Kirby's Study Journal

[Kirby]

Here's a game I played yesterday:

(;CA[utf-8]ST[2]RU[Japanese]OT[5x30 byo-yomi]GM[1]C[I played white.]AP[CGoban:3]
SZ[19]FF[4]DT[2013-12-25]PC[The KGS Go Server at http\://www.gokgs.com/]PB[Opponent]
PW[Kirby]KM[0.5]TM[1500]RE[W+39.50]MULTIGOGM[1]
;B[pd]BL[1485.35]C[Hmm. I've been studying up on 3-4, so 3-4 it is!];W[dc]WL[1495.07]
;B[pq]BL[1480.8]C[He plays 3-4, too... Well, I hope we can play a 3-4 variation, so I'll make another 3-4!]
;W[dq]WL[1490.75];B[qk]BL[1476.63]C[Hmm. Bottom is nice, because he can make framework with mini-Chinese if he plays there.

But it'd be nice to practice a 3-4 variation if he approaches bottom left later...

So I'll play top for now.]
;W[nc]WL[1445.27];B[lc]BL[1418.13]C[Jumping in at 3-3 is what I'd usually do... But then he gets to make a moyo (see variation).

Double approach, and there's a chance I can ruin his chance for potential moyo.]
(;W[qf]WL[1418.06]C[In retrospect, 3-3 was probably fine. Maybe double approach isn't terrible, either.]
;B[nd]BL[1410.12]C[Now I will do N16 again. In previous game, opponent surprised me with O15, but after research, I can still invade 3-3 in that case, or maybe even play N17.

I'll hane, and see if he cuts at N17 as usual.]
;W[md]WL[1410.16];B[mc]BL[1323.87]C[Yup, he cuts! I'll just play R16. If I get territory here, there's not much chance of moyo, so I think it's a success.

*Post-game thinking\: Maybe there's not much potential for a moyo in this part of the board anyway, since R9 is so far and low. Still, it's not bad to get territory here, I think.]
;W[qd]WL[1403.7]C[Will he play P17 or R17...?];B[oc]BL[1222.99]C[Easy!];W[qc]WL[1388.42]
;B[pe]BL[1205.52]C[I should answer this, because R15 cut wouldn't be fun.

R13 is an option, but seems bad shape (see variation).

S14 would also work, but seems kind of pointless since R9 is so far away. I think a solid connection is OK.]
(;W[qe]WL[1277.88];B[pb]BL[1192.27]C[Well... I can probably tenuki. R18 would be a passive response, but I feel R18 and R11 are a bit like miai.

So maybe tenuki and play on the bottom...

But tenuki isn't necessarily good, because he gets R12 for nearly free, then - I'd probably have to respond to get eyespace.

And if I play R11, it leaves follow up for me.

So in a way, the R11/R12 area is almost double sente.

Conclusion\: Though, I can tenuki, R11 is probably best.]
;W[qi]WL[1238]C[Post-game thinking\: R11 was probably big, but R18 was also big in the corner.

The benefit of R11 is mostly that it is almost sente since white can later put pressure on R9.]
;B[ok]BL[1175.84]MA[pp][po][oo][qo][qn][pn][on][om][pm][qm][ql][pl][ol][op][qp]
C[Ok... R17 group is pretty secure... And R18 is not sente for white.

So black's big area is the bottom, probably.

Invading at Q5 would be a bit reckless right now, so maybe I play on the bottom first.

But where?

K3 would definitely work, but it seems like white should be able to get more. L3 might work.

M3 might be greedy.

But if I play M3, he probably tries to punish by pincer. When white runs out, it will reduce the potential of the marked area...]
(;W[lq]WL[1221.29]C[Post-game thinking\: I think this might be a little bit greedy. It's true that if he pincers and I run out, the R5 area might have less potential, but black can profit from attacking white.

Playing L3 would be much easier, leaving space for a two-space extension, and white doesn't have to worry about the group.]
;B[jq]BL[1146.68]C[Hmm. I'm having second thoughts.

Maybe I treat this stone lightly. Then approach Q3, and this pincering stone will be of help in settling whatever comes from the corner approach.

How to approach? If I play R5, black can try to make me heavy with R4.

Q5 is an easier way to play lighter.]
;W[po]WL[1167.67]
(;B[oo]BL[1064.19]C[Hmm. I don't know much about this move, but P6 or Q4 would make it difficult for the M3 stone. So I will play territorially at R3.]
;W[qq]WL[1158.74];B[pp]BL[1043.91]C[Hmm. Maybe I just try to live in corner.];W[qp]
WL[1142.47];B[pn]BL[1040.87];W[qo]WL[1139.82];B[op]BL[1023.91]C[Hmm. Q3 or R6 direction?

Well, even if he R2, I play S2 sente, and could then hane Q7 if I played R6 first. So I'll play R6 first.]
;W[qn]WL[1118.15]
(;B[pm]BL[1008.48]C[Well, he answered, so no need to worry. Now, I got both moves!]
;W[pr]WL[1111.31];B[or]BL[1004.91];W[qr]WL[1110.08]C[Now I have aji around P3 to play with! Yay!]
;B[gq]BL[919.408]
(;W[co]WL[1101.46]C[Post-game thinking\: In retrospect, this is sort of a cowardly move. I think D5 puts more pressure on G3, and it would have been better.]
;B[gn]BL[909.645]C[Woah! He's going all fancy on me!

I kind of wish C5 were at D5...

Oh well. I could continue to expand around D9 or D8... But because C5 encloses territory well, it's not urgent.

Black's moyo is getting a bit out of hand, so maybe it's time to do something about it - I have a good amount of territory.

How do I start?

I could try to mess with his extension around G5 area, but he might be able to solidify against M3.

Maybe I play with the aji around P3 first.]
;W[nr]WL[1068.77]C[Post-game thinking\: My thoughts are mixed. In the game, this worked out, but it's a little risky.

Besides that, black can play O3 in response to this move if he wants to hurt M3.]
;B[os]BL[901.901];W[nq]WL[1063.45];B[oq]BL[899.781];W[nn]WL[1041.26]C[I read the variation sequence during the game...]
(;B[mp]BL[841.504]C[Hmm. Seems OK! I can threaten connect, and otherwise capture his stone!]
;W[np]WL[1016.35];B[no]BL[838.065];W[mo]WL[1015.36];B[mn]BL[816.4];W[lo]WL[1013.88]
C[This seemed risky, but already, I feel a bit safer. One eye down, and one more to go. He still has weakness around P6 cut due to shortage of liberties (if I were to move O6 out).

Key is to live in sente, if possible.]
;B[ln]BL[782.399]C[Hane at L6? Seems like too much!];W[ko]WL[999.493];B[ns]BL[691.3]
C[Hmm. I think he is playing here, because he finds it troublesome that I might be able to make a second eye in the area.

However, even with this move, I still have one eye... So I could tenuki.

It'd be nice to wall off this area. Maybe I jump out first.]
;W[km]WL[907.128]
(;B[ml]BL[656.286]C[I think it's a bad move by black. He should P7, then I have to do something about L7 connection in gote.

When he plays this way, I get K6 in sente~]
;W[kn]WL[895.975];B[ll]BL[650.806]C[So not much aji around for O6. But how do I utilize it? Maybe I play the cut even though stones die in order to wall off N1 area!]
;W[on]WL[859.915]
(;B[mr]BL[635.473];W[mq]WL[857.838];B[om]BL[580.797];W[lr]WL[838.805];B[ms]BL[555.861]
C[OK. Now I get M1 sente whenever I want. No need to play it now. I should pressure K3 stone to get second eye! This battle is feeling OK.]
(;W[iq]WL[835.439];B[ip]BL[535.666];W[hq]WL[818.387]
(;B[hp]BL[520.622]C[Anyway, he played here, so I guess I was a bit lucky - it was easy to find a way for white.]
;W[jr]WL[813.787];B[kp]BL[480.766];W[kq]WL[808.973];B[jp]BL[478.314];W[ls]WL[800.636]
;B[nm]BL[472.306];W[lp]WL[798.584]C[Life! Now, I am feeling OK, because I either\:

* Have sente; OR
* Can attack G6]
;B[gr]BL[461.275];W[hr]WL[795.705];B[hs]BL[458.393];W[ir]WL[794.601]C[While waiting for him to play this move, I'm thinking about a move around D7, because then G4 ladder works.

For example...]
(;B[ep]BL[395.129]C[He protected this cut immediately.

But... It doesn't matter. I just have to make good exchange for every move he makes and I should be ahead, right? I think E4 E3 exchange would be good for white, so I played that.]
;W[eq]WL[785.341];B[fq]BL[387.628]C[OK, he's gonna live here.

So I can't severely attack. Left is biggest part of board, so I should play there.

But F5 is a good area to screw with his shape a bit. So I'll throw that in there, then play on left.]
;W[fo]WL[778.401];B[in]BL[253.584]C[OK dokey. He's got good shape. I could try to cut off at F4, but that's missing the big picture.

The action is on the left.

And to that note, it's a pity I can't play any of the 3-4 stuff I've been studying this game, yet \:-(]
;W[di]WL[749.828];B[dn]BL[243.627]C[He's already basically alive, so this only really helps E4 stone. I don't care too much. I'll just build territory on left.

Thank you, sir.]
;W[cn]WL[745.204];B[dm]BL[229.09]C[Hop out at C8? No, there's bad aji around D4 then...]
(;W[cm]WL[724.563];B[dp]BL[223.289]C[Why, thank you!];W[cp]WL[721.158];B[fp]BL[201.925]
C[Okay, dude... You're playing a lot of moves in that area. Time for my paycheck!]
;W[dl]WL[710.127];B[el]BL[192.956];W[ek]WL[709.11];B[fl]BL[187.676];W[fk]WL[706.857]
C[He's safe and living, but how many points is that? I think I'm getting way more in this area.]
;B[cf]BL[161.479]C[Hard to attack the stone severely, so just grab corner territory.]
;W[cd]WL[698.438];B[bi]BL[151.137]C[Now I should try to profit from this attack. Take away his eyes.]
(;W[bg]WL[670.893]C[Post game thinking\: Maybe this was bad - C11 or C10 may have been more calm and better.]
;B[ch]BL[122.936];W[bf]WL[668.526];B[cg]BL[116.341];W[gl]WL[664.789]C[ ];B[fm]BL[103.991]
;W[bk]WL[648.012]C[Now attack!];B[bh]BL[94.775];W[ce]WL[645.319];B[eg]BL[40.995]
;W[gg]WL[635.822]C[Attack! >\:-)];B[gf]BL[18.522]
(;W[ff]WL[621.351]C[Post-game thinking\: This move was bad. I should just play H14 to continue attack.

Benefit of this is that it potentially helps top become white territory. Drawback is that black gets strong and attack is over.

This is the move I feel worst about so far this game.]
;B[fg]BL[15.168];W[fe]WL[620.219];B[gh]BL[10.957];W[hg]WL[619.194];B[fi]BL[8.499]
;W[he]WL[606.905];B[hh]BL[1.77];W[ig]WL[605.537];OB[5]B[dk]BL[30]C[Hmm. Too bad about these stones, but I can give them up.]
;W[dj]WL[601.76];OB[5]B[cl]BL[30]
(;W[bl]WL[576.274];OB[5]B[cj]BL[30];W[ck]WL[574.267];OB[5]B[dl]BL[30];W[ih]WL[570.192]
C[Oh well. Pity about those stones, but they're only 5 stones. Plus, J12 is a nice move to get in.]
;OB[5]B[ii]BL[30];W[ji]WL[565.992];OB[5]B[jj]BL[30];W[ij]WL[547.101];OB[5]B[hi]
BL[30];W[il]WL[541.248]C[I'll threaten to connect.];OB[3]B[ik]BL[30];W[hk]WL[532.332]
;OB[3]B[hj]BL[30];W[im]WL[528.205]C[Well, whatdaya know? I can keep most of the stones anyway.

Thanks, dude!]
;OB[3]B[hm]BL[30];W[gm]WL[526.027];OB[3]B[hn]BL[30];W[hl]WL[523.213];OB[3]B[rg]
BL[30]C[What is this? Maybe he expects R13, then he can play some fancy S11 business.

I don't think so.]
;W[qh]WL[514.083];OB[3]B[sl]BL[30]C[Now it's just getting weird. I'll respond normally to keep some corner territory.]
;W[rm]WL[508.111];OB[3]B[sj]BL[30];W[rj]WL[491.927]C[I'll cut you off!];OB[2]B[si]
BL[30];W[rk]WL[490.464];OB[2]B[rl]BL[30];W[sk]WL[484.48]C[San-kyu!];OB[2]B[qm]BL[30]
;W[sm]WL[477.098];OB[2]B[ql]BL[30];W[ro]WL[468.102];OB[2]B[rb]BL[30]C[Doh! In retrospect, it hurt for black to get this move.

Oh well. White's group still seems OK.]
;W[rc]WL[457.075]C[While he was thinking of his next move, I imagine about where is biggest on the board.

There's potential around N12 area, but difficult for either black or white to get any. It'd be nice to kep the K11 stone, because he could cut at K12.

But the top is a lot of points. I'd like to get K17 in.]
;OB[1]B[hc]BL[30]C[Doh, he played top first.

But wait, isn't that too deep? I'll fight back.]
;W[jc]WL[452.006];OB[1]B[jb]BL[30]C[At this point, I recalled one of the popular responses to the "Shusaku kosumi" - the non-kosumi player plays a 3-space extension, and connects on second line like this after invasion.

After this, the invading player ataris and ultimately captures, in this case, the K18 stone. In exchange, black (in this case), gets influence on outside.

Well, that influence is just about useless for him!

