Kirby's Study Journal

[Magicwand]

Ed: I disagree with that pro.
Loons: black is happy but I think white playing rt side is lacking purpose. My suggestion is also big and has multiple purpose.

I guess my style is building thickness first. Since white gained influence by giving up points so his next move has to agree with previous choice.
Don't rely on pro opinion or my opinion. Have your own opinion until you prove it to be wrong.

[Kirby]

My rank drifted a bit on KGS, and I played a 3d on KGS yesterday. There was a clear difference between his strength and mine, and I was crushed.

Here's the game:

(;CA[utf-8]ST[2]RU[Japanese]OT[5x30 byo-yomi]GM[1]AP[CGoban:3]SZ[19]FF[4]DT[2013-12-07]
PC[The KGS Go Server at http\://www.gokgs.com/]PB[Kirby]PW[opponent]
KM[0.5]TM[1500]RE[W+Resign]MULTIGOGM[1]
;B[pd]BL[1490.69]C[I've been studying 4-4 openings a bit, so I decided to play 4-4.]
;W[dp]WL[1497.2];B[pp]BL[1487.81];W[ce]WL[1491.81]C[I'm not used to 3-5 move, but it's early in the fuseki, so I felt it was OK to not worry about it for now.

I wanted to be able to use my 4-4 study, so I decided to approach bottom left 4-4.]
;B[fq]BL[1468.43];W[dn]WL[1488.77];B[jp]BL[1462.99];W[ee]WL[1484.77]C[Normally, I'd expect approach instead of E15. Maybe it's good with 3-5 strategy. Seems to work well on left side, at least.

So I try to think globally. Top can be useful for both of us, so I played there.]
;B[jd]BL[1371.44];W[ec]WL[1476.06]C[Again he plays in top left corner.

This area has lots of influence and is strong, but then again, his global development is not as fast as mine.

I play Q10 next to lay out framework.]
;B[pj]BL[1365.59]C[At this point, I feel satisfied with the opening. He is strong on the left, but I have staked out area around the rest of the board.

I feel black is more efficient here, globally.]
;W[nc]WL[1454.66]C[Now, I have my first tinge of concern.

He has invested in the top left, and the area is strong. His move here feels to aim to separate my K16 stone.

Without the strength in the top left, I'd consider P17 - I thought about it during the game.

But surely, he will jump out and attack K16 next.

It doesn't seem easy to deal with K16.

After the game, I considered the variation of P17, and it seemed maybe OK for black.

See variation.]
(;B[ob]BL[1317.61]C[Since P17 seemed, at the time to me, to put K16 at risk of attack, I decided on P18.

I considered the given variation, and it seemed OK to me.]
(;W[ke]WL[1442.68]C[Of course, we can't say that O17 and L15 are connected.

But to play in between is what he wants, surely.

I thought about moving out at K15... ]
(;B[kd]BL[1286.79]C[Because I didn't like variation given for K15, I played this way.]
;W[le]WL[1432.99];B[je]BL[1272.87]C[In retrospect, maybe this move is slow.

My rationale\: I get K16 stronger and stable. I can leave white's weakness for now, and come back to attack later.]
;W[kg]WL[1422.85];B[jf]BL[1264.98]C[This shape move seemed too good to pass up.]
;W[pc]WL[1338.64]C[Now, I feel he expects to use Q17 to strengthen M15.

He has good idea here, it seems. If he can get strong here, then he can come back and attack K15 severely.

I considered P17 and R17, but I thought both allowed for him to strengthen himself and attack L16. See variations.]
(;B[oe]BL[1169.88]C[In the game, I couldn't think of a good way, so I played this, which is a bit of a weird move. I thought it had relationship with Q10 at the time, threatening P17, and maybe N16 weakness in miai, but the shape seems bad.]
;W[oc]WL[1332.39];B[md]BL[1060.92]C[Tried to separate white.];W[ne]WL[1327.27];B[nf]
BL[989.298];W[me]WL[1320.08];B[nd]BL[973.458];W[od]WL[1314.87];B[mc]BL[965.777]
;W[nb]WL[1224.42]
(;B[pe]BL[947.999]C[Bad choice. Definitely, P14 was better.

Q15 is just thinking about corner territory, but clearly, the action is in the fight in the center!]
;W[ng]WL[1214.97]C[He took advantage of O14 weakness...];B[mf]BL[941.267];W[mg]
WL[1208.39];B[lf]BL[935.43];W[kf]WL[1205.08];B[lg]BL[925.732]C[My thought was to make cutting points in his shape. If I can survive with the heavy K15, then I should be able to profit from N12 cut.]
;W[lh]WL[1200.67];B[of]BL[924.208];W[mb]WL[1195.99]C[Total misread here. I am almost embarrassed. I was thinking so much about the cuts, that I didn't recognize this as sente!

The fact that I missed this clearly indicates that I wasn't reading well.]
;B[kh]BL[906.197]C[Again, focused so much on the cut, that I missed the capture. So silly!]
;W[jg]WL[1193.64];B[ki]BL[895.006];W[ld]WL[1155.54]C[Here, I finally realized that I screwed up in seeing the correct shape.

I was embarrassed.

Because I profit from right side, potentially, I thought I'd keep playing, though... Just had to make sure K15 was alive, first.]
;B[kb]BL[872.534];W[lc]WL[1144.54];B[fc]BL[862.328];W[eb]WL[1119.71];B[hf]BL[848.289]
;W[hc]WL[1098.3]C[I thought this was preemptive, since J13 gives me nice shape.]
;B[ig]BL[844.456];W[jh]WL[1096.02];B[hi]BL[840.574];W[gg]WL[1077.81];B[ih]BL[824.678]
;W[ji]WL[1071.21]
(;B[kj]BL[818.172]C[This move is questionable. It's not clear that his last move was sente, so maybe it's better to simply jump out at H9, first.]
;W[hk]WL[997.254];B[hd]BL[812.25]C[I figured I should try to live, now.];W[ic]WL[977.847]
C[He takes away shape here. My thought was, he cannot connect to M16. So I can maybe cut off G17 side. But I'm too weak to do that, now.

So I threaten to come out, and if he keeps me in, I capture H17.]
;B[fe]BL[753.011];W[ff]WL[962.94];B[ed]BL[724.092];W[dd]WL[958.804];B[fd]BL[722.893]
(;W[ef]WL[937.592];B[fb]BL[717.833]C[Maybe I got lucky here.

Anyway, black seems safe. Black's potential on the right seems OK.

White could potentially get sizeable territory on the left if he gets to play there first, but first he'll probably reduce the right.
]
;W[ql]WL[833.838]C[Yes, he reduces the right side.

I feel black is somewhat strong in the right, so I didn't want to make territory there.

