Only move. Now, will black separate my groups?

Come to think of it, capturing directly is an annoying response:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 1 X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

because there's no shortage of liberties any more, so I can't join up my groups. Also, the cut at a becomes active:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

because, after , black can ladder the white stone. This is quite annoying, and if black captures, I should probably play immediately to fix. also threatens to slide underneath the black stone on Q10, and also makes my lower right-hand group completely alive (I think). Then I have two weak groups - on the upper-right and lower sides - and black will probably attack one. I can't keep making 'sabaki' dead groups all over the board - I'm going to have to make something live eventually.

As a rule of thumb, if it's heavy or all dead, it's not really sabaki, though I gather billywoods knows this already.

I don't agree with black's move or white's opinion of the capture. On ipad mini so can't provide much details, but I think black should play as below instead.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm10 Prisoners: 0 black, 0 white
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . 7 8 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

As white, I would be extremely happy with the capture because black's last move already made the white stones stronger and is pretty much a pass compared with white capturing directly. White can connect as below. Given the handicap, white could even consider playing on bottom first and just keep the connection in reserve.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm10 Prisoners: 0 black, 0 white
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 9 X 8 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

And if at Q6, what continuation for Black do you see?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm15
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Capture. The purpose of the hane is to remove the connection underneath.

I'm not sure that that's better than what might happen in the game.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm15
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 4 W . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X C X W . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O X X W . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The marked White group has more eyespace and is stronger than in the next diagram:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm18
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W M . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X W . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X W . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O X X W . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think the point you raised is very valid. My reason for thinking the simple hane is better is that with the game sequence first white can hane when black plays the hane and the cut is not immediately workable (e.g. As below). The advantage is that the extend at "a"is sente later. However, that cut is much more annoying and white's shape is considerably worse than the sequence you proposed. The sente extension is also not worth very much. So now I agree with you that the game move first is better.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm18
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a W . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X W . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X W . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O X X W . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . 5 1 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I suspect half of the comments on the game are about how badly I'm doing.

Anyway, thoughts

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm1 Prisoners: 0 black, 0 white
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 O 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Yes, I'm ceding the corner. No, I don't see a way to reclaim it. What I can do is to build influence and attack what can be attacked, i.e. white's upper group.

This was a mistake by black. He didn't increase his liberties, and I can connect. Black should have split my lower-right groups apart.

Now I only have one weak group - the one in the upper right, which black will probably attack.

After sleeping a bit, finishing a book that I was reading, and having a weird dream that's still bothering me a little, I've come to the conclusion that putting white's Q7 stone in atari by playing Q8 is not sente and would allow white to strengthen his top group. That would be really bad for me. I can easily see the following:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cm20 Prisoners: 0 black, 0 white
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b 2 . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . X . X a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . O X X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Certainly not the end of the world, but much better for white. Then I might play a, b, or c (or something else) and I'm not sure how it might go from there.

Hooray! Black attacked. Now I get to die in that corner. (Well, maybe I can wriggle my way out of it later, but while there are easier fights to pick, I'll pick those first. If black goes back and spends a couple more stones making sure I'm dead, all the better for me... maybe.) The lower side is now kind of small, so I'll switch my attention to the left.

I got nothing

Fine, so now I live in the lower left. And because of B5, the left-hand side (or at least the lower half) becomes territorially rather small for both sides. Unfortunately, living is probably gote for me.

Could you elaborate what you meant by that?

What I meant was that I saw white’s approach and I couldn’t really figure out what to do. The only time I can recall that type of approach is when the 4-4 stone already has a knights enclosure like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

So I wasn’t sure what to do. I have always heard that one of the things black should do in a high handicap game is to keep white separated and out of the middle. I thought about playing the 3-3, but felt that that was too passive and violated this principle. I thought about tenuki, but didn’t want to risk my 4-4 stone coming under pressure without strengthening it first (and I wanted to do a better job of it than I did in the lower right-hand corner).

So I chose a simple extension, which would keep white out of the middle, strengthen my 4-4 stone, and is fairly simple.

The other reason I wrote it was because it was at the end of a long day, a long week, and a long month and my brain’s fried. I have no idea how anyone with a full-time job and young kids has the energy to play this game. But I wanted to play something to keep the game moving and I felt that the worst case scenario for me is that I play something bad, in which case I get to learn from it (again, like in the lower right-hand corner).

( Also for beginners. ) This is a common problem with proverbs and "rules" -- they are merely guidelines.
The difficult part is to figure out when something applies, and when it fails.
For this, we need a lot of (painful) experience. We must decide case by case,
for each particular local and global situation.

Proverbs and guidelines do not have the final say.

Very true, but considering I had no idea what to play, any guidance takes on a larger role than it might otherwise. "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" and all that.

For what it's worth, I thought that black's move was fine for the game. White's not getting a big corner, and black has good center prospects with the thickness from the fight in the bottom right to complement the wall that's being formed.