@Shaddy
Thanks for the review. I noticed you left a few tsumego problems:
$$ White to live
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | W . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O O X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . O . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$ White to live
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | W . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O . O O X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . O . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |[/go]
At least this move works, I think:
$$ White to live
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . 4 . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O a 1 . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O 2 O O X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . O . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$ White to live
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . 4 . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O a 1 . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O 2 O O X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . O . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |[/go]
Since black cannot play at 'a', white can live.
So the only other option might be to push, but then it's already a living shape.
$$ White to live
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O . 2 . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O 1 O O X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . O . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$ White to live
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | O . 2 . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O 1 O O X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . O . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |[/go]
Maybe I'm missing something since it's my own game, but those options seem to work.
For the second question...
I think the status is that white is dead.
After

, below, I don't know how to live.
$$ Status?
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O O X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . O . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$ Status?
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O O X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . O . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |[/go]
For example:
$$ Status?
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . 2 . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 3 . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O O X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . O . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$ Status?
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . 2 . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 3 . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O O O X . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . O X O X X . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X X . O . X . . . . . . . . X . . . |[/go]
So I was very stupid to ignore this in the game.
Regarding a few of your other comments:
"C16 puts more liberty pressure on Black. Either way, White's got a very promising game."
> Good point.
"Come on!"
> To be honest, I didn't even consider the variation you showed. But I like your point that putting stones next to opponent's stones doesn't constitute pressure. "I have to put them in the direction he's trying to go in." I felt like I was "pressuring" and attacking two groups, but it looks like I was just letting his group get stronger since I played in the wrong direction.
"J18 would be better here. This is the kind of move you cannot play unless you have checked that it works."
> Yes, I have a tendency to accept too much risk without reading out the result. It's a big problem.