In retrospect, because of the weaknesses, maybe I should have.]
(;B[qn]BL[695.142];W[qj]WL[831.195];B[qi]BL[689.274];W[ri]WL[829.357];B[pi]BL[681.531]
;W[rk]WL[825.677];B[rh]BL[677.293];W[pk]WL[795.153]C[Now, black is overconcentrated, anyway!]
;B[si]BL[668.792];W[sj]WL[786.124];B[rj]BL[666.557];W[ge]WL[781.191];B[gf]BL[635.178]
;W[ri]WL[778.629];B[dc]BL[612.957]C[Bad ko threat!

Black is already pretty safe here, so this is only about points.

I regret this ko threat a lot.]
;W[sh]WL[767.293];B[cc]BL[609.816];W[ni]WL[741.178]C[Good move by him!

Now, the aji is starting to work in his favor.]
;B[mi]BL[586.29];W[mh]WL[668.77];B[oj]BL[431.929];W[nj]WL[652.478];B[nk]BL[420.005]
;W[mj]WL[625.013];B[kl]BL[380.494];W[ok]WL[605.616]C[I struggle here, but he fights back appropriately, and captures my stones!]
;B[lj]BL[256.472];W[mk]WL[599.246];B[nl]BL[254.011];W[pg]WL[593.382];B[qg]BL[219.546]
;W[ph]WL[584.434];B[og]BL[171.623];W[oh]WL[545.245];B[li]BL[162.192];W[nh]WL[541.205]
;B[qh]BL[160.112];W[ml]WL[489.842];B[qc]BL[87.338];W[qf]WL[473.504];B[qb]BL[33.014]
;W[re]WL[463.619]C[It's too much of a loss here, and even if I play S16, he can play Q18, of course, to give me dead shape.

I resigned.])
(;B[qj]C[Perhaps this is better.

Black seems a bit overconcentrated, but he's safer than in the game.]))
(;W[fb]C[Maybe he can play this way...];B[ef];W[eg]
(;B[de];W[df];B[ee];W[cg])
(;B[df];W[de])))
(;B[hk]C[this is better.]
(;W[kj];B[li]C[White has some forcing moves, but black is safe in this variation.])
(;W[li];B[kj];W[lj];B[kk]C[Maybe w can try to move out here, and there's aji here... But I think black will be OK.])))
(;B[of]C[Protecting P14 is definitely better, in retrospect.

Because P17 is strong, Q15 has no value. I should definitely play P14 here, or maybe P13.])
(;B[og]C[This might also be possible. Definitely, it's better than Q15.

Q15 is terrible.]))
(;B[oc];W[od]
(;B[qc]C[If I capture a single stone, he can play lightly and his group seems flexible.]
;W[pe];B[pb]C[Maybe he can even consider attacking now...];W[jh]C[White has weaknesses, but with good reading, he can maybe make something of the flexible stones in the area, I feel.])
(;B[nd]C[Maybe I try something like this, but it seemed complicated.

In retrospect, maybe this is better than what I played in the game.]
;W[oe];B[ne]
(;W[nf];B[of];W[pe];B[pf];W[qe];B[mc];W[md];B[nb];W[me];B[nc];W[ng]C[Something like this?])
(;W[of];B[nf])))
(;B[qc]C[I thought about this move during the game, too, but thought P16 would again help M15, allowing him to attack the heavy K15 group.]
;W[od]
(;B[oc];W[pe];B[pb]C[Reverts to other variation.])
(;B[pe]C[Maybe it's enough for white....])))
(;B[je];W[kf]C[But surely, this just allows white to strengthen himself, while attacking K16. Further, Q14 area becomes subject to potential invasion.]))
(;W[qf];B[qe];W[pf];B[oe]C[It would seem harder for white to directly attack K16, and even if he profits from that, Q14 may become heavy and easy to attack.]))
(;B[oc];W[nd];B[pf]C[I don't know if he plays this way, but black profits on the right.

K16 looks a bit lonely, but I don't need to invest in this stone right now.

Maybe he tries to attack this stone next.

If he plays the same move in the game...]
;W[ke]C[White's left corner helps him... So it's not clear to me if I should move out K16, or tenuki...?]))

[Kirby]

I've given some comments in the game after reviewing it, but I think I need to study this game for awhile more. Why? Because this guy makes the type of moves I want to be able to make.

There is a word in Korean, 첫수, which is literally "first move". In the context of go, this can refer to the set of moves you select from as first moves when you are reading. So when I read out a position, I think maybe I can play A or B or C. Let's consider each of them. In this game, my opponent played moves that were not A, not B, and not C. He played moves like E or F - moves that I don't even read, because I don't consider them in my reading process.

I want to have this *breadth* of reading. I focus on depth of reading, typically, but this *breadth* in the 첫수 is something I need to have the type of strength my opponent had in this game.

How do I achieve this? I don't know. Maybe by studying his moves.

Here are some examples:

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . W . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Maybe the move he played is a common shape - but it wasn't even on my radar. I don't know exactly how to respond to it correctly. But even more than that, I don't know how I would come to be able to consider a flexible move like this as white.

How do I get that strength?

Here's another example:

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . W . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X X . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . X O O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X C C . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . C O C . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . C C C . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I think this move is great - but in the game, it wasn't even on my radar. As white, it wouldn't be on my radar, either. I was thinking solely of the marked area. I felt that the single white stone was weak, and thought only of the connection there. I need to have this wider vision of the board to be able to see how something further away can help the immediate fight.

Why is my vision so narrow? I don't know the answer to that question, yet.

[yoyoma]

Why not just keep pushing through at m16 on move 17?

[Bill Spight]

I've given some comments in the game after reviewing it, but I think I need to study this game for awhile more. Why? Because this guy makes the type of moves I want to be able to make.

There is a word in Korean, 첫수, which is literally "first move". In the context of go, this can refer to the set of moves you select from as first moves when you are reading. So when I read out a position, I think maybe I can play A or B or C. Let's consider each of them. In this game, my opponent played moves that were not A, not B, and not C. He played moves like E or F - moves that I don't even read, because I don't consider them in my reading process.

I want to have this *breadth* of reading. I focus on depth of reading, typically, but this *breadth* in the 첫수 is something I need to have the type of strength my opponent had in this game.

How do I achieve this? I don't know. Maybe by studying his moves.

Here are some examples:

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . W . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Maybe the move he played is a common shape - but it wasn't even on my radar. I don't know exactly how to respond to it correctly. But even more than that, I don't know how I would come to be able to consider a flexible move like this as white.

How do I get that strength?

