Life In 19x19

I don't start with a serious plan as white; I usually play dual 4-4 which lets me react to what black is doing.

Are there really any other openings that people could pull off with white? The majority of players play double star points as white. Are there any fuseki for white that people can pull off, since most of the fuseki that are "discovered" are for black? Or, are the discovered fuseki playable with white as well.

Not particularly. Obviously, if black does nothing to prevent it, white is free to form various configurations like San-Ren-Sei, orthodox, Chinese, etc. and this does happen in pro games. Corner configurations like shimari are obviously possible for both colors, and virtually any joseki can be played by black or white.

Some formations are somewhat unlikely for white... For example:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . 5 . . . . . 1 . . . |
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$$ | . . . 7 . . . . . 9 . . . . . 8 . . . |
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$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . 6 . . . . . 4 . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

White isn't likely to ape san-ren-sei like this because black is going to get the "last big move" in this kind of game. White has to do something to shake things up in a game like this.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . , . . . . . 1 . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 , b . . . . , . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

White isn't going to get a chance to play at a to form an Orthodox formation because an approach at b is too good for black. This opening is considered bad for white, so it's harder for white to get an Orthodox formation generally.

Grain of salt, as I play stars as white. However, there are certainly other options. First, 3-3 can be perfectly reasonable. Second, something like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 1 . . . |
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$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b , . . . . . , . . . . . , 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This makes black choose between allowing a cross fuseki by taking the bottom left (actively nullifying any other plan he may have had), which would give W 'a', or black could take the top left, allowing white 'b' for a dynamic and interesting opening.
Thirdly, white could always take a 6-4 or 5-3 point. White's openings have to be more flexible, since black has more chance to negate them, but white certainly has plenty of options.

That makes sense, but I get the feeling that White is at a significant disadvantage from the start of the game. I suppose that's why they gave White komi, but more than that it just seems that White cannot win the game even with komi unless Black makes some mistakes.

Given that I'm not that strong, I could be WAY off base here.

Yeah, but White doesn't have as many options as Black does. I play the double star points as well, and then I always have to worry about the 3-3 invasion. Whereas if I played the double 3-3, I'd have to worry about my opponent getting to much influence.

In your diagram,

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b , . . . . . , . . . . . , 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I would play as follows with Black.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 . . . . . , . . . . . 1 . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . , . . . . . , 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I feel that Black has the advantage here, and I'd hate to play the resulting position as White. Am I thinking way too hard here? It just seems that Black has the advantage since he had a good approach to White's lower right.

First, my comment was more a reaction to "Are there really other openings as white". I mean, white 2 at tengen is perfectly reasonable. Sure, white has less options because he or she has to consider black's existing stones, but there are certainly other things that handle that fine. Remember opening at the star points is only an inventions of (someone correct me if I'm mistaken) the 1920-era shin-fuseki, and white did okay, even before komi. At least, according to Sensei's, "Only in the twentieth century, and especially with the introduction of komi, did it begin to rival 3-4 point and 3-5 point openings as a common corner move." So we should both probably look at more pre-1900 games, to see white openings besides the 4-4.

Second, your diagram is a bit different. In the top left, instead of white taking the star point, I meant white should take 'a'.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . , . . . . . , 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . a . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This way, black gets an ideal approach, but white can have a fair shot at playing for sente to deny black the other as a sort of miai. White can also pincer on the bottom to deny black a double-wing.

Alternatively, instead of '4', white can approach at 'a'. This way, if black takes the empty corner, white gets a double approach as compensation. If black pincers, white could do something like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . 7 . . . , . . . . c , 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . 4 . 5 . . 6 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

At this point, A-D are all attractive points for white.

While 4-4 stones DO seem a logical choice for flexible white openings, I am gradually learning that there are plenty of other options. I really need to read more pro games (classical and modern), to see how some other options can turn out...

Experiments in opening theory are fun! I played the traditional/shusaku's opening for about a year straight. That looks like:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . , . . . . a , 1 . . |
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$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

and if white plays at A, you play Shusaku's opening at B, followed usually by a high approach on 3. If white plays at or around B, you play the enclosure at A. It's one of my favourite openings, very cash oriented, and very flexible. But, I got too comfortable in it, and it started to hurt my game, since all I did was play this opening, I became uncomfortable with people who opened wierdly, especially when playing white.

So, I've made some changes to my game:
I can play any opening that doesn't start with 1 as a 3.4 stone. I often play chinese as black, because I played that for about 6 months before going to Traditional/Shusaku's fuseki.

This move, I enjoy playing when white plays a diagonal to my opening. It's chosen for speed, allowing me a strong approach to white's 4.4 stone, which will be my next move if white takes the last corner, like so:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm1 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . d . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 . c . . . , . . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

if white pincers at a, I'm happy to play into the corner at b, knowing that my 3 will help later in reducing gains white might get on the left. Alternately, if white extends at or near c, I'll play Kitani's extension at d, and be pleased with the left side framework.

At some point, white will play under my stone, usually at E. My fuseki here is less about territory and more about fast expansion and influence.

There are always options as white. You don't have to play a corner at all. One of my favourite openings as white is to approach every corner that black plays in. Low knights for 4.4 and 1 space high for 3.4s. If you can take sente away from even 1 of the corners, you get a free second move in a corner of your choice, and it leaves black feeling, well, harassed. Very few people plan for white to disregard traditional wisdom and simply approach everything. The proper answer is, of course, for black to play calmly, and try to choose joseki that work together. But it is a fun experiment to play with.

There are always other options as white.

Black's 5-4 stone and this approach want to develop the left side. I'll just disrupt that plan in the simplest way.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm7 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 8 7 . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 6 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O 4 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . 2 . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This is one possible joseki. It's actually a pretty good idea, in spite of giving white a strong group on the left, because it exerts so much influence. It also works well with my 4.5 stone, giving me a pretty broad wall across the top. After this, I think the proper action is to play A to enclose the upper corner. There's aji at B, which is why joseki strictly plays at B, but it is omitted occasionally, due to the aji left in the 3.3 invasion. If white plays B, black can treat the pincer lightly, and still have fun.

But, this joseki does let white have fun all around. I'd rather play another way..

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm7 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 7 , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . 1 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Playing this way leads to me claiming much of the left side, or starting a fun fight. White needs to turn this way to take full advantage of their 4.4 stone on the lower right, if they fail to do so, I end up wrecking white's bottom. If I didn't have move 3 so high, I would have likely jumped out, and taken the counter pincer to pressure white.

Given the 4.5's slightly closer nature, I feel like pincering was a bad response in this case.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm8 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 5 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 4 1 O 3 . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . 6 X 2 . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Looks like we're doing the basic joseki. I think it's been explained in many Malkovich games. Let me know if you have questions.

I'm more than pleased with this outcome. If white finishes off locally, then...

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm16 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0.5
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O O O . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X X X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Black's stolen 3 corners for the price of 2 here. If white doesn't finish with 16, there's huge aji left there.

I don't think this is the correct side for white to have played on. Notice how their current outcome doesn't work well with their lower right, and doesn't do much to claim much of the left.

If white doesn't finish off, he'll probably play 16 at 17, and I'll settle things and play an approach move after that. I'm fairly sure this joseki choice on white's part has allowed me to gain a small, but important lead in the opening.

Now that he's been prevented from developing the left side, I can take the corner knowing that his influence is less useful. Granted, I can't do much with my influence either, but that little wall I got from that joseki is always pretty useless, so I think it's a good exchange for me.