Kirby's Study Journal

Bill Spight · **#761**

A couple of comments on Game 1.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Wedge $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 1 , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The wedge looks reasonable at this point.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bcm65 Aji keshi $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | X . . X 1 O O X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . . X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . O O O . . O . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . X O B B O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O O B O X . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . 2 X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . , O . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . O X X X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | O . O . X O O O O . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Allowing

does not help the left side. OTOH, Black may be able to play at 66 himself, threatening to cut off the six White stones and sacrificing the :bc:

stones with sente.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Into the center $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | X . . X . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . . X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . O O O . . O . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O O X O B . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . 2 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . , O . . . . 3 . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . O X X X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | O . O . X W W W W . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Maybe something like :b1:

-

is good. Not only does the double keima give Black some Lebensraum, it threatens the :wc:

stones and calls to the :bc:

stone.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Better for White? $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | X . . X . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . . X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . O O O . . O . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O O X O X . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . 3 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . , O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . O X X X X X X 2 . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | O . O . X O O O O . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Maybe

is better for White.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Push? $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | X . . X . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . . X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . O O O . . O . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O O X O X . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . , O . . . . , 3 . . . . X . . . | $$ | . O X X X X X X 1 . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | O . O . X O O O O 2 . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So maybe the push is good. Next if :w2:

,

takes the double keima.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Fight $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | X . . X . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . . X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . O O O . . O . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O O X O X . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . , O . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . O X X X X X X 1 2 . . . . . . . . . | $$ | O . O . X O O O O 3 . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

If

plays the hane, Black can cut and make a fight of it.

Edit: Removed reading error. :oops:

Kirby · **#762**

Game 3, Review from Opponent's Side

Overall: Both players underestimated the value of black's outside influence.

Kirby · **#763**

Final review of Game 3, from my perspective:

Here is one of the pro games referenced above. The shape is a little different, but maybe it's OK to just hane from that AlphaGo-ish shape:

Here is the other one:

Between the two examples from pro games, the first one here is more with my style. I don't know how to utilize the influence that well that the guy gets in the second case.

Kirby · **#764**

Bill Spight wrote:

A couple of comments on Game 1.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Wedge $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 1 , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The wedge looks reasonable at this point.

It's nice to split, but there isn't room to make a base if white encloses:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Wedge $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 1 , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

seems to help white's shape and also pincer black at the same time. Is this OK? It seems like a missed opportunity.

Now that you've mentioned playing on the left, I'd be inclined to say that tihs puts more pressure on the corner:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 2 , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

However, I can agree that white's pincer from this side is now also natural.

Nonetheless, since the latter of these two options affects the corner, it seems more reasonable to me. Maybe I will understand better if you can elaborate on the plan after white does the pincer/enclosure after the wedge, as suggested above.

Bill Spight wrote:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bcm65 Aji keshi $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | X . . X 1 O O X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . . X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . O O O . . O . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . X O B B O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O O B O X . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . 2 X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . , O . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . O X X X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | O . O . X O O O O . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Allowing

does not help the left side. OTOH, Black may be able to play at 66 himself, threatening to cut off the six White stones and sacrificing the :bc:

stones with sente.

True, and good point. The three stones are not that big now. I agree with that.

Bill Spight wrote:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Into the center $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | X . . X . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . . X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . O O O . . O . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O O X O B . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . 2 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . , O . . . . 3 . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . O X X X X X X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | O . O . X W W W W . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Maybe something like :b1:

-

is good. Not only does the double keima give Black some Lebensraum, it threatens the :wc:

stones and calls to the :bc:

stone.

Indeed, I agree. I think I might have listed this as a variation in one of the reviews, minus the Lebensraum. :-)

Bill Spight wrote:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Better for White? $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | X . . X . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . . X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . O O O . . O . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . X O X X O . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O O X O X . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . 3 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X . , O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . O X X X X X X 2 . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | O . O . X O O O O . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O . X O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Maybe

is better for White.

True. Maybe it's naive to think white responds to the peep. Bending for white feels so nice (as white).