Here's another example:

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . W . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X X . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . X O O . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . X C C . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . C O C . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . C C C . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I think this move is great - but in the game, it wasn't even on my radar. As white, it wouldn't be on my radar, either. I was thinking solely of the marked area. I felt that the single white stone was weak, and thought only of the connection there. I need to have this wider vision of the board to be able to see how something further away can help the immediate fight.

Why is my vision so narrow? I don't know the answer to that question, yet.

Both of these are joseki moves.

Edit: Or joseki-ish, anyway. I don't know if they appear in this particular joseki when he played them.

[Kirby]

Why not just keep pushing through at m16 on move 17?

During the game, it felt to me that if I try to push and cut, it would be what what had intended with the move, and would hurt the 4-4 stone. As I am unfamiliar with this move, I don't know if my rationale was correct.

The quick sequence I read during the game was something like this:

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . B B 1 2 . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . W W 3 4 . C . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6 . C . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I felt that this hurt black in the marked area. I figured I would strengthen the marked black stones independently of helping out his weakness.

In retrospect, if we play like this, the marked white stones are weak, so maybe this is OK for black.

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

[Kirby]

Both of these are joseki moves.

Edit: Or joseki-ish, anyway. I don't know if they appear in this particular joseki when he played them.

Thank you, Bill.

I had no idea either of these were joseki (or even joseki-ish). This leaves me with two questions:

1.) Could you share one of the "proper" joseki-ish sequences for each of these moves? Even if it's not applicable to this board, I'd still be interested.

2.) More generally, my impression from this game was that I need to improve my reading breadth, since he was considering moves I had not. From your comment, I wonder if one way to accomplish this would be to know more joseki, so I have more ideas on moves in particular situations. Practically speaking, though, do you have any tips for how I might work to achieve this breadth of reading? Though these might be joseki-ish, the moves seemed almost mystical to me, since they weren't even in my consideration.

[Kirby]

Side note, to anyone with an opinion:

Do you feel that black's response was correct here?

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

My first instinct was to kick his stone, but it feels white could use it to attack the marked stone:

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O 1 . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . B . . . 2 . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I don't know exactly how... Maybe he uses the same move he played in the game:

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . W . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Edit: Maybe the move above would be what he'd play, because I saw some pro games with sequences like the following in this type of position (though, the top left part wasn't the same, so I don't know if it still works):

$$Bm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . W . . . . . . 7 . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X 5 6 . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . W . W . . . . 1 O . 8 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . W . . . . . . 7 . O X . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X 5 6 . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . W . W . . . . 1 O . 8 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Though, I wonder how the position is here. Does it favor black or white? White's top left is still strong...

Any thoughts on this position, and the move I played in the game (instead of the kick)?

[Bill Spight]

Both of these are joseki moves.

Edit: Or joseki-ish, anyway. I don't know if they appear in this particular joseki when he played them.

Thank you, Bill.

I had no idea either of these were joseki (or even joseki-ish). This leaves me with two questions:

1.) Could you share one of the "proper" joseki-ish sequences for each of these moves? Even if it's not applicable to this board, I'd still be interested.

Well, the second is just the tsuke-koshi.

For the first, see the two space high pincer, elephant jump reply.

2.) More generally, my impression from this game was that I need to improve my reading breadth, since he was considering moves I had not. From your comment, I wonder if one way to accomplish this would be to know more joseki, so I have more ideas on moves in particular situations. Practically speaking, though, do you have any tips for how I might work to achieve this breadth of reading? Though these might be joseki-ish, the moves seemed almost mystical to me, since they weren't even in my consideration.

I think that it is practical, at each turn, to identify up to five candidate plays. The memory load is lessened by the fact that if a candidate play is not played, it often remains a candidate.

I also think that it is valuable, after reading, just to relax and look at the board for a second or two. You can often see something that you missed with the more focused attention of the search.

[logan]

Side note, to anyone with an opinion:

Do you feel that black's response was correct here?

$$Wc
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . X . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I would actually prefer to come over on top at o15. White is so strong on the left and there's not much potential on the topside -- compared to the middle/right. If Black does some fighting on top and gets settled, there won't be much for him to gain there.

Looking at the direction of fighting p18 or p17 have a greater chance of pushing k16 towards the top through southwest regions, while a fight after o15 would have Black move more towards the south -- a better direction for him.

[Kirby]

Some time ago, there was some discussion on the importance of being well rounded. I think Bill Spight mentioned something about this. I questioned this methodology, feeling that you should spend time studying on that which is most efficient to improve. After further discussion in that thread, wherever it was, along with some thinking, I think there's merit to the idea of being well rounded.

I had a question at the time, to which I didn't really get a response:

Where is the area in which I need most improvement, personally?

Okay, it's not really a quote, but it's just a recollection of what I think I asked.

I don't know the answer to this, but maybe I can find the answer if I try to do things differently in my study. So I typically just do go problems and games for study, but I decided I'll try to go over pro games from time to time.

Exercise
As an exercise, I decided to comment on a pro game the same way that I comment on my own games in this thread. After all, this is my "study journal", so if I study a pro game and have thoughts, I might as well post it here.

For fun, before each move, I thought about the position, and decided where I thought I would play, and gave this variation. I did this before looking at the next move, then I could see where my thoughts varied from the pro's.

I didn't do it intentionally, but I think most of my thoughts and comments were from black's perspective. I guess that's because I prefer playing black.

Here's the game, along with my comments and variations:

(;CA[Windows-1252]KO[6.5]RD[2013-12-07]AP[MultiGo:4.4.4]
PB[Cho U]BR[9d]PW[Kim Jiseok]WR[9d]RE[W+Resign]MULTIGOGM[1]
;B[qd]C[I need more experience with 3-4, so this should be an educational game.];W[dp]
;B[pq];W[dd]C[Here, I would probably usually F17. It's my favorite way to play.]
;B[fc];W[cf];B[kc]C[Mini chinese type opening. I like this for black.

As white, I guess I probably play Q5, if I were playing.]
(;W[qn]C[I guess this move says that white doesn't really want to get pincered, and he wants territory.]
;B[pk]C[The pincer works well with black's framework. As white... I guesss I play R3, if I were playing this game.]
(;W[pp]C[This is an interesting move. Immediate responses could be R3, P3, R4, or P4.

R3 would seem to allow black to take corner territory - maybe a good choice here, because white's influence wouldn't seem totally effective with Q9 in the way.

P3 would seem to give white the corner if he plays S3 next, but then I don't know if Q4 would be a good move. I don't know how white answers P3.

The R4 hane is similar to what was looked at, and P4 seems to let white be flexible and play R3 for himself.]
(;B[qq]C[Black took corner solidly, which seems like a good choice, since white doesn't (immediately) effectively make use influence here.]
;W[oq];B[or];W[nq];B[qp];W[po];B[nr]C[Kind of like a 3-3 invasion, I guess. I prefer black locally.]
;W[mq]C[Now as black, I'd probably tenuki.

