So, white played c8. A big, solid move. It secures a bunch more territory and makes it harder for me to settle on the left side. But if I was playing white probably I would approach the lower right corner. That's what happened in the one pro game in GoGoD with this position, so now we are in uncharted territory! So it is natural for me to now develop the lower right corner somehow. There are a few moves I considered:
$$Bcm21 High shimari
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . . . . 7 . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X . . . . , b . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm21 High shimari
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . . . . 7 . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X . . . . , b . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
1) High shimari. This makes a nice box shape with L4. Pros: As it is high it is harder to reduce. Cons: doesn't secure the corner so well; it has weak points at
a or
b later. White
a is kind of annoying to undermine me there, but I think it would be a bit of an overplay when I pincer around r10. The sort of sequence that might happen on the right side is like below:
$$Wcm28 White splits side
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . 6 . . 9 . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm28 White splits side
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . 6 . . 9 . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
The checking extension at 29 nicely closes my shimari (and now I like it high not low as that would be too flat). There are some other choices, like 33 high or low, but I am happy with a development like this: the fight from white pulling out 28 will make it harder for white to invade my lower side.
$$Bcm21 Low shimari
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . . . a . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . . . b . 7 . . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm21 Low shimari
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . . . a . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . . . b . 7 . . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
2) Low shimari. It's better for securing the corner than the high one, but I don't like giving white an ideal reducing move at
a or
b. It just doesn't feel as good with L4 as the high shimari.
$$Bcm21 Big shimari
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . . . . 7 . . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X . . . . , c . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . . . . a . X b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm21 Big shimari
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . . . . 7 . . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X . . . . , c . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . . . . a . X b . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
3) Big low shimari. Now if white reduces with the shoulder hit I get a bigger corner, but as a downside it is easier for white to live in the corner. Also white can aim at things like invading at
a with the attachment at
b in the corner probably giving life if black answers
a on the outside.
$$Wcm28 Invasions later
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . . . . X 0 . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . . 2 . . . 9 . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . . . . 1 8 X 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm28 Invasions later
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . . . . X 0 . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . . 2 . . . 9 . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . . . . 1 8 X 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5 7 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
$$Bcm21 Chinesey
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm21 Chinesey
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
4) I could also go for some chinese opening style move, but I dismissed this because I want to be tighter territorially after giving white a big lower left corner.
$$Bcm21 Counting
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . C O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | C C X O O . O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | C C C X C O X . X . . . . . . 7 S S S |
$$ | C C C O O O X C O , X . . . . , S S S |
$$ | C C C O X X C X C C S S S S S X S S S |
$$ | C C O O X C C C C C S S S S S . S S S |
$$ | C C O X X C C C C C S S S S S . S S S |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Bcm21 Counting
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . C O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | C C X O O . O X . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | C C C X C O X . X . . . . . . 7 S S S |
$$ | C C C O O O X C O , X . . . . , S S S |
$$ | C C C O X X C X C C S S S S S X S S S |
$$ | C C O O X C C C C C S S S S S . S S S |
$$ | C C O X X C C C C C S S S S S . S S S |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
I've recently been reading bits of Nie Weiping on Go and was struck by how precisely he counts in the early game, so will give it a go here. The easy bit first: white's lower left corner. This is totally secure: no way I can do anything in there. The yose at d2/e2 is not totally clear, but let's assume I get e2 sente yose. Normally you count pessimistically, assuming your opponent gets the double gotes, but I think here e2 is just about my privilege and I should be able to get it in sente (as if ignored jumping in the corner takes a lot of points) before white has the chance to e2 gote. White has 21 secure points, but tbh is pretty likely to get a7, f6 etc so let's call this 25. Black is rather harder to count. How much of the lower side and lower-right corner is territory? The circles are for what I think is secure territory (actually not so much if white gets e2 gote, but as I said I'm perhaps self-indulgently calling it my privilege), namely 15 points. In Nie's book I remember he counted a high shimari as 12 points. I'm reckoning in the game white can at most either invade the n3 area or the corner: in doing so I will secure the other one, for example the sequence below. One way to try to count this is say there are basically 2 3x5 blocks here (marked with squares) and I get 1 of them, i.e. 15 points. I'm not really sure if this is correct though, maybe it's a bit pessimistic. If I call the shimari 12 points, Nie style, and then give myself about half of the n3 area, say 6 points, that gives me 18 points. I think I'll go with that. The two hoshis at the top side are equal. White has some potential on the left side, me on the right. My right side is wider, but his c8 is thicker so let's call this even. So adding these up white has 25+komi = 31, black has 15+18 = 33. So is black ahead by 2 points? Hard to say that really as the error in the counting is probably larger and it's all a bit hand-wavey. Basically it's a fairly even game as I thought without counting!
$$Wcm28 Possible invasion?
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . 8 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . 7 6 . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X 9 . 5 2 , . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . 0 . . 3 1 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------
- Click Here To Show Diagram Code
[go]$$Wcm28 Possible invasion?
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . O X . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X O O . O X . . . . . 8 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O X . X . . . 7 6 . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O O O X . O , X 9 . 5 2 , . . . |
$$ | . . . O X X . X . . 0 . . 3 1 X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]