He desires to get something on both sides. I choose to separate his groups in part because it will keep his group that I'm sealing in weaker. He might be able to live small on both sides. And this isn't so bad as long as both sides are truly small and I come away with sente.

This move is about threatening to connect underneath. I think that black can win this capture race if things go like this.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . X O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . X X O O 1 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X X O X X X 4 . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , O X O O . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think that I've made a couple of mistakes in this area, but I think I'm ok still.

in handycap game i can not win by trading move after move..
inititive is the key to overcome handy. as always..i am not looking to kill. seal black and sente is good enough.

Of course, he has the peep which makes his cut more viable. It could become a capture race. I have to be careful here. Having to play like this was very much caused by my playing in such a way that gave him some strength in the center.

how about something like this???

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I also considered kicking the white stone then playing this move, but I think that just strengthens white, so it isn't good. If I strengthen his stones, it will be with an attachment on top. If I were him, I'd probably eat my stone right now.I chose this move instead of just extending because I can choose to kick the white stone just played for more eyespace later.

UR is urgent but..it is gote. i can not play everything so i will leave that for later.

Could you explain, in your opinion, what is black's best reply?
I believe this is a spot with several possibilities (not even including tenuki) in which I'm sometimes overwhelmed.

This move feels balanced to me. It should work well with my center black stones. It reduces the white center influence. It splits the right side and it pincers white's previous approach stone. Being forced to live small in the bottom right was painful, but I still feel good about this game.

You can also see from this move that I tend to go for influence.

i would have played F16 but what he played is aggresive and it is fine also. i am raising the pot and making it more dangerous for him and myself.

Perhaps he'll try something like a cap. Whatever he does, I will endeavor to show fighting spirit and try to get a good result. He's stronger than me, but I will make him prove it if he is going to win and if he mops the floor with me, I'll have learned a thing or two.

below is what i expect him to do.
he might play a or b peep to stablize his group..which will hurt his upper territory..

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

This move prevents a white slide here which affects the eyespace of both our groups. He'll likely respond here. After which time I'll have to consider my options for which side to reinforce. Either way, I feel comfortable enough here.

Next he'll fill and I will get to decide where to play next. My corner has some aji and I will have to keep it in mind, but I can't play with a fearful attitude about such things if I allow for him to approach it on the top side.

I don't think that there is an easy way for him to too severely attack my pincer stone, so I'll go ahead and support this group and take more territory.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm51
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . X . X . X . X . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . O O . O . O . c . . . X O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X . X X O O . . . |
$$ | . . . X . B . . . . . X X O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , O X O O . , . . . |
$$ | . . a O . . . . . . . O . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . e . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . d X . . . . . , O . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . X O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . . X . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The idea of attaching underneath at a so that I was separating white's groups crossed my mind as he can connect and crosscut right now, but it makes that group much thicker and makes my corner weaker as a result. I also considered playing the peep at b to stymy the connection. The peep helps keep white connected, so I think it's very bad. I considered leaving that stone for now and playing around c to grab some territory, but I decided that if he caught the stone, it'd be pretty big.

I also considered d to make some territory while supporting my bottom left corner. And e has been in my mind for awhile as a way to support my group on the bottom right which is still a life and death problem to a degree.