Life In 19x19

First of all, I could consider a tenuki. But doing that would allow for white to invade the corner easily. His group still isn't super strong, so I'd like to leave the possiblity in the future for it to be weak.

The other move I considered was "a", below:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm11
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . O . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . b . a O . X . . X . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But it leaves aji for white to invade later at "b".

So, I think just playing simply is fine. I am strong. He has potential to get weak.

ok..he is playing solid game.
if he answer with knight move then i am happy.
below is what i am planning. hopefully i will rattle him and when he makes mistake i will pounce on him like a cat.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm19
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . O . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . X . . X . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

He didn't protect the cut. I think that attacking this weakness is bigger than mucking around in the corner.

I want to exploit the cut, since the ladder works.

My first thought was this:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

But white doesn't have bad prospects in this battle. One possible example is:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , 7 8 . . . X . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O 1 5 6 . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 2 O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . O . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . X . . X . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

That's because the marked stones are weak:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

If I'm going to fight like this, it'd be nice if I had some support on top. So, what if I respond in the corner so that I can get this help:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 4 . X . 3 . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 6 . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O 7 . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . 9 8 O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . O . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . X . . X . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 6 3 4 . . . X . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X 1 2 . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X O O a X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . O . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . X . . X . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I think that the marked black stone, above, is in a nice position to help my stones. Furthermore, white has the weakness of "a". I probably cannot kill white's stones, but perhaps I can build strength to attack his group on the bottom right next.

Note: The diagrams I provided are simply examples that give a rough idea of what may happen. Unexpected moves may also show up!

I might consider in my last diagram one space to the right. I'm still thinking about if I like that final position. Of course, many other things could happen, which I have not laid out explicitly.

not what i expected but it is ok..i will have to separate that one stone to create his weak group.

I'm undecided whether I want to cut or not. He could vary from joseki, but I have a good chance of ending in sente... So for now I'll just go with the flow... I'll decide if I should cut after his response.

So in my previous analysis, I decided to do a one-space high pincer instead of cutting white directly. I thought that the pincer stone would help my group if I cut. I think that this is true, but what I didn't consider fully was white also has an extra stone out there from the jump (compared to when I cut directly).

So really, I was considering two possible outcomes (among many possibilities):

1.) Cut directly

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Example outcome
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , X O . . . X . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X O O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . O . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . X . . X . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

2.) First pincer, then cut

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11 Example outcome
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X O . . . X . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X O O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . O . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . X . . X . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So in the latter of these two diagrams, of course all of the new stones that resulted from the top left joseki play a role in the relative strength of my group compared to the first diagram. But of particular significance are the two marked stones, I think:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . X . X . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X O . . . X . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . X O O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . O . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . O . X . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X . . O . X . . X . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Yes, as I said in my analysis, I'm glad to have the marked black stone, above, there to help my group. However, the marked white stone, above, also weakens my group a little bit.

So I'm currently debating whether or not this is truly a better outcome than simply cutting first...

Hopefully I will get sente out of this top left sequence. I might let the white aji linger. I am still undecided.

i hope he move that stone.

Hmmm. He didn't play as expected. However, as Magicwand said before, "One stone is aji". Therefore, I will play at the point that I previously thought was good for white and get more points. There is still aji around where I was going to cut before (although cutting now is not a good idea).

Let's see where he moves next.

ok..not what i expected..but it's ok. only thing i can do is wait for my chance.

Since white has no stones on the top, I feel comfortable with this response here. I hope to get sente, but he might just atari me and move on.

As I pointed out before, there's aji around "a":

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

But I can't think of a way to exploit it right now. Since I can't think of a good way to make his groups on the left that weak, I want to weaken his group on the bottom right. Capping should limit the group's central influence.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

The marked moves Black played are interesting. Not pertaining to the game situation but in general, too often people don't know which is appropriate given the situation that they're in; e.g:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc 'a' or 'b', that is the question.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |[/go]

I think many people just follow a general rule of thumb where if they feel weak in the area, the bottom left move in the first diagram ( ) is more appropriate and would play 'a' here, and if they feel strong then is more appropriate, or 'b' here. For a while I just played 'a', mostly because it was safe, simple, and I didn't have to worry about bad corner aji. Also, 'b' just seemed crude and seemed to unnecessarily strengthen White.

However, countsheep spent a few minutes over this in one of his 10-minute Go videos which shows that the corner isn't so scary and that 'b' can be effective, while 'a' can be inefficient even in a situation where Black is outnumbered:



It's only in the first 3 minutes or so, but I found it insightful. Since then I've found 'b' much easier to play and no longer unnecessarily worry about the corner, trusting my reading instead.

Magicwand wrote:i hope he move that stone.

Kirby wrote:Hmmm. He didn't play as expected. However, as Magicwand said before, "One stone is aji". Therefore, I will play at the point that I previously thought was good for white and get more points. There is still aji around where I was going to cut before (although cutting now is not a good idea).

I've lost so many games by reflexively jumping out with a single stone when my opponent pincers it!