So I will atari - direction is important - yes, L18 is correct direction.]
;W[kb]WL[395.871];OB[1]B[kc]BL[30];W[ib]WL[394.674];OB[1]B[jd]BL[30];W[ic]WL[393.741]
;OB[1]B[id]BL[30]C[Just like joseki... Kind of.];W[hd]WL[392.811]
(;OB[1]B[ja]BL[30]C[Oooh. This is *not* like joseki. ];W[hb]WL[380.645];OB[1]
B[gc]BL[30];W[gb]WL[368.627];OB[1]B[fc]BL[30];W[ka]WL[365.196];OB[1]B[fb]BL[30]
;W[ia]WL[363.058];OB[1]B[ga]BL[30];W[ec]WL[349.424];OB[1]B[lb]BL[30];W[eb]WL[346.282]
;OB[1]B[la]BL[30];W[fd]WL[343.48];OB[1]B[ng]BL[30]C[After this, we play a bit in the center for some points, and I play some gote moves, which were bad.

No more comments.]
;W[ne]WL[299.346];OB[1]B[nb]BL[30];W[pf]WL[289.822];OB[1]B[of]BL[30];W[qb]WL[284.636]
;OB[1]B[qa]BL[30];W[sb]WL[282.853];OB[1]B[ra]BL[30];W[kh]WL[276.899];OB[1]B[oh]
BL[30];W[ph]WL[266.734];OB[1]B[kf]BL[30];W[er]WL[246.185];OB[1]B[jn]BL[30];W[kl]
WL[241.344];OB[1]B[if]BL[30];W[kj]WL[230.916];OB[1]B[ej]BL[30];W[gj]WL[204.387]
;OB[1]B[fj]BL[30];W[gk]WL[202.398];OB[1]B[hf]BL[30];W[jk]WL[184.135];OB[1]B[ag]
BL[30];W[be]WL[181.201];OB[1]B[se]BL[30];W[sd]WL[175.672];OB[1]B[re]BL[30];W[rf]
WL[173.156];OB[1]B[sf]BL[30];W[rd]WL[167.764];OB[1]B[sg]BL[30];W[df]WL[156.071]
;OB[1]B[dg]BL[30];W[jo]WL[115.277];OB[1]B[ef]BL[30];W[de]WL[112.131];OB[1]B[ee]
BL[30];W[ed]WL[100.846];OB[1]B[do]BL[30];W[nj]WL[78.903];OB[1]B[oj]BL[30];W[ni]
WL[74.928];OB[1]B[oi]BL[30];W[lf]WL[68.292];OB[1]B[lg]BL[30];W[kg]WL[66.109];OB[1]
B[lh]BL[30];W[jf]WL[60.008];OB[1]B[ke]BL[30];W[ie]WL[50.104];OB[1]B[li]BL[30];W[lj]
WL[48.966];OB[1]B[mj]BL[30];W[mi]WL[42.638];OB[1]B[mk]BL[30];W[ij]WL[30.356];OB[1]
B[je]BL[30];W[ge]WL[28.094];OB[1]B[fs]BL[30];W[es]WL[24.8];OB[1]B[bj]BL[30];OW[5]
W[io]WL[30];OB[1]B[ho]BL[30];OW[5]W[is]WL[30];OB[1]B[ps]BL[30];OW[5]W[qs]WL[30]
;OB[1]B[bq]BL[30];OW[5]W[cq]WL[30];OB[1]B[bp]BL[30];OW[5]W[bo]WL[30];OB[1]B[cr]
BL[30];OW[5]W[br]WL[30];OB[1]B[ar]BL[30];OW[5]W[bs]WL[30];OB[1]B[cs]BL[30];OW[5]
W[ap]WL[30];OB[1]B[as]BL[30];OW[5]W[am]WL[30];OB[1]B[ak]BL[30];OW[5]W[br]WL[30]
;OB[1]B[bs]BL[30];OW[5]W[ao]WL[30];OB[1]B[bn]BL[30];OW[5]W[jm]WL[30];OB[1]B[bm]
BL[30];OW[5]W[an]WL[30];OB[1]B[aj]BL[30];OW[5]W[aq]WL[30];OB[1]B[bm]BL[30];OW[5]
W[al]WL[30];OB[1]B[fr]BL[30];OW[5]W[fn]WL[30];OB[1]B[gp]BL[30];OW[5]W[fh]WL[30]
;OB[1]B[eh]BL[30];OW[5]W[gi]WL[30];OB[1]B[fh]BL[30];OW[5]W[af]WL[30];OB[1]B[ah]
BL[30];OW[5]W[le]WL[30];OB[1]B[kd]BL[30];OW[5]W[qj]WL[30];OB[1]B[pj]BL[30];OW[5]
W[nf]WL[30];OB[1]B[og]BL[30];OW[4]W[pg]WL[30];OB[1]B[pc]BL[30];OW[4]W[rh]WL[30]
;OB[1]B[lk]BL[30];OW[4]W[ki]WL[30];OB[1]B[mg]BL[30];OW[4]W[lm]WL[30];OB[1]B[mm]
BL[30];OW[4]W[gs]WL[30];OB[1]B[sq]BL[30];OW[4]W[sp]WL[30];OB[1]B[hs]BL[30];OW[4]
W[on]WL[30];OB[1]B[nn]BL[30];OW[4]W[gs]WL[30];OB[1]B[sn]BL[30];OW[4]W[rn]WL[30]
;OB[1]B[hs]BL[30];OW[4]W[sh]WL[30];OB[1]B[gs]BL[30];OW[4]W[sc]WL[30];OB[1]B[pa]
BL[30];OW[4]W[kk]WL[30];OB[1]B[]BL[30];OW[4]W[]WL[30]TB[nj][ma][na][oa][mb][ob]
[nc][ld][md][od][le][me][ne][oe][lf][mf][nf][dh][mh][nh][ai][ci][di][ei][mi][ni]
[dj][nk][pk][nl][ol][pl][em][en][fn][on][eo][fo][go]TW[jj][sj][ik][jl][bm][bn][sn]
[so][bp][mp][rp][bq][rq][bb][ar][br][cr][dr][kr][rr][sr][as][bs][cs][ds][js][ks]
[rs][ss][aa][ba][ca][da][ea][fa][ga][ha][ja][ab][cb][db][fb][jb][ac][bc][cc][fc]
[gc][hc][ad][bd][dd][gd][ae][re][sq][se][gf][hf][if][sf][jg][qg][rg][sg][jh][ri]
[si])
(;B[hb];W[ja];B[ha];W[ia]
(;B[lb];W[gc]C[This is the type of variation that reminded me of that joseki.])
(;B[fb];W[lb]C[OK!])))
(;W[ck]C[I considered this, but I felt I was ahead at this point, so there was no need to add ko to the mix. Besides that, he doesn't even have to ko.]
;B[dl];W[bl];B[cj]C[Black can still cut off.]))
(;W[hf]C[I think this is better, in retrospect.]
(;B[ff];W[ig]C[It's still not clear what black will do.])
(;B[ge];W[fg]
(;B[ef];W[ff];B[fe];W[ee])
(;B[ff];W[ee];B[ef];W[ig]C[White can make points while attacking.]))))
(;W[cj]C[Post game thinking\: Maybe this was better - black still doesn't have total eye shape.])
(;W[ci];B[bj];W[bh]C[Might work, but hard to say.]))
(;W[cl];B[cm];W[bm];B[bl];W[bk];B[bn];W[al];B[cp]C[This might not be immediately good for black to play, but it's complication that I needn't worry about this game. I should just secure territory.]))
(;B[lm];W[dl];B[gl];W[gp];B[fp];W[go];B[ho];W[fo];B[eo];W[fn];B[fm];W[en];B[dn]
;W[em]))
(;B[jr]C[After the move, I thought about if it works for him to play here.];W[ls]
;B[nm]
(;W[jp];B[hp]C[Stones are kind of cut off this way...])
(;W[hp]
(;B[io];W[jp];B[gp];W[ho]C[White might be OK.])
(;B[jo];W[io];B[jp];W[in];B[jn];W[im];B[jm];W[jl];B[ho];W[gp];B[il];W[hm]C[Might be dangerous for white...]))))
(;W[ir]C[Since J3 could be dangerous for white, maybe something like this to probe black is better to play first.]
(;B[iq];W[ls];B[nm];W[jr];B[hr];W[kq]C[Alive.])
(;B[jr];W[ls];B[nm]C[Maybe after this, white tries to run out somehow. Then later, white can play J3...

Though black might profit from attack, so maybe white just uses J2 aji immediately with forcing moves around J4 to get second eye.])))
(;B[nm]C[I read this in the game.];W[ms];B[om];W[kr]C[Something like this almost gives me an eye on the bottom.]))
(;B[nm];W[kn]C[This is not necessarily sente for white. It's true that white can get N7 move in if black tenuki, but black has more options. In game, he played O8, which let me get this connection in sente, and also leaves aji around P6.]))
(;B[no];W[mo];B[mn];W[lo]C[Black might have to worry about P6 cut later, so maybe this weakness can help me be OK.]))
(;W[do]C[Post-game thinking\: I think this is better, because there is aji around M3, and I can later attack G3 stones.

That being said, D3 is a bit far from G3, so maybe it's hard to get a severe attack later.]))
(;B[qr]C[If black insists on this direction...];W[rr];B[pr];W[pm];B[on]
(;W[rm]C[Here?])
(;W[rs]C[Here?])))
(;B[qo];W[pp];B[qp];W[oq]C[Maybe an ideal variation for white, because now M3 helps white.

Though, it's naive to think it will go this way.]))
(;W[kq]C[Post-game thinking\: This is less greedy, and probably better. Even if black plays on the right, white can make bigger framework, maybe...]
;B[mq];W[ko];B[mo];W[dj]C[Just for example, corner is large, but white is being efficient, too, I feel.]))
(;W[qg]C[Leaves bad shape...];B[qe];W[re];B[rd];W[rc];B[rf];W[sd]LB[qh:A][rh:B]
[qi:C][ri:D]C[This way, black would have free forcing moves in these areas.])
(;W[rf]C[There isn't much point to this, because R9 is far away. If R9 was at R12, it leaves aji for eyespace, but what's the point now?]))
(;W[qc];B[qd];W[pc];B[od];W[nb];B[me]C[* Post-game thinking\: In retrospect, I think this is just fine.

R9 isn't really placed that well for a "moyo", so it's very easy to reduce.]
;W[pj]C[Many options to reduce... This is an obvious one, but I could even consider an invasion, or tenuki for now.

Because R9 is far and low, I think 3-3 was a viable option.]))

I have two main regrets:
1.) While attacking his group on the left, I haned inside and cut him - it probably is better to hane on outside and continue attack.
2.) It was risky to try to live in his moyo in such a direct way, early on in the game (see game comments).

Please feel free to comment on the game. Comments are welcome.

[Kirby]

I played a club game against Mr. Fukuda. He's a really nice guy, and also a recent recipient of the Lasker Award.



It was our first game together, so we did nigiri and played evenly. I lost the nigiri, and played white.

The game record is here:

(;CA[Windows-1252]SZ[19]AP[MultiGo:4.4.4]MULTIGOGM[1]
;B[co]C[Seems like it'll be an interesting game from the beginning!];W[pq]C[I want to try practicing what I've learned with 3-4, so I play here.]
;B[ec]C[Last game, I didn't get to practice 3-4 because my opponent didn't approach, so I'll play another 3-4 to increase my chances of getting some practice in.]
;W[pc];B[fp]C[Huh. Loose, but fancy-looking.

Globally, it feels like a move around C11 is good.

However, in the "orthodox fuseki", this isn't always played by pros, because black can press white down. See variation for what I mean.

Instead, with "orthodox fuseki", some pros approach, even though the pincer is nice to go along with bottom. So I will approach top.]
(;W[cd];B[df]C[I have no idea what to play here. I studied 3-4 joseki a little bit, but I haven't looked at variations where white tenukis, yet.

Aside from that, what's a good move? E16 seems awkward, because black can easily play, for example, D16.

In the end, I remember similar shape, but a bit different, so I played D15.

I don't know if it's good, but I figured that it makes C5 F4 kind of ineffective if white gets solid on the left side. Black can't make moyo on left, then.]
(;W[de]
(;B[ee];W[cf];B[dg]C[Saw a similar shape before, but I don't know if it's right here. Still, getting solid on left seemed good to reduce black's potential to make moyo on left.]
;W[cg];B[dd];W[ce];B[cc];W[bc];B[cb];W[dh];B[nd]C[I expected him to answer my hane, so I got a bit emotional when I saw O16.

I don't think F13 is necessarily terrible, but it's mostly emotional, since he didn't answer my move.]
(;W[fg];B[pe]C[I think black got a bit better deal with the F13 Q15 exchange. Yes, I can take two stones, but my group is already almost alive, and there is more potential on the other parts of the board.

In other words, F13 was too small. I should have played Q15, I think.]
(;W[qe]C[In retrospect, maybe O17 is better.]
(;B[ef]C[Because black could play Q16, I was glad that he played here, and I realized that F13 wasn't that great. So I play Q16 instead.]
;W[pd];B[nb]C[He's making some good potential on top, so I decided to counter with playing on left - seemed big for both sides.]
;W[cl];B[po]C[Finally! I can try a 3-4 variation.];W[nq];B[qf]C[Noooo! He didn't continue! All of that study to waste!]
;W[rf]C[Double hane seemed possible.];B[pf];W[rg];B[pi]C[Now, top potential is growing. I felt I had to do something. I decided to start by trying to utilize the weak F13 stone.]
;W[fd];B[ed];W[fi]C[This grew the left side a bit, and reduces black potential on the top a little bit... But black still has significant potential in the area.

]
;B[gf]C[I thought about the position here for awhile.

Clearly, if I continue running out (eg. H12), he can turn the top moyo into territory.

Because the left group is safe, maybe I can start with J14. But he might cap and make it complicated.

Then I thought about if black has weaknesses. I figured P15 was a weakness, so I could start there, and then reduce. However, that was clearly a misread.]
(;W[oe]C[This was a misread. See the upcoming variation to see my imaginary sequence.]
;B[od];W[of];B[pg]
(;W[qm];B[qd]C[At this point, I was embarrassed. I almost considered resigning.