Because white has strength here, it might make sense to aid Q9 stone. Otherwise, a pincer on Q9 could be effective for white. So maybe I'd play Q12.]
(;B[no]C[I think I like black's choice better here. It directly hits white's shape.

Seems like a sharper strategy than my idea of Q12.]
;W[qi]C[Hmm. now white gets to low pincer Q9. It's kind of complicated...

If I were black, I'd play S9 to keep white separated.]
(;B[lp]C[I guess black is trying to profit locally since white ignored O5.

I feel like he's saying, "How dare you ignore O5? This is a big area to play!"

As white, I'd probably play... P5, I guess.]
(;W[nn]C[Better way to protect the cut than my naive P5. It's better shape than P5, too.]
;B[mn];W[nm]C[Hmm, so white's still connected - black can't cut. So as black, maybe I play N7 to keep pressure on white.

If white plays N7, it's too good for him, because it helps attack Q9.]
;B[mm]C[As white, I'd just play O8. This hurts Q9 more.];W[nl]C[As black, I'm feeling slightly worse now. N7 group is not that strong, white is pretty solid locally. Because of that P16 area looks thin, and white has potential to grab significant territory on the left. I guess I'd play M9 next to help N7, while reducing left potential.]
(;B[oj]C[Ah, he comes out with P10.

I guess this is an important stone, because R11 could get weak (though S9 slide might still be effective for strengthening him).

As white, maybe I play N8. Feels like good shape, helps my group, and weakens N7.]
(;W[pg]C[White helps this group first - this makes sense, actually, because the single stone was weak.]
;B[ml];W[nk];B[pm]C[This is a good move by black - I didn't think about it. It takes away potential white territory.]
;W[ql];B[pl];W[rk]C[As black, I probably work to cut white off. Maybe I play Q6.]
(;B[oo]C[Ah, he played this way.

Seems this is better and cleaner for cutting white.]
;W[on];B[pn];W[qo]C[Now I probably play N5, because then white can't cut there later, and also I can play P4.]
(;B[lo]C[Ah... This has the benefits of the N5 I thought of, but it is better shape.

As white, it's a tough choice. P4 saves the three stones on bottom, but then black might play N10 to net the O9 stones. The O9 stones are important for keeping black concerned about P10, so I'd have to move out with N9, I guess.]
(;W[mk]C[As black, it'd be nice to cut off P4, but probably no time. I need to run out with P10.

So maybe I play..N11. White probably can't cut, since he's also weak with N9.]
;B[mi]
(;W[kk]C[Presumably, O11 doesn't work for w, and he can be captured.];B[oh];W[op]
C[White gets to save his stones.

They are big in that they are territory, but also keep it possible to attack M5 later.

As black, I would try to step up the attack on N9. But how?

Maybe J9 cap.]
(;B[ki]C[Black opted to play on top. Maybe if black played cap of J9, white could move upward in L11 direction to pressure N11 group.]
;W[lh]C[I don't understand the purpose of this peep.];B[li]C[White can get cut now...]
;W[ll];B[gp]C[I don't understand M12 M8 sequence.

Anyway, G4 helps M4, while approaching. I like it.

As white, I would play J8 to help M8 group.]
(;W[ik]C[White played J9.

Perhaps this is better shape than my idea of J8.

As black now, maybe I play K8.]
(;B[dn]C[Ah, double approach first. Maybe black can help M4 indirectly this way.]
;W[ip]C[White attacked first. Aw black, maybe I would... J5 to touch his stone and try to help M4 group.]
;B[io]C[Woah, he played it!

As white, maybe I play K4 to continue to take away this area.]
;W[jo]C[He works to separate mroe.

As black, maybe I play K4.]
(;B[in];W[jp]C[Hmm. As black, I am concerned, now!

Maybe I need to try to threaten capture of K4 group to live. I'd start with M3.]
;B[lq];W[ho]C[Ok, now as black, I'd cut my losses and play M2.];B[lr];W[go]C[As black, I'd again cut losses and go for C3, the 3-3 invasion.]
(;B[fo]C[Black keeps fighting!

];W[fp]C[As black, I guess I would play E4, since it hurts D4. I can't expect to get much from G4.]
(;B[cp]C[Reminds me of a double approach joseki.I guess the idea is similar in that black can get the corner. As white, I guess I'd E3, since that is similar to that joseki.]
(;W[fn]C[I don't know why white played on top here.];B[dq];W[eo]C[I guess white is not concerned about bottom territory as much as solidly capturing J6.

As black, maybe I would play P16 now.]
(;B[qk]C[I don't get this move. Just S8 for white?];W[rl];B[qh]C[Aha! The sneakiness revealed!]
;W[ph];B[qj];W[ri]C[I'd S10 next.]
(;B[pi]C[I guess this threatens the same area, and S10 is maybe aji keshi.]
(;W[rh]C[White can't block with R13, as shown.

As black, maybe I would... S14 first, then P17.]
(;B[og]C[I guess black gets this in sente now, since white had to S12 instead of R13 per earlier fancy business. Maybe black's original plan was to develop this area.

So maybe he thought, "hmm. develop center. how? OK, get sente on P13. I'll make fancy sequence starting with R9."

]
;W[pf]C[As black, if this was my plan, I'd play O15 now to expand the area.]
(;B[rf]C[Oh, ok. Now he plays this move.];W[rg]
(;B[od]C[I wonder why not R14 first.];W[hc]C[As black, I would J16 first to help L15 area, then do 3-3.]
(;B[dc]C[I guess he settles easier, because then white doesn't get a lot of influence like in the variation.]
;W[cc];B[cb]C[Standard sequence...];W[ec];B[db];W[ed];B[eb];W[fd];B[cd]C[Black takes the corner, and white has less influence than in the 3-3 version. This seems better for black than my 3-3 idea.]
;W[ce];B[bc];W[of]C[As black, I stubbornly play O14 probably.]
(;B[qf];W[qg];B[lf]C[Good shape for black.];W[mc]C[This move is annoying to me as black.

Feels like I want to try to kill it with M16.

But there seems to be aji around Q17.

Could M16 kill it?]
;B[ld]C[Oh, he played this way in game.];W[pc]C[As black, I connect at Q16.];B[pd]
;W[qb]C[I want to resist at P18 as black, but if I keep resisting, maybe white cuts the P16 stones off.]
(;B[rb];W[ob];B[ra]C[Black saves corner, and lets white live.

