I admit I underestimated the value of that move. It's huge, both in points and in group stability. I actually overlooked this move by him entirely, I thought if he were to play in the area it would be here:
For some reason, now that he's touched me, I actually feel weaker (weaker players: in general, touching stones makes them stronger, which is why it is taboo to touch weak stones. If you're watching and have never heard this before, ask me and I can elaborate.). Anyway, I've written this up before looking at the trigger. I've chosen my move and am now going to check the trigger.
*checks trigger*
Alright, as expected. I'm not really satisfied with this shape, however. There's a lot of aji in it.
For instance, this doesn't quite work yet, but it's going to be a pain for me in the future, especially with his peep at .
_________________ We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are. Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness. We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before, No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.
From this approach I plan on building influence. I want to be the first to the center. Dusky the Beagle settled his shape solidly by playing low, which means I can't undercut him and it makes invasions harder. However I can build influence easier off of a 3rd line stone. Here are some ideas of what might happen, but I don't know how he will respond:
Perhaps a high approach seems more in tune with my plan. But I really just don't like the high approach to the 4-4 it always feels like a floating stone with no base, and it doesn't undercut like the low approach.
One invasion/reduction I was looking at for later was this:
If I play this move any later, he'll be able to judge my response in the top left and adjust his response accordingly. I want it the other way around - I want to base my response to his approach based on how he responds in this corner.
Of course, he could always go for the second approach move on my stone, but then I could do the same to his own stone. Then, I could use that as a basis for a moyo on the bottom side, whereas his potential may be somewhat limited by my stone.
If he goes for a close low pincer, there's a move I've been dying to try in my games in the top-left:
I will then plunge into the corner with . If he blocks at 'a', he will be making territory from thickness, which is not a very good thing, and I will have sente, but if he blocks at 'b', then after this:
works to nullify his one set of influence, and he'll probably be searching for a follow-up move along the side in order to support his group, lest I get a big point along the bottom which destabilizes his group. Yet extending from the low stone feels slow. However, if is anywhere else, such as a two-space high pincer, than he will have to play a gote move on 'a' to secure his shape.
If he doesn't pincer, but extends low, I will play the same sequence in the top right, but then I can just extend back to 'a' or 'b' below.
'a' leaves less weaknesses, but results in some overconcentration if he kicks. Both seem worth considering.
If extends high instead of low, then I won't play my sequence on the top-left, which is a shame because I was looking forward to using it in a real game. But the result from there seems too good for him, so I will have to decide on something else to do.
This should be interesting
P.S. If he does play as below, the result is still similar:
There are other variations as well after the kosumi, but this one is straightforward and seems likely if he does happen to play the kosumi. I will still have sente to deal with the bottom.
_________________ We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are. Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness. We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before, No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.
Dust Eagle's move was a well timed probe. He wants to see how I react in the lower left before choosing his move up top. I feel I cannot permit him to have an optimal extension from both this approach and his lower right side thus I feel I must pincer. As said earlier I want influence and I want to be the first into the center. I feel if I pincered too tight or low he would jump to the center first so I will occupy this point even though it doesn't apply much pressure to his stone. Lots of things can happen from this position.
_________________ "You always have more ko threats then me" -Dusk Eagle
[go]$$Wcm1 $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . O X O . . . . . . X . . . . X O O . | $$ | . . O X X . . . . , . . . . X , . . . | $$ | . . O O X . . . . . b . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X X O X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . X O . W . . . O . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . X O O X . . . . . a . . . X . . . | $$ | . . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
There's a lot of moves being played here, but most of them are forced, so this result doesn't seem to difficult to read (for me). He can obviously play the top left corner differently, but the end result will still look rather similar, though it could change which of the large points I choose to play.
His other choice is to not play above. However, I do not think it is a very wise choice for him, as no matter which of the he plays, my will be severe.
With any pincer here but the low one-space pincer, a move on afterward is important to secure the shape.
However, if I first play in the upper left corner, and then play the bottom joseki, I'm a bit more cautious that he may be able to ignore the circled point. So why not play this first and avoid that complication. Strike before giving him the influence.