There was no reason for me to miss R16, and the cut at P15 was a ridiculous misread. I must have been tired. Still, I decided I would continue to play - there's no reason to quit yet, because I figured I still had a chance.]
;W[re];B[qc];W[qh];B[ph];W[qj]C[I still felt that it was a great pity about the Q17 stones, and now white was definitely behind.

I still don't know how to effectively reduce the K16 area, and my only hope was to maybe get profit by attacking Q5 stone.

If I could chase Q5 into center, maybe I make white wall in center and can reduce middle.

See variation for what I imagined.

Of course, in the game of go, nothing goes as expected, so there may be many future opportunities to turn the game around.]
(;B[pm]C[I was a little surprised to see this move, but I went with it.]
(;W[pl];B[qn];W[om]C[I was happy to get this move in, because this maybe meant I could chase into center like described to invade and/or reduce.]
;B[pn]
(;W[ql];B[no]C[It's somewhat inconsistent, but I figured I should keep getting territory on bottom, too. Maybe invading the center wasn't enough, so I wanted M4 move.]
;W[pb];B[qb];W[lp];B[lo]C[L5 seems to help black.]
(;W[kp];B[ol]C[I figured the white group on the right was somewhat solid, so I *had* to fight. I was losing after top right corner fiasco, so I had to do something.]
;W[nm];B[nl]C[Here, I was a little scared. I figured that he could even sacrifice Q6 (yeah, a lot of stones, right?!?), because globally, if he got control of the center, he can win. See variation.]
(;W[ml]C[I was still scared of black just giving up Q6 and turning the center into territory in exchange... But I was committed to moving these stones out, now.]
;B[pj]C[I figured that this wasn't sente, so maybe it was a chance!. I thought for awhile, and came up with trying to net him in with N6. ]
;W[mn];B[mo];W[kn]C[See variation for what I read.]
(;B[qq];W[qr];B[pp];W[oq];B[rq];W[rr];B[rm]
(;W[rl];B[ro]C[I imagined ko...];W[qp]
(;B[sl]C[This was not a bad move by him. I thought for awhile if I had to answer. See variations of what I was thinking.]
(;W[sk];B[sm]C[Now, I thought again about if I tenuki...]
(;W[rd]C[The reason for this move was to extend white's liberties so I could ultimately tenuki and take S4. What I didn't realize was that black can get P6 in sente by threatening to break out.]
;B[pa];W[rb];B[ob];W[rc];B[oc];W[rp]C[I was feeling good here - the corner had been a loss, but maybe I could make up with this group!]
;B[qi];W[ri];B[rj];W[sj];B[qk];W[rk];B[pk];W[qj];B[ko];W[jo];B[rj];W[si];B[ln]C[Here's where I noticed P6 was sente if I block, and also where I was disappointed.

Still, I felt it might be a plus locally, because at least I could get outside influence by sealing him in. So that's what I did.]
;W[lm];B[km];W[jn];B[ll];W[mm];B[on];W[mk]C[I wanted to start here to reduce his moyo. It was slow, but he has to play gote to play P4 and live, right?]
;B[nj]C[But he didn't do that.

I figured I could escape here, so I decided to try now to kill him.]
;W[op]C[Still, it's somewhat unsettling, because black can threaten white's group in order to make a lot of territory on top.]
(;B[kl];W[mj];B[li]C[Yes, he might try to seal me in... Nothing I can do about it!]
;W[kk]C[I read the variation in the game.]
(;B[il];W[im]C[Shape move seemed necessary, but in retrospect it was risky.]
(;B[jl];W[kj];B[hl];W[gm];B[mi]
(;W[jh]C[I didn't read out completely in game, but I thought maybe I can threaten capture of M11 stones if he tries to cut knight's move.

As shown in variations, this was wrong, and white should be captured.

White doesn't have the option of playing knight's move here. Either L11 or J10 are the only options, and L11 is risky.]
(;B[jf];W[ok];B[nk];W[ni];B[oj];W[nh]
(;B[lg]C[Again, black could have cut off K12 (see variation).];W[kh]
(;B[mg];W[fl]C[Again, black can cut off K12 \:-)]
(;B[hh];W[ig]C[Still aji to cut off K12! Well, you get the picture ];B[gg];W[ii]
;B[gj];W[hj];B[gk];W[gi];B[hi];W[ij];B[ej]
(;W[ei]
(;B[jp];W[hm];B[jq];W[kr];B[jr];W[lr];B[if]C[I feel that this move means that black figures the points on top + the points in bottom left corner, if he gets them all, are enough to win.]
;W[hq];B[hp];W[fq];B[gp];W[cq]C[Now, I think black maybe thought white has chance to live in bottom left corner, so he has to save J8 group.]
;B[dk];W[ek];B[fj];W[dj];B[dl];W[ck]
(;B[em];W[dm];B[el];W[en];B[ki];W[ik]
(;B[ji];W[ih];B[hg];W[gl];B[hk];W[gq]C[I figured I would win the capturing race.]
;B[fk];W[fm];B[ek];W[dn];B[cm];W[cj];B[kg];W[ir];B[iq];W[hr];B[io];W[cn];B[fn]C[At this point, I am considering killing G4, too.]
;W[gn];B[fo];W[jk];B[bm];W[bn];B[dq];W[dr];B[bq];W[cp];B[bo];W[br];B[dp];W[eo];B[bp]
;W[cr]
(;B[ep];W[bl];B[is];W[er])
(;B[an]C[I thought he would play here.];W[bl];B[am];W[ao];B[ap];W[al];B[ao]C[White can't capture black locally there, but he can just fill M9, now.]
;W[lk];B[ep];W[jm]))
(;B[ih]C[I think this hurts white's liberties more.]))
(;B[dm]C[Maybe black should just play here.]))
(;B[ek]C[I imagined this...];W[dj]))
(;W[fj]C[White cannot cut.];B[fk];W[ek];B[ei]
(;W[eh];B[fh])
(;W[fh];B[eh];W[eg];B[ff])))
(;B[ki];W[ji];B[jj];W[jk];B[ij];W[ik];B[hj];W[hk];B[gk];W[gj];B[lj]))
(;B[ki];W[ji];B[jj];W[lh]C[Now, it doesn't work.]))
(;B[ki]
(;W[ji];B[jj];W[jk];B[ij];W[ik];B[hj];W[hk];B[gk];W[gj];B[lj]C[Bye-bye!])
(;W[ij]C[Because K12 can be cut off, maybe this is better. Still, black gets lots of territory on top.])))
(;B[ki];W[ji];B[jj];W[jk];B[ij];W[ik];B[hj];W[hk];B[gk];W[gj];B[lj];W[lk];B[nk]
C[Goodbye!]))
(;W[ij]C[White should just keep trying to be safe and if possible, capture these stones. The top might get big, but white can't afford to lose the group.])
(;W[ki];B[hi]C[It's a little risky for white this way...]))
(;B[jk];W[kj];B[ii]C[What if he plays like this?

White is starting to have a hard time... And I might die.]))
(;B[lk];W[ok];B[nk];W[ni];B[oj];W[lj];B[kj];W[ki];B[jk];W[lh]C[Seemed OK.]))
(;B[li]C[Maybe connecting at L8 first like he did in the game, though, was good, since it's harder to catch the group with 4 liberties than just two single stones here.]))
(;W[rp]
(;B[rk]
(;W[qk]
(;B[rj];W[ri];B[sj];W[si];B[sk];W[qi]C[100% OK!])
(;B[ri];W[qi];B[sj]C[If he answers ko...];W[rj];B[sk];W[sh];B[si]C[Not OK for white.]))
(;W[rj];B[sj];W[qk]
(;B[sk];W[ri])
(;B[si];W[sh]C[Still seems concerning about room for white group to live... (This is what I was thinking during game.)])))
(;B[qi];W[ri];B[rj];W[sj];B[qk];W[rk];B[pk];W[si];B[rh];W[sh];B[qg]
(;W[rh];B[rd])
(;W[rd];B[rh];W[qj];B[sg];W[qh]C[I was getting kind of confused if white had enough space to live here or not.

But then I realized that maybe he'll respond to threats against R18, my previously lost corner.

If I use that to get more liberties, white has absolutely no worries about life here!

That's when I decided to play S16 first.]))))
(;W[rp]C[If I tenuki here right now...];B[qi];W[ri];B[rj]
(;W[qk]C[Can't do this, of course.];B[pk])
(;W[sj];B[rk]C[Still not working...

But what if I hane at T9 first?])))
(;B[rp];W[sm];B[sn]C[This was what I imagined.]))
(;W[ro]C[Another move to consider...];B[rl];W[rk];B[rn];W[rp];B[sn];W[sl];B[sq]
;W[qp];B[sp]))
(;B[ko];W[jo];B[ln];W[lm];B[km];W[jn];B[ll];W[mm];B[mk]C[Black can't do this, because white has two liberties. However...]
;W[nk];B[ok];W[lk];B[on]C[Black can make eye shape this way later... I didn't consider this in my reading.]
;W[mj];B[op]C[This is probably fine for white here, since he gets ponnuki, but the point is, I didn't read that black could make eye shape by taking away that liberty at P6.]))
(;W[mm];B[ml];W[lm];B[kk];W[jm];B[hh]C[Something like this seems like a winning strategy for black. Even if white captures Q6 stones, that's a big chunk of territory in the center.

The bottom and right white territory is what - 70 points or so. Add, generously, 20 points on left, and white has 90 points.

I think the center is more than that if it all becomes black territory, and he also has the bottom left territory - I feel black would win this way.

Maybe white could reduce, but it sure is scary.
So I was a little scared after O8.]))
(;W[ko];B[ln]C[If white defends at L4 now, black gets sente.]))
(;W[rm]C[I think sometimes this is OK for this shape, but...];B[ol];W[pk];B[nm]
C[It seems too easy for black.]))
(;W[qn]C[I briefly considered this move, but I saw nothing bad of black playing here. Because I still want to chase black so I can get power in center to invade or reduce.

I'm losing, so I need something big.]))
(;B[no];W[nm];B[lo];W[lm];B[jo];W[jm]C[Theoretically, if I can chase black in some way to get white stones here, then I can invade more easily on top.]
;B[ho];W[ie]C[Maybe now I feel more OK about invading more deeply, though it still might be risky - Q12 is still strong.

Anyway, I figured I was losing, so it was worth a shot.]))
(;W[og]
(;B[ph];W[lf]C[Of course, black would never play Q12 - he's play P12, and white doesn't have many liberties.

Additionally, with P16 in place, black can now cut at R16 and kill the white stones.

Doh! Big misread!])
(;B[oh]C[Unlike what I read, black can just play here. I realized this after playing P14, however, I still didn't pay attention to the obvious R16 cut.])))
(;W[hh];B[if];W[jh];B[kf]C[Clearly, this type of progression is no good. Black turns the moyo into territory.])
(;W[if]C[This might be possible, but black could maybe attack the stone in some way.]
(;B[hh]C[White is probably OK. I don't see a huge problem with a move like J14, really.])
(;B[id]C[Maybe black just tries to make territory like this. We could call J14 a reduction then, but it is still a lot of territory.]))
(;W[ie]C[White could try something deeper, but it gets a bit risky...];B[ig]C[It's not clear how the game will proceed.

If I were playing against myself, I think I could kill white in this area. Even if I didn't, I'd have great center power, which would pay off later.]))
(;B[pd];W[qd];B[oc]C[This might be fine for black, and a good way to work with his wall on the left. That being said, F13 does have the merit of reducing the effect of the wall a little bit. But still, this seems like an OK direction for black to play.]
;W[pb];B[qc];W[qb];B[rc];W[rb];B[qf];W[rd];B[re];W[sc];B[he]C[I don't know what is best for black, but maybe he can play something like this.]))
(;W[nc]C[Maybe this is better, because of variation shown in other branch.]))
(;W[pe]C[It might be fine for white to just answer simply. Why should I care about two stones with F13?]))
(;B[cf]C[I wonder if black can play this way. Still, it hurts for black to be split with E17... Hard to say. Maybe it's heavy for black, as in variation.]
;W[fe];B[hc];W[di]C[White is kind of thin, so hard to attack the stones, I guess.

Feels wrong, but I don't know the right answer.]))
(;W[ed]C[Maybe playable for white, but I don't know.];B[dd];W[dc];B[de];W[cc];B[fc]
C[Maybe it's OK for white, since there is aji with E16.]))
(;W[ci]C[This type of move seems natural, but...];B[cg];W[cl]
(;B[dj];W[cj];B[dl];W[dk];B[ek];W[ck];B[dm];W[ej];B[fk]C[Probably OK for white, because black looks funny.])
(;B[dk];W[ck];B[di];W[dj];B[ej];W[cj];B[dh];W[ek];B[fj]C[Something like this is what I am concerned about. White doesn't yet have two eyes, and black grows his potential easily.

That's why I approach at C16 instead of playing in middle.])))

As can be seen in the variations, I made a big mistake in the top right corner due to a misread. I tried to make a comeback later, and there were a few moves where I could have probably been destroyed.

Somehow, I managed to comeback and win, but it was very lucky on my part.

[Kirby]

Key Board Positions

Position 1 (Bad Move!)

$$W Bad move!
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . X . , . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

The marked move, above, was played emotionally by me. I don't think it's a good move, and I think I should simply respond to black's approach to the corner:

$$W Moves 20 to 20
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . X . , . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . W . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W Moves 20 to 20
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . , . . . X . , . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . . W . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Position 2 (Bad Move!)

$$W Bad Move!
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . , . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . W X O . . |
$$ | . . O X X . X . . . . . . . . X X O . |
$$ | . . O X . O . . . . . . . . . . . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

The move above was one that I was trying to use to exploit black's weakness - but white was the one that was weak. I think it's definitely both a misread and a bad move.

