Lots of moves I'd consider here on instinct. This is the sort of position where careless instinct can get me killed, so I'm going to think a bit. Kirby's last move makes sense now (though I still think the hane and connect would be better), although I don't think it affects the fight too much. This has been a really good point for a while, I'm going to want to tread carefully. If I come out of this cleanly, I think I'm probably slightly ahead now.

Ok, that's enough thinking. Because of C8, he can't easily crosscut - I don't have to worry about him getting stronger with the exception of needing to look after K16, and this stone is a long way out from there. I've also got a few tactical ideas sitting around. Let the fighting commence.

Hmm. He played an interesting response. Considering the previous strategy that I put forth, it seems to make sense to hane:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm41 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . O . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . O . . . . . . . a . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . X W . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O . O . O . . . . . . . . O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . . O X . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . X . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

If black responds locally, I can then attack with 'a', as stated.

However, I wonder about his local move. I'm not entirely certain that it secures the safety of his group. It makes me wonder if I can push forward on a local attack as follows:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm41 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . O . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X 5 O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . 4 X . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O . O . O . . . . . . . . O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . . O X . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . X . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Of course, he has some forcing moves, such as the atari at the marked intersection, above... But will his group be OK? My wall is pretty strong, still, so maybe I can play aggressively like this.

The question now is, can I profit locally, immediately? If I can, I should cash in. If it will not work, then maybe I should let back and go for a global attack (eg. the hane on the outside)...

Hmm...

Well, I think that playing more aggressively looks OK. Let's see if I can push him around.

Wheee, fighting time!

I won't pretend to know what will happen.

I think Kirby is in trouble.

Gosh, this is exciting. I think White's committing to kill here. It's hard to see what value he'll get from this if he doesn't, and risks a ruined wall (or rather, a wall achieving nothing). I rejected the point one space above this (which was my first instinct) because the contact play here seems both complicated and rather severe.

Maybe I was too aggressive... But I don't think I can let up now!

When is this going to be less urgent I wonder...

I guess now would be a good time to think carefully.

I need to think about directing these efforts into points... or killing... or something.

I can control the direction of play ATM, so I'd better be careful how I control it.

I feel I have to keep the pressure on as much as possible. I considered a faster move, but it doesn't work:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm61 Prisoner Count: B-0 W-0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . O . O . O . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . X O . . O . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . X O X X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . O . . X X O 7 6 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O . . . . . . O 5 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O . . X . . 1 3 4 . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . 2 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . X X O O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O X . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O . O . O . . . . . . . . O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . . O X . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . O X . . . . X . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I sort of have two eyes, so maybe I should stop pushing this way, he might start getting some points. Still, splitting is useful, as I have targets still.

This splitting move seems even bigger. He has bad aji everywhere, so I'd rather he didn't fix it too easily.