So I just played this weird game on KGS. My opponent was rude, left after move 68, and then resigned a few minutes later when I asked him to finish the game.

That is not why I am posting this. Black (my opponent) played very oddly, playing tengen on move 3 for example, and I did not know how to handle these moves.

Although I "won", I have the feeling that I would have lost in the end -- the moves seemed like overplays (maybe they were not, though) with the goal to make a huge center territory... or something? I admit, I don't really know.

Could someone give me a review or some advice about how to play against opponents who play this way?

Maybe I, for example, should have approached his 4-4 stone instead of enclosing my own corner?

Thanks.

His opening is actually not all that odd, believe it or not. It's not orthodox, obviously, but it's possible to play like this, emphasizing star points (or the third line points underneath them) while scattering stones. The idea, especially with the stones on the third line, is turn the whole game into a nasty street fight and brawl. Sides and tengen aren't taking points, but they're also disrupting any potential moyos--and they're in a sense more rapidly developed relative to a corner stone.

His moves after the "opening" (which kind of ends when he invades with 3-3) aren't 100% reasonable, but they're consistent with what I can glean of his style (kick, claw, slap, poke, annoy, harass, etc.--everything). (Speaking of which, he was being quite rude to you, sorry you had to deal with that).

There's more than one way to handle this style, and it depends on your comfort level. But the most effective is to trust in the power of good, solid, simple moves--the trick here is to not be afraid to rise to the challenge when he inevitably overplays and fight him. Because if you just cower and play too passively, he's got a prospective framework to build a truly yuge center territory.

In my opinion, you handled things well.

You made a common mistake (for your level) of playing B4, presumably because you think hey, it's sente and I save a stone. Much better to take the oustide and force him to take B3 in gote.

C9 (move 26) is ok... but you're inviting him to lean on you for more strength. A play at e.g. D8 is a little more active and potentially punishing. (You could also play something like D12, since hey, he just gave you the biggest, most powerful wall/army on the whole board, but against this type of player it's alright to play a little more peaceful and calm).

Move 32 - you connect at C7. Way too passive. Sente is precious. You have huge wall, and you even took some mild mannered third line extension stones for safety. That's probably my least favorite move. I presume you're afraid of the cut at C7--don't be. After the atari downward, he extends to C6, you extend again, and he must turn to try to capture D7. Can D7 be saved? Maybe, but not necessarily prudent to worry about now anyway. You're safe--let him take gote a second time to kill 1 stone (compared to your solid connect).

Move 33 (E17) is a decent move by him. A right idea. Your solid extension is fine, but a hane would be better. A little too submissive from you.

Move 36 (J17) invites him to play at L17 and make you jump into his only real area of strength. Too close to his 2 stone wall. K17 would've been much better for that reason.

Overall, though, you're using the right concepts up to this point--solid and safe play. Don't let him get to your head.

It turns ugly for him at move 41 (L16). As the sequence shows, you weren't actually all that weak yet. By playing on top of you he seems to be trying to go for a quick moyo--but considering the solidity of these two stones, the area is still too open for that IMO. (And if he's just trying to build a little bit more power to attack, what's he going to attack around there?).

You handled his harassment by playing calm, safe moves that were also active enough to prevent him from building a sufficiently large moyo. So he fumbled about and played the extension to F14 for no conceivable reason. (At the very least, he should've tried to make something of L18 in sente instead, and at least aimed to kill the P17 stone and then emphasizing that right side). It's over at that point.

Then, he plays E14, which is close to a pass. You wisely ignore. You don't ignore C14, which is a mistake, but you are indeed quite ahead at this point.

Nice work handling this scatter-and-harass style.

I'm sorry this is not a great strategical lesson to learn, but something mainly tactical, but I think, move 24 provides a very important basic shape lesson.
the position is this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Go is a game about staying connected and separating and enclosing the opponent. Therefore it is very improtant here that you separate black from his triangled stone.

After what you played:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

black is happily connecting and you dont have a good continuation, bacause continuing to push would bump your head against the black stone.