I should have played somewhere to reduce black:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Something like above seems safest, but I don't know if it's enough. Maybe there is a more clever move. What do you think?

Position 3

$$B Move 110
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . |
$$ | . O X . X . . . . . . . . . X . X O . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . , . . . X X , X O . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . O X O O . |
$$ | . . O X X . X . . . . . . . O X X O . |
$$ | . . O X . O . . . . . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . X X O O |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X . X . X O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X X O O |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X O X X O O O X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X O O O O X O X X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O O X O . X X X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . O X X X X . X . X . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , O O . . W X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Move 110
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . |
$$ | . O X . X . . . . . . . . . X . X O . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . , . . . X X , X O . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . O X O O . |
$$ | . . O X X . X . . . . . . . O X X O . |
$$ | . . O X . O . . . . . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . X X O O |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X . X . X O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X X O O |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X O X X O O O X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X O O O O X O X X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O O X O . X X X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . O X X X X . X . X . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , O O . . W X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

It's nice to kill black as in the game, but maybe letting black live in gote is fine. I think trying to kill so hard is not great globally, since black can pressure me so much. If I were confident in reducing black, maybe I should use this opportunity to expand white's potential:

$$B Move 110
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . |
$$ | . O X . X . . . . . . . . . X . X O . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . , . . . X X , X O . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . O X O O . |
$$ | . . O X X . X . . . . . . . O X X O . |
$$ | . . O X . O . . . . . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . W . . . X X O O |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X . X . X O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X X O O |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X O X X O O O X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X O O O O X O X X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O O X O . X X X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . O X X X X . X . X . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , O O . . . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Move 110
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . |
$$ | . O X . X . . . . . . . . . X . X O . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . , . . . X X , X O . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . O X O O . |
$$ | . . O X X . X . . . . . . . O X X O . |
$$ | . . O X . O . . . . . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . W . . . X X O O |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X . X . X O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X X O O |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X O X X O O O X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X O O O O X O X X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O O X O . X X X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . O X X X X . X . X . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , O O . . . X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

If black now lives...

$$B Move 110
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . |
$$ | . O X . X . . . . . . . . . X . X O . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . , . . . X X , X O . |
$$ | . . O O X C C C C . . . . . O X O O . |
$$ | . . O X X C X C C C . . . . O X X O . |
$$ | . . O X . O C C . . . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . X X O O |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X . X . X O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X X O O |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X O X X O O O X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X O O O O X O X X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O O X O . X X X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . O X X X X . X . X . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , O O . . B X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Move 110
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . |
$$ | . O X . X . . . . . . . . . X . X O . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . , . . . X X , X O . |
$$ | . . O O X C C C C . . . . . O X O O . |
$$ | . . O X X C X C C C . . . . O X X O . |
$$ | . . O X . O C C . . . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . O . . . X X O O |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X . X . X O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . X X O O |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . X O X X O O O X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . X O O O O X O X X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O O X O . X X X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . O X X X X . X . X . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , O O . . B X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Now white can think of possibilities in the area to reduce black. White doesn't get the pleasure of killing black this way, but he gets initiative for future possibilities.

Position 4

$$W Move 122
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . |
$$ | . O X . X . . . . . . . . . X . X O . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . , . . . X X , X O . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . O X O O . |
$$ | . . O X X . X . . . . . . . O X X O . |
$$ | . . O X . O . . . . . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . W . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . X X . . X X O O |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , O . O X . X . X O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . X X O O |
$$ | . . O . . . . X X X X X O X X O O O X |
$$ | . . . . . . O . O . X O O O O X O X X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O O X O . X X X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . O X X X X . X . X . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , O O . . O X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W Move 122
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . X X . X O . |
$$ | . O X . X . . . . . . . . . X . X O . |
$$ | . . O X X O . . . , . . . X X , X O . |
$$ | . . O O X . . . . . . . . . O X O O . |
$$ | . . O X X . X . . . . . . . O X X O . |
$$ | . . O X . O . . . . . . . . . X . O . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . W . . . . . X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . . . . . X X . . X X O O |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , O . O X . X . X O |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O . O . . X X O O |
$$ | . . O . . . . X X X X X O X X O O O X |
$$ | . . . . . . O . O . X O O O O X O X X |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O O X O . X X X . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . O X X X X . X . X . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , O O . . O X O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O O X X . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O O . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The white move above is just silly - bad reading on my part. It can be cut off, and it wasn't a good move.


Concluding Thoughts

From this game, I learned:
* I had some very silly reading mistakes. I only read the ideal variations for myself, and didn't think of good resistance. This can be seen by the blunder in the top right corner, as well as in the knight's move in the last position, above. To improve this, I should do more go problems, and make sure to read sharply and precisely during games.

* Sometimes, even when you have a big blunder, you can still use the dead stones to help you out in the future.

* Don't let the opponent's moyo get too big!

[Shaddy]

In position 3, black is already dead, no?

[Kirby]

In position 3, black is already dead, no?

Yes, looks like that's correct. Let's chalk that up as another reading mistake

By the way, I recalled this game from memory, and now that you mention this position, I remember that the following exchange occurred before the position:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

However, this doesn't affect the status of the eye in the marked area - it can be achieved in gote, so there's no need to play the move I played.

Thanks for bringing this up - I didn't even catch it during the review of the game I made for myself.

[skydyr]

I played a club game against Mr. Fukuda. He's a really nice guy, and also a recent recipient of the Lasker Award.



It was our first game together, so we did nigiri and played evenly. I lost the nigiri, and played white.

The game record is here:

(;CA[Windows-1252]SZ[19]AP[MultiGo:4.4.4]MULTIGOGM[1]
;B[co]C[Seems like it'll be an interesting game from the beginning!];W[pq]C[I want to try practicing what I've learned with 3-4, so I play here.]
;B[ec]C[Last game, I didn't get to practice 3-4 because my opponent didn't approach, so I'll play another 3-4 to increase my chances of getting some practice in.]
;W[pc];B[fp]C[Huh. Loose, but fancy-looking.

Globally, it feels like a move around C11 is good.

However, in the "orthodox fuseki", this isn't always played by pros, because black can press white down. See variation for what I mean.

Instead, with "orthodox fuseki", some pros approach, even though the pincer is nice to go along with bottom. So I will approach top.]
(;W[cd];B[df]C[I have no idea what to play here. I studied 3-4 joseki a little bit, but I haven't looked at variations where white tenukis, yet.

Aside from that, what's a good move? E16 seems awkward, because black can easily play, for example, D16.

In the end, I remember similar shape, but a bit different, so I played D15.

I don't know if it's good, but I figured that it makes C5 F4 kind of ineffective if white gets solid on the left side. Black can't make moyo on left, then.]
(;W[de]
(;B[ee];W[cf];B[dg]C[Saw a similar shape before, but I don't know if it's right here. Still, getting solid on left seemed good to reduce black's potential to make moyo on left.]
;W[cg];B[dd];W[ce];B[cc];W[bc];B[cb];W[dh];B[nd]C[I expected him to answer my hane, so I got a bit emotional when I saw O16.

I don't think F13 is necessarily terrible, but it's mostly emotional, since he didn't answer my move.]
(;W[fg];B[pe]C[I think black got a bit better deal with the F13 Q15 exchange. Yes, I can take two stones, but my group is already almost alive, and there is more potential on the other parts of the board.

In other words, F13 was too small. I should have played Q15, I think.]
(;W[qe]C[In retrospect, maybe O17 is better.]
(;B[ef]C[Because black could play Q16, I was glad that he played here, and I realized that F13 wasn't that great. So I play Q16 instead.]
;W[pd];B[nb]C[He's making some good potential on top, so I decided to counter with playing on left - seemed big for both sides.]
;W[cl];B[po]C[Finally! I can try a 3-4 variation.];W[nq];B[qf]C[Noooo! He didn't continue! All of that study to waste!]
;W[rf]C[Double hane seemed possible.];B[pf];W[rg];B[pi]C[Now, top potential is growing. I felt I had to do something. I decided to start by trying to utilize the weak F13 stone.]
;W[fd];B[ed];W[fi]C[This grew the left side a bit, and reduces black potential on the top a little bit... But black still has significant potential in the area.

]
;B[gf]C[I thought about the position here for awhile.

Clearly, if I continue running out (eg. H12), he can turn the top moyo into territory.

Because the left group is safe, maybe I can start with J14. But he might cap and make it complicated.

Then I thought about if black has weaknesses. I figured P15 was a weakness, so I could start there, and then reduce. However, that was clearly a misread.]
(;W[oe]C[This was a misread. See the upcoming variation to see my imaginary sequence.]
;B[od];W[of];B[pg]
(;W[qm];B[qd]C[At this point, I was embarrassed. I almost considered resigning.

There was no reason for me to miss R16, and the cut at P15 was a ridiculous misread. I must have been tired. Still, I decided I would continue to play - there's no reason to quit yet, because I figured I still had a chance.]
;W[re];B[qc];W[qh];B[ph];W[qj]C[I still felt that it was a great pity about the Q17 stones, and now white was definitely behind.

I still don't know how to effectively reduce the K16 area, and my only hope was to maybe get profit by attacking Q5 stone.

If I could chase Q5 into center, maybe I make white wall in center and can reduce middle.

See variation for what I imagined.

Of course, in the game of go, nothing goes as expected, so there may be many future opportunities to turn the game around.]
(;B[pm]C[I was a little surprised to see this move, but I went with it.]
(;W[pl];B[qn];W[om]C[I was happy to get this move in, because this maybe meant I could chase into center like described to invade and/or reduce.]
;B[pn]
(;W[ql];B[no]C[It's somewhat inconsistent, but I figured I should keep getting territory on bottom, too. Maybe invading the center wasn't enough, so I wanted M4 move.]
;W[pb];B[qb];W[lp];B[lo]C[L5 seems to help black.]
(;W[kp];B[ol]C[I figured the white group on the right was somewhat solid, so I *had* to fight. I was losing after top right corner fiasco, so I had to do something.]
;W[nm];B[nl]C[Here, I was a little scared. I figured that he could even sacrifice Q6 (yeah, a lot of stones, right?!?), because globally, if he got control of the center, he can win. See variation.]
(;W[ml]C[I was still scared of black just giving up Q6 and turning the center into territory in exchange... But I was committed to moving these stones out, now.]
;B[pj]C[I figured that this wasn't sente, so maybe it was a chance!. I thought for awhile, and came up with trying to net him in with N6. ]
;W[mn];B[mo];W[kn]C[See variation for what I read.]
(;B[qq];W[qr];B[pp];W[oq];B[rq];W[rr];B[rm]
(;W[rl];B[ro]C[I imagined ko...];W[qp]
(;B[sl]C[This was not a bad move by him. I thought for awhile if I had to answer. See variations of what I was thinking.]
(;W[sk];B[sm]C[Now, I thought again about if I tenuki...]
(;W[rd]C[The reason for this move was to extend white's liberties so I could ultimately tenuki and take S4. What I didn't realize was that black can get P6 in sente by threatening to break out.]
;B[pa];W[rb];B[ob];W[rc];B[oc];W[rp]C[I was feeling good here - the corner had been a loss, but maybe I could make up with this group!]
;B[qi];W[ri];B[rj];W[sj];B[qk];W[rk];B[pk];W[qj];B[ko];W[jo];B[rj];W[si];B[ln]C[Here's where I noticed P6 was sente if I block, and also where I was disappointed.

Still, I felt it might be a plus locally, because at least I could get outside influence by sealing him in. So that's what I did.]
;W[lm];B[km];W[jn];B[ll];W[mm];B[on];W[mk]C[I wanted to start here to reduce his moyo. It was slow, but he has to play gote to play P4 and live, right?]
;B[nj]C[But he didn't do that.

I figured I could escape here, so I decided to try now to kill him.]
;W[op]C[Still, it's somewhat unsettling, because black can threaten white's group in order to make a lot of territory on top.]
(;B[kl];W[mj];B[li]C[Yes, he might try to seal me in... Nothing I can do about it!]
;W[kk]C[I read the variation in the game.]
(;B[il];W[im]C[Shape move seemed necessary, but in retrospect it was risky.]
(;B[jl];W[kj];B[hl];W[gm];B[mi]
(;W[jh]C[I didn't read out completely in game, but I thought maybe I can threaten capture of M11 stones if he tries to cut knight's move.

As shown in variations, this was wrong, and white should be captured.

