Life In 19x19

Didn't think about this sequence till just now.

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[go]$$Bcm53 Move 53
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X 6 4 2 3 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X 5 X O 1 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X O X O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X O . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So I think white is forcing this sequence, which is less horrible for either side. Though if the G15 group dies, I'm screwed.

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[go]$$Bcm53 Move 53
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . 3 2 4 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . X O 1 5 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X O X O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X O . O X . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

See my last post

Wow

Things have gone bad to a lot lot worse for Black. Now his big group is dead and the ladder works -- he's lost everything! Of course, he's still winning, but one thing at a time

Only move locally, I think. Not sure how he's going to respond. He's in an awkward situation, but there's lots of opportunity for me to screw up

Oh crap, my two black cutting stones can be laddered. Damn, this is going downhill very quickly.

Well, that's just huge. That's like 30 points gained to me locally. It's a good sign for the game overall - Lots to do still though!

So I was outplayed twice or three times in this corner. My black group is now basically dead, and white has formidable thickness. Oops.

Unfortunately for white, he only gets this thickness in ladder form. And ladders are not great because they have weaknesses on other sides of the board.

First thought was this ladder breaker (59). Only it's not actually a ladder breaker. Would have been an awesome way to salvage points, if it were.

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[go]$$Bcm59 Move 59
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X O X O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X O . O X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O B B W . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . W B B W . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . W B B W . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . W B B W . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . W B B W . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . W B B W . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . W 3 5 6 . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 7 1 8 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O 2 O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So that's no good. I also thought about trying to capture white on a grand scale. Set up a series of squeezing plays.

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[go]$$Wcm58 Move 58
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . 6 7 8 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . X O O 2 . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X O 4 O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X O . O 5 1 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

But the reality is white has way more liberties than me. There's no way to win that capture race, even if white let me set it up as a capture race. Going back to ladder breakers, I just need to reposition it a bit. This works as a ladder breaker, and helps my stone here out a bit. I'll have to work out the best follow up.

Of course, if white manages to capture these stones too, things start to look pretty bleak.

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[go]$$Bcm59 Move 59
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X O X O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X O . O X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 3 1 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Last, here's another thought: take the opportunity to form a large scale moyo:

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[go]$$Bcm59 Move 59
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X O X O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X O . O X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . 3 . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

However, realistically, I don't see getting much of that as territory. White is fairly thick along the bottom, and the white stone smack dab in the middle shouldn't have a hard time either finding life or running.

Ok, trading a ladder breaker to a) threaten to make Black heavier, and b) to help support White's upcoming battle in the top right. Simply capturing the ladder stones will probably be my next move if he tries another ladder breaker.

I guess I leave that as a forcing exchange and move elsewhere. I want to be careful I don't give white opportunity to build up a large moyo on the right in sente.

(Note: This is a little bit stream-of-consciousness. Sorry about that.)

If I treat the marked stones as an extension from the start stone on the right, I should make a short extension along the right now. But I also don't want to encourage white to make an extension on the right to stabilize and build a moyo. So I'll make a medium length extension. I'm a little concerned that it's a luke warm move that errs on the side of indecision.

Again, 'a' seems to be about as close to white's thickness as I want to go. If white invades, I'll make a two space extension down to stabilize my group and threaten white's a bit. Black's invasion will then be like a pincered stone and we can continue like that.

The problem is that it requires another move if I want to hold the corner territory, which might make me over concentrated. The move at 'b' is definitely more kosher for that reason. Then 'c' becomes the point to complete the corner. White probably won't let that happen, obviously.

'd' on the other side is also a big point. I'll aim for it when possible. It forms a large scale moyo, and provides some loose backup for my two stones in the center.

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[go]$$Bcm61 Move 61
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . X O B B . . . . . c . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X O X O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X O . O X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . . b . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . d . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Also, importantly, the longer white doesn't capture those two stones in the ladder the more of a mistake he's making. It's just a burden he has to constantly play around. As "lessons in the fundamentals of go" advises, capture stones in a ladder as soon as you can. Don't wait for the ladder to be broken. So I'll try to form fights on the peripheral and see if I can get one to spill over into the ladder line. With any luck he might be caught in situations where those essentially dead stones force him to make sub optimal moves. If he's smart, he'll capture them next turn, though. I can then play at 'd'.

Looking at it some more, I think below would have been better. It's a ladder breaker, so white has to capture the two stones. Then I can take the point on the left or right.

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[go]$$Bcm61 Move 61
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X O X O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X O . O X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Ok, I unarguably have sente here, and it's a really big point in the game. I'm probably just under half way caught up with that top left, but it's going to get much harder to pull back the rest. So, my thoughts and considerations:

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[go]$$Bcm61 Move 61
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . X O O . . . . . . . f . . . |
$$ | . O X X . X O X X . . a . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X O X O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X O . O X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . c . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . h . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . g . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . i . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X , . . d . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . e . X . . . . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So much to think about. I'm tempted to leave moves like "a" to Black, because I can always play "f" later. "c" might "force" Black to feel like he should jump out and then I can take "f", but that feels poor if he extends along the top. However, I don't want him to extend on the right side too. "b" is high up my priority list, and probably what I'll play - it restricts the eye-space of Black's remaining top left group in a bad way, and he can't counter with the cap at "g" as I'll cut in the middle and risk attacking everything. I want to try and swallow up the middle stones in a big way, but there's a lot of space for them to live in, so anything like that is a tall order. If I had "c", I could look at "h", but now is too early I think. I'm also tempted with the shoulder hit at "d" and then jumping up to "i", as a way of developing the middle quickly, but I'll probably lose the aji of playing at "e" to live in the corner or split Black's stones. It does have the advantage of working well with "b", but then "b" can prepare "e" too, so still I return to "b".

I'm off to a wildlife park with the kids today, but in the meantime I'll think about what I do here - "b" is about 80% likely to be my move, probably followed by "e".

Something like this maybe

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[go]$$Bcm61 Move 61-70
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X O X O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X O . O X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . 7 0 . . . . . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X 6 8 . . . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 4 . X . . 9 . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

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[go]$$Bcm71 Move 71-80
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O O X X O X O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . O X O . O X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X 9 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 7 5 O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 3 4 . . . . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 2 . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . X O . . . 0 . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X O O . . . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . X O . X . . X . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Yeah, I decided, this looks fun. See previous post for thoughts and variations

This is mostly a forcing move, so I can be more sure of getting at least one eye on the edge. White needs to defend. If white does not, it leads to this, where I believe life is determined by a ko (there's at least 2 ko sites I see, so it's hard for me to read out).

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[go]$$Bcm63 Move 63
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . 4 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 7 O O X . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 6 O O X X O X O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | 5 O X O . O X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 1 X O . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

there is no ko. white can take advantage of this meaningless move by black.

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[go]$$Bcm63 Move 63
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . 6 5 . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 7 O O X . X O O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . O X X . X O X X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | 4 O O X X O X O . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | 3 O X O . O X O . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 1 X O . O . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . O O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . . X X . |
$$ | . . X , . . . . . . O O X X X . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . X . . . . O X O O . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . O X . . O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]