
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . 2 X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . , 3 . 1 . . X . . . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . X . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . X . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . O O . O . . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Instead of the shoulder hit, I could have invaded but I thought it would be premature because I get a weakish group that Black can attack with profit.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm36
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . e X O . . . . . , . . . . . X 4 2 . |
$$ | . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1 . |
$$ | . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . a . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O . . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . X . X . . . . . . c . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . X . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . O O . O . . X . . . . . . . . d . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Other big points to be considered for later: connecting two groups (a), getting into the center (b), reduction (c), threatening to enter the bottom territory (d), removing the threat of B17 while weakening the black group (e).