White doesn't have the option of playing knight's move here. Either L11 or J10 are the only options, and L11 is risky.]
(;B[jf];W[ok];B[nk];W[ni];B[oj];W[nh]
(;B[lg]C[Again, black could have cut off K12 (see variation).];W[kh]
(;B[mg];W[fl]C[Again, black can cut off K12 \:-)]
(;B[hh];W[ig]C[Still aji to cut off K12! Well, you get the picture ];B[gg];W[ii]
;B[gj];W[hj];B[gk];W[gi];B[hi];W[ij];B[ej]
(;W[ei]
(;B[jp];W[hm];B[jq];W[kr];B[jr];W[lr];B[if]C[I feel that this move means that black figures the points on top + the points in bottom left corner, if he gets them all, are enough to win.]
;W[hq];B[hp];W[fq];B[gp];W[cq]C[Now, I think black maybe thought white has chance to live in bottom left corner, so he has to save J8 group.]
;B[dk];W[ek];B[fj];W[dj];B[dl];W[ck]
(;B[em];W[dm];B[el];W[en];B[ki];W[ik]
(;B[ji];W[ih];B[hg];W[gl];B[hk];W[gq]C[I figured I would win the capturing race.]
;B[fk];W[fm];B[ek];W[dn];B[cm];W[cj];B[kg];W[ir];B[iq];W[hr];B[io];W[cn];B[fn]C[At this point, I am considering killing G4, too.]
;W[gn];B[fo];W[jk];B[bm];W[bn];B[dq];W[dr];B[bq];W[cp];B[bo];W[br];B[dp];W[eo];B[bp]
;W[cr]
(;B[ep];W[bl];B[is];W[er])
(;B[an]C[I thought he would play here.];W[bl];B[am];W[ao];B[ap];W[al];B[ao]C[White can't capture black locally there, but he can just fill M9, now.]
;W[lk];B[ep];W[jm]))
(;B[ih]C[I think this hurts white's liberties more.]))
(;B[dm]C[Maybe black should just play here.]))
(;B[ek]C[I imagined this...];W[dj]))
(;W[fj]C[White cannot cut.];B[fk];W[ek];B[ei]
(;W[eh];B[fh])
(;W[fh];B[eh];W[eg];B[ff])))
(;B[ki];W[ji];B[jj];W[jk];B[ij];W[ik];B[hj];W[hk];B[gk];W[gj];B[lj]))
(;B[ki];W[ji];B[jj];W[lh]C[Now, it doesn't work.]))
(;B[ki]
(;W[ji];B[jj];W[jk];B[ij];W[ik];B[hj];W[hk];B[gk];W[gj];B[lj]C[Bye-bye!])
(;W[ij]C[Because K12 can be cut off, maybe this is better. Still, black gets lots of territory on top.])))
(;B[ki];W[ji];B[jj];W[jk];B[ij];W[ik];B[hj];W[hk];B[gk];W[gj];B[lj];W[lk];B[nk]
C[Goodbye!]))
(;W[ij]C[White should just keep trying to be safe and if possible, capture these stones. The top might get big, but white can't afford to lose the group.])
(;W[ki];B[hi]C[It's a little risky for white this way...]))
(;B[jk];W[kj];B[ii]C[What if he plays like this?

White is starting to have a hard time... And I might die.]))
(;B[lk];W[ok];B[nk];W[ni];B[oj];W[lj];B[kj];W[ki];B[jk];W[lh]C[Seemed OK.]))
(;B[li]C[Maybe connecting at L8 first like he did in the game, though, was good, since it's harder to catch the group with 4 liberties than just two single stones here.]))
(;W[rp]
(;B[rk]
(;W[qk]
(;B[rj];W[ri];B[sj];W[si];B[sk];W[qi]C[100% OK!])
(;B[ri];W[qi];B[sj]C[If he answers ko...];W[rj];B[sk];W[sh];B[si]C[Not OK for white.]))
(;W[rj];B[sj];W[qk]
(;B[sk];W[ri])
(;B[si];W[sh]C[Still seems concerning about room for white group to live... (This is what I was thinking during game.)])))
(;B[qi];W[ri];B[rj];W[sj];B[qk];W[rk];B[pk];W[si];B[rh];W[sh];B[qg]
(;W[rh];B[rd])
(;W[rd];B[rh];W[qj];B[sg];W[qh]C[I was getting kind of confused if white had enough space to live here or not.

But then I realized that maybe he'll respond to threats against R18, my previously lost corner.

If I use that to get more liberties, white has absolutely no worries about life here!

That's when I decided to play S16 first.]))))
(;W[rp]C[If I tenuki here right now...];B[qi];W[ri];B[rj]
(;W[qk]C[Can't do this, of course.];B[pk])
(;W[sj];B[rk]C[Still not working...

But what if I hane at T9 first?])))
(;B[rp];W[sm];B[sn]C[This was what I imagined.]))
(;W[ro]C[Another move to consider...];B[rl];W[rk];B[rn];W[rp];B[sn];W[sl];B[sq]
;W[qp];B[sp]))
(;B[ko];W[jo];B[ln];W[lm];B[km];W[jn];B[ll];W[mm];B[mk]C[Black can't do this, because white has two liberties. However...]
;W[nk];B[ok];W[lk];B[on]C[Black can make eye shape this way later... I didn't consider this in my reading.]
;W[mj];B[op]C[This is probably fine for white here, since he gets ponnuki, but the point is, I didn't read that black could make eye shape by taking away that liberty at P6.]))
(;W[mm];B[ml];W[lm];B[kk];W[jm];B[hh]C[Something like this seems like a winning strategy for black. Even if white captures Q6 stones, that's a big chunk of territory in the center.

The bottom and right white territory is what - 70 points or so. Add, generously, 20 points on left, and white has 90 points.

I think the center is more than that if it all becomes black territory, and he also has the bottom left territory - I feel black would win this way.

Maybe white could reduce, but it sure is scary.
So I was a little scared after O8.]))
(;W[ko];B[ln]C[If white defends at L4 now, black gets sente.]))
(;W[rm]C[I think sometimes this is OK for this shape, but...];B[ol];W[pk];B[nm]
C[It seems too easy for black.]))
(;W[qn]C[I briefly considered this move, but I saw nothing bad of black playing here. Because I still want to chase black so I can get power in center to invade or reduce.

I'm losing, so I need something big.]))
(;B[no];W[nm];B[lo];W[lm];B[jo];W[jm]C[Theoretically, if I can chase black in some way to get white stones here, then I can invade more easily on top.]
;B[ho];W[ie]C[Maybe now I feel more OK about invading more deeply, though it still might be risky - Q12 is still strong.

Anyway, I figured I was losing, so it was worth a shot.]))
(;W[og]
(;B[ph];W[lf]C[Of course, black would never play Q12 - he's play P12, and white doesn't have many liberties.

Additionally, with P16 in place, black can now cut at R16 and kill the white stones.

Doh! Big misread!])
(;B[oh]C[Unlike what I read, black can just play here. I realized this after playing P14, however, I still didn't pay attention to the obvious R16 cut.])))
(;W[hh];B[if];W[jh];B[kf]C[Clearly, this type of progression is no good. Black turns the moyo into territory.])
(;W[if]C[This might be possible, but black could maybe attack the stone in some way.]
(;B[hh]C[White is probably OK. I don't see a huge problem with a move like J14, really.])
(;B[id]C[Maybe black just tries to make territory like this. We could call J14 a reduction then, but it is still a lot of territory.]))
(;W[ie]C[White could try something deeper, but it gets a bit risky...];B[ig]C[It's not clear how the game will proceed.

If I were playing against myself, I think I could kill white in this area. Even if I didn't, I'd have great center power, which would pay off later.]))
(;B[pd];W[qd];B[oc]C[This might be fine for black, and a good way to work with his wall on the left. That being said, F13 does have the merit of reducing the effect of the wall a little bit. But still, this seems like an OK direction for black to play.]
;W[pb];B[qc];W[qb];B[rc];W[rb];B[qf];W[rd];B[re];W[sc];B[he]C[I don't know what is best for black, but maybe he can play something like this.]))
(;W[nc]C[Maybe this is better, because of variation shown in other branch.]))
(;W[pe]C[It might be fine for white to just answer simply. Why should I care about two stones with F13?]))
(;B[cf]C[I wonder if black can play this way. Still, it hurts for black to be split with E17... Hard to say. Maybe it's heavy for black, as in variation.]
;W[fe];B[hc];W[di]C[White is kind of thin, so hard to attack the stones, I guess.

Feels wrong, but I don't know the right answer.]))
(;W[ed]C[Maybe playable for white, but I don't know.];B[dd];W[dc];B[de];W[cc];B[fc]
C[Maybe it's OK for white, since there is aji with E16.]))
(;W[ci]C[This type of move seems natural, but...];B[cg];W[cl]
(;B[dj];W[cj];B[dl];W[dk];B[ek];W[ck];B[dm];W[ej];B[fk]C[Probably OK for white, because black looks funny.])
(;B[dk];W[ck];B[di];W[dj];B[ej];W[cj];B[dh];W[ek];B[fj]C[Something like this is what I am concerned about. White doesn't yet have two eyes, and black grows his potential easily.

That's why I approach at C16 instead of playing in middle.])))

In your variation for move 8, that move is quite playable for white, as it's how you get to the 'standard' taisha (read: potentially quite complex), but for the followup, white should atari from the other side. The proposed direction for generally leads to white's outside group getting captured in a net, losing a big corner, or otherwise compromised. This will either lead to a trade for white territory vs black influence or lead to the traditional crosscut fight, depending on ladders and which cut white chooses to defend. Tenuki for is generally considered bad.

My impression is that black set up the strongly influential position in the lower left with the idea of getting a decent result out of the fighting that would occur following a taisha crosscut fight, but I can't help but wonder if a one or two space low pincer would work better with black's lower left formation.

[Kirby]

In your variation for move 8, that move is quite playable for white, as it's how you get to the 'standard' taisha (read: potentially quite complex), but for the followup, white should atari from the other side.

Sounds familiar, and I agree.

The proposed direction for generally leads to white's outside group getting captured in a net, losing a big corner, or otherwise compromised.

From the big picture, I agree with your sentiment. However, I don't see this being a net. It might be stupid for white to play this way, but if he stubbornly moves out...:

$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 2 X 8 . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O 1 O 5 . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 6 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 2 X 8 . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O 1 O 5 . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 6 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I agree this isn't a viable option, and it doesn't look like a good way for white to play at all. But my feeling is that this is because white has two weak groups in the local area.

Don't get me wrong - I agree with your point that the atari is on the wrong side. I just don't feel that it would absolutely result in a net (though, the point is moot with poor playing). Anyway, I'm not that familiar with taisha variations. They sound fun to study.

[Kirby]

My impression is that black set up the strongly influential position in the lower left with the idea of getting a decent result out of the fighting that would occur following a taisha crosscut fight, but I can't help but wonder if a one or two space low pincer would work better with black's lower left formation.

I don't know the full reason behind black's intentions, but in the brief chat we had after the game, he mentioned that he doesn't usually play this way, but was inspired by Yamashita. I don't know that well about particular pro styles, but maybe he meant Yamashita Keigo?

[oren]

It's very likely Yamashita Keigo. It's a common last name, but no other Yamashita has had as much success lately. He also has a fairly distinctive style.

[Kirby]

It's very likely Yamashita Keigo. It's a common last name, but no other Yamashita has had as much success lately. He also has a fairly distinctive style.

I looked up pro games matching the left side of the board using SmartGo.

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

This formation matched 10 games. Interestingly, Yamashita wasn't in the list of players. The black players with this strategy were:

* O Rissei 9d
* Wang Yang 5d
* Ma Shi 7d
* Chen Linxin 9d
* Liu Wenlong
* Kang Cheolmin 5d

What's also interesting to me are the dates in which this pattern was played. This precise left-side formation was played 5 out of 10 times in 1997, even in the same month, and played 3 times in 2008 and 2005. It was played once by Kang Cheolmin in 1974.

The most common follow up was to play where I opted not to play in the game, as explained in the variation:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I was afraid of two space extension, as explained in the variation of the SGF, since black can press down:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

However, while this was played, this wasn't the only option - the other pro that played this way jumped out here:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

It seems like an interesting variation.

Anyway, there were still four pro games where white opted to approach, and in two cases, they approached where I did:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

But in both cases after this, black pincered as above.

I think that this is a good option for black, because the pincer works well with his lower left formation.

While also approached here in two games, which might be an option:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Anyway, we could get into stats, but there are probably a lot of options this early in the game, at least for amateurs.

Back to the talk about Keigo, according to SmartGo results, Keigo did indeed play the bottom left corner pattern fairly often:

$$W
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . B . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

So maybe this is what Mr. Fukuda was being inspired by. That being said, this bottom left pattern seems even more often played by:

* Yoda Norimoto 9d; and
* O Meien 9d

From SmartGo results, O Meien played this bottom left pattern at least 33 times, which I personally feel is quite a bit for these types of database searches.

[Kirby]

Further investigation into the top right pattern shows that the move I played in the game against the taisha:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Was the second most commonly played, having 487 matching games in SmartGo. After this, the sequence to this position was most common:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

After this, black almost always plays the marked move, so I don't think the way I played is that bad to this point. However, later when I ignored his approach in the top right - I think that was bad.

That being said, an alternative response to the move I played was the same as what I considered myself during my personal review, which is in one of the SGF variations of the game:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

As pros also play this move a good deal, I think it's viable here, since it works with his bottom left corner formation (though, perhaps he should just play this move to begin with as a pincer, as described in the earlier post).

If I follow the most popular variation from this position...

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Maybe it'd work in this case, but personally, I might slightly prefer black here.

So from this I can conclude, maybe the way the game sequence was played (until I tenuki'd his approach in top right corner) was viable - I like it personally, since it limits black's potential on the left and gives white territory.

However, since black can play as just described, maybe it's worth considering the more popular Taisha variation option, as skydyr suggests:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

This early on, though, there are tons of variations here...

If black plays as follows:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

The good thing is, in many variations, it seems that white gets groups on both the left and top side - which would have the benefit of not giving black the big moyo he got in the game on the top.

For example, a popular variation is as follows:

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 6 2 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X O 5 . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 3 1 4 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 7 X 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 6 2 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X O 5 . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 3 1 4 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 7 X 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

$$Wm11
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X O O . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X X 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wm11
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X X 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X O O . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O O X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X X 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . X . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

There are complications, but maybe black's top wouldn't be as big as it was in the game.

On the other hand, even if I select this move, this is a popular alternative:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

A common followup is:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

It might work in this case, though white doesn't get a group on each side as in the other variation.

[Kirby]

Today I reviewed a professional game played between Kong Jie 9d and Lee Changho 9d.

As before, I tried to guess how players would play before they played the moves. The SGF, with my comments is here:

(;AP[MultiGo:4.4.4]LC[5]PB[Kong Jie]
BR[9d]PW[Lee Changho]WR[9d]RE[B+Resign]MULTIGOGM[1]
;B[pd]C[Early in the opening, many things are possible, so as white, I'd expect to play in one of the other corners - no other strong expectations.]
;W[dd];B[pq];W[po]C[White takes the initiative and approaches the 3-4 instead of taking the open corner. I think Yilun Yang likes to take the other corner before approaching like this, but some pros like playing this way, too.]
;B[qo]C[As white, I'd probably R6, expeting R4. If he plays this way, then I would play D4 to get the other corner.]
;W[qn];B[qp];W[cp]C[Similar idea to what I thought, I guess. But he played 3-4 instead of 4-4.

