Life In 19x19

White's gotta be ahead. I'd hate to have that floating black group..

Black has a bit more solid territory, but is low on the top right, and has a weak group which doesn't cut anything since White can easily link up to the ponnuki with M18, and which doesn't have any influence since it is close to a white ponnuki. So I prefer White

The position screams White. Black has an ugly lump of floating stones.

There are a few counterindications though:
- Black has sente
- Black has territory in two places
- White has a stone on the second line
- other than the area top left, White has no territory yet
- White's ponnuki can be atari'd again
- and Bill has chosen this position, so it shouldn't be as trivial as it looks

BUT, still
- white has komi
- white's two 3-4 stones are worth an enclosure
- and that ugly lump of stones
- most of all, White has a good move which isn't one for Black: a connection on the second line, linking White's own floating stones up with territory, while a black move there adds a stone to his floating lump

But then again,
- if Black jumps out, and White connects on the second line, and Black takes the largest point on the left side, isn't that terrible for WHite?
- Black's stones may be expendable, while White's aren't

Gee, this one's really hard!!!

I must stick to my intuition and say "White is ahead" but I have only 55% confidence in my statement

I think I'm about to change my mind and give Black ahead.

White CAN cut through: Black has a weakness White can exploit!

I'd hate such a floating black group. I'd even consider sacrificing it. White's weak group can connect under, so is not as weak as black's group.

But if it were so easy, black wouldn't be a pro and Bill probably wouldn't choose this position

Arguments for black: with the descent he can separate white groups for good while threaten to make an eye. The two white corners look lonely, while blacks shimari is uncontested. If black is happy with white connecting its weak group under, black can probably sacrifice its stones. The turn on Q12 looks tasty.

So, I take black

And I am really curious how black manages to turn the floating black group into profit. There is probably a lesson to be learnt there.

Good thing it's black sente otherwise definitely White. Hot area is top right fighting, but first let's count the rest of the board. I don't really know how to count high shimari (about 10 points?) Or the white 3-4s (6 each?) But as all are decent opening moves let's say about even or a little better for White (because going first in empty corner is better than shimari) and 12 is a bit more than 10. Top right black is about 15 points (q17 sente) which is the same as if White gets territory up to 3rd line E->J which seems plausible (eg if black approach and White kosumi or knight, if pincer then black gets a weak group but White may get less immediate territory there). So minus the fight and black sente White leads by Komi plus 1 capture plus the anount 2 corners are better than a shimari (and j16 thickness probably means d17 can become a chunkier corner than the other). So about 10 points.

So the fight. Black should probably jump out around n/o12. Does this force White to connect in gote at M18 or can he resist and break out or at least cut black in sente first? If White crudely boks his way out black seems ok and N12 can be captured in a ladder so that's not a worry, But can 34 crosscut or some better shape? Anyway first as a baseline we can have White simply M18 and then the question is a black stone at o12 and sente worth 10 points? My feeling is not, white can still cut later and if black connects White can just shimari in lower right.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm31 Black to play.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O X X O O O . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . O . O X O X . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . X X X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4 . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6 . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . 7 . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Also isn't there a problem with trying to enclose with corner aji. Maybe black can try to q17 in sente first but it's not really sente as white can probably resist with jump in key area and when if it is that corner aji is still a ko.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm31 Black to play.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O X X O O O . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . O . O X O X . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . X X X . O 6 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X 8 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 2 X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

So now I say definitely White.

I missed that last diagram, as you can see in my post. Otherwise me too I had chosen White. Without that aji, I was in doubt, because of the diagrams before.

I favor Black. Both sides have weak groups, which I suspect will both settle imminently. White's upper left corner/side is bigger than Black's upper right, but Black has an enclosure in the lower left which is more valuable than White's lower right. Moreover, I think settling will help to erase the upper left or expand Black's right side.

Katago says that White leads by about 10 points. On the other hand, if a black stone is added at R15 like this

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm30 Black to play.
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O X X O O O . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . O . O X O X . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . X X X . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

Then the position is considered even! There are many possible followups, here is a simple sequence which is not optimal for both players, but almost. At the end of the sequence Katago says that Black leads by 2 points, and has 52.4% winrate.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B Possible continuation
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O 3 . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O X X O O O 1 X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . O . O X O X 2 O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . X X X . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . 4 X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . 7 . 6 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

However, with the position below, White leads by 15 points!!

