Life In 19x19

If there's one thing I've learned so far from this Malkovitch game, it's that whoever said that it's pointless to give amateurs too much time to think must have been thinking about me. In the time that I normally could have played a dozen games, I've been carrying on a pointless debate with myself whether to play a or b. The worst thing, is that I have the horrible suspicion that one of them is infinitely preferable to the other, though I suppose that's just my self-consciousness speaking. Basically, I'm choosing a because it makes a move by white in the corner gote and pretty much permanently removes the cut. Flipping a coin however would have gotten the job done quicker.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . b 7 O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Black's move sacrifices a lot of points (I'm not sure what my proper move is, a or b maybe) in exchange for making his large moyo more solid.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . O O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |[/go]

This seemed like a good spot, but I can't really remember joseki here. He hanes, I probably hane under instead of crosscutting? Maybe. Black must be careful of me getting some mileage out of C6.

Considering living is generally gote, this may be a mistake / opportunity for black.

Basically, I'm only thinking about two moves; a & b.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . 9 X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Other moves in the area to consider might be extensions, but they seem utterly submissive. So, how to choose? (He pulls out his coin). I had a good feeling when I saw white's last move. Seems white is going in for a fight where the results can't be all that great. But what should I be striving for? It's too early to think about killing. Should I be trying to:

a) separate or
b) surround?

To my mind, these options correspond directly to the two candidate moves. Without doing any reading, surrounding means he lives with maybe 5- 10 points, and I have potential for territory on the bottom left and the center. However, depending on who gets sente, he will be able to reduce one or both. Separating means something of his dies while the rest is running into the center. My potential territory is on the left or the right and I can continue to chase something. My gut says separate. Just letting him live seems like going too easy on white. My reading (at this stage means: "what I hope") is that if he doesn't want to be separated, I get to surround him in a smaller space than had I played b.

Hane was to be expected.

I chose this counter-hane to move away from his influence without a hard fight; if he tries to play strongly, with C6 aji as well it will be hard for everyone.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm30
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . c 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . d Q X b . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . e 1 a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . Q X T . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Once again, these are my first ideas. One could just as easily say: "He has no idea."

If I recall, my last move was designed to separate the two marked stones, and a seems to do that most effectively, also reducing the aji around the triangle. Of the other moves, c seems to be the most interesting, and I tried to read it but it got too complicated for me to make any sense of it. I'd be interested in hearing how a stronger player would evaluate c. For now though, I'd rather avoid the complications which white is trying to create, and see if I can enclose and chase him. I'm vaguely thinking of blocking his running group somewhere around the shaded area and then trying to make a framework facing the marked stone. Unfortunately, this idea presumably sucks, because the marked stone is low and there is still plenty of room on the right for a white invasion, but...

I wish I had a better idea. I wonder where these good ideas come from? Atm, I just have to see what happens on the bottom.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm30
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . ? ? . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 6 . . . ? ? . . . . . . Y . . |
$$ | . . O X . 7 . . . . . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . Q X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

My hopefully generic attempt at sabaki.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm30
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . Y . Y O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . Y . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . c O b 4 . d . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

My opponent's move surprises me a bit, because I thought he would make a base first. I guess though that it makes sense for him to get out into the center first. I might be able to cut off something, but I won't be able to kill it if he gets out into the open. So the question arises, should I try to stop it in it's tracks, for example with d? This depends on two things:
1)Can I afford this move? That depends on whether my groups on the top and bottom are strong enough to withstand white's counter attack. Particularly, the marked group seems vulnerable. And
2) Will letting white out put me at a severe disadvantage? Well I guess that if I stop him from making a base, that I might have the chance to cap him later. I dunno.

Again, the labeled moves are the ones that I considered. Although the saying goes don't peep if you can cut, I prefer a to c because it strengthens my corner group and I'd prefer to give white as little leverage there as possible. b would also cause complications which white could also use to isolate the corner. d seems premature, so I'm going with a, which affects the bases of two groups.

I assume he'll connect, and I see the following sequence, leaving him with more holes than me:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O O . . O . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . 5 . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X 1 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X X O O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

I thought about tenuki, but I may want an eye against the edge later.

Basically, I've lost my inner motivation for this game. Playing out sequences on the board and then choosing a move is too unlike playing go, but it's hard not to do so, because even posting a diagram lets you see further into the game and invites further analysis. I'm not quite sure what to do.

For me to connect to D11 here seems clumsy, and also smaller than the game move (consider, only black can make points there). Also when black cuts there, I gain a forcing move.

However, it is apparent I should have played this at 35. 35 was not in the spirit of 33.

I'm not sure what to play on the right yet.

If connecting at e11 is clumsy, was connecting at c11 also clumsy?

Short answer; no.


Lecture on my personal semantics answer:


Relevant to the game answer:

His move surprised me. I wouldn't have played d17 yet so perhaps it was too early. He wants most of the corner, and I could try to stop him from getting more, but then he'd just pull out his d11 stones and I'd be short-changed everywhere. My first impulse was to cut right away at e11, and I guess it would remove most worries, but my gut feeling says it's letting w off too easily and it would be better to capture on a larger scale. Besides, I've been feeling a bit bored with this game because it's going too slow, so I hope that this will charge some excitement into it, and we'll get to see some dan-level fireworks from Loons. I think he has to try to cut my top left group off if he is going to come out of this ahead. I don't think he can do it.

The larger capture, eh. I will take some forcing moves and see if I can grow top.

Aw man ... isn't C16 just HUGE for W? I don't know, it kind of jumps out at me ...