Life In 19x19

Hmm, I'm not sure what he's up to. Maybe he's pushing to get ready for a knights jump to get ahead. With the hope of forming a monster central moyo. But take 4th line territory and still be ahead in the pushing battle? Don't mind if I do.

Anyway, this is a forced move. My group is down to 4 liberties, so I'm contact unstable again. I need to add liberties. I can't hane, because white's stones are super stable (6+ liberties) and I'm not, so I'd be hane-ing against stronger stones. Plus it's preferable to not remove liberties from super stable groups.

I'll hold off on counting until my opponent makes a move. The corner is a huge swing vote right now. In fact, if I can grab the corner white has practically no solid territory. Just lots and lots of moyo.

At the risk of (further?) heckling from the kibitzers, I think this is a mistake by white. Both groups were super stable (6+ liberties). White needs to leave contact and either take sente or take the corner or something. Basically this move is too slow. Where's white's followup? A hane, or even double hane, don't have much threat behind them.

So where to play? I could take a big point like the corner. I could start a reduction into the center from the bottom left corner. Or I could start a running fight with my weak group(stone) on the right side. The weak group has priority if I intend to save it. If I make another move, I'm basically telling white I consider that stone to be dead.

At the risk of getting myself in to trouble, I'll opt for the "correct" line of play if this were an even game and start mucking around on the right. Chase white in profit being the goal here.

Some rough counts of solid territory (rounding to 5s):

Black:
1. Top left corner: 10 points
2. Bottom right: 5 points
3. Bottom left: 15 points
4. Top left: 5 points

White:
No real solid territory.

Some rough counts of moyo potential:

Black:
1. 25 points along the top

White:
1. Left side: 25+15 = 40 points
2. Bottom: 25 points
3. Center: ~<100 points? I'm not sure how to accurately count large areas like this. My eyes "slip" on the board and I lose my place, even counting by 3s.
4. Right side: the two weak groups cancel each other out here so I'm not counting any of this for either player.

So add up moyo potential, and divide by 3, we get: B 10 : W: 50

So final score looks something like: B: 45 W: 50. Since it's within 10 points, and I was rough in my counting anyway, I'm saying it's still a close game on the board.

So I haven't even touched my reverse komi bank yet. Which is good, since the opening and early middle game are my strengths. If I lost ground here I wouldn't expect to win. From here I expect white will eventually start a tactical fight and I'll misread something and a large group will die, and the game will end up close (+/- 5 points).

Of course Kerby doesn't necessarily know that I fail at fighting, so he might become disheartened and play overly conservatively as if my opening ability is reflective of my fighting ability. One can hope

Scenario 1: Run, aiming to counter attack. This seems okay, but it means I have to make life inside a very large white belly. Playable, I think, but not for the tactically timid. The game becomes a 50/50 crap shoot on whether my central group can make life or not. Given that the game is fairly close already, and I have a nice reverse komi, this seems like a bad idea.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , 6 4 . 2 . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 7 5 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . 1 . X . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . O X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Scenario 2: I steal white's base, and use it to force him to induce a running move for me.

In the end, though, I have a large weak group with no real hope of counterattack. The inducing move is terrible here.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . 2 . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . 6 . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . 3 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . O X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Scenario 3:
Capping attack. I use the weak group as a sacrifice to build center facing influence, ruining a large part of white's moyo. White can still invade the top left corner, of course, so I haven't really gained much in terms of territory for myself. But I've ruined enough of white's central moyo to make this work.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . 5 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . 2 , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 X . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . O X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Scenario 4: White tenukis the cap. White starts to solidify his moyo, which is good for white, but I get a pretty amazing amount of thickness that threatens to form a moyo of my own. So I consider this both unlikely and welcome.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 9 7 1 . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . 8 6 4 , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . X . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . O X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

As a followup: I realize most of the sequences I posted above don't show white's best responses... It's more if white played using my gut instincts (and my gut isn't very strong at go). But I still stand behind the cap.

Numsgil wrote:A hane, or even double hane, don't have much threat behind them.

Getting sealed in isn't a threat? Or losing the race to get ahead. Black seems to be lacking in fundamentals from his awful approach to the 5-3 onward. Kageyama is crying many single tears.

In my opinion, reducing White's potential in the center isn't a bad idea at this point. The center looks bigger than the top side.

Numsgil, if you want to use Contact Fights, you've got to look ahead a bit.
White can reduce Black's three stones to only 3 liberties in sente, so they are not stable at all after White extended to f15.
Even just playing makes those black stones unstable.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I think this is amazing for W:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 8 6 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 2 3 7 . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . 0 X X X 1 4 . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O 5 . 9 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . c , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . O X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

B can probably fight for sente:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 6 8 0 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . 2 3 7 9 . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X X 1 4 . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . O X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Cont.:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

But B's fourth line territory is reduced to ashes, and B gets amazingly powerful, forcing crawls on the 2nd line. There's no way Black can kill the lone stone on the right clean, and 3-3 is open in either case. This seems like a very typical case to never ignore the fundamentals of the way the stones walk.

Ah, it feels like a good day for a fight. Finally got some much needed sleep after the Congress and am ready to get back into the swing of things. It is important to keep Nums split here. I am hoping this fight will solidify my bottom territory. I feel the fighting is good for white here I am far enough away from his corner in the upper right that I don't feel pressured by it. It feels more like 2 individual stones attacking my 1 (ie 2 weak groups attacking my weak group) and I have a solid bottom to run to. Since Nums didn't take an extra move at the top I will have lots of strong reduction later. Also once I capture the ladder stone I can reduce the bottom right corner significantly. I kind of feel I should have captured the ladder stone instead of taking the other corner, but there's nothing I can do about it now. I am going to explore what is my best choice (a or b or something else) if I get sente out of this battle and can turn and attack his upper corner.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

So this move is pulled directly from topazg's capping video.

