Life In 19x19

Well, I thought (and still kind of do) that I could beat Magicwand evenly... But I didn't.
I thought that I could beat him with 2 stones... But I didn't.

This is getting kind of ridiculous, but I'll see if I can beat him with 3 stones.

this game will be taugh.
but i know i can find the way to win.
i will play with my full strength and show kerby that even 3 stone is not enough to win.
other two games i wasnt playing very good game because i felt i didnt need to concentrate.
this time i will play as i played very taugh handycap game in the club for big money..

I have no special strategy, yet. I am just approaching in a standard way... Hence, no commentary, yet.

it seems that he will not play aggresive so i will go high so my next knight move approach to upper right will worth little more.

I think that just playing simply is fine here. My stones work well together with the bottom left. For a short bit, I considered playing as follows:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

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

That's because white gets a decent position with the approach at "a", otherwise. It works well with his corner enclosure.

But I think playing as in the last diagram is preemptive. There is no need to play aggressively. If I play as in the last diagram, my approach stone becomes subject to attack... Sure, I can dive into the corner, but then white gets a nice wall.

I think playing simply here is perfectly fine.

getting here first is pretty urgent when playing handycap game.

although this is a joseki but when playing handycap game you will not win playing this way.
you will play somewhere else and according to changes in other side you pick joseki that fits the changes.
what is the english terminology for this? probe?
probe is what differenciate between stronger players and weaker players.

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Wc Prisoners: B=0, W=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I will explain in an edit in a little bit. Too busy atm.

if it was an even game i would go 3-3 100%.
but if i play that way it is not easy to win against 3 stone.
i will make sure his group is separate and lonely.

I'll give some explanation of my last move...

I first thought of simply defending simply, but this seems easy on white. He can play normally and get a good result on top:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Prisoners: B=0, W=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . O . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . B . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I could also play at "a", above.

Anyway, the result is not bad, but I feel Magicwand (should I start calling him Magecwand?) has too much control of the game flow. He ignored my top approach move, so maybe I can punish him.

When I played, I actually thought he would take the 3-3, allowing me to approach the left from the other side:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Prisoners: B=0, W=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 4 6 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . 9 . . . B . O 7 1 W . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . , . . . . . X 2 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . |
$$ | . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

I kind of liked a result like this. Magicwand could choose a move like "b" or the intersection below it, but I feel like my stones are somewhat efficient.

With the move he played, I still feel efficient. Based on our last game, I predict the following:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Prisoners: B=0, W=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 2 . . X . O . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . W . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

And I think this result is fine.

As you can see in the last diagram, I'm going to defend the corner because a white double approach would be rough. I played low instead of high to say that I'm done with the corner. No more funny business!

'Kerby' wrote:(should I start calling him Magecwand?)

Yes!

as i expected he played knight's move to secure the corner..
now i expect him to jump and face my attack.
my whole objective is to attack and gain some influence in sente.
he might play some fancy reduction move on my influence...which will force me to read all variations...
i hate reading!!!

some analysis on black...
i think black lost few points by giving me perfect pincer move.
i think him trying to pincer created bad result.
if he doesnt want to lose the points he should have played some other way.. i can not tell you what it should have been but i know something is wrong on black's last few sequence.
plain knight move was better than above pincer.

2 is wrong but not too bad...but 3 is bad! because of 4.
does that make sense?

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$Bc Prisoners: B=0, W=0
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . 4 . . 3 . O . . . . . |
$$ | . X . O . O . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

Two comments:

Click Here To Show Diagram Code

[go]$$c
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . d . . . . . e . . C . O . . . . . |
$$ | . C . O . O . . . , B . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . b . a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . B . . . . . , . . . . . , . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------[/go]

In the upper left, the slide feels submissive. White has many ways to deal with the situation (a-e). Extending to D10 has a better connection to the other hoshi stones.

In the upper right, pincering is not necessary, but if he wants to do it, a high pincer should be preferred. This would not come so easily under attack, and it also has a better relation to the other hoshi stones.

Running into the center seems too wild to me when white can still access the corner so easily. This move defends the corner and threatens for me to use my pincer stone. I think it is biggest right now. I considered kicking his stone, but from the last game that didn't work out well. I think I am playing solidly.