Life In 19x19

My IGS rank is still embarrassingly low because I don't play on there enough.

I played a game tonight. I know I could have done better overall, and would gladly appreciate any comments, but I had some specific questions and thoughts about my play:

- I thought hard here. I decided that I had more potential for building than white because my 4-4's extension was high and my other corner had a Chinese pseudo-enclosure. I thought a lot about the spacing and went with a 6-2 relationship. Was this move correct? Should I have approached white instead?

- This move. I think it was a good choice, but it took some time to read. My thought was I could either cut off S7 or P11. In the end, my opponent chose to give me S7 and I got a good sized corner.

- Is this just making my stone heavy? Or is this cutting stone valuable? I thought I still had potential to attack white, so I saved it. In retrospect, perhaps I should have helped the upper right corner.

- I was in some time trouble having read so much with the decision and this corner. Sadly, I think this move was necessary to deal with the throw-in aji at Q15, so white gets to take my two stones. Still, I don't feel like I've fallen behind.

- I was not sure about this move at all. I also considered L14 and K17. For , I was just out of time - I made shape because I felt that was the least objectionable thing to do in this situation.

- I have the ladder here, so was this extension just slow? I was trying to be solid. But then, at I try to keep two alive groups split for the sake of being able to get an eye on the side. In retrospect, I think K12 or H11 would have been a stronger reply - white wouldn't take gote to kill my L18 stone.

- This was my victory declaration move. I didn't see where white would get enough points to come back without invading here, so I took the point away. The rest of the game involved some fighting, but I don't think I was in any real danger of losing. Is this assessment correct?

Some comments on the opening:

For or did you consider O13? This move, at the boundary between large B and W moyos, makes maximum use of your previous investment at Q7. The game move on the other side is much smaller in scale.

at O14 would be a stronger and more positive leaning attack. You can afford to let W consolidate some territory above, as it is unlikely you will be invading there. Attacking the W stones below from a position of strength is important. The game move is less forcing and leaves some nasty cut aji.

looks like bad shape to me, but if you read it out and liked the result, that is all that matters. I think I would prefer to cut immediately at Q10, without fixing the shape.

For the only move I would consider is connecting at O14. The game move is very big, but letting W cut makes a huge difference in center strength. After a B connection at O14, W looks very thin above. B can easily invade around L16 or K17 and demolish the upper side.

I like the attitude behind Since W is very weak below, this fight should be reasonable. It also makes full use of the previous B stones in this area. Maybe you could also win on territory, for example playing around M7 to urge W to capture the cutting stone on a small scale, but I prefer your choice.

Could block at S14? Difficult reading problem. W cannot directly push up and cut (B clamps at S17). Also note that B has an emergency escape at S10. So fighting here might be possible. The game sequence gives W a good result through If W simply connects under at M17 after that, the game looks fairly even -- B has more potential, but W has cash, and B has a weak center group.

Thank you very much, mitsun. This gives me good things to think about.

To be honest, I did not consider O13 in the game. It occurred to me during my own review afterwards. This is an important move in the Chinese that I often overlook. I will endevour to consider it more often going forward.

For I did consider O14, but thought the shape wasn't as good as O13. I read that O13 could not be cut because of my stone at R12, but did not consider how white could use that weakness to make shape. You are correct, I should have attached.

I did consider cutting Q10 directly for , but I didn't like the idea of white escaping with the Q9 hane. In retrospect, I don't see why I was so fixed on totally surrounding white. An attack would have been equally as profitable.

At I wanted to punish white in some fashion for ignoring my poke. That said, it was not my style to let myself get cut. Kageyama would not approve of such foolhardiness. I must keep my stones connected. Especially given the result in the corner, connecting would have been much stronger.

I'm glad you feel was reasonable - that decision took all my reading time from until I played it.

For the corner, I did not see the S10 option. That would have been important. I was fighting the clock at the time, so my reading was not as strong as it could have been. I also rushed into . I definitely feel that this was my weakest point in the game. I need to make wiser use of my time in the future so that I can play more strongly in these situations.

Thanks again for your comments.