Welcome, one and all! Once again, I hope to entertain the L19 masses with my wildly disjoint play style.

I think I'll take the cross fuseki offer here, with an intent to play a mini- or micro-chinese. That should be fun, right?

I thought about playing the 4-4. As I'm bad at fighting and playing against a better player and because this fuseki is already going into the direction of fighting because of the diagonal opening, I didn't want to choose a pincer if he approached it in the next turn. So I would play R6. He then could choose a mini chinese. I thought about

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Black: 0 , White: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . , . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 0 . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 , 9 . . . . , . . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . 5 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

or the similar variations one often sees in pros' games against the mini chinese. But I don't know how to use this formation, so I thought about approaching the upper right corner instead. But he then could choose to use a variation which would give him sente and then play on D10 or thereabouts to expand his moyo, which I think would give him too big of a moyo.

I dismissed playing on the 3-3, as he has stones in both adjacent corners, which means any influence which he'd likely get when he'd play there on the 4-4 would work well globally.

So I chose the 3-4.

White has given me a few options here. On the one hand, there's an excellent approach at Q5 which (in theory) works quite well with my Q16 stone. Instead, however, I think I'll complete my own shimari, giving White the option of completing his own.

Here's a possible opening, just for kicks. Bear in mind that the opening is fairly weak ...

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm5 Black: 0 , White: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Going after the proverb first corners, then sides and the principle to first enclose or approach all unbalanced corners, I try the shimari. I don't think this is the only possibility but it seems good.

I'm envisioning black extending along the left side to C10 or D10 and then me preventing a double wing formation with K3 or K4 and then black preventing a white double wing formation on Q10 or R10. I think this is a natural flow

Continuing with my first thought. I hope I don't enter the middle game 20 points behind (though that wouldn't be an unusual state for me).

It seems should be a mistake.

Black played E3 shimari, devaluing bottom. Then white made a shimari facing bottom. Playing first on the left, or playing actively by approaching the top right were surely the correct moves for .

is natural.

I don't like black getting the formation with D10 (if he wants to) after my . I would rather like to play a pincer, but I don't like the resulting white formations after either kind of pincer after he jumps into the corner.
For example:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Black: 0 , White: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . X X X . X . . . . .
$$ | . X O O O . . . . , .
$$ | . O O . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . .[/go]

Now maybe white D14.
I don't know how to use this formation and I always have the impression that the player with the territory has the better position, locally at least.
So I chose the simple move.

Everything is going the way I expected it ... usually that's a bad sign.

When I played my last move I had the intention to approach the upper right corner this turn, but I just realized that he would get an ideal moyo on K4, so I played there myself instead.

I'm pretty comfortable here, and my Q16 stone would like to reach down a side. R10 feels like the right place. Now, how will he approach my Q16 stone? I'm betting he chooses to play O17. Here's a possible continuation (though I'm still debating the placement of ):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11 Black: 0 , White: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . 4 . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . 5 . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The upper side is the most open place, so I looked there.
I didn't like the formations following an approach to the upper right corner:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11 Black: 0 , White: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . 3 . 2 . 6 4 . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . 7 X 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Black's influence is too much, I think.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11 Black: 0 , White: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . 9 7 3 . 2 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . 0 8 6 . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think my influence gained in this variation is of little use.
With the influence gained an invasion at C12 would have more power, but if he jumps into the corner I believe my outward influence gained after it would be of not much use. Am I wrong here? Is this variation possible?

Not a very confrontational game so far. This looks like the most interesting area to approach, undercutting his K16 stone. I also considered a solid move at O17, and another similar move at H3.

I can't tell where my opponent's next move will go. Here are a bunch of possibilities (just a few points that stand out to me, not sure if any of them are any good yet ...), labeled a-h:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11 Black: 0 , White: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . g . 3 . c . . f . . |
$$ | . h . O . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . e . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

It's not clear to me how W can make good use of his two high stones;
we just have to wait and see...

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm11
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . W . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . W . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I hope his M17 stone will end up in a bad position after this invasion.

Blocking to the wider side. I need to think about whether I can get sente out of this or not ...

I think I can steal sente with this. He gets a slightly bigger corner, but I get to play H3 or R7 next. He could try to start a fight, of course, but I think I have that covered ... I'm pretty sure I can cut here, and the fight is favorable to me:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm17
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . X . 5 2 O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . 4 1 X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . a . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I looked at P17, but was hesitant to play it as it allows black to 'hane at the head of three', resulting in only few liberties for my stones.
I read these variations for P17:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . X . 2 1 O O 6 . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . X X X 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 0 8 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . X . 2 1 O O 6 9 |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . X X X 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Black would gain profit from attacking this.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . 0 . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . X . 2 1 O O 8 . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . . . . X X X 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6 9 |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Now black has solid territory and my K16 stone is pretty much useless, I'd rather use it to reduce some black influence. So I didnt want this. So I looked at S16 and it seemed better.