Good play, white!]
;W[ne];B[nd];W[ng];B[nh];W[lg]C[As black, I'd consider N14.]
(;B[md]C[He played solidly. I don't know why N14 is bad.];W[jh]C[Black needs to live around here. Maybe I'd play N13.]
(;B[ji];W[ih]C[I guess black doesn't only want to live, but also pushes out.];B[mg]
;W[cq];B[bq];W[mf]C[Woah, I missed the ko!];B[nf];W[rp];B[rq];W[ng]C[It's painful ko for black!]
;B[kh];W[kg];B[nf];W[mr];B[ms];W[ng];B[qm];W[rm];B[nf];W[ns];B[os]C[I won't comment in detail on the ko threats.]
;W[ng];B[rj];W[sj];B[nf];W[cr];B[do];W[ng];B[sk];W[sl];B[nf];W[ep];B[bo];W[ng];B[mh]
;W[jf];B[nf];W[br];B[ro];W[rn];B[sp];W[sn];B[ar];W[ng];B[nj]
(;W[ii]C[As white, I would have considered P9. Can black fight effectively to get another eye?]
;B[nf];W[ck]C[White's vision was good in some ways, because J11 is not only concerned with enclosing black, but also makes great potential on left here.]
;B[dr];W[ng];B[jj];W[jk];B[nf];W[er];B[dl];W[dk];B[el];W[ek];B[fl];W[fk];B[be];W[bf]
;B[id];W[ng];B[ok];W[hd]C[No further comments.];B[ie];W[hf];B[if];W[hg];B[af];W[ag]
;B[ae];W[bh];B[he];W[ge];B[gc];W[gd];B[jb];W[lb];B[qc];W[eq];B[bl];W[cl];B[cm];W[bm]
;B[bk];W[bj];B[bn];W[gl];B[jr];W[ir];B[is];W[hr];B[kn];W[jn];B[km];W[jm];B[kf];W[jg]
;B[je];W[hb];B[fa];W[sf];B[re];W[lm];B[kl];W[lk];B[mo];W[kq];B[jq];W[kp])
(;W[ok]C[I guess black takes back ko, now.]
(;B[ii];W[hi];B[hj];W[ij];B[hh];W[gi];B[ig];W[jg]C[? I don't get it.])
(;B[nf]C[Then maybe black has ko threats to escape around J11. ])))
(;B[mg];W[nf];B[mf];W[mh];B[kh];W[kg];B[jg];W[kf];B[jf];W[ke];B[je]))
(;B[mf]
(;W[mg];B[nf];W[md];B[me];W[oe];B[kf]C[Seems ok...])
(;W[md];B[me])
(;W[nf];B[mg])))
(;B[ob];W[oc];B[nb];W[nc];B[mb];W[ne];B[nd];W[md];B[me]C[Black looks in trouble.]))
(;B[nf]C[I'd play here.]))
(;B[id];W[gd];B[cc];W[dc];B[db];W[eb];B[cb];W[fb];B[be];W[bf];B[ce];W[de];B[cd]
C[I'd play this way.

Maybe he didn't play this way, since white now has potential in E12 area.]
;W[eg]C[White has significant influence in the local area.]))
(;B[qf];W[qg];B[od]C[I'd play this way.]))
(;B[ne]C[I guess white can hurt R16 in this way, but what's the point of P13 if you didn't want to expand that area?]))
(;B[rf];W[qg];B[oc]C[Something like this?]))
(;W[qg]C[Same variation as earlier...];B[rj];W[sj];B[rh];W[si];B[sk];W[sl];B[sh]
;W[sk];B[qm];W[rm];B[rn]))
(;B[rj];W[sj];B[pi];W[qg]C[White can't do this!];B[rh];W[si];B[sk];W[sl];B[sh];W[sk]
;B[qm];W[rm];B[rn]))
(;B[od]C[I probably play here if I'd be in the game.]))
(;W[eq];B[cq];W[gq]C[Maybe something like this is what I expected after C4.]))
(;B[ep];W[fq];B[eq];W[eo];B[do];W[fn];B[dq]C[I'd probably play this way, again OK with taking corner territory.]))
(;B[cq];W[dq];B[cp]C[I'd probably do this in the game.]))
(;B[jp];W[kp];B[jq];W[kq];B[ko];W[jn];B[lq];W[kr];B[lr];W[iq]C[I guess this is bad because of something like this.]))
(;B[jl];W[jk]C[I like K8 because it would seem to affect white's eyeshape, while helping M4.]))
(;W[il]))
(;B[ik]C[I'd probably play here. Although, I'd have to be careful of the health of the M5 group.]
;W[jl];B[il];W[jn];B[im];W[jm];B[ip]C[Many variations, but it seems M4 could be OK...?]))
(;W[nj];B[ni];W[oi];B[lk]
(;W[pj];B[ok];W[qk];B[mj];W[qm]
(;B[op])
(;B[oh];W[pi]
(;B[op]C[Seems OK for black, since he has some outward influence. It's possible that fixing the wall's defects is better than cutting P4 for the stones.])
(;B[kj]C[Maybe black plays here to be more solid, but it might be too much.])))
(;W[lj];B[mj];W[pj];B[ok];W[qk];B[oh];W[pi];B[ol]))
(;W[ni]C[I'm not sure how black would respond to this, though...];B[nj];W[mj]
(;B[li];W[oi];B[lk])
(;B[mh];W[oi];B[kk];W[kj];B[lj];W[lk];B[li];W[kl];B[jk];W[ll];B[jl]C[I'm not sure... I wonder how black should play.?])))
(;W[op]C[If white saves these stones...];B[mj];W[nj];B[ni];W[mk];B[lk];W[mi];B[lj]
;W[oi];B[nh];W[pj];B[ok];W[qk];B[ol]C[Bye-bye, stones...]))
(;B[mo]C[I'd play here.]))
(;B[pn];W[oo];B[np]C[Seems OK for black to me to play this way.]))
(;W[ml]C[I'd play here.]))
(;B[lk]C[I'd play here.]))
(;W[oo]C[I might play here to hit his stone. OTOH, maybe black can play R9 now, and it's more effective?]
;B[rk]C[White's shape isn't great, and has two groups to worry about. Perhaps P5 isn't a good idea.]))
(;B[rk]C[I'd have played here. This way, I can try to attack R11.]))
(;B[ph]C[I might play here to deem his influence more useless.]))
(;B[oq]C[I don't know how white responds to this effectively.]
(;W[qq];B[qr]C[White feels cramped...])
(;W[rq]C[White can slide into corner, but he's playing on second line and Q4 seems awkward a bit.]
;B[qp])))
(;W[qq]C[I would have played here, probably, but I don't have a good reason for it. It just feels natural, since black didn't play R4.]
;B[qp];W[pp];B[po];W[op];B[rq];W[qr];B[qo]C[Feels wrong for white, so I made a mistake, maybe.]
(;W[rr]C[This way leaves aji with Q3 stone...

