Life In 19x19

The attack begins. Seems heavy to try and push from the bottom, so I'll play from the top.

He has too much solid territory. It's a hard game for me .

Again, I'm choosing to play solidly. The hane at D13 was also an option, but this doesn't even give White the option of the cross cut to complicate things.

This is overplay, but will he punish this one properly?

R14?

I have several options available to me locally:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . c 5 a . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . d . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X X . . . . . . . . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O . O . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

My first instinct is to play the simple hane at 'a'. Problem is, this feels very passive. White gets a decent group like so, eating into my right side and gaining influence towards the center:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . 0 . X X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 8 . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X X . . . . . . . . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O . O . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

The clamp at 'b' looks nice, but I have to figure out what happens when lovelove descends towards the side. Bearing in mind that G7 is already a ladder breaker.

G7 is the reason I'm not really considering the direct cut at 'c'.

'd' makes good shape with Q9, and I like that ... but it also feels slack. My reading here is terrible (man, I feel weak just looking at this), but I could imagine a sequence like this (terrible for Black):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . 9 X X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . 6 . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X X . . . . . . . . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O . O . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I'm leaning towards 'b'. I've been experimenting with clamps ever since I studied the following 3-3 invasion sequence:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

The above is such an interesting position, in that if both players play what (I think) is considered optimal, the only difference from the typical 3-3 invasion is that Black has wasted aji that he could have used later. That being said, I rarely see both players play as above. Usually in the above scenario, I've almost ALWAYS seen Black descend ( @ / )and get punished for it with the cut ( / @ ).

All that aside, here's what might happen in THIS game:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm26 at
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . B O O X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . 5 3 O 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4 1 7 . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 6 8 . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X X . . . . . . . . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O . O . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

That seems a bit optimistic, though. Watch how lovelove punishes me for being clever.

The overplay is actually not that easy to punish:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm21 Prisoners:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . X . . . . . X X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . O O X . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . 8 O 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 9 . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . X X X . . . . . . . . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , O . O . . , . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Generally if my opponents actually play the hane I don't have much trouble (if they don't know the hane's wrong, they tend to butcher the subsequent fight too), but I must admit I don't fully know the punishment despite having played against that hane hundreds of times XD

In this game, though, with the support on top and right side I think it will be very hard for white.

R14 is a mistake, now I have a very good position to start a fight.

I think B got tricked into replying the UR corner.
B should get the hell out with (something like) and attack W's very thin 2 stones on the left:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

My feeling is Lovelove meant = an overplay in the sense that W
really should've closed B with something like instead of --
and not in the sense that there is an easy way for B to reply to (but we'll find out soon enough):

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

Locally in the UR, perhaps is better than the clamp :

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

For beginners. Notice the common mistake: B forgot about the lower left corner (urgent),
and could not peel his eyes off -- instead, look at the whole board.

Ed, there's a nice discussion of this move on Sensei's (http://senseis.xmp.net/?BQM15). It's a mistake locally, though a very difficult one to respond to. Though perhaps you're right that it would be better to play in the lower left. It's hard for me to say--the upper right can turn out very well for Black if he can handle the difficulties.

And, so begins the first real fight of the game. In my previous post, I gave a (rather optimistic) line that I thought could happen. However, let's see what my opponent comes up with and I'll do some more reading from there.

I need to end up with sente here, there are too many places on the board to play.

So far as predicted.

S14-S13 is a bad exchange, making white stronger.

Hmmm ... this makes me nervous. When things go exactly as you planned it against a much stronger opponent, you have to wonder if something has gone wrong.