Life In 19x19

This move fits in with the 'play on the line of symmetry' proverb. If I try a keima, I could well get cut and boxed in, not keen on that. I could one point jump and attach, but I shouldn't attach to the pincer stone since it's weak, and if I attach to F15, it feels like I end up a bit heavy after the probable G15-F14 exchange. I quite like this diagonal move since it gives me the natural extension J17 from my hoshi stone which aims to play at the weakness white created at the top by playing a high move 8. And if white chooses to play another move on that side, his pincer stone is in trouble...!

First decision of the game. Our stone on the left is a bit cramped but I don't see a good way of saving him. The 2 space extension n would be undercut and black's group is too strong to be really pressured by jumping out. If black plays there first I might try something like this.

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[go]$$Bcm1 Black is solid but over concentrated
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 7 O 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 4 3 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 8 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So the question is do I settle the upper side or do I tenuki (approach the upper right star point) I'm more in favor of tenukiing since the board is so open and I don't like leaving black with sente. If we play the standard joseki the gap between the marked stones is too small to be interesting yet:

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[go]$$Bcm1 upper side pretty much settled
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . W . . O . . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . W . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

And if they pincer we fight!

ugh.... I don't like to change opening moves, but I think I'll regret approving this.

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[go]$$Bcm1 Move 10 - B:9(4) W:9(4)
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . b a . . . . 0 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This move is too thin. With the marked stone so weak; it is even more of a priority to ensure that the top group is completely solid, or the multiple weaknesses could become a pretty big liability. As black I probably would consider pincering or playing directly at b.

Other option:

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[go]$$Bcm11 Move 10 - B:10(0) W:10(0)
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . 1 . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I considered this two-space low pincer to hopefully get a base for the pincer stone and simultaneously attack the group at the top left with a follow up on H17, but I don't see how to respond to white playing L16 in a good way. If I hane outside then connect, I'm going to have to do it in gote and then that group would come under immediate attack - not good.

As for the move I want to play:

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[go]$$Bcm11 Move 10 - B:10(0) W:10(0)
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$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 . . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

or:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11 Move 10 - B:10(0) W:10(0)
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 4 . . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This kind of thing anyway. Hopefully I'm not screwing up too badly ...

Quite a few options here, not least the idea of jumping out to attack that stone in a big way. However, we can play a good influential game from pressing down here, and it would be nice to take sente to pincer the top right approach stone. I want to pincer that because F16 is high, making the top interesting, and R3 is low, making the right side less interesting.

I think I'm just going to treat the C13 stone as kikashi. It looks like black has played 4 stones to not even completely capture one white one (ok, they also have some influence and have undercut the corner) But I think a double approach like this is probably sente and that leaves the stone on the left as aji for later

I don't agree with Mnemonic's assessment, to allow black to kill one stone completely solidly can make our life hard, but I think I'm flexible enough to get something out of this.

Okay. I've read D9 and D10 for half an hour each or so, and it seems white can definitely live if we play D9, and possibly lives if we play D10 too (jump to B10 lives?!) So, I'm going to play it safe and play this point to ensure white can't do any funny business and live. White probably needs 2 more moves the kill the top right, and even if he does, the territory along the left (along with the influence pointing towards the right and down) is probably worth more. Sorry if this is too small and D9/D10 are better as I realise in this game every single point will count, but I do think this is a more secure move (and one I'm more comfortable with).

Our other reasonable alternative is C9. This doesn't kill (assuming I've read this right - another 20 minutes or so!), but if white chooses to live, we get a big wall with a ton of thickness. However, the net territory swing is probably 20-30 points, and in this variation (C10) we get amount of influence also. We don't have to worry about aji problems with the stone living later too if the potential thickness pointing towards the right became compromised in its usefulness. Is the extra thickness from the C9 variation worth 20-30 points? Probably not considering we already have some decent thickness from this variation... And with the aji problems, I prefer C10...

Hopefully I won't get shouted at ...

I don't think its acceptable to tenuki to that double approah

In some way it's frustrating to have a sente move made non-sente by a tenuki, and the double approach is pretty big. On the other hand, White still has to find a way of handling the left side, and the top right temperature has now risen pretty high. It will be interesting to see where the dust settles. One thing I don't think we could allow is this:

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[go]$$Bcm13 Move 13 - B:10(1) W:10(1)
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . W . . . a . . a . . W . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . W . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . X . X . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Now the marked White stones (and ) all work wonderfully together. I had wondered about resetting to one of the "a" points as well, as that looks fairly interesting due to White's weaknesses generally (and my correcting here will thicken white up wrt the top side), but I think standard joseki works better in a BB game where corrections are limited. We'll see what MHT does

And it's not my fault. I shouldn't be too happy as I know I messed up the joseki in the top left
Anywho, the response to this move came natural. I'm still a bit worried about a pincer on our top left group seeing as black is so strong, and this move helps, even if it's far away.

I would not have changed Simba's move. I think solidly taking territory like that is just fine.

Still don't think my last move was that bad, but ah well. This one is completely standard. I really don't like this though - white is going to end up with some stones from this joseki that point towards the left and work nicely with what he has in the top left already. Sure, if I sacrificed the corner (which white would likely need two more moves to fully kill) he'd get that too, but at least then we'd have all the left, and I'd get to play somewhere else as well. I'd be hoping to end this joseki in sente then play C10 again but if topaz is not happy with C10, there's not really any point wasting /another/ correction to try to play it . I considered the P17 joseki here too but white just gets too much nice stuff pointing towards the left again.