Hi,

In these two recent games, I took black and white started by a komoku. I directly approached it, and the exact same oppening happened. It's too good for black to be honest, so I suppose white could do better. Is there a way for white to punish the first tenuki ?





Thanks for any comments!

That isn't too good for black at all, as white I'd be very happy. Black has given white a massive solid corner in return for a wall with a crack in it - white can aim at your cutting point all game.

Attaching on the outside of his 4-3 point is very unusual, because this result is not great for black. I suggest looking in eidogo.com for alternatives.

I did it after the first game, so I know that locally, white is better, but the aim was to get the last corner. The cut doesn't seem to gain much for white ?

This is a terrible start for black in both games. If your aim is to get the final corner, you could play it without approaching komoku at all. You could also ignore his pincer and play the final corner. Another possibility is this well-known joseki for gaining sente:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ --------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 8 . 0 7 . . . .
$$ | . 9 1 2 4 5 O . . .
$$ | . . O 3 X 6 . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm11 Note the defect in the shape that still exists at 'a'
$$ --------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . O . O X 2 . . .
$$ | . X X O O X O . . .
$$ | . . O X X O 4 . . .
$$ | . . 1 . a 3 . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

All of these ways are valid, but the way you played is most definitely not. Also, any cut that can split your one group into two weak groups cannot possibly be called "not big enough for white." So yes, the result in the games truly is terrible for black, not for white. At least you made up for it in the first game with white's bad play at the top . I haven't looked at either game too closely yet, but don't fool yourself into thinking that your tiny bit of defective influence is worth massive amounts of white influence while white is not sealed in fact is ahead of you in a pushing battle on the third line (on the left in the first game, top in the second game).

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Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness.
We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before,
No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.

That's clearer. Thanks !