_________________ We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are. Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness. We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before, No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.
The trigger is pretty much forced so I assume the board will look like this. The moves a-c are the moves I am contemplating. Dusk seems to be going for pure territory. I will soon need to balance points as he has more territory. I feel I have better control over the center of the board and can use this to my advantage. I fear if I don't play at a in the diagram he will undercut my group while making more territory. I don't have time at the moment to fully analyse my options so I will make my decision later. Note Dusk Smeagol only has 2 stones above the 3rd line and I only have 4.
_________________ "You always have more ko threats then me" -Dusk Eagle
I'll be surprised if he doesn't cover his weakness on . He's normally a player who prefers solid shapes. He can take somewhere else, but unless it's a contact move on one of my stones I will definitely play 'a'.
Then he will feel pain!
_________________ We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are. Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness. We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before, No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.
After some pondering I choose this move. After thinking it through I am no longer worried about his undercut as I feel there is still lots of aji at "a":
I am also worried about him playing pushing at 2 and something like the following occurring which makes my stones heavy and weakens my marked stone far too much:
This shape eliminates any peeps underneath my shape as well, and solidifies my access to the side. This page shows the peeps I am talking about.
However, with my move, I don't think he will possibly find time to play . Every move in the joseki I have planned is critical to respond to. Plus, in the end, I will have sente (unless he plays a variation I have not seen). However, by that time, there will be larger moves on the board, and I think that my sente could be better used playing at 'a' or 'b' then preventing his push-down sequence.
[go]$$Wcm1 $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . O X O . . . . . . X . . . . X O O . | $$ | . . O X X . . . . , . . . . X , . . . | $$ | . . O O X . . . . . b . . . . . O . . | $$ | . . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . X X O X . . . . . . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . O O O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . c . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . . X O . . . . . O . . . . . , . . . | $$ | . . X O O X . . . . . a . . . X . . . | $$ | . . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
However, if I do get 'c' in, it has the nice added benefit of making it harder for him to connect his two groups.
_________________ We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are. Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness. We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before, No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.
If Dusk Legal goes for a territorial style joseki I will be fine with the result as I will have complete control over the center. If he tenuki's at 6 I will be able to reduce the top significantly:
I also considered the following but I don't feel I will get as good a result as my plan, and it is infinitely more complex(sorry approaching infinitely more complex for all you math nerds who might grumble at such a statement):
Big places I would like to play after this sequence a,c are big moves, b is a probe that starts an invasion sequence, d is big but not as big as a or c, if I get a d becomes very big next diagram will show my proposed invasion at b:
He still has a ko connection underneath and lots of place to run, but his territory in the upper right disappears and I get a chance to attack some stones I am not happy about giving him a ponnuki but if I the top territory is already his I am not going to complain. As I said depending on the situation this might not be a good sequence I have to see how the corner plays out first.
_________________ "You always have more ko threats then me" -Dusk Eagle
I get a chance to make my evil play! I can see him sitting there, first reacting in shock, then leaning in and groaning under his breath "making me read... that's not allowed..."
I admit that I considered changing to this move, and that there's a chance it might be better, but no! I want to play this move. It looks fun! Plus, I've heard multiple pros say that the best way to improve is to play moves that you want to play and see how they turn out. Well, I'm not sure that this is the 100% best move, (I'm not sure it isn't, either) but it's a move I've wanted to play for a while now and here is my opportunity! Will he stick to my plan? Will he screw up? You can never give your opponent too many opportunities to screw up!
_________________ We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are. Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness. We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before, No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.
Tusk Eagle playing like this gives me superior thickness. I really am having trouble believing he is giving me so much influence... usually he plays for influence and attacks. As long as I don't make a gross oversight I will crush him this game. I expect the following to happen:
Ka-ching! I think this sequence, even though it ends in gote, puts me comfortably in the lead. He could have taken many more points than this, but instead he threw it away for a small wall on the left side, which I've already made uninteresting!
