finally, he open up.
it probably is an overplay on white...but it usually works.

You can't get by in a handicap game without playing the occasional overplay and starting a fight. I will oblige because you can't play go with a mindset of avoiding all fights with a submissive attitude. I look at this move and I ask myself, "Why does this feel like an overplay? And the answer is because the stones look thin like they could easily be cut by black with both remaining at least somewhat weak and certainly weaker than my corner stones. In my mind pops a couple of options for cutting:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm11
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . a c . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

c strikes me as funny shape that usually isn't right, but might sometimes work if the other more natural shapes don't work, so I consider them first.

With b, I see one sequence that I'd expect:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Black looks stronger here than white does. I think he can have a decent fight.

But white's other natural looking move is to push:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

And this looks much better for white. He's loosely surrounding my corner and might get an attack on it and his stone is on a shape point where I'd prefer to have a black stone. This looks much better for him.

With a, this looks like a likely outcome.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

This looks playable for both sides.

First instinct when somebody ignores a contact move should be to play another stone in that area.

i can not fight conventional way and expect to win.
on below variation, i will give him two stone and expect to gain penuki, sente, and aji, influence, initative, and hope.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 X 3 8 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O 4 X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . 5 . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

My outside hane on the last move was pretty agressive. It was the same as if I had played a two space jump before and now he decided to cut it. So this fight is a bit more complicated than it had to be, but I like to play a fighting game and I don't like to be too passive, so this is my style. It's only tricky because MagicWand is so strong. Still, that just leaves room to learn.

This is my plan. I might be able to play at a to threaten to capture the cutting stone. I'll have to be careful to tend to my group, but his is very weak still.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Now I have more groups to take care of, but I think that mine are for the most part stronger than most of his. Looking back, I think I might have played this way instead:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . B X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This would have been the same as if I had played an ogeima and he tried to cut it. My stones would have been a bit stronger and I think this wouldn't have been his best way to cut. I mean, I think what I played was playable, but I think that would have been a bit better because I would have had less patching up to do in my own position.

If things had gone like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I wouldn't have made this exchange:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

This is why I know that what I played is worse.

getting complicated...

I need to support this group. This seems like the side that's easier to pressure. I also considered for just a flash of thought a, but then white would take a point near the one that I just took and this'd be no good. Also for a flash of thought, I considered b. This looks like intuitively bad shape to me, so I'd only play it if I read out that what I played didn't work. Next, if he doesn't reinforce his cutting stones, I can net them a c though he might get forcing moves that make him strong based off of their aji. If he gets strong in gote, I will be happy to take sente and he hasn't made many points yet while I'm not particularly weak anywhere.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X O O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X X a . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . O . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . c . X b . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I like to avoid getting very weak groups. And I like to attack this detritus out of weak groups, but only if I am relatively strong. I think this attitude has improved my strength by a couple of stones. Though I have always loved to attack, I didn't always make sure that I was strong enough to attack. Attacking a weak group in a way that damages your own weak group is a common mistake.

I'm strengthening my center stones. If I let them get too weak, him jumping out with his other group is tough to handle as it weakens both of my groups and then he can start attacking me.

Also, since this pressures his cutting stones, it encourages him to strengthen himself encouraging me to strengthen myself and hopefully, his other group remains weak though this sort of fighting is the spot where a skillful player can gain ground. White does have a somewhat complicated fight, so that's helpful in a handicap game. But, as I said before, I don't mind complicated games and situations even if it increases my chances of losing a little bit because I love to learn from them and I love the challenge. I get a bit of a rush out of complicated fighting and I love the rush of finding a tesuji that the opponent didn't envision. Especially if the opponent is very strong.

Double hane feels like an overplay as does the cut. The extension makes a weakness in shape where white would be able to peep and this may aid in sealing white off on the top side. It also jumps ahead.

But, this is one of those situations where I feel weak because I really have a lot more questions than feelings of confidence about what is best here.

Giving white the atari seems pretty painful, I would have just extended.

I'm not sure how I feel about this really. I think that I'm more likely to overthink things in this game because I know that I'm playing somebody strong and because I have so much time to think. I notice that I'm less certain of my moves than usual.

i got some points but..not enough to win yet.

I think that my group on the right should be ok. It's not in great shape, but I think I can muster it. Now I want to seal white in here. If this group is sealed in, it makes my other group stronger by making this white group weaker. I really want to protect that top group, but I don't like doing such things in gote. This is another one of those positions in which I look at this position and see a lot of uncertainty as to which points are best.

EDIT: Coming back to this. My play for the last few moves has been poor. Looking back, I should not have hane'd unless I was going to follow up on the hane with a double hane or even by extending.

If I had simply jumped out instead. I would not have helped white make good shape. I think that I did overthink that area because I was playing a stronger player, I was trying to find strong moves, but I found worse moves than normal for myself. Still, I think I'm ok in this game.

probe to leave aji in the corner before settling

what is in my mind:
i am looking to sacrafice marked stones,

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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