Woe woe woe. Not feeling confident.

I mean i suppose he is strengthening me. We'll see if he double hane's but I figure I just keep pushing up and split his group.

again I think his move is strange. It doesn't really force me.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Black: 0 White: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . X . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O X X . . . . O . . X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . O . O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X X O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . X O O . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . c . . . . . . B . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , b X O . O , X . . O . , . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . O X . d . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . a . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I see two points I want to play

a and one of the atari.

the atari at b and push doesn't work
the atari at c requires me to make a fixing move but lets me into the center

but maybe a takes away aji at d

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Black: 0 White: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . X . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O X X . . . . O . . X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . O . O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X X O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . X O O . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 4 . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . 2 . . . . . . B . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , 3 X O . O , X . . O . , . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . O X . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

this is what i'm looking at right now. I feel like 2 is a very strong point that black wants to take so atari in that direction would be poor.

4 seems wrong but it does keep black apart maybe i should play a first followed by 4. something to think about.

I'm a little worried.
but I can't not take.

if I respond and he moves this stone out I'm at a major loss.

I was mad most the game that I had a 3-3 stone but I think I'll count my stars. since it should be strong enough to live on it's own.

Surely he will respond to this peep?

else I'll push into his corner and rip it apart.

In hindsight I like his shoulder hit because it gives his stones 2 dimensions. But if he was going to tenuki from this atari I suppose he could have played more severely. Idk.

let's see where we end up.

Hm he's ahead on territory.
i'll pull back and aim at the pivot point or along the right side.
that will give me the points to catch up.

I want to make a move at the top but nothing really looks good...

Why not here?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Black: 0 White: 1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . X . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O X X . . . . O . . X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . O . O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X X O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . X O O . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . B O C O . O , X . . O . , . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . O X . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The previous sequence didn't exactly go as I wanted, so I feel I need to make up for that fact and make some points. Hopefully this is good. And I hope to do something at the top fairly soon....

In retrospect, I'm not entirely sure. I think a part of me was trying to look out for the 3-3 invasion despite that not being an issue. It was a mistake.

i suppose this is the best way to strengthen my group while hurting his. Idk this group still doesn't look very good...
idk what i'll do with it.

I'm not sure what he'll do next.

This game feels very strange for me.

I don't feel very good about this game.

The game seems out of my control.

I'm doing this to protect the cut.

it also makes my group look a lot more safe. Whether that's true or not, I think we'll find out.

I see, thanks; connect is so natural for me I wondered why you didn't. At least you had a reason, though as you say not a valid one!

So I'm in this position where I have no idea where to play. My top group isn't exactly solid yet. And is obviously trying to make some points with his group at the top right. Well, that and strengthen those stones. I highly doubt I could kill that group. But I do suppose it would be possible to minimize the amount of points gained there.

But is that the best move for me? I could easily connect my bottom stones with my right hand stones and gain nicely from it. The left side is pretty secure as of now, and I feel I gained quite a bit there. 's top left is pretty much standard corner points. So I'm okay with that.

So by this logic, I have two main moves I should be concerned with:

1. Solidifying the top and making sure I have life.
-This is a no brainer. I want to live there. Death will likely result in a loss. But I guess I have enough room to be able to make life there no matter what. For example if targets the bottom, I can move out at the top. And if targets the top, I can enclose the bottom. But I still have an unsettling feeling about this spot.

2. Making big points at the bottom.
- Technically, isn't alive on the bottom yet. Can I kill it? More than likely no. But that wouldn't be my goal anyway. My goal would be figuring out the best method of connecting my bottom group with my right group and maximizing the points from there and build up a wall. I like Q6 here. It feels like a good move. Regardless, I'd play somewhere around there.
-

But yeah, so really, after having reasoned through a few things, I need to determine if trying to diminish at the top left is worth more than building a wall and trying to enclose points down at the bottom. As I noted, isn't exactly alive down there yet.

So I can probably forget worrying about my group at the top for now.

Sorry if this seems rather jumbled, but it's a collection of thoughts. I think easier when I type. Maybe that's weird. I dunno. Regardless, this is a tough situation....

So I'm basically choosing now between:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Black: 0 White: 1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . X . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O X X . . . . O . . X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . O . O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X X O . . . . W . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . X O O . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . B . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . O , X . . O O , . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . O X . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

OR

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c Black: 0 White: 1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . X . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O X X . . . . O . . X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . O . O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X X O . . . . W . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . X O O . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O X . X . . . S S S . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . . O . S S S . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . . . . . X X . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , O . O . O , X . . O O , . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . O X . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The goal is to determine which one nets more points. But I think I'm going to bite the bullet and go with Q6. It feels good. I suppose I'll find out if not playing at the top was wise....

Another tenuki from the main battle . White should probably try to see if he can kill now. The plan would be, ideally, to reduce Black's eyespace to one eye on top and then play this move (other moves probably work as well, such as "a"):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

The question, however, is whether Black is alive on top already or not. White should, probably, first investigate this move, which threatens to cut Black group in two:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . X . X . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . O X X . . . . O . . X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . O . O . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X X O . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . X O O . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . . O . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]

i'm down by a lot
i've got nothing to attack.
and i'm tired from work.

I think I'll fix my bottom group by hitting his pivot point and gaining territory.

I need to threaten to cut something.
He's settle'd everywhere
My groups are semi okay.

Again not feeling positive about this game.
I get home tomorrow around the same time I suppose I'll make a move then.