So my guess is he will invade the top himself. Good luck Kerby!
(I'm addicted to that picture now!)
_________________ We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are. Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness. We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before, No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.
Same sort of idea as before. I changed my mind about the top though. I really want to be the first to play in the bottom right so I will play there then come back for the top. I feel I must play 1 here as it is urgent, and the difference between me playing here and Musty Eagle playing around here feels large. I feel confident in the power of my influence, all fights will be to my advantage from here on in. Dusk will slowly see his territory getting smaller and mine growing larger. I have a tough job ahead of me but feel confident. I will wait for him to play too deep and profit.
His extra forcing move, should he choose to take it, may or may not be useful for him. Meanwhile, connecting solidly here will make it harder for him to invade/reduce the top side, as I've already shown.
_________________ We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are. Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness. We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before, No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.
as per plan. I truly believe Dusky the Beagle's last move was worse then simply capturing my stone. Welcome to middle game, there will be fights, there might be blood, my influence will cause paaaaaaaaain
_________________ "You always have more ko threats then me" -Dusk Eagle
I think that was a mistake by him. He should have tried to reduce my top side, even if it started a fight, than to just take the big point on the bottom. This game is now well in my favor. If I count everything along the bottom as his (it's not necessarily), and say that I will only get territory on part of the upper side, than I am still 10 points ahead.
[go]$$Wcm B+10ish $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | S S S S S . . . . . . S S S S S . . . | $$ | S S S S S . . . . . . S S S S . X . . | $$ | S S S S . . . . . . X S S S . X O O C | $$ | S S S X . . X . . , . . . . X , . C C | $$ | S S X X . . . . . . . . . . . . O C C | $$ | . . @ X O . . . . . . . . . . . C C C | $$ | . X X O . . . . . . . . . . . O C C C | $$ | . . O O . . . . . . . . . . . . C C C | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C C C | $$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . , O . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | S . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | S . . O C C . . . . . . . . . . X S S | $$ | S S X O C C . . . O . . . . . , S S S | $$ | S S X O O B C C C C C C C O . X S S S | $$ | S S X X O . C C C C C C C . . . S S S | $$ | S S . . . . . C C C C C C . . . S S S | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
All I have to do now is prevent him from getting too much in the middle.
Or, if I am able to split this group off from its friends, he will have to run, I will break into the center, game over.
However, what I should do most now is avoid unnecessary complications. Of course, he should be aiming for them.
_________________ We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are. Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness. We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before, No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.
[go]$$Bcm39 Move 30 Caps W:0 B:0 $$ --------------------------------------- $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . | $$ | . T O . . . . . . . X . . . . X O O . | $$ | . X X X . . . . . T . . . . X , . . . | $$ | . O X X . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . | $$ | . O O X Q 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . X O 1 . . . . . . . . . . O . . . | $$ | . . O 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | $$ ---------------------------------------[/go]
Compared to the game, black now has less points and a lot more aji, later white has good chance to live in the corner or make some kind of reduction due to the all the aji at the top.
There's a lot of variations to consider, so I've put my comments in .sgf form. My main idea all along was to let white live small, and turn the top-left side into territory. Remember that I did not count the entire top side as being mine, so I'm fine with this invasion. However, I also explored if I could in any way kill him (I don't think I can). Of course, if he plays his next move anywhere other than what I am anticipating, then this tactical analysis is moot. However, my goal in these next several moves will still be the same.
_________________ We don't know who we are; we don't know where we are. Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness. We're nameless things with no memory; no knowledge of what went before, No understanding of what is now, no knowledge of what will be.
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Dusk Eagle
.
stone.
. If he blocks at 'a', he will be making territory from thickness, which is not a very good thing, and I will have sente, but if he blocks at 'b', then after this:
works to nullify his one set of influence, and he'll probably be searching for a follow-up move along the side in order to support his group, lest I get a big point along the bottom which destabilizes his group. Yet extending from the low 
stone feels slow. However, if 
he plays, my 
will be severe.