Now instead, a common shape to try and use the stortage of liberty on the cirled stones to seperate black, would be the double hane, the idea being that black cant capture because of a double atari:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

however, here he can just atari once and pull back, and its not so simple for you to catch the cutting stone:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W oops black resist, not so easy to capture 2
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O O O 3 . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O X O B B O 2 . Y . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X X . 4 X 1 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Therefore, you have another tesuji to make your double hane more sente and that is the inside cut:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Now black had to defend in reaction to 3,because the exchange of 1 for 2 made it atari, and white cut black of, confined him to the corner and made the triangled stone look silly. Note there is no cut at a, because of loose ladder starting at b, see spoiler:
.


So then why was double hane the first instict and not inside cut?
Well if black had to retreat in response to the double hane anyway, it would be better to keep the 1-2 exchange ("1-2-3 priciple"), because capturing a stone there give immediately grat eyeshape, better that just defending without white sacrifizing a stone first.
In this special case here the eyeshape doesnt matter though, the corner was alive without it (but only by a close call, there would have been some ko threats if white doeuble haned at 3 and black would have had to defend at 1), but the fact that the inside cut made the double hane more sente was in fact important to make white retreat.

- To start with you dealt with his centre and sides opening strategy perfectly: just get corners, make shimaris.
- This continued until white 24, a classic shape mistake. You might think you save your stone in sente, but black is happy to connect under and k3 is now well placed, whilst you have an annoying cut (or peep) at g4. It's better to double hane: if black cuts at h3 you g4 connect for a nice wall without cutting points and then after black f2 you can think about saving it with j3 or just leave it as black's problem.
- c9 is normally a bad shape (but not as often as we thought teaches AI) and c8 normal as making a base and not strengthening black. But maybe this is such an occurrence it' ok (c15 makes a black wall facing that way less useful).
- 32 is way too passive, e7 extend to poke out into the centre (or tenuki), if black cuts you just atari under. Use that wall!
- 34 extend is patient and aims to not strengthen black and later pincer, with black's top right moyo and tengen that might be a hard fight. I'd rather hane on top and if black follows the normal sequence you naturally get into the centre with a strong shape as a springboard for further reduction of the centre so you don't need to worry about it getting big.
- j17 should hane e15, good local shape and again into centre strongly. d18 ditto.
- m17 is ok, can also think about e15 and fighting.
- 44 good that you didn't ust wedge, but probably hane other side better as then you are looking forward to attacking that wall on the left.
- g17 leaves cut problems with j18, l18, g17, but does aim at e15. h16 would be simple and good: no cut and take black liberty of 4 stones.
- p17 definitely looks like a bad armpit hit / kosumi approach.
- 57 herp derp
- 60 atari from outisde, both kill, but you'd rather have outside stone than inside.
- 66 is q17 bigger? You already did great here and can tenuki.

As a general principle against this kind of centre strategy look for opportunities to play normal, easy local shapes which get you into the centre with alive groups (e.g. 32, 34, j17). If your opponent is playing well this could be hard so you might need to embark on some fighting where the opening stones become useful for him, but opponents your level will invariably play inconsistent moves that just invite you to trash their centre potential.

Hi Jonsa,

Just FYI: Locally...
Be careful if the stone is 1 spot closer to the action:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W A different board
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . O O O O O . . . , . .
$$ | . O X O X X O . B . . .
$$ | . X X X . . X . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ +------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

However:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W Black's counter atari
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . O O O O O . . . , . .
$$ | . O X O X X O 4 X . . .
$$ | . X X X 2 1 X 3 . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ +------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W depends on global ko situation
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . O O O O O X . . , . .
$$ | . O X O X X O X X . . .
$$ | . X X X X O . O . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . .
$$ +------------------------[/go]

Hmm...

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W Back to game shape
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . O O O O O . . . , . .
$$ | . O X O X X O . . Y . .
$$ | . X X X . . X . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ +------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Glad you won. I would not play with this guy again.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm5 Maybe
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . O O O O O 1 5 . 7 . .
$$ | . O X O X X O X 3 X 8 .
$$ | . X X X X O X O 4 . . .
$$ | . . . . . 2 . 6 . . . .
$$ +------------------------[/go]

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

Thank you all for your reviews. I found your advice helpful and your positive support very encouraging.

I have one or two questions, though.

My first one is regarding this position:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I have a huge wall here, which I thought was valuable considering black's interest in influence. However, I was concerned that it was eye-less and could soon, because of the circled black stone, become base-less. Perhaps black makes a move around the triangled mark or something. My concern was magnified because the group in the corner/side is alive and out (because I didn't play that correctly and let it connect as shown in your replies above) -- I was afraid that I would become sandwiched in and have an eyeless monstrosity running across the board.