As I stated before the intention is to sacrifice that lone black stone in order to build up influence facing the center and null out some of white's moyo. I don't mind giving white territory in exchange for influence because right now he doesn't really have any territory, and I'm weak in influence, so we both shore up our weaknesses and aim for a better balance. I'm still winning with my reverse komi, so making the game simpler by being better balanced is probably good for me.

Running out with the lone Q8 stone instead would just be awkward to manage since it's not really in a good position to either build up a wall for territory (white is strong on the bottom) or turn around and counter attack (white has too much center facing influence for it to be an easy fight for black). So running out just means I have a weak group to babysit.

...

I'm far less comfortable leaving the top left corner than I was a small eternity ago when I last moved . After re-reading Kageyama's "Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go" and the chapter on getting ahead, I feel like this is a case where leaving it as is is a bad choice. But I also feel like walking with white across the board is bad, partly because of Wilcox's "Contact Fights" and partly because, while I get forth and fifth line territory, which I don't mind at all, I also force white to build a wall facing a center moyo.A strong wall facing the left and center favors white strongly. It's too easy for white to turn that into territory.

So I'm really torn and unsure about how to look at the top left. I feel like I have contradictory rules I'm trying to follow. Hmm... Maybe I need the double hane here? If there's a break on the right where I can take sente I might try that.

...

Speaking of sente, is sente something I should expect? Usually you get sente if you reduce. And lose sente if you invade. Depending on the sector lines you draw I might be inside a white moyo, which would make the cap a light invasion actually. ie:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm37 Move 37 Captures: W: 1 B: 1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . O X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ {LN Q11 F15}
$$ {LN P10 Q5}[/go]

The longer line is really long though. Usually lines that long don't have the gravitas behind them that shorter lines do. So I think this is a case where it's unclear what I should expect sente-wise. It probably depends on my level of risk aversion. In the game as it stands, I'm definitely risk adverse since there's no reason to push my luck. So it will probably end in gote for me when I firmly defend.

...

Speaking of sector lines, white is definitely inside mine as well. (White is called a "grouse" in Wilcox's "Sector Fights". White will probably need to try and break out or form a base). So there's definitely some interesting fighting going on right now as we both try to escape and surround each other.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm37 Move 37 Captures: W: 1 B: 1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . O X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ {LN O11 Q16}
$$ {LN O11 N9}
$$ {LN N9 Q8}
$$ {LN Q8 T8}[/go]

I don't really see any clean way to do this. If I try to cut him off directly he will still escape easily move 7@2:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X 3 2 5 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1 X . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . 8 . 6 a . . . |
$$ | O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X O , X . . O . , . . . 9 O , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . O X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So I am going to aim for more complications.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . 2 1 O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . X . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . O X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The ladder stone keeps causing me grief. I can't win any kos, I have to watch out for ladder breakers the evil never ends until I get a chance to just capture it. They say weak groups are your problem, but dead groups are your opponents problem, this is truly the case with ladder stones.

Hmm hmm hmm... He's trying to cut me in two. I don't see a good way to fall back without giving white more than he deserves. Really on many many levels this is the only move. It encloses white. It protects a link. It's a contact move in response to a contact move, which is what I need if I want to work towards contact stability.

But white will cut and I'll end up with a tactical fight that will easily spill onto the rest of the board. Turning this from the largely strategic game it's been so far to an all out tactical brawl. Any center fighting should favor white because he's probably the stronger tactical fighter and because he's got several walls he can try and run towards. So this is probably the beginning of the end.

This is the most likely sequence. Classic windmill. Then I need to decide what to follow it with. 'a' tries to steal white's base. 'b' tries to attack the black group in the center with the hopes of building up enough strength to form two eyes. 'c' tries to enclose white securely and rescues a black stone that I was going to sacrifice.

'a' forces white to squeeze between my sacrificed black stone and the two stones of the windmill. Probably a bad idea. Likewise 'c' forces white to build a base on the other side. Also, since my original goal was influence, I'll probably opt for 'b'.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

And so a battle begins.

Oh.

...

Don't push on a link if you aren't going to cut, Mr. Kerby. Force me to defend weaknesses and build central influence? Don't mind if I do. I really don't mind if you want to escape with your weak group. Any profit as you squirm in dame is good profit. As in investing in the stock market: you can't go broke making a profit (ie: when chasing profit, don't get over excited and over-extend yourself).

I chose the solid connection because a hanging connection at M11 would encourage a peep, which I don't like. And the influence direction of a hanging connection would seem a bit redundant since I have a stone at N9. A hanging connection in the other direction (at N12) would seem weird. Wrong direction really. There's nothing interesting going on northwards.

1. Don't push on a connection (in this case a knight's jump) if you aren't going to cut. You just force your opponent strengthen himself. I'm sure Kerby knows this and he's trying to escape with his group as best he can. But I think he overestimates how weak he is compared to me. Even if I were stronger, if you push on the knights jump you need to cut. Even if you intend to sacrifice the cut. You just don't want to strengthen your opponent like this.

2. If you think of the hanging connection as an arrow head, they project influence perpindicular to the point. eg: Black 1 here starts projecting influence in the direction of the arrow. More so than a solid connection would (by a bit anyway).

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc
$${AR N12 N15}
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X X X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . O O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . X O O , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . |
$$ | . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . X O , X . . O . , . . . . O , . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . O X O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]