Life In 19x19

NB: I have moved John and Bill's posts about the other Kageyama net position to a new thread viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17510, to avoid cluttering this one, and will reply there.

Sorry by my delay replying.

@Uberdude: mostly. I'm aware (kind of; as with many things, I know but I don't quite "grok" [*]) that White doesn't have to play there. Still, there's a benefit in playing there. Might be after a tenuki or not, maybe there are more urgent plays elsewhere, but there is, as long as the position nearby allows. I can see no benefit for White in playing near the net (unless the position nearby changes a lot). If White does play there, then there's a benefit for Black to respond locally.

Thanks. Take care.

[*] Those that make sense to non-SF fans?

Thanks Uberdude, in the meanwhile Ferran also clarified.
Indeed, if the topic of discussion is "which of two ways of capturing is locally better", going into too many details of sente/gote is a distraction and may make one confused!
I see the variation shown for white as just an argument why 'a' is a weaker way for black to capture (as in 'white has this extra option').

Up one level now: maybe black may choose the weaker 'a' just because they are aware of white's follow-up, and they want to lure white into playing that sequence, and losing sente

Uberdude wrote:Hopefully I can clarify. Here is my understanding of Ferran's initial post, rephrased and made more explicit to reveal the sente or not argument and why it's faulty (as the stronger players reading already know, so struggled to think like Ferran).