So, I had an opportunity to try to play a more "enterprising" fuseki, and I think my moves were sharper this time around. I then chose to make an early cut and the early middle game went badly. I think my opponent and I then traded mistakes -- my poor shape and direction of play versus his slow moves -- and I managed to squeeze out a 3 point victory.

The good news is that I seem to be playing even with the sandbaggers at my current level. This guy should have given me a several stones based on his rank history. Ah, IGS...

I'd also be very interested to know about moves 47-49 in the following diagram. Cutting the white stones seems like a good strategic move, but was it too early?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$cB
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O . O X . X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . X O . O X . . . X . O O . . |
$$ | . X X O . 1 O . O , X . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . X O O O 2 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Full game:

Hi BG,

Maybe consider kicking first, then Q11...
Direct pincer allows W R16 attach options.

Consider R9.

R17 big. ( You missed the extension on . )

Instead of ( ) 4 boxy stones near Q10, I prefer:
- kicks, then Q11 pincer ( 1 stone ~Q10; other 2 elsewhere ) ;
-- or, after missing the kick --
- ( , and @ R9 ), ( 2 stones ~Q10; other 2 elsewhere ) ;

( Notice the inefficiency of . )

at B13 instead would have saved you of some troube later in the game.

Or even first atari at c19?

_________________
Patience, grasshopper.

(I renumbered and added .)
My concern with the push and cut is that White might atari at and throw away the four stones to build a wall.

But after White is very unlikely to do that, since it pretty much amounts to giving up one play. So psychologically this seem like the perfect time to push and cut.

Edit: Objectively, Black has a bigger worry than the sacrifice, I guess.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm46 Net
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X O . O X . X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . X 1 . O X . . . X . O O . . |
$$ | . B X O . 2 O . O , X . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . X O O O 3 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . 7 . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . b a . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

White can play , threatening to cut the Black corner off from the left side, for instance with the clamp at "a". Then after Black responds, captures in a net.

This illustrates one reason that "b" was better than .

_________________
The Adkins Principle:
At some point, doesn't thinking have to go on?
— Winona Adkins

Visualize whirled peas.

Everything with love. Stay safe.

There are things to like in this game - double approaches and such. It's good to experiment with stuff like this to see how it works out.

feels like too much investment in that formation. One of the 3-3 points to take away White's base would be the natural attacking move.

At :

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . X 2 . 1 . . . . X . O O . . |
$$ | . . X O . . O . . , X . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . X . . |[/go]

You could consider the - combination here, after which White is narrow. You still have the aji of later, threatening to connect to either side.

may be the wrong time to tenuki.

At the answer isn't to move more slowly. Just play a one-space jump at H11.

is self-destructive. C19 comes to mind. is a clear mistake even locally, much too inefficient a connection. Consider E8 or G9 if you are worried about cuts.

At , you're building a fairly narrow area. What are you expecting from this wall you want to build? I suspect the 3-3 point is bigger than the center moves. Once you sacrifice three stones it's not even clear the whole operation gained you anything.

makes that shape again. Together with 101 you've gained maybe six to eight points from two moves? Connecting in the bottom right is larger because it involves life & death.