When to play s6 is an interesting question and arises from white's mistake at p6. First of all white shouldn't play it any time soon as it's definitely gote for him. However it is quite close to being sente for black. If black plays it and white answers with nobi (he can't block due to p6, well I suppose he can ko in answer to the atari!) then I think black is content with expanding his territory and eyespace and reducing white's in sente. Maybe it could be thought of as aji keshi as black does have other options there like the clamp or peep but those are pretty aggressive crazy moves that lose a lot in the local shape that are only worth it if you get some awesome large scale attack going with them. If white ignores then black get to play atari which is big and separates white's stones and removes their eyespace and territory on the side, though 12 could still extend to r13. (and connect answer is too ugly to consider with p6 becoming pointless empty triangle). If white does answer then maybe black should push one more time but this is not as forcing, though again if ignored black can hane and separate white.

So when to play s6? Maybe there is no rush to punish white's p6 as him playing there is too slow for now, but my first thought was for move 11. I think white will definitely answer now. Maybe push once more. But these exchanges make white stronger so maybe they are not good. But afterwards black doesn't need to play o3. There is a feeling that o3 can become inefficient if black gets s6 pushes. And if black does o3 after 2 pushes then maybe white will tenuki as we made him stronger, or extend further than r10 which is nice for him. So how about s6 after white 12? The idea now is that we make 12 inefficient if white answers. But what if white tenukis to take a big opening point like c11 for a chinese or c15 shimari? And then if we atari out of fighting spirit ("Hey, my move was sente you naughty boy!") white tenukis again with k16. Next black could r12 to attack r10, and white could resolutely thunmb his nose and tenuki again, maybe to f3. White just leaves his stones floating on the right as bait. It's hard for me to judge this. Is black being too slow and one sided or his he punishing white for not playing urgent moves before big ones? Are white's stones on the right like Go Seigen's clever dangly bait, or just stupid? He has certainly managed to make o3 look slow and unnecessary now. What do you think?

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[go]$$cm11 Tenuki fest =
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . 6 . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . |
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . 9 , 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . 1 . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The primary strategic factors I considered for this move are as follows:

• I think that building a group on the top or the left can be equally valuable, so direction is not my primary consideration. I'd slightly prefer the left because of my 4-4 stone, but
• We're approaching the end of the fuseki, so I want to settle the corner quickly and play a big point elsewhere.
• A pincer here is likely to leave me with two groups that need looking after, so it's less likely I can end in sente.
• Joseki that lead directly to contact fighting are also less likely to leave me with sente, so I don't want to attach to his stone right now.
• Black already has two big corners, so I don't want to make a move that lets him take take the whole corner.

I'm hoping for a follow up like this so that I can end in sente (I'm considering whether 4 would be better at a):

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

After this corner is settled, there are still a few big points left on the board.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm11 awef(B) v jeromie(W) 6.5 komi
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . . . O . . d . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O e . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . b . . . 1 . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Other moves I considered:

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[go]$$B
$$ +------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . O . g . . .
$$ | . . . , . c . . .
$$ | . . 1 b . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . a e . . . . .
$$ | . . f . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .[/go]

The two space low pincer at f is probably the most interesting to me, since it's far enough away that it's unlikely to come under direct attack. But that move would probably mean giving up the whole corner in return for outside influence, which I don't want to do at this point. Three big corners is just a bit too much, especially since my 4-4 stone is still vulnerable to invasion.

Sorry my answer is so late. I got one of my coordinates mixed up, which is why my statement was confusing.

Here's what I had in mind:

I get a wall on the bottom (2 can't be cut off):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$awef(B) v jeromie(W) 6.5 komi
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 4 O 1 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I get a wall on the right and then black extends (I should have said R10 instead of R3; I think this is the point of confusion.):

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[go]$$awef(B) v jeromie(W) 6.5 komi
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Of course, I decided that the extension was bigger than a solid wall so I played at 3 immediately.