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O X . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O X X O O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . O . O X O X O O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . X X X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ +---------------------------------------+[/go]

I prefer white here. Is there going to be a running battle at the top right? White can connect under at M18, or if black prevents the connection then white gets the first move in the centre. So I think this fight would favour white. What if black tries to treat the N15 stones as forcing moves and sacrifices them? Perhaps a fair trade, as the territory at top right is about equal to the sacrificed stones. But then white's top left is at least as big as black's bottom left, and white got to the bottom right corner first, so white is still ahead.

In its GoGoD commentaries, after Elf estimates the winrate for one player as 88½% (73.5k rollouts). Elf assumes area scoring with 7½ pts. komi. Which player is it?

White. And White won by resignation.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm30 White is ahead.
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O X X O O O . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . 1 X O X O X . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . X X X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

This was a castle game between Yasui Senchi Senkaku (Oh Senchi) (W) and Hayashi Monetsu in 1787. The game is GoGoD 1787-12-26b.

Here is Elf's recommended continuation.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm31 Elf's mainline continuation
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . 8 . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O X X O O O 1 X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . O . O X O X 2 O X 6 . |
$$ | . . 9 . . . . . . O . X X X . O 4 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . 0 . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Black's main problem in this opening is his heavy group of floating stones. Black takes kikashi in the top right and then jumps into the center with . Now White has a weak group. White takes kikashi in the top right corner, leaving some aji for later, and then connects underneath with . Now approaches the top left corner and pincers.

Earlier in the game

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$B A bit unusual
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 4 . . . . . . . 7 . . 6 . g . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , 3 e . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 a b . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 c f |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 , 5 . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Up through was standard. The jump to is a bit unusual, offering to let White take the corner with a - g. Elf thinks that loses 3½% to par, which seems to be within Elf's margin of error.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm10 Erroneous peep
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . 3 . X . . O . 8 . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 7 X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 5 . 4 . 6 . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

, threatening to push and cut, is an error, losing 13% to par. White protects and strengthens his stones with - .

Elf's mainline variation for

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm15 Mainline variation for :b15:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . X . . O . 1 . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . a . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . X . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

threatens the standard tesuji at a. pushes, followed by hane and counter-hane.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm19 Bold exchange
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O . B . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . . X 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . B . . . O 4 5 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 O X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Black plays a two step hane and then connects to make thickness, while allowing White to surround the stones. OC, the stones have plenty of play, but this strikes me as a bold exchange for Black.

Game continuation

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm20 String of errors
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O 2 X 5 7 O . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . W 8 9 0 1 4 . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . X 6 X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

=

There follows a string of errors, mostly minor. loses 8% to a, loses 11% to the keima at b, loses 12% to a, loses 18% to b, loses 8½% to a, loses 14½% to b, and loses 6½% to par. is tesuji, but Elf prefers the bamboo connection. Black's play is obviously heavy.

is the smallest of these mistakes, but Elf has a nice variation for it.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm26 Elf's mainline variation for :w26:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O X X O 7 O . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . . . . O X . O X 4 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . X X X . O 1 2 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Before connecting as in the game, White plays kikashi against Black's top right side group, cutting at to induce .

Now Elf's mainline variation for , Black's largest error so far

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm23 Elf's mainline variation for :b23:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O X X . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . . . . O . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . X . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 6 5 X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1 4 . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . 9 7 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Instead of making a heavier group, Black plays the keima at . After Black jumps out with . Then White sacrifices to strengthen his attack.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wcm32 Elf's mainline variation for :b23:, continued
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O X X . . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . . . . O . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . X . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 4 2 . . O O X X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . 3 1 . O X O . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . 5 , . . . . X X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

tops the tree, and then White continues to attack from the center.

Finally, Elf's mainline variation for

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bcm25 Elf's mainline variation for :b25:
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . O . . . 8 . . . . . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . O X X O . O . X . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . . . . O X . O X 5 . |
$$ | . . 9 . . . . . . O . X . X . O 2 3 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O X 4 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . O X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . X . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X , X . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

After White plays kikashi and then attacks with . jumps out, connects via the third line, and the approaches the top left corner.

Elf's last two variations highlight how heavy Black's play was.

From the shape, both sides have played painful moves. However, B is well behind enemy lines with a group with no eyes and W can connect under the top and has Q12 in semi sente. The shape is clearly good for W.

If we count 10pts for W at the top and 12 for B on the right, then B has slightly more territory.

However, there is so much expansion potential from the attack with the S16 cut threatening to capture some stones. I don't think B can afford to give up those 20 ish pts on the upper side. But running will help W expand on both sides where W has a lot of potential.