I was reluctant to do this, since black can approach the corner, working with his bottom right stones (see variation).

But now that I see that he played this way, maybe it's OK, because Q3 is low, and Q5 limits black's development potential to some degree.]
(;B[pn]C[Black opts to take advantage of the tenuki.

If I were white, I'd ignore this, and probably enclose corner at E3.]
;W[eq]C[Now as black... Probably I would play C14, as the left side is getting big.]
(;B[nc]C[Black played O17 instead. What are the benefits of playing here over the left side?

I can think of the following\:
* White cannot approach at O17.
* Black has some advantage on right already with white tenuki after R6, so maybe black can be prepared for any skirmish on the right.
* If black gets in R7 next, he is pretty solid on right, and this move works together with that.

I feel black is playing territorially this way.

As white, maybe I would play R7 now to make a position on the right.]
(;W[re]C[White played S15.

What are the benefits of S15 over my idea of R7?

* S15 allows for the aji around R6 to remain, so white has flexibility on the right side.
* Corner is pretty big, and if black comes under attack on right, it's more difficult to invade around corner without ko.

As black, I would probably play a joseki and play at S16.

And why S15 and not S16 or R16?

Maybe\:
* S15 will more likely result in white getting a position on the right side, which could work well with the aji around R6.]
(;B[qe]C[Why did he play R15 and not S16?

Perhaps the right side is somewhat big, and if he plays R15, and white plays S16, it reverts to a joseki where white started at S16.

That is, S15 R15 S16 would be equivalent to S16 R15 S15, and maybe this joseki is better for black - to keep white confined to the corner.

As white, I would probably play along and go with S16.]
;W[rd]C[As black, I'd play S14 - it's a joseki.]
(;B[qf]C[How does this compare with S14?

Well, with the variation I expected, black can put pressure on white and make territory at the same time.

This move solidly makes thickness.

It seems OK, but I don't see what is wrong with S14, either. I still prefer S14 kind of...]
;W[rf]C[If black is playing this way, then I suppose I would keep playing 3rd line - maybe R12.]
(;B[qg]C[He played R13. Why is this better than R12? Perhaps because this makes it more difficult for white to play Q17 later? (See variation)

As white, maybe I play R17 to just get space to live in corner.]
;W[qc]C[He played there.

As black... I want to get sente, although, Q17 is pretty big territorially. It'd be nice to get S13, too, but I don't think I can get both in sente.

Maybe I play Q17 first, then approach with C14, leaving the thickness to be useful later.]
(;B[fc]C[He played F17 first. Maybe Q17 is not thinking in the big picture - too territory minded, when this is better for utilizing thickness.

But why F17 and not C14? I suppose it's too easy for white to make the top unimportant this way (see variation).]
;W[cf]C[As black, maybe I play K16 next, to balance with wall and F17 stone.]
(;B[fe]C[He played F15. Why is this better than K16?

* Expands moyo more on top.
* Invites white to invade.
* R14 wall is very strong - so maybe black can afford to invite an invasion here.

So maybe if R14 wall was not so strong, K16 could be an option, but as it is, K16 would be overconcentrated... Maybe.

As white, where would I play next?

Well, the moyo is getting large... So I want to invade or reduce in some way. But I also want to build up left if possible.

F13 would be a way to build up left, but it's inconsistent with C14. Because C14 is low, it wouldn't make sense to play F13. Left side is less interesting than top, probably.

So I should probably invade or reduce top. N16 shoulder hit might be a way to achieve this, but it could be a bit deep, considering black's strong R15 stones.

Still, in game, probably I would play N16, because an invasion would seem difficult.]
(;W[db]C[Black played D18. This is pretty calm. He doesn't care about black's moyo, yet, and simply gets more points.

There's also future point potential around F18 - a territorial strategy, consistent with white's play so far.

Maybe this is the problem with my idea of N16\:

* N16 is pretty deep, so it would give black control of game.
* N16 is not consistent with territorial moves white has been playing so far.
* Black's moyo is still not yet complete, so maybe white can invade later.

As black, I want to expand moyo more. Maybe a play like F13.]
(;B[pb]C[He played Q18 and not the idea I had of F13.

This is big territorially, and looks sente. It also helps strengthen black's moyo.

Maybe this is making it more difficult for white to invade later, too.

Maybe F13 is too simple-minded, allowing white to reduce easier.]
;W[pc];B[oc];W[rg]C[As black, now I feel comfortable with jumping to R11.]
(;B[qh]C[He still played R12. I suppose it leaves less aji than R11. Either way, black is still pushing ahead of white.

As white, I would come back and play R18.]
;W[jp]C[Aha. I guess the purpose of S13 was because now white can take sente. If white plays at R18, black won't answer. Now that white has lived in sente, he takes a big point at the bottom. This will help counter black's moyo on top.

As black, I probably play P6. It seems to go well with R12 stones ,and also reduces effect of aji around Q5, which white might be more induced to play with K4 in place.]
(;B[if]C[Black played this move. This move doesn't make sense to me, exactly.

My thoughts are that it turns some of black's moyo into territory, but it seems to lack ambition to me. I don't understand this move. Maybe it's a move white could play to reduce, so black played there first...?]
;W[kg]C[White doesn't want this to become territory, so he decides to reduce now.

As black, I probably play K12. Since black is so strong, maybe enclosing white can be helpful. Even if white lives, black can then invade around H3, etc., easily.]
;B[jh]C[He played where I thought.

As white... it's a challenge not to become heavy here.

A move like M11 seems pretty light, though, black can cut through at L12 and solidify significant territory.

The same kind of idea might be true of a move like N11.

If there is enough space, maybe it's good for white to live inside, since this area is so large... But how do I achieve this?

Black is strong at R13, so it's difficult to exploit weaknesses to survive in that direction.

A move like M12 cannot be cut like M11, though, it has a feeling of being slow to it.

N13 might give more space, but it's easy to get attacked.

Attaching at K14 seems possible, but if black responds strongly, white needs to find a way to live inside after that.

L12 simply seems too heavy.]
(;W[kh]C[Hmm, so he played L12. Seemed heavy to me.

As black, I would play K11.]
;B[ji]C[As white, I try to think of a flexible way to move out. M10 is fast, but will be definitely cut. N11 is in the wrong direction.

It seems heavy, but maybe L11 is the only way.]
;W[ki]C[As black, I hane at L10.];B[kj]C[As white, first thought is M10, but I wonder then if black can cut.]
;W[lj]
(;B[lk]C[Black doesn't cut, and does double-hane. I think this is consistent with strategy of getting influence on outside.

As white, maybe I play N11. N10 seems like bad shape.]
(;W[mj]C[As black, I would play N12.]
(;B[mk]C[This move is better - it keeps white enclosed. Black doesn't care if white lives.

As white, I play O10.]
(;W[ke]C[This is an interesting move. White must feel confident in living, so he reduces black's territory further.]
;B[jf];W[kf]C[As black, I play hane at O10.];B[nj];W[ni]C[I would double hane at P11.]
(;B[mi];W[li]C[He cuts first.];B[mh]C[I guess he has ambition of killing O11 stone. Maybe it's not enough to enclose with P11.]
;W[ng]C[As black, I'd move out with O12.]
(;B[mg]C[This move is better than O12, because even if white plays O12, black can be safe with N14.]
;W[nf]C[I'd continue with N14 next.];B[mf]C[As white, I'd play N15.];W[me]C[As black, I'd cut at O15.]
;B[ne]C[As white, I'd play M14.];W[oe];B[nd];W[nk]C[I don't quite understand this part.]
;B[oj]C[As white, maybe P11.]
(;W[kk]C[So maybe white cuts here first for that reason.];B[jj];W[oi]C[As black, maybe I play O8. IF white plays P9, I can Q10.]
;B[nl]
(;W[lf]C[White takes the stones. As black, I play P9 maybe to eliminate that local aji.]
(;B[ld]C[Ah, this is sente.];W[le];B[of]C[Maybe black wants to live locally with his wall here, before playing a move like P9 like I imagined. This way, black doesn't have to worry about the group, and still gets to cleanly capture O9.]
;W[nh];B[pi];W[lg];B[ok]C[Both black and white seem to have played nicely.

White lived here, and black got great potential for territory on the right side.

As white, it seems difficult to reduce left territory in a bit way.

On the other hand, it may be sente for black to block at S12.

Still, left and bottom seem bigger at this point.

As white, probably I would play D10 - double wing formation.]
(;W[mq]C[This is big territorially. Maybe this is better than D10.

As black, then, maybe I want to S12 first, with expectation of sente, and then play C8 on left.

C9 is the first impression I have of a good mvoe on left since there is miai for two space extension. Howeer, since black is strong at K11, it seems to make sense to reduce power of C4 enclosure first. Then if white plays C10, white jumps out at E8, with miai of invading at C12 and invading around H3 area.]
(;B[hq]C[He directly invades on bottom.

I guess this can tell me that the left is really unimportant.

Why is this?

* C14 is low
* K11 influence makes it easy to still invade left later if needed.

As white, it's not useful to try to get outward influence here. Maybe we need to be forceful in attacking H3 stone.

H5 is an option, but black has lots of room.

The slow-looking J4 could be helpful here.]
(;W[iq]C[I guess white makes black heavy first. But after H4, seems easy for black to escape.]
;B[hp]C[As white, I'd J6 now.]
(;W[jn]C[I guess white is satisfied with playing solidly here. Maybe he plans to play on the left next.]
;B[eo]C[As white, I'd play D6 here.];W[dn]C[As black, I'm reluctant to play E6. The black stones will probably survive, but pushing D6 will make it easy for white to make more territory.

I probably would try to jump out at H6 first, and then make white play moves on his own to make left territory if he chooses to.... So I'd probably play something like H6.]
(;B[fq]C[This option also seems good - get eyespace locally where white is already strong.

I like it better than H6, because it makes E5 more useful.]
;W[er]C[Now H6?]
(;B[ep]C[This move seems slow, but I see now that black can play D3 without being cut immediately (variation).]
(;W[dp]C[So white protects cut. Now, black group is getting somewhat safe. Still, I'd play H6.]
(;B[fm]C[This still moves out - I guess white making territory on the left is inevitable, and this is better shape for black's group.

As white, I'd want to keep making left territory. Maybe D8.]
;W[dl]C[As black, maybe just keep jumping out at F9. Black can get some territory in that local area.]
(;B[ko]C[Ah, instead, black turns to pressure white's group.

L3 seems like a key point - if white plays K5, maybe black can play L3...

So as white, maybe I play L4?]
(;W[jo];B[kq]C[I guess white is OK with this?

As white, maybe I play J2 - seems miai for playing G2 and pushing at L4.]
(;W[kp]C[I guess he pushes directly. As black, probably I play M3.]
(;B[ir]C[Ah, he connects. This prevents white from threatening to connect.];W[jr]
;B[jq];W[kr];B[ip];W[lq]C[White's group is getting pretty safe. Maybe I play J3, because it still seems sente.]
(;B[cj]C[Ah, black invades left now.

Seems hard to kill black as white. Maybe solidly take territory with C8.]
(;W[ek]C[I guess this is OK, but it seems hard to kill either black group.

As black, I would run out now - maybe E11.]
(;B[bg]C[As white, maybe I block at B14 - good for territory, and also forces black to do something.]
(;W[cg]C[I don't know why this is better than B14.

As black, I'd C12.];B[ch]
C[As white, I'd still B14.];W[dh]C[White is playing on the outside, but I don't understand it - black is already strong in center, so what is the point?

As black, I'd B11.]
(;B[di];W[bh];B[bi];W[ci];B[qb];W[ch];B[rb]C[I guess white is OK with black killing corner?]
;W[gl]C[If white can kill black here, maybe he can make it up, but I feel black can probably live.

I probably just G7.]
(;B[en]C[I guess this is sente to cutt off D8. As white, I'd response at D7.];W[dm]
C[Now I'd still G7.]
(;B[fr]C[I guess this gives black more eyeshape than G7.];W[hh]C[As black, maybe I play H11. If white triees to cut, I can play as in variation.]
(;B[id]C[Black solidifies his territory up here.

