HermanHiddema wrote:I think tenuki is a very viable option indeed

I still think my first diagram is no good for white. Not so much because he ends up low, but because he gets locked into the corner.
Consider this tewari:
$$B
$$ +------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 7 8 6 4 . . .
$$ | . . 2 O 5 . 1 . .
$$ | . a . , 3 b . . .
$$ | . . X c . . 9 . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$B
$$ +------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 7 8 6 4 . . .
$$ | . . 2 O 5 . 1 . .
$$ | . a . , 3 b . . .
$$ | . . X c . . 9 . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .[/go]
Yes, the

exhange is weird and unneccessary, but it doesn't really hurt black that much, and black can still play
a later.
The

exchange removes aji around
b and
c, so seems pretty neutral.

and

on the other hand are pretty terrible moves, IMO.
Sorry, I do not agree with your tewari. There is no "flow" to it, you make white 2 look so unnatural. while it should be a direct response to black 7.
I think the tewari on the position should be like I explained in the main post:
$$W
$$ +------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 6 9 5 3 . . .
$$ | . . 7 1 4 . 8 . .
$$ | . . . , 2 . . . .
$$ | . . X . . . 0 . .
$$ | . . . . a . . . .
$$ | . . b . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W
$$ +------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . 6 9 5 3 . . .
$$ | . . 7 1 4 . 8 . .
$$ | . . . , 2 . . . .
$$ | . . X . . . 0 . .
$$ | . . . . a . . . .
$$ | . . b . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .[/go]
Here it's clear:
White played two conserative moves with 9 and 5 but we can not call them "bad". But black 7 and 5 is really easy to call bad, so in my opinion the position favors white.
Blacks thiness leave weakness like a or b, which are not easy to answer for black. And the topside is open.
But I really get your opinion Herman. Everyone has a different playing style, I prefer instant profit and reduce my opponents potential later, so grabbing quite a big corner in exchange for a not so effective thickness seems good to me.
But people that value the center more, and feel reluctant to get closed in and take the corner, might want to search for a better way of playing. Indeed, I think that there is a more severe way of playing then this diagram, though I think it's good enough.
$$W
$$ +------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 9 8 . . . .
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . .
$$ | . . 5 , . 2 . . .
$$ | . . 3 X . . . . .
$$ | . . 4 6 . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$W
$$ +------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . 9 8 . . . .
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . .
$$ | . . 5 , . 2 . . .
$$ | . . 3 X . . . . .
$$ | . . 4 6 . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .
$$ | . . . . . . . . .[/go]
If we compare the first diagram to this joseki, I think Black is a lot more thick in this one. Please note that it's not easy for white to invade either side (he can get certain profit on top, but never reduce heavily).
In our own variation, White has two clear moves on the leftside (see a and b in my diagram) and also the topside is open. So I think that these two thickness can't be compared.
Edit: To illustrate my points better, I would like to show some whole-board positions:
So if Black wedges with 1. Do White want to force white from the top or the bottom? If whites upperleft is considered thickness, the only logical move is to play from the bottom. After all, you want to push your opponent towards your thickness.
But lets imagine the following:
$$c
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O 6 . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 0 . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$c
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O 6 . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 0 . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
In this diagram, whites group suddenly becomes quite weak. It does not have a clear eye-space, and it seems quite heavy, while blacks group looks quite strong all of a sudden.
If we compare this to my comparsion to the 5-4 joseki:
$$c
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$c
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
After 6, does black have any way to make blacks thickness in upperleft weak and floating, and at the same time protecting his own group?
It does not seem that way. So I think these diagrams clearly illustrate the difference in thickness.
Edit ag: Seems switching colors when I made the whole-board examples confused me and I mistook white for black when writing