But I like it best among the variations I looked at.])
(;W[oq]C[This way let's black get S2 in sente...];B[rr];W[pr])
(;W[oo];B[pr]C[This way, black just captures...])))
(;W[po]C[This is how I would play as white, probably. However, black's pincer would probably work well with his top development...]
;B[pl]C[Maybe this is good for black.?]))

[Kirby]

You can see from my comments areas where my thoughts are different from the pro thoughts (i.e. likely incorrect).

Here are a few highlights of my initial reaction vs. what was played:

Position 1

In the game, I considered the two space extension on the 4th line here. Black played at the marked intersection to exploit white's shape. I feel black's play is probably sharper. Although, white later invaded, so I'm not so sure about the position.

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Position 2

After move 26, I was concerned about helping the center black group with a knight's move. I felt OK to ditch the single stone on the right to strengthen this group.

Cho U 9p decided to bring out the black stone. His plan was more ambitious, and I feel I "gave up" a bit. He had a more hard-working plan, so it's probably a big difference in mentality here.

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . C , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . X . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . C , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . B . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . X . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Position 3

My gut reaction was actually the same as the move played in the game here for black (the knight's jump out). But after closer thought, I'm not sure how black responds when white cuts in this way:

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X 1 . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . 3 2 X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . X . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . X X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . X . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I guess this can tell me that my instinct was OK in this case, but if my instinct were challenged in a game, I might fail here.

Position 4
In this position, my intuition was to jump into the 3-3 point for immediate profit, letting the weak black stones be. Pro thought was to persist in utilizing the stones, and not to jump into the corner, yet.

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X X . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O . O . O O . X . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O X O . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X . . . X O O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . C O O X O . X . X X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . X . O O . X . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . X O O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X X . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . X , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O . O . O O . X . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O X O . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . X . . . X O O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . C O O X O . X . X X O O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . X . O O . X . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . X O O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Position 5
This one, I still don't totally understand. I would have played here, but pro thought was to connect solidly:

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . X X X . . . . . . . . . O . O X . |
$$ | . X . X O X . O . . X . O . . O . . . |
$$ | . . X O O O . . . , . X C X X X X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X B . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X O O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . X X O . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X X . . X O O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O . O . O O . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O X O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . X . . . X O O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . O O X O . X . X X O O . . |
$$ | . . X O . O X . O O . X . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . X O O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . |
$$ | . . X X X . . . . . . . . . O . O X . |
$$ | . X . X O X . O . . X . O . . O . . . |
$$ | . . X O O O . . . , . X C X X X X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X B . O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . O X O O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O . X X O . O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X X X . . X O O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . X , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . O . O . O O . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . O X O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . X . . . X O O X O . . |
$$ | . . . . O . O O X O . X . X X O O . . |
$$ | . . X O . O X . O O . X . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . X O O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Summary

Some general points that I can learn from these positions where my thoughts differed from pro thoughts:

1.) Perhaps I give up stones that I feel are too weak too easily. Some examples are when I didn't think to move out the single stone on the right in the position above, and also when I decided to dive directly into 3-3 when I felt outnumbered in the bottom left.

2.) I need sharper tactical moves, above global dull moves. I'm thinking of Position 1 here.

3.) In general, I need better reading skills to back up intuition, such as in Position 3, above.

[Kirby]

I decided to play another game online today. Since I reviewed a pro game recently, I wanted to review one of my own games, again. So I played one. The time limits were 30 minutes per person plus byo-yomi, but I feel that this is not enough time for me these days. Oh well.

Here's the game:

(;CA[utf-8]GM[1]FF[4]ST[2]RU[Japanese]AP[CGoban:3]SZ[19]OT[5x30 byo-yomi]DT[2013-12-13]
PB[opponent]PW[Kirby]KM[6.5]TM[1500]RE[W+Resign]MULTIGOGM[1]
;B[pd]BL[1498.14];W[dp]WL[1497.2];B[qp]BL[1494.8];W[dc]WL[1492.58]C[I usually don't play 3-4, but I've been studying trick plays in this area a bit.

I don't usually play trick plays, but I figure I should practice them if I want to understand the real joseki well.]
;B[ce]BL[1489.39]C[Unfortunately, I only know high 3-4 trick plays so far ];W[op]
WL[1475.05]C[So I approach bottom right, to keep approaches even.];B[mq]BL[1483.18]
;W[qq]WL[1470.82]C[Now, I am hoping he does trick play! Because I know a few!]
;B[pq]BL[1474.88];W[pp]WL[1469.26];B[oq]BL[1473.76]C[But, he just does a joseki. \:-(]
;W[nq]WL[1451.11];B[np]BL[1472.54];W[nr]WL[1448.61];B[qr]BL[1471.03];W[rq]WL[1442.94]
;B[or]BL[1470.01];W[qo]WL[1354.56];B[mr]BL[1465.86];W[no]WL[1347.52];B[mp]BL[1464.39]
C[Now, as I understand, white has defects, so it doesn't make sense to try to make much of a moyo here. I used to play like Q10, but I think it's wrong.

So I play G3 now, because I think it's big area for him.

In retrospect, maybe pincer (like variation).

]
(;W[gq]WL[1336.42];B[qj]BL[1455.25]C[I wasn't going to make a wall anyway, so I'm OK with this.

I decided to approach top right, since he has stone on right.]
;W[nc]WL[1322.96]
(;B[lc]BL[1450.12]
(;W[qf]WL[1285.58]C[To be honest, I don't know if this is better than 3-3, but I've been studying double approach a little bit, so I decided to try it out.]
;B[nd]BL[1435.91];W[md]WL[1259.71]C[I expected N17, like in variation.]
(;B[ne]BL[1424.61]C[He played here.

I thought, Hmm. I can play N17, but then white can be chased.]
(;W[qd]WL[1160.8]C[So in the end, I decided to play as if he had played N17, but this meant that P16 was not sente for w.]
;B[qc]BL[1413.43];W[pc]WL[1021.51]C[Seemed complicated, but many variations seemed OK for w.]
;B[oc]BL[1202.63];W[pb]WL[1018.88]
(;B[mc]BL[1196.85]C[He played here.];W[pe]WL[1012.41];B[od]BL[1195.33]
(;W[ob]WL[926.073]C[This was misread. I think he can play as in the variation.]
(;B[nb]BL[1187.69]C[I guess I was lucky, because he didn't punish P18. I think P18 was overplay.]
;W[rc]WL[923.126];B[qm]BL[1185.28]C[Kind of don't want to deal much with Q4 stones... I don't want them to die, either. I'd like to keep R7 weak, just in case I have future possibility to attack two stone extension later... So I played P6.]
(;W[on]WL[862.315]
(;B[fc]BL[1169.4]C[In retrospect, maybe it was better for w to play G17 instead of P6, because w can probably live here, and F17 pincer is very nice for him.]
;W[de]WL[763.927];B[df]BL[1167.36];W[ee]WL[760.15];B[cd]BL[1166.12];W[ec]WL[755.73]
;B[cc]BL[1164.1];W[gc]WL[746.34]C[It hurts to give up C17, and I don't know if this is the right move here.

