Life In 19x19

I'm looking forward to Magicwand's choice of next move.

I end up with this, aiming at using the squared point when invading bottom.

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[go]$$Wcm11 Tentatively.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . S . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Though maybe this idea is less busy:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm11
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Either way, considering white's low, lively stage-left group, I would definitely tenuki to break up the left now.

i have to remain patient

I'm going to use my chance to attack white's stone. Again, he'll be given the chance to double approach my stone on the top left, but I must seize the opportunity to attack him before white settles himself.

that was small mistake by my opponent..
it is very small now..but can be a difference maker later.
why did he exchange that moves now???

Now I attack. I split up his right side. Eventually, I might get to aim at an attachment to his right side stone with something like the following which would aim at the cut at a.

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 O 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . c . X . a 4 . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X b . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I have to be wary of the but at b then c before I can do this, however. This is just some of the aji that I'm looking at.

finally, he open up.
it probably is an overplay on white...but it usually works.

You can't get by in a handicap game without playing the occasional overplay and starting a fight. I will oblige because you can't play go with a mindset of avoiding all fights with a submissive attitude. I look at this move and I ask myself, "Why does this feel like an overplay? And the answer is because the stones look thin like they could easily be cut by black with both remaining at least somewhat weak and certainly weaker than my corner stones. In my mind pops a couple of options for cutting:

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[go]$$Wcm11
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . a c . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

c strikes me as funny shape that usually isn't right, but might sometimes work if the other more natural shapes don't work, so I consider them first.

With b, I see one sequence that I'd expect:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 4 X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 5 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Black looks stronger here than white does. I think he can have a decent fight.

But white's other natural looking move is to push:

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[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . 8 . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . 6 4 2 O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 7 5 3 1 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

And this looks much better for white. He's loosely surrounding my corner and might get an attack on it and his stone is on a shape point where I'd prefer to have a black stone. This looks much better for him.

With a, this looks like a likely outcome.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 4 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 3 X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This looks playable for both sides.

First instinct when somebody ignores a contact move should be to play another stone in that area.

i can not fight conventional way and expect to win.
on below variation, i will give him two stone and expect to gain penuki, sente, and aji, influence, initative, and hope.

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[go]$$Wcm21
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 X 3 8 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O 4 X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . 5 . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

My outside hane on the last move was pretty agressive. It was the same as if I had played a two space jump before and now he decided to cut it. So this fight is a bit more complicated than it had to be, but I like to play a fighting game and I don't like to be too passive, so this is my style. It's only tricky because MagicWand is so strong. Still, that just leaves room to learn.

This is my plan. I might be able to play at a to threaten to capture the cutting stone. I'll have to be careful to tend to my group, but his is very weak still.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 X O . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O 1 X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . 2 . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Now I have more groups to take care of, but I think that mine are for the most part stronger than most of his. Looking back, I think I might have played this way instead:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . B X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This would have been the same as if I had played an ogeima and he tried to cut it. My stones would have been a bit stronger and I think this wouldn't have been his best way to cut. I mean, I think what I played was playable, but I think that would have been a bit better because I would have had less patching up to do in my own position.

If things had gone like this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I wouldn't have made this exchange:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X O . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 O X X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . 2 . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This is why I know that what I played is worse.

getting complicated...

I need to support this group. This seems like the side that's easier to pressure. I also considered for just a flash of thought a, but then white would take a point near the one that I just took and this'd be no good. Also for a flash of thought, I considered b. This looks like intuitively bad shape to me, so I'd only play it if I read out that what I played didn't work. Next, if he doesn't reinforce his cutting stones, I can net them a c though he might get forcing moves that make him strong based off of their aji. If he gets strong in gote, I will be happy to take sente and he hasn't made many points yet while I'm not particularly weak anywhere.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X X O O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X O X X a . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . O . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . c . X b . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . X . . X X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . X . . . . . . O . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I like to avoid getting very weak groups. And I like to attack this detritus out of weak groups, but only if I am relatively strong. I think this attitude has improved my strength by a couple of stones. Though I have always loved to attack, I didn't always make sure that I was strong enough to attack. Attacking a weak group in a way that damages your own weak group is a common mistake.