As white, I might still try to cut at K13.]
(;W[jd];B[hi];W[gi]C[As black, maybe I H10, since black can handle the cut.]
(;B[jc]C[I guess black wants to solidify his territory here first.];W[kc];B[ic]
;W[lc];B[og];W[lh];B[ih];W[nn]C[As black, I solidly Q7.]
(;B[on]C[I guess this is more points than Q7.];W[or]C[As black, I would answer at Q2.]
(;B[oq];W[nr];B[es]C[Kind of end-gamish moves here. No more comments.];W[qr];B[pr]
;W[ps];B[rr];W[rs];B[rq];W[cr];B[no];W[hj];B[hg];W[gh];B[eb];W[ec];B[fb];W[ds];B[lo]
;W[iq];B[jq];W[ee];B[ff];W[oo];B[np];W[fd];B[gd];W[ge];B[ed];W[om];B[pm];W[fd];B[ef]
;W[gc];B[ed];W[pl];B[qm];W[fd];B[hd];W[gb];B[ed];W[rm];B[ql];W[fd];B[de]C[Clever!]
;W[ed];B[cd];W[dc];B[cb];W[ea];B[ce];W[df];B[bf];W[ag];B[ae];W[ca];B[cc];W[fa];B[ba]
;W[bb];B[da];W[jg];B[ig];W[ca];B[bc];W[aa];B[ac];W[jk];B[ik];W[il];B[gm];W[hk];B[hb]
;W[jb];B[ib];W[ja];B[fb];W[gg];B[gf];W[he];B[ha];W[eg];B[ga];W[kb];B[ab];W[ij];B[hf]
;W[sh])
(;B[pr]))
(;B[pm]))
(;B[hj];W[jg]C[If white cuts...];B[ig];W[ih];B[kl];W[jk];B[il];W[ik];B[hk]))
(;W[jg]))
(;B[hi];W[jg];B[ig];W[ih];B[gh]C[I was imagining this, but...];W[hg]C[Can black hold white in? Maybe not.]
;B[hf];W[gg];B[fh];W[ii];B[ij];W[hj]))
(;B[gm]))
(;B[gm]))
(;B[bi]))
(;W[bf]))
(;B[ei]))
(;W[cl]))
(;B[iq]))
(;B[lq]))
(;W[ir]))
(;W[kp]))
(;B[fk]))
(;B[hn];W[fm]C[Maybe white can stll pressure black like this to get more on the left, if he plays the way I initially thought.]))
(;W[hn]C[If white plays elsewhere...];B[dq];W[dp];B[dr];W[fr];B[gr];W[fp];B[es]
;W[gq];B[fs];W[fq];B[fo]))
(;B[hn]))
(;B[hn]))
(;W[in]))
(;W[ip]C[I might consider this.])
(;W[ho]C[This seems too loose to really pressure black.];B[jq]C[Seems easy for black here.]))
(;B[rh]))
(;W[dj]))
(;B[ok]))
(;W[ok];B[pj]C[Something like this?]))
(;W[oi]C[My thought is, if black plays P9...];B[ok];W[nl]
(;B[ol];W[kk];B[jj];W[ll]C[Something like this would get white out.])
(;B[kk]C[Maybe black can protect here first.];W[ol];B[pi])))
(;B[nh]))
(;B[oi]))
(;W[nj]))
(;B[mh]))
(;W[mi]C[I thought here.];B[mj];W[li];B[mk]C[If black protects, it seemed that L10 stone coult be utilized.]
;W[jj];B[kk];W[ig];B[jg];W[jf];B[kf];W[je];B[hh]C[Maybe black is fine this way.]))
(;B[li]C[If black cuts...];W[mi];B[lh];W[mg];B[mj];W[lk];B[mh];W[ig];B[jg];W[jj]
;B[kk];W[jf]C[Seems complicated, but it's not clear that white will lose out.]))
(;W[jf]C[This kind of move seems to force a response from black, but maybe it's too heavy.]
(;B[kh]C[If black solidly answers, here, it's not clear that white can live.];W[ie]
;B[hf];W[mg]C[It's difficult to know if white will live!])
(;B[ie];W[kh]C[White can probably survive, maybe if this happens.])
(;B[ig]C[White seems a little heavy, especially with the strong R13 wall there.]
;W[kh];B[ki];W[li];B[lh]C[Difficult...]))
(;W[lh]C[It's hard to keep white enclosed, but maybe black is happy to keep chasing white.]
;B[kj])
(;W[mg];B[li]C[It's not clear white can even live.])
(;W[li];B[kh];W[lh];B[lg];W[mg];B[lf]C[Black's territory is significant, and L13 seems to have become a bad move, now.]))
(;B[on]))
(;B[qi];W[qh];B[ph];W[rh]C[This leaves cutting points around Q11 and Q12, and black is not as solid.

It's not clear how white will play, but maybe white can exploit these weaknesses to hurt moyo.

Maybe that's why R12 is better.]))
(;B[fg]))
(;W[md]))
(;B[jd]C[Maybe black is overconcentrated this way.]
(;W[ec];B[fd]C[This seems like an attempt to make black more overconcentrated, but it also damages potential to invade around H17 later - probably not good to do now.])
(;W[ge]C[Something like this might erase potential for black on top, while making potential for white on left.

Maybe this is another reason K16 is bad.])))
(;B[pc])
(;B[cf]C[If black plays from this direction, like I was imagining...];W[fc];B[bd]
;W[cc];B[ci]C[With a basic joseki, for example, the top side is now uninteresting.

If the top side is uninteresting, black's influence from the wall around O17 is less effective.

I suppose it makes sense to approach from F17.])
(;B[fd]C[Why not approach high?];W[df];B[id]C[I guess it's too generous to give white such a position on the left.]))
(;B[qh]C[If black plays as with my idea...];W[qg];B[pg];W[rg];B[rh];W[pc];B[qc]
;W[qd]C[There are cutting points around Q14 that are not there with the way it was played in the game...]))
(;B[rf]C[I expected this...];W[qf];B[qg];W[pf];B[rg];W[pc];B[qc];W[qd];B[pb];W[pe]
;B[od]C[Then if white moves out for a second eye, black can attack and make profit on the right...]))
(;B[rd]))
(;W[qm]C[I would play here.

But...];B[on];W[qj];B[qh]C[Perhaps it's easy for black to protect corner area more while attacking white.]))
(;B[cf]C[I would play here.]))
(;B[ep]C[I figured that with 3-4 like this, black can work with his stones already in place, but...]
;W[eq];B[fq]C[Just playing a simple joseki...];W[dq];B[fp];W[cn];B[jp]C[It's difficult for black to develop much on bottom, because of the shape of Q3. It's easy for white to press black down or even invade around M3 area.]
;W[lq]C[Q5 stones will be of help, and it's difficult for black to attack with Q3.

I guess the conclusion is, the approach, while still good for black to do, isn't as bad for white as I thought, since black can't develop that well.]))

[Kirby]

Key Differences Between Pro Game and Kirby Thought

Position 1

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Above, white played the marked move. I am normally reluctant to play a 3-4 facing black stones like this. However, in this case, I think it's a good move, because black can't develop well on the bottom. This seems like something obvious, but I would have quickly ruled out 3-4 in this direction if it were a game I were playing, and I think 3-4 is playable here.

Position 2

After this position:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I felt inclined to move out the stones from the tenuki:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I think white's strategy in the game was better, because black can help the corner while attacking white if I were to play this way:

$$W
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 X O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , X . . |
$$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

The actual game move is more direct and is better:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

There is still aji on the right, and white can make a position easily.

It's also interesting to note that white did *not* play here:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Deeming the game move more interesting.

Position 3

This move still surprises me:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I expected black to expand his moyo further:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

or maybe this:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Presumably, it must be too easy for white to invade the moyo if black expands further like this - but won't he profit from the invasion anyway?

It's difficult for me to know when it would be better to expand moyo, or to play more enclosing move like the game. Any ideas?


Position 4

Why is this move:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Bigger than this move:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

My hunch is that there are two reasons, both outlined in the highlighted stones below:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

That is, even if white plays on the left, black can easily invade with the strength of the marked black stones. Additionally, white can't develop much because of the low marked white stone.

Maybe the third reason is that a black play on the bottom would be pretty big:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Position 5

Here:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

While there are two black groups that white can split, it seems difficult to effectively profit from attacking either group. What's wrong with cutting to the chase and securing territory, as below:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Yes, it seems mild and not severe, but if white can't attack black anyway, what's the point of being severe? Is white concerned of potential black territory later, as here:

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

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Maybe that's it. Still, it's hard for me to see that this is worth more than the territory white secures by playing solidly. I'm still thinking about this, though after seeing the diagram above, perhaps securing territory is too cowardly, and black can get a lot of points by enclosing white.

[Kirby]

It wasn't in my routine to play a game today, but a friend approached me to play a game today. To keep things anonymous, I'll omit his name.

I played white, and gave him 5 stones. Here is the SGF:

(;CA[utf-8]RU[Japanese]OT[5x30 byo-yomi]GM[1]FF[4]AB[dd][pd][jj][dp][pp]C[My opponent was 4k, so I gave 5 stones.

I am not great at handicap games, so at this point in the game, i feel very intimidated.]
AP[CGoban:3]SZ[19]ST[2]DT[2013-12-30]PC[The KGS Go Server at http\://www.gokgs.com/]
PB[opponent]BR[4k]PW[Kirby]KM[0.5]HA[5]TM[600]RE[W+4.50]MULTIGOGM[1]
;W[qf]WL[586.105];B[pi]BL[594.345]C[I am losing, so I figure I will play double approach. To make it more complicated, I opted for high approach.]
;W[nd]WL[572.946];B[pf]BL[592.227]C[I thought about Q13 (as in variation), but it seemed awkward to deal with R15.]
(;W[qc]WL[526.699]C[I decided to take it easy and go with 3-3 here - seemed to leave more possibility for later.]
;B[pc]BL[563.955];W[qd]WL[522.148];B[qe]BL[560.018];W[re]WL[520.771];B[pe]BL[558.717]
;W[rf]WL[516.711];B[kd]BL[546.791]C[It seemed hard to make O16 effective, so I decided to go with Q18, just to secure territory.]
;W[pb]WL[510.871];B[ob]BL[545.174];W[qb]WL[509.873];B[oc]BL[542.092]C[There seemed to be aji at Q13, but not enough to double atari (see variation).

I decided I should keep the aji lingering.

I thought about doing something on the top, first. But maybe he just attacks me. I wanted to see how he would respond on the left side, first.]
(;W[cn]WL[449.633];B[dk]BL[526.955]C[I was again pincered. Since he had stones on each side, I invaded at 3-3 next. In retrospect, since these stones are far, I think I can comfortably approach without 3-3 invasion.

See variation for example.]
(;W[cc]WL[438.285]C[This was a bad choice, in retrospect.];B[dc]BL[520.331];W[cd]
WL[436.332];B[ce]BL[516.89];W[be]WL[433.17]
(;B[cf]BL[503.906]C[I thought he might double atari.];W[bf]WL[431.186];B[cg]BL[502.58]
;W[db]WL[425.526];B[eb]BL[501.308];W[cb]WL[424.372];B[fc]BL[499.623]C[The 3-3 wasn't a great choice, because now black has an intimidating moyo on top.

I don't know how to invade well right now, so I decided I jump out with C6. Maybe I get help in invading if I bring these stones out, even though locally, it's probably better for black.]
;W[en]WL[414.289];B[fp]BL[497.369];W[gn]WL[400.564]C[I imagined the variation.]
(;B[gk]BL[472.568]C[He helped solidify the top area, which made me a bit more concerned.

Locally, I wanted to take advantage of him not playing H4, so I played there.]
;W[hp]WL[394.509]
(;B[co]BL[470.75];W[bn]WL[389.934]C[This has aji of being cut at D6, but I figured it'd help if I invade around C11 later.]
;B[hq]BL[467.357];W[iq]WL[387.82];B[gq]BL[466.235];W[ip]WL[385.534];B[cq]BL[453.792]
C[Now I felt it necessary to do something about black's moyo. But what?

I decided to start with C11 since it seemed like a weak point in the framework.]
;W[ci]WL[380.22];B[di]BL[451.681]C[He played on top, which meant he could maybe wall me in more. So I decided to mix things up a bit. I went for K14.

In retrospect, maybe this was aggressive. Maybe I should hav played something further away - L11, maybe.

I think it's a bit late for me to be invading the top, which is largely due to the second 3-3 invasion. So it's hard for me to think of a good way to invade.]
(;W[jf]WL[348.019]
(;B[kg]BL[438.505]C[Black's move was good, I thought. But after the game, we considered the variation.]
;W[jd]WL[341.083]C[I attached in an effort to gain forcing moves.];B[kc]BL[433.147]
C[I wanted to get in more forcing moves... But where? I ended up playing E14.]
;W[ef]WL[294.61]
(;B[ie]BL[415.292]C[He took a bit of initiative here. I think it was good for black, but I would have been heavy answering it.]
;W[dj]WL[286.453]
(;B[ei]BL[405.321];W[ej]WL[281.916]
(;B[ch]BL[402.042]C[Probably F11 is better for black.];W[fi]WL[278.282];B[cj]BL[394.187]
C[I want to play B11, but obviously can't due to F10 cut, so I tried to get protection in.]
;W[fk]WL[260.403];B[bi]BL[386.826]C[He took the stone. F9 stones were still somewhat in trouble, but maybe I could work with them later. So I moved back to K15.]
;W[je]WL[249.435];B[hf]BL[379.874];W[lf]WL[233.391]C[I wanted to tempt him to cut to get forcing moves to help the group.]
(;B[kf]BL[357.603];W[ke]WL[232.05];B[le]BL[356.582];W[ld]WL[230.236];B[me]BL[355.5]
;W[md]WL[164.501];B[jc]BL[343.541];W[nf]WL[159.849];B[mf]BL[338.683];W[mg]WL[158.633]
;B[lg]BL[333.257];W[ne]WL[157.273];B[lf]BL[332.142]C[Now I was starting to see a small amount of hope. There's the aji at Q13 from before, and if I could capture P17, that'd be nice.

But what if black tries to connect, for example at N18? That would be difficult.

Then I decided if I play J17, and black responds, then if I cut Q13, N18 might be more difficult due to L17 shortage of liberties.]
;W[ic]WL[139.037];B[id]BL[326.028];W[pg]WL[115.148]
(;B[og]BL[319.697];W[of]WL[112.399];B[ph]BL[305.558];W[qg]WL[110.436];B[ng]BL[304.315]
;W[mh]WL[108.583];B[oh]BL[294.844]C[Now I still wanted to cpature P18, thought it was appealing to mvoe K14 out.]
;W[jg]WL[104.164]
(;B[lh]BL[293.553]C[I think this is bad by black. It's bad shape, and lets white out easily.]
;W[li]WL[101.574];B[kh]BL[291.878];W[ji]WL[99.184];B[mi]BL[288.244];W[jh]WL[95.502]
;B[nh]BL[285.501];W[kj]WL[89.667];B[ij]BL[278.694]
(;W[ki]WL[83.944];B[gj]BL[276.568];W[fj]WL[81.461];B[hh]BL[274.937];W[hg]WL[75.231]
;B[ig]BL[268.856];W[hi]WL[73.321];B[ii]BL[264.533];W[if]WL[65.064];B[gg]BL[258.27]
;W[hc]WL[58.939];B[mb]BL[247.233];W[lb]WL[55.077];B[lc]BL[228.331];W[mc]WL[44.062]
;B[kb]BL[226.085];W[nb]WL[42.571];B[la]BL[224.951];W[na]WL[28.086];B[oa]BL[192.862]
;W[nc]WL[21.073];B[ib]BL[184.913]C[Now I wanted to avoid seki. If I played Q19 and he protects at N19, I can't capture P18.]
(;W[ja]WL[0.571]C[I played here directly to prevent w from playing N19. ];B[hb]
BL[169.663];OW[5]W[he]WL[30]
(;B[ma]BL[153.322];OW[5]W[ka]WL[30]C[I felt white's invasion was a success.
];B[gc]
BL[129.71];OW[5]W[hd]WL[30];B[fh]BL[123.029];OW[5]W[fl]WL[30];B[lp]BL[117.48]C[Now after the top, I had some confidence. I decided to approach bottom right, but how?

