Life In 19x19

I figure I can't let white have this vital point.

This sequence of moves should've been commented. I have several inchoate questions.

giving your opponent such a move that will kill marked stone without any aji is NOGO.
i am thinking 'a' is a logical response to white's attachment.

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[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . B 1 . . X X O X O O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . O a , . . X O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . X O O O O O . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X X X . X X X . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I agree. I think shaddy has started playing some very odd moves recently

And OH how I hope it continues!~ Yeah, I've been kind of confused by some of the moves of both players. I may start asking questions, but I hardly know where to start. =D

Shaddy's (edit: triangled, not last) move, I was expecting to some extent (I probably should have posted that) because a white move there threatens to connect under to my other stones, forming a continuous territory along the top. I played a contact move to address, what at least last night I was perceiving as a possible weakness (and Shaddy is a man who likes to attack possible weaknesses)

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[go]$$Bc Black at a threatens to connect out to his stones - white blocks - black makes some kind of play for the corner
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . a . . . . . . . O O O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . Y . . . X X O X O O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . O . , . . X O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O . B . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . b . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . X O O O O O . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X X X . X X X . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I played a contact move, because they are (as a rule) urgent, and I would love to fix my weakness in sente if possible. Shaddy's move is clearly trying to do 3 things; a local play to address my contact, keep up pressure on my corner and building his centre, which I think may be stretching his stone a little thin. I'll read a bit, try and do some more informed counting, and post a move later this afternoon.

Further editting; Also, I'm still thinking about a reduction move around b, which I think will be quite important. That's what the b is doing there. I also added coordinates to the diagram, I think no coordinates while playing is fine, but I like them while thinking.

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[go]$$Bc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . Y . . . X X O X O O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . O . , . . X O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . a . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O . B . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . b . . X . . . |[/go]

The reason attachments are urgent, I think, is that your opponent's followup is quite severe. If you don't follow up, it instead seems like you were the one doing the attaching, which to some extent is what has happened here. I'll show some variations, anyway.

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[go]$$Wc I think black expects this
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . b . . . . . . . O O O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X a . . X X O X O O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . 1 O . , . . X O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . c . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . # . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . b . . X . . . |[/go]

after which a is kind of large endgame for either player. Endgame which I think is sente for black, and not white, considering some black invasion aji around b. This does however, mitigate black's threat to play at the otherwise elephant's eye, 'c', which indirectly strengthens white against the squared black stone.

Of course, 'a' itself is also a natural move against such an attachment - and the spot black was presumably trying to stop white playing in the first place. Which begs the question -

Are either of these severe ?

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[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X 1 . . X X O X O O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . O . , . . X O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 2 . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . W . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . b . . X . . . |[/go]

or

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[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X 1 . . X X O X O O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . 2 O . , . . X O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . W . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . b . . X . . . |[/go]

Both moves seem to threaten to capture the marked white stone at the cost of the black stone, with white getting more points _b)

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[go]$$Bc I think white needs 6, which kinda bites.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 3 6 . . . O O O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O 2 X O . . X X O X O O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . 1 O 4 a . . X O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 5 . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . b . . X . . . |[/go]

However, it seems that black has simply given white some points. Hmm, what about 4 at a, that would remove the need for 6.

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[go]$$Bc bad for black
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X O . . X X O X O O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . 2 O . , . . X O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 1 . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . b . . X . . . |[/go]

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[go]$$Wc Black aims for complications
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 4 . 2 . . . . O O O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X 1 . . X X O X O O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . O . 3 . . X O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . b . . X . . . |[/go]

But this does not seem to go anywhere.

Of course, black might go somewhere else, which might make me seem slow, but I'm going to use the word "honte" not slow.

Alright lets do it

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

In a moment that is frighteningly reminiscent of my resignation to Dfan, I want to not play the natural response (which Shaddy triggered, naturally). That cut disconnects my groups, but my central wall was never to make points anyway, and I think I can settle it finally nailing b. My corner is independently alive and reasonably hard to attack, my wall stones are my only weak group, and they are relatively thick. I want to settle my central stones (they've been wanting for some settling for a while now) while reducing his framework, which has always been the meaning of my central stones.

And let’s

meet them in the waves, while they’re unsure and

their first steps falter as they land. Fortune favours the brave.’

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

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

This is a self-destruct move in a big way. You cannot avoid having to block here.

topazg wrote:

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X O . . X X O X O O . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . O . , . . X O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . W . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . X O O O O O X O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X X X . X X X . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

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

This is a self-destruct move in a big way. You cannot avoid having to block here.

Yeah, this was a move for me too. Loons has passed me in strength so my criticisms have a lot less weight now, but this seems like the classic "outsmarting yourself by making a tricky move instead of the one that you know you should play" problem I am always railing against.

White's move is appalling. I barely feel that this should go in hide tags, everyone already knows

This is definitely a case of outsmarting oneself. White must remember that even if black will push and cut, and even if white will have to deal with some damaged groups, *black needs to be cut too*. If black pushes straight through the white strength without recompense, well...white is going to lose horribly.