For kicks, I decided to analyze my game against that honeybear guy with LeelaZero.
My computer doesn't have significant processing power, so I focused on the moves that seemed to be a somewhat significant difference in winrate.
The first move that seemed like a big difference to me was when I took the 3-3 point here:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . W . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
LeelaZero seems to like playing here, at least on my computer:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . W . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
I'm against considering this suggestion to be a better move based on winrate only, so let's take the hypothesis that this is a better move, and think about why.
1. First of all, it puts significant pressure on the black stones. The black stones may live with the 3-3 point, but it threatens to seal black in:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 2 . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
So black probably wouldn't take the 3-3 immediately.
Presumably, black would push and solidify white's position on the left:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . C . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
The 3-3 point remains open as a big point for either player.So effectively, after black's slide, I'm faced with a decision to:
a.) Take the big point move of the 3-3 to secure territory - I probably made some profit from the exchange; OR
b.) Utilize black's weakness to fix my own weakness on the left side, and secure points there.
Given that there's an invasion point that black later exploited, this seems reasonable.
Next interesting position is here:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . O . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . X . X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . O . O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O W . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
I was afraid of extending here, because of black's cut:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . O . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . X . X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . O . O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X b O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . 2 1 O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
Seemed that 'a' and 'b' were miai.
But LZ points out that it might not be so bad to lose the corner. For example:
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . . X . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . O . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . X . X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . O . O O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X 4 O X 9 . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . b . . . 8 6 2 1 O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 7 5 3 . a . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
When black gets the corner with 'a', white can extend to 'b and gets a pretty decent position on the bottom.
Is that bigger than the corner? Black gets at least 10 points. But white settled the group in the black area, effectively destroying the moyo down there...
I think I'll buy it.
I'll takeaway two lessons from this:
1.) Keeping pressure on the opponent to seal him/her in is valuable - more than a big point move, sometimes.
2.) I don't necessarily need to be afraid of a variation that loses stones, even if it seems like a lot of points (e.g. the corner territory), if I achieve a bigger goal. In this case, living easily on the bottom in the middle of black's area is a very reasonable result.