Kirby · **#765**

So back to game 3, I have the following learning points.

1. Don't underestimate thickness and/or influence.

2. Avoid aji-keshi and super-aji-keshi, as is a common pattern of mine (revealed by Shaddy).

3. Keep in mind the big picture. I could have selected a different joseki, or modified joseki since what I really needed was the outside. If I get a big shape on the outside after he approaches the top right corner, that will be nice to complement my global influence.

Kirby · **#766**

I forgot that game 4 was only a few moves, and I didn't post it here yet.

This is the game (I was black):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$W $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , 1 . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Then white escaped, because I spent some time thinking about the move...

So I guess learning point is here:
1. Think, and your opponent may escape?

jeromie · **#767**

That last game makes me think I may be closer to dan level than I thought... ;-)

Kirby · **#768**

Game 5, aji keshi review...

Position 1

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X O . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . O X X X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . O O O O O O X X . | $$ | . . . X . . . X X O . X O O O X O O X | $$ | . . . . . O O O O X X X X X X X O . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . O X O . X O X O O . X | $$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . O O O O . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The bump is aji keshi. And as established in an earlier review, I probably don't have to worry about anything with the descent. So instead, I'd like to play here:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O W . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X O . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . O X X X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . O O O O O O X X . | $$ | . . . X . . . X X O . X O O O X O O X | $$ | . . . . . O O O O X X X X X X X O . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . O X O . X O X O O . X | $$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . O O O O . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Position 2:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X O . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . O X X X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . O O O O O O X X . | $$ | . . . X . . . X X O . X O O O X O O X | $$ | . . . . . O O O O X X X X X X X O . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . O X O . X O X O O . X | $$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . O O O O . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Also aji keshi. I didn't think much about the consequences and just saw a point that seemed like a key spot. Instead, it might be simple to just jump out:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . W . O . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X O . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . O X X X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . O O O O O O X X . | $$ | . . . X . . . X X O . X O O O X O O X | $$ | . . . . . O O O O X X X X X X X O . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . O X O . X O X O O . X | $$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . O O O O . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Or perhaps I could play this one first, being willing to sacrifice something if necessary:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . W . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X O . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . O X X X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . O O O O O O X X . | $$ | . . . X . . . X X O . X O O O X O O X | $$ | . . . . . O O O O X X X X X X X O . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . O X O . X O X O O . X | $$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . O O O O . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The reason for the last diagram being, perhaps, to make things annoying for my opponent since there are multiple groups to worry about - I could still treat the two stones lightly, maybe, depending on his response.

Position 3:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X 1 4 . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . 2 . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 3 . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X O . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . X . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . O X X X . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . O O O O O O X X . | $$ | . . . X . . . X X O . X O O O X O O X | $$ | . . . . . O O O O X X X X X X X O . . | $$ | . . . . X . . . O X O . X O X O O . X | $$ | . . . . . . . . O O X X . O O O O . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This whole sequence was aji-keshi, and doesn't really work. If I'm going to "cash in", I need to verify that cash is there :-p

There are other points behind this game, but after losing the big group, it's not even really a game. So I was wasting my time playing those moves, and also it would be a waste to review them, I think.

Kirby · **#769**

Game 5: Review from opponent's perspective

Bill Spight · **#770**

Kirby wrote:

Bill Spight wrote:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Wedge $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 1 , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The wedge looks reasonable at this point.

It's nice to split, but there isn't room to make a base if white encloses:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Wedge $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 1 , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Wedge, continuation $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . . . | $$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 1 , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

If

, having prevented, with sente, an ideal play by White on the left side, Black can jump with :b3:

or play at "a". (BTW, Black has room to make a base on the left side, just a small one.

)

And yes, other plays on the left side are also possible.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Frontier of frameworks $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Maybe

is best at this point, anyway.

Kirby · **#771**

Here's another review of Game 5.

