- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm13 Move: 13 - Black Prisoners: 0 - White Prisoners: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
EDIT: Unhidden as safeSo, he decided to approach my 4-4 stone at Q16 instead. No need to force things into crazy complications. I will play calmly and make the standard Knight's Move response to his approach. The reason I prefer to play this is to make sure that my opponent doesn't make a double approach.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm13 Pincer, Double Approach
$$ -------------------
$$ . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . 4 6 . . |
$$ , . . . 2 . X . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ . . . . . . 3 O . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ , . . . . . , . . . |[/go]
An approach like this is solid and works well with the upper left for White. I feel like this makes White's stones work better together than Black's stones on the whole board.
White is playing very flexibly, but also solidly. It will be hard to attack any of White's groups for profit. So, I really need to keep an eye on my own groups. As soon as one of my groups is weak enough to attack, White will jump all over it.
All in all, though, I like White's approach to this heavily reverse-komi game. It feels like White wants to build some solid groups to be able to attack from when an opening arises. As a stronger player, he's likely to be building more efficient shapes in the opening, and if the game had a smaller komi I would be forced to attack early.
The downside to this strategy is that I have the advantage of both moving first as Black and a large komi bonus, meaning that White will want to complicate things earlier in the game.
Looking at the opening, I'm a little surprised that my opponent has played so calmly, allowing me to make the obvious and simplifying responses to his moves. My opponent offered a diagonal fuseki, which I took advantage of, since it makes it more difficult to build a large moyo. Without a large moyo to make up the 41 extra points my opponent needs, I would expect some heavy fighting, and joseki choices that take advantage of my lack of knowledge, compared to the 1d player.
Since I'm not pincering his approach stone, I suspect that White will now make a Mini Chinese formation on the right.
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm13 White making a Mini Chinese formation
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . b a . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
If this is White's plan, I can approach it in a number of ways. My most likely approaches are a, b, and c (though I don't rate them in that order; I'm least likely to play at a since I know it the least).
There are problems with playing each of these, and we're starting to get into the area where White can make complications I'm not as familiar or comfortable with.
a) I just don't know enough continuations from this move. White will likely swallow the group whole and rip me apart. This would be a true test of my reading skills. However, it does limit White's expansion along the bottom edge.
b) I usually play this type of approach against traditional Chinese openings. However, I'm not sure I can blindly play at b without considering responses that I never see from opponents of my own rank:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm13 Mini Chinese, Approach
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . b . . 3 . c , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
I usually see either a or b, and whichever point my opponent takes, I take the other. It's worked out well for me in the past. However, White also has c as a response to B15 ... and I don't know how best to deal with that.
c) Sometimes, against a Chinese opening, I'll jump in and make a small cramped group:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm13 Mini Chinese, Invasion Part 1
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . 4 . , 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 8 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm23 Mini Chinese, Invasion Part 2
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 8 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . O 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 9 X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 2 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . , . . . O . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
I think something like this is typical. This might work out, but it relies heavily on my opponent playing out the sequence I expect. That's a dangerous assumption.
Anyways, all that hinges upon White playing Mini Chinese. We'll have to wait and see what White actually plays.
Beginner Notes:Let's talk a bit about strong and weak groups in the opening. In this game, White is making groups of stones that are not easy to attack. They are strong groups. I see a lot of weaker players playing very loose moves in the opening, trying to hold on to as much of the board as possible. While there are many "big" moves on the board to take in the opening, leaving one or two stones in little groups across the board is not a good way to begin the game.
Like most aspects of go, there's a balance that needs to be struck between "fast" moves that develop quickly, and "solid" moves that protect your groups.
The balance can be tricky, as a move that's "fast" is likely to be called "weak" or "disconnected", and a move that's too "solid" is just "slow". Let's look at moves 10 and 11 again:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm9 Move: 11
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . O . 2 . . . . .
$$ | . . X O . . . . . .
$$ | . . 1 , . O . . . ,
$$ | . . . X . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . x . . . . . . .
$$ | . . a . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . , . . . . . ,[/go]
I could have played at a instead of B11. Why did I choose to jump as far as I did? B11 leaves a weakness at x for White to exploit later. Comparatively, White's group in this corner is stronger. W10 leaves very little place for Black to attack. Yet neither W10 nor B11 is wrong, in my opinion. W10 is a "solid" move, protecting both the D18 cut and the F16 stone. B11 can be considered a "fast" move, extending further at the expense of a little bit of safety for the group.
There are many of these choices to make in the opening. Understanding your opponent's choices can give you something else to use in judgment for your own moves.
B11 was chosen because White made a very compact group. I took the opportunity to play a little faster. However, now that I have a weakness to worry about, I want to be careful on the rest of the board so I don't build up numerous weaknesses that White can eventually attack severely to gain numerous points.
So, points to consider for this lesson:
1) Balance your opening moves between "fast" and "solid" moves. Try to minimize the number of weaknesses you leave behind, so you don't have to always come back and fix things.
2) Be aware of the weaknesses in groups and shapes. My suggestion for improving on this is to take the opening of one of your games you play and examine each group (both colors) after every tenuki. You can also take a higher rank game or pro game and do the same thing.
3) Try not to attack your opponent's weak groups immediately. It is better to keep the weak points in your opponent's position in mind while you make your own position solid. It is always better to attack from a position of strength.
This is not easy, of course. Finding the right balance of "fast" and "solid" takes practice and experience. Identifying weaknesses takes study. Knowing when to attack takes both study and experience. Likely you will play many games where any or all three of these eludes you (I've played many in a row for days sometimes). Don't get discouraged! We're all on the same learning path, and we all have our stumbles.
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Marcus
here ... What does White do? I've seen a lot of players play at a, but it doesn't quite work out as expected:
. It's an important point that Black should take if White neglects it, as playing a black stone at 
, so I must be content to let my opponent dictate the flow of this corner.
is now outnumbered two to one.
gives White some very good follow up moves. Black clearly needs to respond locally in some way to keep White from taking too much.
: In the upper left, both sides are fairly well settled. There are no big moves, and definitely no urgent moves.
: In the upper right, White has left the Joseki unfinished on order to play a bigger move (the approach against 
). Black could easily make a big move in that area, but there are no urgent moves for Black here.
: Approaching the 3-4 in the lower right is a big move as well, but it is not urgent yet.
: This leaves us with the lower left. Certainly, a black response here is a big move, but is it urgent? If I don't respond, the corner could end up following a 5-4 joseki sequence instead. So, not necessarily urgent either.