We'll see what happens. I was considering also

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm11 awef(B) v jeromie(W) 6.5 komi
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . 5 . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , 4 . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Here Black 15 is an extension, a light pincer, provides support for the left side, denies white an extension in this direction and makes my checking extension on the right side more valuable since it'll create a double-wing framework. Furthermore, if jermoie uses his kosumi to create a wall on the left, 15 helps neutralize it. Still, I decided to play Black 15 in the actual game because the left side is the biggest open area.

Hmm... I really wasn't expecting a tenuki.

I still have my eye on S6... I want to play it as soon as it won't be disastrous to ignore a black move elsewhere. In order to assess when I should play it, I'm going to try to figure out how many points it is worth.

If black plays first in that area, I count about 6 points for white and 14 points for black on the lower right side and corner. This is a net of -8 points for white.

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[go]$$B
$$ . . . . . . |
$$ . . , O C C |
$$ . . . C C C |
$$ . . . C 4 . |
$$ . . . 2 3 . |
$$ . O . O 1 M |
$$ . . O X M M |
$$ . . , X M M |
$$ X . X M M M |
$$ . . . M M M |
$$ . . . M M M |
$$ ------------+[/go]

If white plays first and black responds, I count 11 points for white and 11 for black. This is a net of 0 points for white, 8 points better than letting black play. That would make the move worth 8 points in sente for white.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W
$$ . . . . . . |
$$ . . , O C C |
$$ . . . C C C |
$$ . . . C C C |
$$ . . . C C C |
$$ . O . O 1 . |
$$ . . O X 2 . |
$$ . . , X M M |
$$ X . X M M M |
$$ . . . M M M |
$$ . . . M M M |
$$ ------------+[/go]

Black can ignore it to play a big move elsewhere, but then white gets to make a big monkey jump into the corner later (probably in sente, since white can steal the whole corner if black doesn't respond). A quick guess at best moves puts white at 11 points of territory plus one capture and black at 5 points in the contested area. This is a net of 7 points for white, or 15 points better than letting black play first. This means that for S6 to be sente for white, there can't be another move for black that's worth more than 7 points.

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[go]$$W Black 2 at 7
$$ . . . . . . |
$$ . . , O C C |
$$ . . . C C C |
$$ . . . C C C |
$$ . . . C C C |
$$ . O . O O 9 |
$$ . . O X 4 5 |
$$ . . , X 3 7 |
$$ X . X M 6 1 |
$$ . . . M 0 8 |
$$ . . . M M M |
$$ ------------+[/go]

This doesn't take into account potential along the right side for white, which is also better if white gets to play first. S6 is a really big move, so it's really hard not to play there!

There is one other consideration: if I play a move elsewhere, can I ignore a second black move around S6 to follow up my initial move? Doing so would really ruin my potential on the right, but my stones probably won't die and it might be worth it.

I know this is a long discussion about one move, but I need to know how much it's worth to decide whether to play there or elsewhere.

After all of that writing, I don't think the timing is quite right for playing S6. Letting black use his two moves on the left to start building a large-scale framework would be very bad for white. I'm playing a one space high pincer at D13 in order to be consistent with my decision in that corner to emphasize the top. I think I can either get a big corner OR a really strong outside wall no matter how black follows up. If black ignores me to play S6 himself, I can take control of the entire left side with another move over there.

Other moves considered:

C13 (low pincer): I think this is a bit wishy-washy with my previous play, and black can split my stones apart. This would leave me with too many weak groups to attend.

C9 (two space pincer from the other side): This is too passive and again threatens to leave me with too many groups.

S6 (see long essay above)

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

What's your sequence after ?

Hmm, = is interesting, but seems to have some shape problems:

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[go]$$B
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

How about instead ?

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[go]$$W
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Yeah, if white wants to play in that corner rather than answer the approach I prefer the press, though white does have this clamp:

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[go]$$B
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Black could simply connect and white has lots of cuts, or there is this technique below. White has no good move after 5 so would have to play 4 at a and trade the corner for thickness. Maybe it's better for black to play 3 first but then white won't clamp.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

When I wrote that I saw this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

And this (black can cut off the stone if he gives up the right side and corner, but I didn't think he would. Looking at the result more closely, 6 at 7 leaves black with two decently strong outside groups while white has a relatively small corner, so it's probably not bad for black.:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

But missed this, which does cut it off and isn't good for white. I think the bottom can still live, but it will likely be enclosed and pressed down, and black can probably make big profit by attacking the T shaped group.:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

It seems a silly oversight in retrospect.