Kirby · **#772**

I think there are three main points to remember from this last game:

1. Avoid underestimating the opponent. I played somewhat aggressively, feeling that my opponent was 2k.

2. Improve reading "input".

3. Avoid aji-keshi (theme from Shaddy).

Kirby · **#773**

Bill Spight wrote:

If

, having prevented, with sente, an ideal play by White on the left side, Black can jump with :b3:

or play at "a". (BTW, Black has room to make a base on the left side, just a small one.

)

And yes, other plays on the left side are also possible.

Agree it's possible to make a small base. I don't quite understand the concept of "preventing an ideal play" at the cost of potentially creating a target for the opponent to attack. Maybe since it's just one stone, it's hard to be a target, like Magicwand sometimes says.

Is it because it's just one stone that it doesn't become a target to attack? Or "preventing an ideal play" in this case on the left worth more than the cost of becoming a target?

Quote:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$Bc Frontier of frameworks $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Maybe

is best at this point, anyway.

That seems like a good point, too, for sure. It's very difficult for me to assess whether to expand my own framework or to reduce the opponents. I think I tend to favor toward the latter. In this case, it's true that it's an intersection point between two of them, so it's probably bigger than it looks.

Anyway, I'm particularly interested in the first part of the discussion here, about "preventing ideal plays".

Kirby · **#774**

Next Week

So I'm all reviewed out this weekend. I only have a limited time each day to study. So I'd like to optimize my time for next week.

Here are a few changes I'd like to make to what I did last week:
1. Do the "review set" (aji-keshi review + opponent review + my review) all on the same day of the game. The game is still fresh in my mind, so I should have more detail at that time.

2. On Saturday, just do a quick pass through each of the games played in the week, and try to get high-level highlights. I still like the idea of a comprehensive review from the week, but it's much more manageable if it's a high-level one with just what I find to be obvious points that stick out.

3. As clearly was evidenced by the 5th game, where I lost tactically repeatedly against the guy I was giving 2 stones to, my reading is suffering. So I need to pump up the "input" side of this equation. The only "input" I had last week was pretty much game reviews. So this week, I'll try to make my way through a book that I never finished. I'll start at the beginning, and post my progress here. The book is called "Yang Yilun's Ingenious Life and Death Puzzles: Volume 2". I selected this one partially because it's probably one that people here on the forum are familiar with. If not, here's a picture:

And if you want to buy the book yourself, it's available on Amazon. Anyway, I'll aim to post my progress on these problems.

4. Prior to starting games next week, I should run through the highlights of this week. I'll try to do that. Off of the top of my head, I know that I should avoid aji-keshi :-)

Kirby · **#775**

I realized that these problems were harder than I remember. I worked on the first problem before going to bed last night, and then stopped. I will try the same problem again, today.

I realized that I am doing something that Mark Lee, winner of the 2014 US Open told me not to do: read the same failing sequences repeatedly. I read something that doesn't work, then read it again to verify, try something else maybe, then come back to the first variation again.

Hard to make progress on a problem that way.

Anyway, so far, I've solved 0 of those problems. Will post an update later.

skydyr · **#776**

Kirby wrote:

Aji-keshi from Game 2

First point might be this one:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This already isn't joseki, but it's still probably not best to play the peep right now. I can do that kind of thing if I have a precise plan that works out. At this point, I should probably just play in a normal way:

...

Did you consider just leaving the one stone as a probe/aji and playing elsewhere? I certainly think it's too early for white to go back and kill it off. Black would be happy to build with two moves in a row.

On a separate note, I get a sense from your games that you start out playing lightly in an area or looking for sabaki, but somewhere down the line you commit to something instead of continuing with light play and end up with a heavy and somewhat awkward group that perhaps could have been avoided. Of course, I bring this up because I've gotten good at spotting the tendency in my own games, but haven't yet figured out the solution.

Finally, I think the idea behind preventing the ideal point can simply be in requiring the opponent to make multiple moves to achieve an objective that previously took only one move.

Kirby · **#777**

skydyr wrote:

Did you consider just leaving the one stone as a probe/aji and playing elsewhere? I certainly think it's too early for white to go back and kill it off. Black would be happy to build with two moves in a row.

