Life In 19x19

A few ways I can go here.

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[go]$$cm21 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . . . 6 . b . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . d . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . c . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X X X . X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

All of these moves are, I think feasible. Playing the pincer, even though it plays in the midst of a 3 jump group, would be futile without solidifying the corner first. Playing the kick, forcing white to make the ideal wall to his k17 extension would be equally bad.

A and C are both a bit passive. D is a bit reckless. I could play the 1 space jump above B but that leaves invasion possibilities for later. I think the proper play is to play B, the Iron Pillar, and be ready to attack the weakness of that 3 point jump if he doesn't take a moment to solidify it. If he does, I'll go ahead and play A to finish off the corner.

I think my opponent's last move was a bit odd. I'll take this opportunity to break up the side. He's threatening M17, but I think I can manage. I still want to get an extension in on the left side, but it's not urgent enough yet.

You'll notice I did not, at all, discuss this as a possibility. This move is best played when there is no stone on the middle starpoint. It is, I think, overplay, and by simply playing the splitting move, I should be able to put pressure on both the 3 point extension, and this stone.

With any luck, I'll be able to harass this stone pretty firmly.

whee.

Not sure where I want to go next, but I feel the nobi has really hindered black. I can easily sacrifice the original approach stone. If I break up his right side without getting sealed in, which shouldn't be hard, his potential is severely limited. The usefulness of the Q10 stone, in particular, will be severely hindered.

CSamurai wrote:

$$cm21 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . . . O . B . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . B . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X X X . X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

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[go]$$cm21 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . . . O . B . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . B . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X X X . X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'm not sure if the original nobi was wrong, but the last move feels like it must be. The marked stones look very slow and inflexible to me. Q17 in particular looks quite misplaced, at the very least it would be better at R17.

In theory, this creates a family feud, but as I said before, I can sacrifice the original approach stone very easily. I didn't see very effective moves that leaned in the other direction, and sliding into the corner first would let me get sealed in, which would be very bad.

Black will have a hard time taking the corner territory without taking a bad gote or even getting sealed in himself, so he's lost a lot of potential here. The black corner stones are inefficient.

It occurs to me, I don't actually know joseki for this line... but there are a few thoughts that come to mind.

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[go]$$cm21 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . X 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 0 1 O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X X X . X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I chose this one, because if white defends at 24, this sequence leaves their group unstable, requiring more moves to try to stabilize

Some other thoughts occurred to me.

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[go]$$cm21 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . a . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . c . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . b X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X X X . X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

In preparation to attack the split at A, playing 1 to keep the white group running seems fun. 3 forces white to struggle for a base. The cut at B is not urgent because of the response of C, which further weakens the top.

A third idea:

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[go]$$cm21 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . a . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . 1 X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X X X . X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Notice that the group on the right is still in the trouble, and this threatens to attack A directly.

But, it doesn't actually add pressure to the right, so it doesn't allow me to seize sente to take A.

If anyone knows the actual joseki, and I deviated from it, do let me know.

That is, if there's any sort of joseki for this situation.

Not sure what he's going for here... This should make me stronger. Yeah, he could protect the corner now (at the expense of making me strong), but that would be inconsistent with his last move.

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[go]$$ Take the corner?
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . X 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O 7 . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . O 3 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . 4 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]

Not sure if this is the route I'll go if he tries this. In particular, it might be better to connect solidly with for better shape, even though I'll need another move to protect the cut.

This looks even better for W:

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

B can do this, but still good for W:

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

Nothing to do now but follow the plan.

I think connecting this way is best. Still not sure what black has in mind.

Looks like white is wisely going to back down. This cut ends in gote for me, but it secures my corner, which is all I can ask. White will still have weaknesses in their structure afterwards.

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[go]$$cm31 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O 9 . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . 4 O 5 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a 6 8 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X X X . X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The cut at A is still enabled. If white plays A, I'll play B, to settle my group. If white plays B, I'll play an iron pillar to split, then cut at A. if the lower left gains, I also gain by killing some more white stones, if not.. well, then they've strengthened me everywhere. I think this fight is in my favour.

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[go]$$cm31 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O 9 . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O O X 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 8 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X X X . X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I've decided this is the best way to protect the cut. It's good shape, so I'll be thick and able to molest the two right side stones. Black gets an OK sized corner, but he can't even attack my top stone strongly. If he tried to cut directly, for instance, I could connect over/under if I really felt like I couldn't sacrifice it.

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[go]$$cm41 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O X . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . c X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X X X . X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I feel it necessary to point out that while I said white needed to fix at A, I didn't mean they had to play A directly, nor that I needed to play B directly. But fixing A means I need to fix B, and I do believe this is a decent way to do that.

Normally, the response to a shoulder hit, is to extend. In this case, since extending top and bottom don't do much, extending towards the center (C) would probably be the move. However, since it doesn't fix the split at B, or threaten the cut at A, playing at C

Playing at 41, therefore, becomes a solidifying move for the group, and settles the situation. It feels painful to submit to gote, but I think in this case, it's the right thing to do. Looking at the whole board again..

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[go]$$cm41 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . W . . . W . X . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O X . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . . . , . . . . . W . . . |
$$ | . X X X . X . . . . . . . W . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

If you look at the Aji of the marked groups of stones (white can be slid under, black can make a play to reduce with the marked black stone) then black appears to be solid and ahead on cash. I need to prevent white from making a huge center, and soon, I need a move along the bottom. Failing a move on the bottom, a big play on the left is required. If I were white, I'd play a 2 point extension from the marked white stones in the lower right, or an extension on the left towards my group to try to contain it.

So those are the two moves I'll watch for.

Did you consider this? Its sente, no?

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[go]$$
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . O . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]