I'm spending some time thinking about this move. I feel like the slide may be too early for white to play, at least in direct sente. I think white's goal was to strengthen the left side group, which could end up becoming weaker as the fighting on the right begins in earnest. The real question is whether I should reply directly or elsewhere or not at all. If I reply directly, is white's move self punishing?

I don't think so, because then white can approach from the right. This leads to my next thought, though, which is a two or three space extension as follows:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm31
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . d W . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . 1 . X . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . a b . B O O e . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Directly trying to save the marked black stone is probably too much, but a bottom-side extension does stabilise my group, take a checking extension, and put pressure on the white stones to make a base. Ideally, in the process of white's doing this, my bottom right corner group will become stronger and remove most of the aji of Q6.

I mentioned that white is trying to strengthen the left side, but I think that may still enough aji at C for me to work with at some point. It depends on whether the ensuing fight would damage the upper left black group too much.

I've also considered a bit the tenuki to play D or E. E looks like it stakes a slightly firmer claim on the corner, at least. It would probably induce white A or B, at which point black would be induced to play C3 to stabilize the corner group. We could then trade, killing the potential of the two marked stones. In this line, though, I think black may have already lost his move advantage, though perhaps that was lost in the upper left. D seems too passive for the situation, and seems more like an "I am ahead by enough that I will remove aji and you can't win" move. This is by no means in accordance with the board.

I'm also looking at the situation in the upper right a bit, as white has plenty of invasion options on the right, and there is a lot of thinness in white's position as well. I don't think it's urgent as yet, but I should keep it in mind as I play in the future, so as not to damage my prospects there.

With regards to the move as played, if white takes the 3-3 (which I doubt) I will take E. Otherwise, I think the fighting on the right will begin properly, possibly with white living in the corner. In that case, I will try and end with sente to get back to the left and top right first.

better take this first, then ladder threat on other side. If ladder first, black could give it to me and block the corner.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm31
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . f . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O e . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . h . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . g . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . a O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . 1 . X . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . d . . X . . 2 . . X O O . . c . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'm considering between A to kill aji, B and C to limit white's bottom group and tenuki. D and E/F look big, but I think it's too early to play them. Between B and C, I'm not sure that either of them really claim enough, but they do prevent white from taking the corner in sente. A feels a bit slow, however. As a result, I'm thinking about G, to enclose the side on a larger scale, and deal with the aji of an attachment on the side star point later. That also feels slow, though, as I don't like trading G for D. D clearly induces white to run, and after my black corner group in the BR isn't looking so strong either. I think after G, I at least have more potential for territory than white. Perhaps I should consider trading something like H for a white defensive move, as it's on the border of two moyos and would help me make territory while attacking if white runs instead. It does concede invasion potential on the top, but I think it's worth it.

This feels more balanced than the one space jump to O7

A below is (to me) the most obvious place to start looking for trouble, but on closer look it seems I would not get a good result after black B. So perhaps if I can get a few stones around first? I think I'm not that good at handling moyos like this, but we'll see.

I considered also just taking C, but it seems too unambitious (although very big, as it stops b potential of pushing my bottom group around). Let's just hope B doesn't get time to take C.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm31
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . 5 . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . 6 . X a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . 1 . X . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . 2 . . X O O . . c . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

1) I discussed this at our club, and now I think A would probably be better shape than B (as in game). The effect towards right is quite same, but A is much better at stopping any funny attachment reductions on the marked stone. I had originally not considered A at all, but to some guys of similar strenght at the club the answer was trivial.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm31
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . a b . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . W . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . 1 . X . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . 2 . . X O O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

2) Some followups from current position I considered, let's see what black comes up with:

Next I would trash whichever side w does not protect:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm37
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . O . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . . . . . 5 1 2 . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . O . X . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . X . . X O O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Seems to me I can play ... similar also if black does A-B-C instead of .

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm37
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . O . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . X c . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . . . . . a 1 2 4 . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . b 3 . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . X . X 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . O . X . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . X . . X O O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

After this I would probably tenuki to bottom 3-3 point, my two stones on the right side have lots of aji.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm37
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . O . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . X 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . O . X . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . X . . X O O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Finally, it seems to me that any moves like A's below would let me take B - not such a goot idea for black?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm37
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . O . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . . . X b . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . O . X . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . X . . X O O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

3) I will try to make a rough count after I see how the current sequence turns out - right now it's too hard to say anything about the right side.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I'd love to hane here, but there's enough aji that I think white could make sabaki whichever way I do it. I'm pretty sure that white can live underneath by attaching as shown with , for example.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I'm considering playing this, to help consolidate the corner and prevent white from making a base. If I can get another move on the right side, I should be able to consolidate a lot of it also, and may end up chasing a weak white group.

Not entirely sure what to play here, but this feels okay.

At what strength do you stop commonly running into situations where you have no idea what to do? Does this at least become less common with time, or does it become more common?

My definition of shodan used to be that you always had some idea where to play. It might not be the right idea, but at least it was some idea.

Does having lots of ideas of where not to play count? Not pointless moves, but moves that you know weaker players would consider but seem wrong.

hard to say what's exactly the best place to play. I want to stop black from getting too much on right, and if I manage to take sente from this and take e.g. A below, making miai of B and C, that would make me quite happy. The kind of development I want to awoid is me taking A now, and black following with something like D-(w protects top)-E.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm41
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . O . O . . b . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . d . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . . . . 1 . O . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . e . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . X . |
$$ | . O . X . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . c . . X . . X . . X O O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm41
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . O . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O . . . 9 7 X . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . X 8 4 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . 6 5 X X . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . . . . 1 3 O . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . X . |
$$ | . O . X . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . X . . X O O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Peeping this way seems useless.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm41
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . O . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . . 2 X X . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . . 4 . 1 3 O . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . X . |
$$ | . O . X . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . X . . X O O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Perhaps this way?

I'd like to make white heavier and easier to attack. I'm still not certain how I'd deal with white R10 through, but starting with a hane at R9 followed by a crosscut fight seems normal, given the white stones above.

I remembar having a plan, but it was quite long time ago... Can't remember what it was anymore. Or perhaps I expected something else than what black played?

below is what I now see on the board. Anything else than 45 for me, and black would take 45, and it seems to end bad for me. Let's see where this goes.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm41
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . O . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X O O . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . . . . . . 2 X X . . |
$$ | . . . . X X . . . . . . . 1 . O . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . X . X 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . X . |
$$ | . O . X . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . X . . X O O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I didn't expect this before connecting, but I suppose it makes sense. It does make a local fight a bit easier on me, as white has more weaknesses.