I think my previous move, Black 15, was bad. Now jermoie can harass me and build nice thickness. Playing Black 17 originally would have been better. A lot can happen here because my stones are so thin, but I've been running through variations starting with a white move in between black 15 and 17, e.g.,

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1 awef(B) v jeromie(W) 6.5 komi
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 7 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 4 3 O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 8 . X 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 0 , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . 2 . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think I can manage on the left side but I'll be worried about his thickness in the upper left, my group in the top right is beginning to feel shut-off.

( For beginners. )
Very common trap around these levels: to be confused
by these nebulous terms: thickness, influence, or — magic.

“Now jermoie can harass me and build nice magic.”
First reaction: “What magic?! What are you talking about?? ”

This should help me develop a very strong wall, and I still have chance to get part of the corner territory, too.

I almost played the descent to C13 to try and kill the C15 stone, but as far as I can read it doesn't work. (I also tried the diagonal to C14, but it doesn't fare any better.)

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc19
$$ +------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . O 8 0 . . .
$$ | . . . 9 O 6 . . .
$$ | . . X 4 2 5 . . .
$$ | . . . . 3 . . . .
$$ | . . 1 O . 7 . . .
$$ | . . X . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .[/go]

There are quite a few possible variations, but all of them I tried end up with white trying to protect two weak groups and letting black escape into the center or connect with the C12 stone. I desperately wanted it to work (and the race is close enough I almost convinced myself it does), but every variation I tried ended up badly.

Can you name one problem with ?

Black can peep at the tiger's mouth to get free moves that help build a strong outside wall. This wasn't the first line I tried, but it seemed to come closest to killing the black stones in the corner. Of course, if it didn't kill the corner the shapes were disastrous for white (and even if it did black could get a lot of outside profit).

I think White let me off easy. It seems he basically wasted a move just now. I'll take the chance to strengthen my stones on the left. I didn't read out too many variations but this move looks like it'll do the trick good enough. Maybe I should look for better than good enough but at the same time I can't labor on every move. I thought about trying to slide in the lower left corner, but I think he could tenuki and invade at black 19 if I did that. I'm eyeing a pincer/double approach on that bottom left stone now -- it's looking lonely. I think my stones on the left side are over concentrated and working inefficiently and I think that it all started with black 15.

- Yes, to the peeps; however...
- No, to the strong wall.
- Not necessarily, to the disastrous shape.
- No, to a lot of outside profit.

Can you name another problem with ? ( Still very local. )

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$m11
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , 4 . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . 3 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 2 . . |
$$ | . . b 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

( For beginners. )I think W's local shape is quite good, and (a) now is a big move.Actually, in relation to and makes a "double large keima" —
this is a common shape at these levels, and it's not a very good combination.
Even if was simply one line lower, at (b), it's better.Quite strange.- No, to over concentrated. It's the opposite: - - is a little thin.
- For working inefficiently, the shape is not good,
but probably not what awef has in mind.
- For , of course, locally the approach is no problem at all;
the question is the tenuki from .

How do you decide which moves to "labor on" ?
What are your criterias for moves worth the labor and those which aren't ?

For a real-time game on the clock, time management is an issue.
But this game has a lot more time, so yours is an interesting mentality.

C13 is really, really big, but it leaves me over concentrated and I think white will fall behind if black plays again in the lower left. My lone 4-4 stone will struggle to do anything useful with another black stone in the area. I'm going to make a play to help my stones in the lower left live usefully. If black makes another move in the lower left, I'm going to go back to C13. If he plays C13, I'll probably play a move to take the lower left corner, though I'll also consider K17, R13, and S6.

Also considered: C13, the high extension to F4.

Hmm, I think C13 is bigger.

Both players seem to have some misunderstanding of what over-concentrated means.