Right, I agree that would have been better than the continuation in the game. In one of the variations I put in one of the reviews, I noted that I should tenuki earlier once things weren't going this way. This was more along the lines of not making a bad sequence worse, and leaving the aji there to exploit later.

I guess putting a single stone with the prior intention of having a probe is not a bad idea, but it might be good to have some sort of a plan - or the probe should probably have some use if it's part of my plan. That is, I should make sure that the probe gets me as much benefit as I could in getting a normal sequence.

This discussion is all for the case where things have gone according to my plan, though. I still think it's a good idea to tenuki earlier when things started going contrary to my plan.

Kirby · **#778**

"Input"

Well, I lost all shame years ago, so I am not afraid to admit that it took me some time to solve even the first problem in Yang Yilun's Ingenious Live and Death Puzzles, Volume 2. However, after a long time, I solved it. I was afraid to turn the page and look at the answer in case I missed something, so I verified for a couple of more minutes that there wasn't anything I missed. I felt reasonably confident, so I turned the page.

I got the question correct. But it took a long time.

I am pretty sure it's not OK to give away Yilun Yang's entire book through this journal, and if I were him, I wouldn't appreciate it. I think giving out coordinates of sequences I tried might be alright, though, since there is no context for the problem that I got the sequence from. So if you are interested in following along with the discussion I have about the problems, then go buy the book :-)

...

So assuming you've purchased the book, and are following along, I'm on Puzzle 111, the first one in the book. I'll treat coordinates in the book as if the diagram were created using CGoban - the top right coordinate is T19, with letters denoting the horizontal axis and numbers denoting the vertical axis.

Now that we're on the same page, I'll explain some of the difficulty I had.

For the longest time, I tried reading out variations starting with O17. This is my intuition for this problem. It's probably what I might play in a game if I tried to kill the group - I doubt I'd spend the time to come up with the correct answer. But I kept reading that white might try P17. After P17, white is starting to get eyeshape. If white gets both R16 and an aye at P18, white would be alive. I'd read black playing at N18, then white playing P19. This is problematic, because if black plays R16 white can capture the stone and get another eye. If black plays N19, white R16 threatens O19, so black has to play it, and is in trouble again.

I'd get around this far, the image would be kind of foggy in my head, and then I'd back up a little bit and see if black could do something else. Didn't really work, but then I'd try another variation.

At some point, I'd forget the variation that I started with, and re-read everything again. Finally, after a long time, I tried another first move. I started with M19, but white seemed to be able to stop it with N19. I tried various variations here.

I think after this, I finally started with the correct first move, which is N19. Several variations later, I came up with the answer.

---

So anyway, I'm somewhat happy to come up with the correct solution, but this process took quite awhile, and I only solved one problem so far. Some problems I can see:

1. I re-read variations. I recall from Jasiek's Tactical Reading book about propagating information about the status of the leaves up so that you don't have to re-read sub-variations. So if I read a given variation and see that white dies, propagate that information up, and remember it. Then, don't re-read the subtree, but just remember the propagated status. There are a couple of problems I run into with this approach.
(i) Memory. When I am not correct on the first or second move for a given subtree, I start to lose track of the labels I put on a subtree. When I was looking at a subtree a couple of variations back, I determined that the subtree was "white lives in this variation". But a few sequences later, when I look back at the same subtree, I forget - "did white live or die in this variation?".

(ii) Lack of confidence in my accuracy. Because I sometimes am lacking in memory, per (i), sometimes I doubt the label that I recall. So even if I remember for a given position that "white lives in this variation", because I sometimes forget, I doubt. So I'll think, "I think I labeled this as white lives, but I'm not 100% sure". So I'll re-read the subtree.

Both of these issues manifest themselves into a problem, which Mark Lee told me to be wary of: Do not re-read variations.

Obviously, re-reading variations due to lack of memory and due to lack of confidence results in an inefficient process.

This can be seen since it took me 2 days to solve this single problem. Actually, I probably spent a couple of hours in total, because I have to admit that I wasn't 100% focused on the problem. Maybe that's another issue to deal with, but maybe it's good to conquer that after dealing with these inefficiencies in my reading.