My plan was to reduce top, and let him get a bit on the left.]
;B[fd]BL[1159.77];W[ef]WL[741.667];B[dg]BL[1157.37];W[fb]WL[737.633];B[gd]BL[1154.36]
;W[hc]WL[735.874];B[gf]BL[1152.16];W[eg]WL[709.1];B[eh]BL[1146.72];W[dh]WL[700.888]
;B[ch]BL[1138.69];W[di]WL[698.619];B[fh]BL[1137.48];W[ci]WL[680.462];B[bg]BL[1131.47]
(;W[fg]WL[617.405]C[Bad move! I read out G13 (see variation), but I didn't think of H13 later.

Anyway, since I didn't think of good variation for G13, which I now think is good, I played this. I was worried about the health of D11, along with the cutting stone.

Seemed risky, but I had to fight back against G16 in some way.]
;B[gg]BL[1129.33];W[gh]WL[616.195];B[ej]BL[1126.6];W[fj]WL[602.827]C[I figured if he atari at G11, it hurts G13, and helps me.

Plus, I like this point in this kind of shape.]
;B[ei]BL[1121.51];W[dk]WL[588.824];B[ek]BL[1105.97];W[dl]WL[586.482];B[el]BL[1102.68]
;W[dm]WL[584.861];B[bi]BL[1097.41];W[bk]WL[577.819]C[Last game, I forgot about this kind of shape being captured, so I was sure not to miss it this time!]
;B[gk]BL[1094.51]C[Now I figured I had to fight with cutting stone, since he has two groups.

In retrospect, maybe not a good idea, because of M17 power.

Maybe I just let the cut linger, and play a different move.]
;W[hh]WL[567.791];B[ie]BL[1086.63]C[At this point, I started to realize it seems difficult to effectively attack black. So I should calmly protect my group in gote, and see what to do next after.]
;W[jc]WL[485.428];B[ig]BL[1082.2];W[ih]WL[482.705]C[This was mistake. He is strong here. I should give up the stones.]
;B[ij]BL[1075.31];W[he]WL[471.823];B[hd]BL[1070.72];W[id]WL[470.711];B[jd]BL[1067.68]
;W[ic]WL[469.01];B[je]BL[1065.22];W[jg]WL[453.491]C[Misread, again! This was not a good part of the game for me.]
;B[ji]BL[1033.89];W[if]WL[436.448];B[hf]BL[1029.61]C[Those stones look pretty hopeless. So I decided to move on.]
;W[rl]WL[415.079]C[I wanted to see what happened here. Maybe if I somehow got stones in center, I could bring out K13 later. It is too early now, but let's just see what happens with his response.]
;B[ql]BL[1025.04];W[rm]WL[405.077]
(;B[ol]BL[1013.96]C[I don't know why he didn't play S9 (variation). Hean still play P8 if he wants to after.]
;W[rk]WL[400.24]C[Since he didn't take S9, I took it.];B[qh]BL[1009.4]C[Now, center was getting lots of potential for black. I had to do something. Seemed risky, but seemed to be enough space and aji to do as far as P12.]
;W[oh]WL[353.961]
(;B[mh]BL[1001.47]C[He seemed passive here, but again I didn't connect. I was a bit greedy.]
;W[oj]WL[340.389];B[pj]BL[986.521];W[ok]WL[319.88];B[om]BL[983.202];W[pk]WL[316.376]
;B[qk]BL[981.604];W[pi]WL[312.407];B[ni]BL[969.817];W[oi]WL[308.661];B[qi]BL[958.71]
C[Again, I probably should connect, but I figured I'd be safe.];W[mk]WL[303.676]
;B[mm]BL[955.137];W[kk]WL[283.42];B[pg]BL[942.74]C[Now he cuts!];W[og]WL[280.136]
;B[of]BL[940.494];W[pf]WL[267.736]
(;B[mf]BL[904.998]C[Later, I wonder if he really needed to do this (see variation).]
;W[km]WL[222.577]C[I figured M8 peep could be answered with N8, probably.]
(;B[ln]BL[901.19]C[In retrospect, L7 was probably bad, but I don't think he punished me.]
;W[ki]WL[205.253];B[kh]BL[898.654];W[li]WL[202.535];B[jk]BL[867.759];W[lh]WL[199.603]
;B[lg]BL[865.713];W[kg]WL[196.895];B[jh]BL[862.652];W[ng]WL[194.293];B[mg]BL[859.556]
;W[nf]WL[192.956]
(;B[me]BL[797.516]C[Again, does he need to worry (see variation)?

Anyway, at this point, I can connect with P15 at any time. If that fails, I can run.

I figured these were miai, so I will take my corner territory, now!]
;W[dq]WL[168.453];B[oe]BL[794.077]C[Running it is, then!];W[lm]WL[147.457];B[nn]
BL[789.432];W[kn]WL[135.755];B[ml]BL[773.233];W[mj]WL[97.1];B[ll]BL[767.399];W[kl]
WL[91.398];B[lo]BL[766.213];W[il]WL[47.226]C[A bit of a slack move, because I can't capture K11. Maybe better to just run out in a normal way.]
;B[fn]BL[751.421];W[hj]WL[40.954];B[hk]BL[744.998];W[ik]WL[34.704];B[jf]BL[718.144]
;W[jl]WL[23.7];B[jj]BL[716.466];W[hn]WL[1.081]C[This move had sneaky intention. I want to take away black's eye space to play G10 and force him to capture.]
;B[iq]BL[707.576];OW[5]W[ip]WL[30];B[hq]BL[702.649];OW[5]W[hp]WL[30];B[gr]BL[701.637]
;OW[5]W[fq]WL[30];B[fr]BL[699.97];OW[5]W[er]WL[30];B[jp]BL[697.127];OW[5]W[jq]WL[30]
C[Misread.];B[jr]BL[694.971];OW[5]W[jo]WL[30];B[kp]BL[692.728];OW[5]W[fs]WL[30]
;B[hr]BL[687.012];OW[5]W[gj]WL[30];B[fk]BL[666.187];OW[5]W[fm]WL[30];B[em]BL[660.582]
;OW[5]W[en]WL[30];B[gm]BL[659.564];OW[5]W[fo]WL[30];B[gn]BL[658.038];OW[5]W[go]
WL[30];B[hm]BL[656.856];OW[5]W[im]WL[30]C[Seemed OK. Only weakness seemed to be D6 cut.]
;B[dj]BL[636.014];OW[5]W[cj]WL[30];B[bj]BL[611.088];OW[5]W[ck]WL[30];B[hi]BL[603.288]
;OW[5]W[gi]WL[30]
(;B[ii]BL[599.935]C[He did self atari, so I won the game. However, I thought about variation if he didn't do self atari, and maybe w is still ahead, since I have komi (see variation).]
;OW[5]W[kj]WL[30]C[Kirby [2d\]\: thanks


