I expect black's next move to be here. So this is the ko.
$$Bcm51 Black: 0 White: 1
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$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . O O . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X O O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O , O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X C 9 . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X O O O X O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . X . . X O . X O . . |
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- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm51 Black: 0 White: 1
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$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . O O . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X O O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O , O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X C 9 . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X O O O X O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . X . . X O . X O . . |
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There is a proverb that says you should always take a ko once. So I will do just that.
$$Bcm51 Black: 0 White: 2
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$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . O O . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X O O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O , O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X 0 9 . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X O O O C O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . X . . X O . X O . . |
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- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm51 Black: 0 White: 2
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$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . O O . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X O O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O , O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X 0 9 . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X O O O C O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . X . . X O . X O . . |
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Now the way my opponent has been playing I am not sure exactly where he will go, but he does have a ko threat to kill my top left corner and that is pretty important. More important than this ko at least, so I'll respond to that and then back off. The reason is that taking the ko is good for me is that black has burned an important ko threat when I was willing to back off in the first place.
$$Bcm61 Black: 1 White: 2
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$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . O O . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X O O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 2 1 X . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O , O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X C X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X O O O 3 O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . X . . X O . X O 4 . |
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- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm61 Black: 1 White: 2
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$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . O O . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X O O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 2 1 X . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X X O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O , O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X C X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X O O O 3 O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . X . . X O . X O 4 . |
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$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
The ko here is not meaningless. If I win it means I don't have to worry about my 3 stones in the corner living and I don't have to worry about my group having to run for life in the center. However, if I kill black's group here then both of those are moot points. The ko does make killing his group slightly more difficult as I may have to take the ko to remove a liberty, but it is also nice to have an option to win the ko to link my groups back. I don't think this is that bad for me.
The threats I am referring to for myself come if/when black seals my white group in.
$$Bcm61 Black: 1 White: 2
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$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . O O . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X O O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 2 1 X . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . a X X X O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . 9 O , O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 O . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 O X . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5 X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X O O O 3 O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . X . . X O . X O 4 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c b . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm61 Black: 1 White: 2
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$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . O O . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . X X O O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 2 1 X . . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . a X X X O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . 9 O , O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 O . O X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 O X . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5 X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X . X . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X O O O 3 O . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . X . . X O . X O 4 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c b . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
The cut at 'a' gives me a few ko threats as it threatens to take those stones and save my group - a group that he will likely have to kill to have his stones survive. I also expect black to descend at 'b' at some point, threatening to cut off my corner. However, I have the ko to fall back on and I think I can kill his 2 stones by playing at 'c'.