Life In 19x19

As black I often try to play the Chinese opening - however up to now I didn't study fuseki in a systematic way, so it's more like a habit.

I hope that the Malkovich game format will enable a more structured thinking process. I will try to have a look on (i) my own weak groups, (ii) the opponent's weak groups, (iii) big points for me, (iv) big points for the opponent as well as combinations of (i)-(iv) in this order. In OTB or online games this mostly fails since I'm too confused or too much focused on a single goal. We will see...

This has become my standard reply to 4-4 stones. I have come to value a more territorial style as white in recent months.

I usually like to give some sort of goal for these Malkovich games. Since my most recent journal entry discussed my problems with playing heavy moves, my goal will be to play lightly. I do, however, wish to maintain my solid playstyle. The balance there is critical and difficult, but if I can maintain it throughout the game I should find victory.

My next move will likely be a 3-4 in the lower left corner. If black tries for a cross-game I intend to approach one of his stones. I am not afraid of the cross-game, but I have come to enjoy using approach moves in the early opening. Perhaps this is not sound, but it is certainly interesting.

An alternative would be d4 and - if w plays the lower right corner - approach at d15. However I have even less experience with diagonal fuseki positions. Maybe I should try that out in my next online games...

From this I expect either a Chinese opening by black or an approach on one of my stones. In response to black playing a Chinese variation, I will approach the top right. In response to an approach on my side, I have been favoring the one space low pincer as of late.

It's what I wanted to play anyway. Of course there are so many other options...
- Since w has two 3/4 stones I thought of splitting in the a area. However then w can make a shimari at e. g. b and the good extension c and second shimari d would be sort of miai. If w gets b and d it could get difficult to create a base for my splitting stone.
- Since my stone is high, an extension at c feels bigger than at the lower border (e). However there are still the big points A and left.
- I could play the approach moves right away, however they are not yet urgent and I wanted to play my big points before destroying the opponent's ones.
- Therefore, I stick to . If w answers around A I can not easily invade the corners, OTOH the spacing between and is large so it should be still feasible to play approach moves along the side e. g. C5 or D5.
- Probably this is all bullshit - I tend to feel rather lost in fuseki stage ...

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . c . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . a a . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . e . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -----------------------------------------[/go]

The Low Chinese is the opening I know best as black. Playing against it is fairly straight forward for me - I must take one of the two star points on either the top or bottom to limit black's options for creating a double wing.

As planned I am approaching the top right. I expect my opponent to back off high, at which point I will take the top star point.

It's natural to respond the corner approach. Now I would expect A. I w plays A I have to take C to be consistent with my initial planning.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . b . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . a . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 . . . . . c . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -----------------------------------------[/go]

If w plays B instead, he can go into the corner but I get sente and can take the big point at lower border anyway. Afterwards, I can chose to approach either the top left or bottom left w stone - depending on what w plays next.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

I understand that the 3-3 invasion after this move has been quite common in Low Chinese professional games these past few years. This move, however, has also been played and it is one that I personally prefer. As black, when I play the Low Chinese. I want to get one of the star points. Because my other corner is a 3-4 facing away from the bottom, it will be difficult for him to choose a joseki on the lower side that gives him the star point. He may take it directly, but perhaps he does not value the same things that I do in the Chinese.

Let's hope my large amount of experience with this opening is to my advantage.

Although I do not know schawipp... Perhaps he is also an avid Low Chinese player. In which case our mid-game thinking will likely decide this game.

As planned - Now, w has a good good shimari at B, but I have a similar point at A. If w now plays B right away it would feel a bit passive. I would then approach at E and try to get a big moyo in lower-right area.

W can approach at c trying to "undermine" my lower side. In this case would be locally better placed at d. However d feels to low in a moyo oriented plan.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . 8 . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . e . . . . . . . . . . . a . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . 9 . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 . . c . . d . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -----------------------------------------[/go]

Someone pick up that phone... because I called it!
This means my opponent does actually have a similar understanding of the Chinese up to this point. Intriguing. I look forward to reading his comments after the game.

Why this move? It does a few things.

First, it works with my own star point stone on top. Second, because it is high, it also aims to build the left. I expect my opponent's next move will be to approach my lower left corner. I intend to play a loose pincer. It is one of my favorite moves to play in this type of situation as it serves a dual purpose of both pincering and creating a 5-space extension from my other enclosure, thereby granting me a double wing formation.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm1 Pincer and extension in one!
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . C . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . C , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -----------------------------------------[/go]

If this game does become about our two moyos, I must remember to invade the Chinese enclosure before it is too late. This will be my goal from the lower left joseki - have sente to invade.

Now it feels urgent to approach at least the lower left corner stone. W has a big upper left corner but the black influence does not look bad either (all IMHO of course). If w is inclined to invade in lower right area it could get funny.

My opponent has many options following this move, including tenuki.

Were I to predict his next move, I would say he will attach underneath my corner stone. I have not been wrong about a single one of his moves so far, so we'll see if this holds true.

And, just to be sure, schawipp - if you're reading these, you're not supposed to do that until after the game. Besides, I don't know that playing what your opponent is planning on you playing is such a good idea.

I will follow-up with the hane and, if he pulls back, I will play the older, but more solid, tiger's mouth variation. The reason is that I want to be able to play H3 without leaving weaknesses.

If all goes as I envision, this will be the result of the next few moves:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm11
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 7 . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 5 , . . . . . X . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . 3 O . . . 0 . . a . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . 4 . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -----------------------------------------[/go]

Black has several options for a response. If he does play the kick in order to get sente, I can strike the shape point at 'a' to undercut the two stones in the center. This, combined with the iron pillar he gave me and strong corner, could allow me to begin an attack.

If black plays an iron pillar of his own, then I will approach the lower right high. I will not play out the standard variation, however. I want to test and see just how well my opponent knows his Low Chinese. Time to break out some of the variations I learned in Kato Masao's book "The Chinese Opening."

This is probably going to develop as a moyo building contest. I keep feeling rather nervous in such cases so it's a good opportunity to try this out. White already claims a quite big corner. Also C9 was a nice move as a combination of light pincer and extension (a little wide extension, though) and it will be rather difficult to invade. Maybe I'm already mistaken...

Thus I'm slightly challenging the lower left corner (is it sente, or not?!) while building more influence and keeping my stones connected. I also thought of the more direct E3 but this can lead to D4 E4 E5 D6 F5 which feels rather complicated and tends to leave me with a weak group and destroy my influence.

The standard joseki starting at C3 doesn't look too convincing with C9 already in place.

Well, for the first time my opponent played a move I didn't expect.

This is sort of like a 5-4 joseki situation, but with the twist of my long-range pincer. If we play out the standard 5-4 variation I think I will gladly let it end in gote to undercut the bottom. If he goes for the seal-in variation, I will play that out for sente (also because it's my favorite of all joseki).

That c9 pincer is not good because:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm15
$$ -----------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . a O X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . 0 2 1 . X . . . X . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | b 5 3 O 7 . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . 6 4 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ -----------------------------------------[/go]

White can try to resist with 18 at 21 as c9 does help in that fight but I think black can handle it.