])
(;B[kf];W[ii];B[hg];W[hl];B[fi];W[gl];B[hi];W[cb];B[bb];W[db];B[kb];W[jb];B[kc]
;W[ka];B[la];W[ja];B[oa];W[qb];B[rr];W[rp];B[qn];W[rn];B[pn];W[oo];B[rf];W[re];B[rg]
;W[rj];B[ri];W[si];B[sh];W[sj];B[se];W[sd];B[sf];W[gs];B[hs];W[es];B[sq];W[sp];B[sr]
;W[po];B[mo];W[pl];B[pm];W[lk];B[kj];W[mi];B[nh];W[nk];B[nl];W[aj];B[ah];W[ba];B[ab]
;W[pa];B[na];W[fe];B[ge];W[ko];B[kq];W[ph];B[qg];W[qe];B[bc];W[ca]C[With random endgame moves (which are almost assuredly not optimal), white is ahead by a large margin (more than 30 points).

With optimal endgame, maybe black closes the gap a bit, but I think white would still win, even without self atari.]))
(;B[oe]
(;W[me];B[nc]
(;W[lf]C[W can't do this.];B[le])
(;W[le];B[ke]C[Just doesn't work.]))
(;W[mi]C[If I exchange this, however...]
(;B[nh];W[me];B[nc];W[lf]C[Now he's in trouble.

So, he probably doesn't answer O12.])
(;B[me];W[nh]C[This might result.]))))
(;B[ll];W[ml];B[lm];W[lk];B[kl];W[nm];B[nl];W[nn];B[nk];W[nj];B[mj]C[Now I'm not so sure that was the case.]))
(;B[km];W[nf];B[oe];W[me];B[nc];W[mg];B[jl]C[What can white really do? I don't know if he can live or not, but I don't think he had to be concerned that much about that area.]))
(;B[pg]C[I don't know how it will turn out if he immediately blocks, but I figured with K13, the space, and cuts around Q10 area... Something had to work.

In retrospect, maybe this was too wild and crazy.

That being said, I don't know where to play instead.]))
(;B[rk];W[qn];B[ol]C[Seems better that he got S9 in, doesn't it?]))
(;W[gg]C[I think this is better.];B[fg];W[ff];B[hf];W[hg]
(;B[if];W[gi]C[Good for w.])
(;B[ig];W[gi];B[hi];W[gh];B[gj];W[fi];B[jf]C[Maybe black will sacrifice?

I'm not sure.])))
(;B[gc]))
(;W[gc]C[Maybe this is bigger. As long as I don't die in the bottom right, it counters his influence on top. ]
(;B[rr];W[rp]C[White seems safe, but it's very unlikely l will get to attack R7 in the future, since he can pressure me.])
(;B[po];W[oo];B[pn];W[rr];B[rs];W[rn];B[rp];W[sp];B[sr];W[ro]C[White willl probably be OK.])))
(;B[rd];W[qe];B[qb];W[rb];B[rc];W[qa];B[sb];W[ra];B[nb]C[White fails.]))
(;W[rc]C[I should just play here (or R18).])
(;W[qb]C[This is better than the game.]))
(;B[ob];W[pe];B[od];W[qb]C[I thought this was OK, as there's still aji around N17, plus I make lots of territory.])
(;B[qb];W[ob];B[od];W[mc]C[This seemed OK, too. I could even think about S18 aji later.]))
(;W[mc];B[oc]C[Seems bad for w, because then if I move with the R14 stone, black can attack N16. Just feels heavy.]
;W[qc];B[pb];W[qd];B[kd]C[I didn't want some sort of fight like this.]))
(;B[mc];W[qd]
(;B[oc];W[qc]C[This is one way... Or...])
(;B[qc];W[od];B[ne];W[pc];B[pe];W[oe];B[of];W[oc];B[pf];W[nf];B[me];W[qe];B[ph]
;W[qb];B[rc];W[rb];B[qg];W[rg];B[rh];W[rf]C[This is another way.])))
(;W[qc]C[Maybe d3 makes more sense. If he blocks on "wider side" like proverb...]
(;B[qd];W[pc];B[od];W[nb];B[me]C[White has sente, so I feel OK about it, I guess.])
(;B[pc];W[qd];B[pe];W[pb];B[ob];W[qb];B[oc];W[qf]C[Here, he gets sente, but R10 is silly.

So... Maybe 3-3 is OK here.])))
(;B[pf]C[I think this is also playable for black.]))
(;W[cg]C[Maybe this is better than G3. Though, I don't want him to approach @ F3 that much, this pincer feels more active.]))

There were some key moments in this game, where my reading was lax, and I could have lost by a lot. My opponent was a bit lax, and just responded. Because he didn't punish me strictly, I was able to win, but against another opponent, or in a different game, I would have lost.

(See commentary in game)

I need to be careful of this.

[Kirby]

Key Game Moments

There were a few positions that were particularly interesting to me, both during the game, and in review.

Position 1

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . C . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . a . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . C . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . a . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Following this joseki, white can't make much of a moyo, so I'm reluctant to try with a move around the marked intersection. In the game, I played 'a'. Now, I think maybe 'b' was more active.

What do you think?



Position 2
What do you think is the best sequence after black plays the marked move?

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . X . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . X . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Position 3

What do you think of the marked move vs. the move that was played in the game?

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . W . . . . X X . X O X O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . W . . . . X X . X O X O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Position 4

How might you respond to black's play here? I thought it was pretty sharp, which makes me wonder about Position 3, above.

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . B . . . . . X X . X O X O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . B . . . . . X X . X O X O . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X X X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

[vst]

Key Game Moments

There were a few positions that were particularly interesting to me, both during the game, and in review.

Position 1

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . C . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . a . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . C . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . a . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Following this joseki, white can't make much of a moyo, so I'm reluctant to try with a move around the marked intersection. In the game, I played 'a'. Now, I think maybe 'b' was more active.

What do you think?

I would definitely play b.

Position 2
What do you think is the best sequence after black plays the marked move?

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . X . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . X . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . O X . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . B . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . X X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . X O X X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

[/quote]
Connect.