Life In 19x19

some helpful hint.
do not waste your aji unless you read the move completely.
he waste 4 point sente aji to try something he doesnt even know what he is going to do.
i would feel really bad if i waste that much point on nothing.
there is distinct timing when you play such move.
it has to be perfect timing or you will lose points. same with 3-3 point invasion.
i believe at this point white is ahead by few points. but it will not be easy for me to keep that lead if he plays solid moves till the end. i mean he will have his chance to win the game for sure. when you are not sure i suggest wait till you see a chance.
way he played his invasion seems wrong to me. such play might decide the game very quickly.

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[go]$$Bcm32 Move 32 - Prisoners: B=1, W=0
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$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O . . . . . O X . X |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . O X X . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . B O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think black should have just gone for the s6 stone like he was thinking. This isn't looking like it will end well for black.

he will have taugh time trying to make life in my moyo.

There are a lot of possible variations here, so it's difficult to tell whether or not I'll be able to reduce this area at all.

But it does seem that, if I connect directly to my three stones here, it will be easy for white to trap me inside of his area, and there's a good chance I will die. For a simple example:

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[go]$$Bcm1 Diagram 1
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$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . 4 X 3 2 . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O O 1 . X . O X . X |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . a . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The sequence in Diagram 1 seems quite dangerous for me. It is hard for me to escape, and white can destroy my eye potential with a move like "a" if I try to make eyes down there. That makes it a tough road ahead to live with the group.

Playing at in Diagram 1 doesn't seem to help, because it has even less eye shape.

So I am thinking that I need to be willing to abandon my three stones down there, and use them as a threat so that I can escape, reducing white in the process.

If I am able to live with the marked stones in Diagram 2, below, I think that I will have reduced white's potential territory enough to be ahead.

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[go]$$Bcm40 Diagram 2
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . B . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . B . . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O O . . X . O X . X |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

For example, I'd be happy with the following sequence, if I could live with the top group:

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[go]$$Wcm1 Diagram 3
$$ ---------------------------------------
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 8 . 6 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . X . 2 3 7 . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . X 1 4 . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O O 5 . X . O X . X |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'm not totally sure I can live, and I might be punished, but I think that this is the way to go. I really want to reduce. It will require sacrificing, but hopefully I won't have to sacrifice everything

Also, since I have decided to try to play a move that makes it easier to escape, I considered the following move since it reduces white liberties:

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[go]$$Bcm40 Diagram 4
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . B X . . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O O . . X . O X . X |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The thing I don't like about this is that I cannot directly capture the white stones, it's harder for the black stones to escape, and the marked stone in Diagram 4 doesn't give me as much eyespace if white blocks my path. For example, white may block off my path to the center:

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[go]$$Bcm40 Diagram 5 - Exaggerated example
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . B X . . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O O . . X . O X . X |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

If I cannot get to the center, I prefer the move I played in the game than the marked stone above, since it gives me more eye potential. This is kind of a tricky situation, but I hope to live with something, reducing white's territory in the process.

Kirby's last move feels like rather bad shape, and it doesn't do enough of anything for me. Either extending towards the other stones (a), or jumping out for sabaki (b) seem to make much more sense. magicwand has a nasty tesuji at "c", and everything just looks heavy for Black somehow:

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[go]$$Bcm40 Move 40 - Prisoners: B=1, W=0
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . c B . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . X a . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O O . . X . O X . X |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This follows the variation I gave in the last post. I'm willing to sacrifice some stones.

I would have busted through the instant he played tenuki:

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[go]$$Bcm28 Move 28 - Prisoners: B=1, W=0
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 3 O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O . . . . . O X . X |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

It's thick and big on territory too.

i will take what he gives me for now.
trying to stablize the group he will have to pay some more later....and that is all i need to win.

I feel like Magicwand was a little soft on me, but when I think about it, maybe it's not a bad result for him.

I thought he might play the following:

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[go]$$Bcm43
$$ ---------------------------------------
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . W . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . X . X . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . X O . . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O O . . X . O X . X |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This would have made things more uncomfortable for me, at least.

But he played calmly, just taking the territory. If I live with this group now, without having to give up anything, I've reduced his potential territory a lot, so I'm satisfied.

My group isn't completely alive, though, even with the move that I played. Still, I think that I'm a bit comfortable, so Magicwand will probably tenuki, I think.

Let's move on to a new part of the board. I'm thinking that's what's going to happen next. Perhaps Magicwand will take advantage of S14 now to gain power to attack this group I'm trying to keep safe. That might be a wild strategy, though. Maybe he'll approach the top left... Let's see.

wow...so slow...and heavy.
life wont come easy for him.
he will suffer greatly.
i can feel the snow strom coming.
at least play as below.. it is lighter and quicker more flexable.

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[go]$$Bcm44 Move 44 - Prisoners: B=1, W=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . X . X . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . X O O . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O O . . X . O X . X |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Hmm, he wants to directly attack. I'll think about the best way to make life or escape for a bit...

I need to escape or get more room to live. Escaping to the left is more difficult because of the white stones at K4 and F5. There's space in this direction, and also potential for me to escape toward the upper right where I have some more black stones. In terms of which move to play in this direction, I considered basically this and one alternative. But the alternative seemed a bit difficult to work with:

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 1 4 . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O 2 3 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . X . X . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . X O O . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O O . . X . O X . X |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

There is some fighting that I can do, but it is difficult to get my stones moving in the direction of my top right black stones, where I have a bit more power.

I think that the move I played in the game is pretty efficient for trying to get more space to live or escape compared to the alternative I considered above.

I guess he can do this with the move I played:

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[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O 1 2 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X 4 3 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . X . X . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . X O O . . O O X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . O O . . X . O X . X |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . X O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . X O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Things might be tricky...

Train wreck in progress