So I guess the takeaway from this is that I need to:
1. Increase my memory capacity.
2. Increase my confidence in subtrees for which I've determined status.
3. Really try consciously not to repeat variations.

Doing number 3 is somewhat obvious. Doing number 2 will probably come with more practice. Increased memory capacity... I guess that comes with more practice, too. I don't really know of any other way.

So I'll try to keep doing more problems, while trying to keep in mind #3, above. My process is very inefficient right now.

Kirby · **#779**

Game 8.2 from this week (I changed numbering scheme to match the date of the game - that way, there aren't 52 "Game 1" records for the year). This time, as discussed, I'll aim for doing multiple reviews on the same day as the game.

Here is the review from my opponent's perspective.

Kirby · **#780**

Game 8.2: Aji-keshi Review

I went through the game and looked for places that I played aji-keshi.

Position 1

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . X . a . X . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . O . W . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This move is a little bit aji keshi, because it makes the invasion at 'a' less likely for later. My plan was to build up strength to pressure the corner. Something like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . 2 X . . . X . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . O 4 O 1 , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . 6 . . 3 5 . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I don't clearly kill the corner, though, so maybe this gives black more benefit than it gives me.

Thing is, I want to prevent a slide by black:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . X . . . X . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So maybe an alternative is to play there myself:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . X . . . X . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

That's not aji keshi... But on the other hand, it doesn't scare black that much, either. For example:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . X . . . X . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Black seems fine.

Since I approached high on the top, maybe that's the reason I'm having difficulty. So if I approach high, maybe I want to take the 3-3 point after this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . W . . . . X . . . X . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But that makes the game simpler for black, and closer to being finished.

Perhaps a lower approach was called for:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . 2 . 3 . . . 1 . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . a . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Black may try to push through with the 3-3, but since I have the attachment at 'a' it might not be that bad.

Then again, maybe black plays differently if I approach low...

Position 2:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . O X X . O O X X O . O O . . | $$ | . . . X O O X O . , X O O X . X X . . | $$ | . . . . O X . . . . W . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . O . . X . . . . . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The move above is kind of aji-keshi. But on the other hand, I feel like this is the way I want to use the aji. I don't anticipate atari from the other direction:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . O X X . O O X X O . O O . . | $$ | . . . X O O X O . W X O O X . X X . . | $$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . O . . X . . . . . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I suppose I could ignore the atari and jump out first:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . O X X . O O X X O . O O . . | $$ | . . . X O O X O . , X O O X . X X . . | $$ | . . . . O X . . . . . . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . O . . X . . . . . W . . . O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But black can get this in anyway:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . O X X . O O X X O . O O . . | $$ | . . . X O O X O . , X O O X . X X . . | $$ | . . . . O X . . . . B . . . X . . . . | $$ | . . O . . X . . . . . O . . . O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So I feel like I might as well just use this aji right now. Maybe not really aji-keshi.

Position 3

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . O X X X . . X X O . O O . . | $$ | . . . X O O X O . X X O O . O X X . . | $$ | . . . . O X . . . O O O . O X X . . . | $$ | . . O . . X . . . . . . O X X O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W X O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'd say this is probably aji-keshi. Probably I should simply connect:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . O X X X . . X X O . O O . . | $$ | . . . X O O X O . X X O O . O X X . . | $$ | . . . . O X . . . O O O . O X X . . . | $$ | . . O . . X . . . . . . O X X O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O a . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O W . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

In the game, black got 'a' in and I responded to it. So just connecting here would have been better. Even if black moves out, I can double hane if I want to take gote:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code: [go]$$B $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . O X X X . . X X O . O O . . | $$ | . . . X O O X O . X X O O . O X X . . | $$ | . . . . O X . . . O O O . O X X . . . | $$ | . . O . . X . . . . . . O X X O . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . X . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 X O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O . . | $$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Game is somewhat short, so that's all I have for the "aji-keshi review".

Kirby's Study Journal

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