Life In 19x19

black threatens to squeeze my stones, but i can't see any impressive result for him. of course i could be terribly mistaken and this is the kind of position where possible punishments are hair-raising

so i decided to play in the upper right. i've inspected many variations after w pincer H17 or contact play G17, but all joseki lines allow for black to play on the top of my stone, and resulting in me getting positions on both sides, while he establishes himself in the middle with access to the center. however, with black upper right, i cannot be comfortable on the top side, so such a result would be unpreferable for me. thus, for lack of better candidates, i decided for taking the sansan, forcing black to play on the top himself

advantage of my move is that all black answers have their flaws - anything on the third line is too low and can be pressed down. ogeima is a weak shape for close combat and keima (best in my opinion) leaves a wide gap that i could exploit late - but not so much if i jump to the black corner next and generate him new thickness to back up his stones

time to invade in the corner. only alternative would be sente moves or a severe attack against black lower left stones, but i can't see one.

expecting this or a variation:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Diagram 48-1
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . 5 4 b . . . |
$$ | . . O . . X . . . . . . X 7 3 2 W 0 . |
$$ | . . . O . . . X . , . . . . 6 X 1 8 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O X X . . . . . . . O O O . . |
$$ | . . O X O . . . . . . O . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

i rob black of some of his territory, but still feel uneasy at best

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Move #34
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . X . . . . . . X . a 2 O b . |
$$ | . . . O . . . X . , . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O X X . . . . . . . O O O . . |
$$ | . . O X O . . . . . . O . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Previous move was a no-brainer imo. But I've been contemplating 'a' or 'b' for a long time now and really leaning towards the hane underneath.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . a . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . X . . . . . . X 7 6 O O 4 . |
$$ | . . . O . . . X . , . . . . 1 X X 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . # . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O X X . . . . . . . O O O . . |
$$ | . . O X O . . . . . . O . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

I never know when it is time for the variation both players mentioned (1 @ 6, albeit Emerus is leaning towards building a moyo on the right), and when it is time for this variation. Both are normally gote. NB black 'a' and connect will be sente moves for black later in this variation (eg for use as big ko threats).

I am also a bit torn as to whether the squared stone is now excellently placed (first to play in the case of opposing thickness...) or unambitious with respect to the potent thickness and weak white group (Emerus is surely contemplating something similar).

'(All my parens are reminding me of LISP)