Life In 19x19

Alright, here are the moves I considered.

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[go]$$Wcm1
$$ . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . O . X . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . X . . . . |
$$ . . . . a O . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . b d . . |
$$ . . . X . X 7 . . |
$$ . . . . . c e . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ------------------[/go]

As a rule, you don't want to just go ignoring contact/shoulder moves. But white just ignored my shoulder hit. Pressing at a was what I was threatening to do with my last move. It has the potential to shut white in, which is excellent. But white would get some fourth line territory, and I don't know if my compensation is good enough. He also gets another move in the corner, which makes me uneasy.

With a move like this, white is trying to create complications, and it's to black's advantage to keep things simple. That's the idea behind b and c. But in this case, b just doesn't really do that much, and c is pretty passive.

White's last move seems like a bit of an overreach, so I'd like to cut with d. But that leads to the most complications. But if you let white get away with little overplays, over the course of the game, that will make up the handicap. On the other hand, it's usually a mistake, to quote Sol.ch, to look for "super severe move of great justice." So, I'm pretty conflicted about that.

So, that leaves e, which is simple enough.

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

My stones on the outside have a couple different ways to settle or run, and they're still light, so I'm not worried about them at all. But they're not so strong that I can really attack like crazy. And with this sequence, I get some nice territory in the corner. The annoying move at a is still open, but I can deal. White is undercut and doesn't get much here. He's still just gotta live or escape.

Most of all, it keeps things simple, which is good for black.

ok...he played as i expected..now i have to play as below and split the group.
only way for me to win is ...to kill a group. i already know..how strong his endgame is...

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[go]$$Wcm9 Prisoners - W: 0, B: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

As planned... I did again consider shutting white in, but I think I'd rather have the corner. Plus it removes the aji of that peep there.

This is one of those middle-game, direction of play questions what I don't really understand.

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[go]$$Wc I have no idea...
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c c . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . b . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . a . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'd very much like to get a, which is some nice profit, and prevents the annoying white move at M3. But I think it's a bit slow and I think my right side stones need more attention before they get TOO weak.

I'd like to get b, which lets me continue to attack and gain profit on the bottom side. But I'm concerned that I'm not strong enough, and my knight's move has weaknesses. I guess I'll strengthen myself first with c. I want to play P12, because that cleanly divides white's stones, but the shape seems pretty iffy. Way up on the fifth line like that, my stones would be really, really floating. It also doesn't confront the Q14 stone that strongly. Q12 feels stronger.

I think I'm doing OK and not getting heavy; I can easily give up, e.g. P8.

"It's helpful to be able to recognize the difference between the droppings of black bear and grizzly bear. Black bear scat is smaller and contains berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear scat contains small bells and smells like peppers."

I'd definitely have played N8 (b) here. If Black tries to cut the knight, he only weakens his lower right group further.

since my approach was high..it doesnt help me invade 3-3 point.
i am using this old joseki to cut middle group in sente.
below is what i expect. it doesnt look too bad..

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[go]$$Wcm11 Prisoners - W: 0, B: 0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . 4 6 . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 8 . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Just keep things simple... Don't overthink it... Everything will be fine... It's not like white can connect and take care of all his stones with one move.

S17 isn't as important as S3 was, because of the position of O17. I'd still like to get it, because it undermines white's group, but sente is more important. This feels like a straightforward way to move out and keep white separated. I don't think the double-peep is an issue at all because he white O10 stone is weak. And since it's weak, I don't really want to touch it, e.g. attaching to make a table shape.

I have a hard time seeing where white profits here. I've gotten territory in two corners, and as long as I keep white separated, he won't get that much center influence, and as long as I don't die or something, he won't get much side territory.

one successful corner..

This was the trade-off for my last move.

Here's my big concern.

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

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

I've let myself get so pre-occupied with taking care of everything at once and keeping white separated, that I haven't worried enough about getting myself connected. This is very reminiscent of a diagram in Kageyama's Fundamentals. You know the one, right? Black lost this way.

The worst he is threatening against the top is to push me down a little. I can't be intimidated by that. He's also attacking my middle group; he probably wants to kill something. But I think it's OK with the center white stone as weak as it is. I can still settle it OK. Meanwhile I'll threaten to take so much territory that I could lose a group or two...