I thought it was quite dangerous to be in this position so I immediately tried to go and make a base with an armpit hit (not perhaps the best move on my part) below the marked black stone.

My question, then, is was I unreasonably worried about this 'threat'? Should I have left this local position and played in, e.g., the upper right corner? (I'm curious about the 'correctness' of my thought process/rationale).

My second question is about the underlined part of this quote:


I don't exactly understand what you mean by 'more sente'. Does that mean that the threat of the inside cut made it so that white had to play the double hane differently than white would like to?

And I took the lesson to mean that white should have cut inside and sacrificed a stone to cut off the J2 stone. Did I understand this correctly?

Jonsa, did you study Bill's review ? He already answered your question in his SGF.

Oh, you're right. I overlooked it this morning.

FWIW, I kinda disagree with Bill and think it's quite reasonable to worry about the wall and want to strengthen it. Tenuki would be ok too if you have a decent plan for handling a black attack (d7 as well as c7 plausible). In some ways you'd like to be able to treat the wall as strong and pincer black d10 from the c12 direction rather than c8, but it's not strong yet. One idea would be to keep leaning at j3,k4 etc which are rather crude moves locally but maybe allow you to get strong enough in sente to c12.

I had a quick look with LZ 157 and she says all these ideas are fine at your level (within a few percent): c8, o17, r17, j3. One point with j3 is if you do it after tenuki and black c7 attack then after k4 black can more reasonable attack your shape at h5 instead of answering the hane at l3/4. So you could view that pushing first as a probe: do you want to answer submissively so my group isn't in trouble? Or play the shape point to attack, but you haven't pincered at c7 yet so what are you attacking if I can just made a base at c8?

Were you unreasonably worried about making eyes with your wall? No. You have no experience with doing so. (And how can you gain such experience? )

However, this general state of affairs was predictable without much in the way of reading. If you were worried about making eyes, then why not block from the other side and make a base with ?



I confess that I am strongly influenced by ancient games. Back in the day when players really valued territory they nonetheless gave up corners in exchange for walls that just sort of sat there for the rest of the game. When White went for this wall it was clear that it had no development potential. If it also needed to make a base, what was the point? Better to die like a lion than to live like a dog.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

If white tenukis what's the plan? This is my first feeling (with a as related idea trying to be a cool like a bot). Will Bill tenuki again?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

is my first feeling, too.



Pas moi.

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

I can agree with this: it shows a gap (or an inconsistency) in my thinking. Looking back over the game I do not know why I blocked the way I did.

What is the point of a wall with no development potential, I ask myself. I guess not much.

A two-space extension off of a five-stone wall leaves me feeling vaguely unsatisfied.
Black builds on the left side with impunity in the shadow of the wall.

I'd play this. It looks better to me on a large scale.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

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@Jonsa: Congrats on keeping your cool and not responding to the provocation.

_________________
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This was my instinct as well but no one else suggested it (including Leela Zero, if I read a comment correctly) so I figured I was wrong. I'm glad a stronger player than I shares the instinct.

That’s an interesting idea Joaz/dfan, and wasn’t on my radar. It certainly plays on a large scale, trying to use the wall as.an asset instead of seeing it as a liability. I wonder what would black do in response? One idea would be trying to separate it from the wall (e.g. attach below, and then who knows what crazy fight happens), or how about just settling with good territory on the left? Is white bad to be playing dame, or good to be connecting and making black’s tengen stones dream of centre mayo evaporate? Maybe O Meien would like it, I recall some position where instead of playing a counter pincer he advocated playing on top. A bit like Kageyama’s example of how not to play a 9 stone handicap game.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc maybe 6 at a/b instead?
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . B . 1 . . . X . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O O O . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X O O . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X X . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

This was my main concern and the reason I eventually reluctantly discarded it; it seemed like it is too easy for Black to settle on the left, and then White's influence towards the center has already been kind of pre-nullified. On the other hand, Black maybe had some dreams of center influence himself that are less on the table. And White's stones do seem to be working together, which is super important to me.

I'm not sure I like the - - exchanges in your diagram. Maybe we can hold off on them ( and don't seem to be doing a ton) and reserve the possibility of playing crazy moves like C9 later? But maybe if we don't make that loose connection and let Black come out there, the whole point of goes away,