Expected.

I think this shape point creates some aji on the top side. If black hane underneath, it's a fight, if he goes one point to the right of , then I think the exchange can't be bad.

I even considered pushing again and then the hane for just a split second, but after I got over that nonsense, I played the obvious, solid move.

Anyhow, here's my reading.

If he chooses to not let me connect under:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 O 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 X O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X O . . O . . , . . . X . O O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Or:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . O 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3 X O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . 8 7 X . . |
$$ | . . X O . . O . . , . . . X 9 O O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Neither of which works, so he won't do that.

If he decides to save these stones:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

This too, is unreasonable.

If he sacrifices these stones:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 X O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X 3 . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X O . . O . . , . . . X 4 O O 2 . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This is what I'd go with as white. Seems like the only reasonable line. After this. I think both of us would be settled enough that I'd want to tenuki in the upper left side. If he takes sente after 6, I think that would be a mistake as his group while having access to the center would still be pretty weak. At around our level, it still happens from time to time though. It's my favorite situation to attack a group for a long time because my opponent didn't realize how weak his group was thought tenuki was bigger.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

A move like 'a' and 'b' are miai.

In endgame, this is better:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . X a 1 |
$$ | . . X O . . O . . , . . . X . O O O b |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Because early in endgame, I can have one more point by playing at a if he descends or if he takes a I connect and then the sente play at b Is my privilege. But in this situation, it's bad for liberties, so I just connect.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

All of my variations had the aji of his descent at any point.

Looking back, I think that this would have been the best variation for white:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Because I think that the for exchange is good for white. This way, I get to kill his stones instead of connect underneath.

Anyhow, at this point, now that I don't really have the liberty issues I had before, I think the bamboo joint is better than this connection, but it's a minor quibble. Perhaps he feared what would happen if I cut instead of playing But I think he can win the capture race if he takes that point for himself. But I can see why he'd hesitant to let me get the first move against the three stones to make it a capture race.

I thought and thought and thought about how I could attack blacks two groups but nothing stands out as particularly profitable. This d17, however, is game-breaking huge. I can't let black punish my corner AND live on the top easily.

I think his tenuki is early. I can erode his eyespace by quite a bit here and then he'll have a floating group that I can harass.

I also want to probe at G15, but this point strengthens my group at the same time as weakening his. I think it's more urgent. If he plays another move over there to capture my stone, I can start to severely attack his group which will then become a major liability to him.

I was conflicted about playing here:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . . . . . . O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O X X . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O . . O . . , . . . X . O O O . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

or here:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

This feels better for the eyeshape of my group and would feel much better if he had played the bamboo joint earlier as he'd have a peep there, but since he didn't play the bamboo joint, I feel better about the move that I played because it diminishes potential eyespace more and because it gives me an option to push in at R3 to further reduce it.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

His group will remain pretty weak after this. I got a bit of profit already, but I'm sure he's itching to return to the top left. As it stands, he has a gote eye in the corner, and he has a forcing move that can help him get eyeshape on the outside. It's enough that he might have enough confidence to tenuki. We'll see what he does. Further, After this, there's a big move on the bottom to take territory and connect my groups. It's big, but I think the top is more urgent.

Capping to see how he will try to make shape. This central stone also seems to work with my top-side moyo and gives my weak group an outpost to run to.

Let's see if I can get a bit of shape for my stone by attaching to his already strong stones.

I gotta say, I like his move. Attacking my group is a good attitude. Settling myself quickly and going back to attack his weak group is my idea. Let's see if he cooperates.

Happy St Patties day. This seems like the only move, I sat on it a while but couldn't find any alternatives. What is his follow up? It's not clear if black can counter attack so I expect him to extend along the side now.

This separates his capping stone from his other stones and theatens at a

He can get a pretty big territory up there, but he's also spent a lot of moves over there.

I also considered tenuki to attack his group severely, but I think that I can strengthen my own group first. My attack would be more severe after my group has more strength. His group is still pretty dangerous. It's possible that he'll want to tenuki and improve the status of his group, but I have a good follow up in this area if he does that. If he responds here, I'll return to attack his group.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm41
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . X . . . . . . O . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O a . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O O X X . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . X O . . O . . , X . . X . O O O . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Black has some thin shape here, I'll try to cut him off from his side stone.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I can't be sure what white might try.
I'll do my best to keep my stones connected and in particular to keep the threat of the attachment at G15 real.