I ended up playing S4. Maybe S5 is better.]
;OW[5]W[rp]WL[30];B[qp]BL[107.991];OW[5]W[ro]WL[30];B[rq]BL[106.784];OW[5]W[ql]
WL[30];B[qn]BL[100.521];OW[5]W[rr]WL[30];B[qr]BL[94.534];OW[5]W[sq]WL[30];B[qq]
BL[93.235];OW[5]W[rn]WL[30];B[qm]BL[91.371];OW[5]W[rm]WL[30];B[pl]BL[90.159];OW[5]
W[pk]WL[30];B[qk]BL[87.804];OW[5]W[rl]WL[30];B[ok]BL[86.365];OW[5]W[pm]WL[30];B[pj]
BL[83.124];OW[5]W[qo]WL[30];B[pn]BL[81.486];OW[5]W[po]WL[30];B[om]BL[79.847];OW[5]
W[on]WL[30];B[pm]BL[77.724]C[It might be safer to just connect normally with P5, for example - white doesn't have much eyespace on right.]
;OW[5]W[op]WL[30];B[oq]BL[75.109];OW[5]W[nq]WL[30]C[This was risky....];B[np]BL[73.395]
;OW[5]W[no]WL[30];B[oo]BL[67.568]C[If white loses the ko...]
(;OW[5]W[eq]WL[30];B[ep]BL[59.905];OW[5]W[op]WL[30];B[od]BL[51.576];OW[5]W[lb]WL[30]
;B[oo]BL[49.867];OW[4]W[rj]WL[30]C[Maybe white could live even with losing the ko, so maybe I chickened out too soon.]
;B[nn]BL[37.908];OW[4]W[ri]WL[30];B[kk]BL[30.174];OW[4]W[lk]WL[30]C[I felt like I was ahead.]
;B[kl]BL[28.568];OW[4]W[ll]WL[30];B[lm]BL[20.184];OW[4]W[ih]WL[30]
(;B[gi]BL[12.299];OW[4]W[hg]WL[30];B[hj]BL[4.174];OW[4]W[gf]WL[30];OB[5]B[ee]BL[30]
;OW[4]W[mq]WL[30];OB[5]B[lq]BL[30];OW[4]W[jr]WL[30];OB[5]B[lr]BL[30];OW[4]W[hr]
WL[30];OB[5]B[gr]BL[30];OW[4]W[gs]WL[30];OB[5]B[fs]BL[30];OW[4]W[hs]WL[30];OB[5]
B[fr]BL[30]C[I was now concerned about the life of my group down here.];OW[4]W[aq]
WL[30];OB[5]B[bq]BL[30];OW[4]W[ao]WL[30];OB[5]B[ar]BL[30];OW[4]W[ap]WL[30];OB[5]
B[in]BL[30];OW[4]W[hn]WL[30];OB[5]B[io]BL[30];OW[4]W[gp]WL[30];OB[5]B[cr]BL[30]
;OW[4]W[ck]WL[30];OB[5]B[bk]BL[30];OW[4]W[cl]WL[30];OB[5]B[bl]BL[30]
(;OW[4]W[bm]WL[30]C[Bad move. Now, D7 becomes interesting for black to play.]
(;OB[5]B[jp]BL[30]C[As soon as I had played B7, I regretted it, so i tried to think of a smooth way to come back and play in the area.]
;OW[4]W[im]WL[30];OB[5]B[jm]BL[30];OW[4]W[il]WL[30];OB[5]B[ff]BL[30];OW[4]W[fe]
WL[30];OB[5]B[fg]BL[30];OW[4]W[ed]WL[30];OB[5]B[de]BL[30];OW[4]W[fd]WL[30];OB[5]
B[ec]BL[30];OW[4]W[jb]WL[30];OB[5]B[gl]BL[30];OW[4]W[gm]WL[30];OB[5]B[ml]BL[30]
;OW[4]W[mk]WL[30];OB[5]B[nk]BL[30];OW[4]W[mm]WL[30];OB[5]B[nl]BL[30];OW[4]W[ln]
WL[30];OB[5]B[km]BL[30];OW[4]W[jq]WL[30];OB[5]B[kp]BL[30];OW[4]W[ks]WL[30];OB[5]
B[ls]BL[30];OW[4]W[do]WL[30]C[Finally, I came back to help against D7.];OB[5]B[bo]
BL[30];OW[4]W[jk]WL[30];OB[5]B[mj]BL[30];OW[4]W[lj]WL[30];OB[5]B[gd]BL[30];OW[4]
W[ge]WL[30];OB[5]B[bg]BL[30]
(;OW[4]W[ga]WL[30]C[Bad move.];OB[5]B[gb]BL[30];OW[4]W[ea]WL[30]
(;OB[5]B[af]BL[30];OW[4]W[ad]WL[30];OB[5]B[da]BL[30];OW[4]W[ca]WL[30];OB[5]B[rs]
BL[30];OW[4]W[sr]WL[30];OB[5]B[rk]BL[30];OW[4]W[sk]WL[30];OB[5]B[qh]BL[30];OW[4]
W[rh]WL[30];OB[5]B[ha]BL[30];OW[4]W[fa]WL[30];OB[5]B[fb]BL[30];OW[4]W[da]WL[30]
;OB[4]B[ab]BL[30];OW[4]W[ac]WL[30];OB[4]B[ag]BL[30];OW[4]W[bb]WL[30];OB[4]B[bd]
BL[30];OW[4]W[bc]WL[30];OB[4]B[ae]BL[30];OW[4]W[aa]WL[30];OB[4]B[bd]BL[30];OW[4]
W[be]WL[30];OB[4]B[fo]BL[30];OW[4]W[fn]WL[30];OB[4]B[am]BL[30]C[It's tempting to play A6, but...]
(;OW[4]W[dn]WL[30];OB[4]B[bp]BL[30];OW[4]W[an]WL[30];OB[4]B[hl]BL[30];OW[4]W[hm]
WL[30];OB[4]B[ik]BL[30];OW[4]W[jl]WL[30];OB[4]B[jn]BL[30];OW[4]W[qj]WL[30];OB[4]
B[pk]BL[30];OW[4]W[al]WL[30];OB[4]B[ak]BL[30];OW[4]W[kr]WL[30];OB[4]B[am]BL[30]
;OW[4]W[mh]WL[30];OB[4]B[mg]BL[30];OW[4]W[al]WL[30];OB[4]B[sp]BL[30];OW[4]W[so]
WL[30];OB[4]B[am]BL[30];OW[4]W[fq]WL[30];OB[4]B[er]BL[30];OW[4]W[al]WL[30];OB[4]
B[sl]BL[30];OW[4]W[sj]WL[30];OB[4]B[am]BL[30];OW[4]W[dr]WL[30];OB[4]B[dq]BL[30]
;OW[4]W[al]WL[30];OB[4]B[qs]BL[30];OW[4]W[sm]WL[30];OB[4]B[am]BL[30];OW[4]W[br]
WL[30];OB[4]B[bs]BL[30];OW[4]W[al]WL[30];OB[4]B[ss]BL[30];OW[4]W[sp]WL[30];OB[4]
B[am]BL[30];OW[4]W[mp]WL[30];OB[4]B[mo]BL[30];OW[4]W[al]WL[30];OB[4]B[dl]BL[30]
;OW[4]W[cm]WL[30];OB[4]B[am]BL[30];OW[4]W[ho]WL[30];OB[4]B[al]BL[30];OW[4]W[kq]
WL[30];OB[4]B[lo]BL[30];OW[4]W[eo]WL[30];OB[4]B[bf]BL[30];OW[4]W[bd]WL[30];OB[4]
B[]BL[30];OW[4]W[]WL[30]TB[br][ci][df][ef][dg][eg][ah][bh][dh][eh][gh][mh][ai][hi]
[ni][oi][aj][bj][nj][oj][hk][ol][mm][nm][kn][ln][mn][on][jo][ko][no][cp][mp][op]
[eq][fq][mq][nq][pq][dr][mr][nr][or][pr][as][cs][ds][es][ms][ns][os][ps]TW[ba][la]
[ma][oa][pa][qa][ra][sa][ab][kb][ob][is][rb][sb][jc][kc][lc][oc][pc][rc][sc][id]
[kd][od][pd][rd][sd][ie][oe][pe][qe][se][hf][pf][sf][ig][rg][sh][sg][si][dk][ek]
[dl][el][sl][dm][em][fm][sn][ir][mb][js])
(;W[an];B[dm];W[cm];B[dn];W[eo];B[dl];W[al];B[bp]))
(;B[fa]C[Black can play here.];W[fb];B[ha]C[White's move at G19 was useless.]))
(;W[ha]C[This is better than G19.]))
(;B[dm];W[cm];B[dn];W[dl];B[em]))
(;W[cm]C[White should play more simply like this. The move at B7 was terrible.]))
(;B[jb]C[If he protected...];W[gf];B[hg];W[fg];B[gh];W[gi];B[eh];W[jk]C[This seemed OK for white to me.]))
(;W[aa];B[op]
(;W[rk];B[rj]C[White doesn't have enough eyespace to live.])
(;W[rj]
(;B[ri];W[rk];B[rh];W[sj];B[sp];W[so])
(;B[rk];W[sk];B[rh];W[qj];B[ri];W[pk];B[qk];W[sp]C[White might be able to live.]))))
(;B[jb]C[Maybe black can play this way instead.];W[pa]C[If white tries this, black can now play N19.]
;B[ma]))
(;W[pa]C[If white plays this way...];B[ma];W[ja];B[ia]C[White can't capture black stones.]))
(;W[hh]C[Maybe it's better to just stop black here. If black plays L11 now, I can gladly respond with L9.]
;B[ki];W[kk]C[I should be wary of the connection problemss with G11 cut, but right now black is weak, so maybe white is OK.]))
(;B[li]C[I think something like this is better.]))
(;B[jg]C[After game, we talked about this alternative for black.]))
(;B[me]C[After the game, we thought about alternatives to cut.

I don't know how white answers this.])
(;B[mh]C[Even here, I'm not sure how white responds.]))
(;B[fi]C[I don't know exactly what white does after this.]))
(;B[je]C[After game, opponent and I discussed, and myabe it's possible for black to just secure territory here.]))
(;B[ee]C[I expected a passive response.]))
(;B[id]C[This might be fine for black, because he can secure territory, and continue to attack white.]))
(;W[ki]C[Maybe I can live inside with a move like this.])
(;W[ni]C[Maybe this would have been enough.]))
(;B[hq];W[iq];B[gq];W[ip]C[I imagined this.];B[bp]))
(;B[hp];W[di]C[I wasn't sure if this would work out for white, but in handicap game, maybe it could turn out to be enough to reduce black's power.]))
(;B[bf];W[db];B[eb];W[ec]
(;B[de];W[fb];B[cb];W[ea];B[bb];W[hd]C[This was one possibility.])
(;B[ed];W[cb];B[df];W[fc]C[This is bad for black.];B[fb];W[gc];B[gb];W[hc];B[hb]
;W[ic];B[ib]C[White can make a position on top, even if corner dies, and L16 isn't well placed to stop the stones. If L16 were at K17, then it'd be good for black.]
;W[jc])))
(;W[fc]C[I think this is a better strategy than 3-3 here, because white has room to settle.]
;B[ec];W[fd];B[df];W[ic]C[White is comfortable on top, and there is still aji to invade 3-3 later. Black doesn't get big moyo he got in game on top.

This is a better choice than 3-3.]))
(;W[pg];B[og]C[I could only play this way if double atari made sense, but...];W[oh]
;B[ph];W[qg];B[ng]C[Evensometing simple like this leaves white weak, and further away from victory.])
(;W[fc];B[ec];W[fd];B[df];W[id]C[White might be comfortable this way.])
(;W[fd];B[df]C[Seems too easy for black.]))
(;W[pg];B[qe]C[If black played here, I wasn't sure if it'd be good for white.];W[of]
;B[pe];W[og]C[Maybe this would be OK - keep black sealed in.];B[qg];W[qh];B[rf]
;W[ph]))

To summarize the game, there are a few points where I could have lost the game by a lot. Somehow, things managed to work out for white, but it was very lucky on my part. He might have been able to kill my bottom left corner group, too. Anyway, I was lucky.

I'll have to play more precisely for future games.

[Kirby]

For anyone following some of the games in this thread, I have a question for you. There are different styles in go. For example, Cho Chikun is known for being a territorial player, whereas Takemiya is more oriented toward his "cosmic style" moyos.

If I try to think of styles people can have in playing go, I can come up with the following (some of which may overlap):

* Territorial
* Moyo-oriented
* Fighting
* Calm
* Thick
* Fast
* Influence-oriented (perhaps similar to moyo oriented)

Maybe there are some other styles that I'm missing.

Anyway, if you have a moment, could you let me know which of these styles is most prevalent in my games, and which is most lacking? For example, based on my games, am I mostly territorial? Am I mostly fast? Something else? And, based on my games, am I least likely to be ...?

The reason I'd like to know this is because it is difficult for someone to know their own style, and I'd like to investigate a style that I am *not*.