BQM107

The begining  

I attempted this early on in quick game yesterday, with poor results.

The Rest  

seems like the only reply to , as the whole point of was to cut, and throwing away the two Black stones go against that.

The ladder on didn't work, so continuing with a wasn't apealing.

I ended up treating lightly and hoping it would be useful later.

Better play?  

My opponent and I discussed this afterwards, and came to the conclusion that in the first diagram was sub-par, even though it makes a pretty shape. Either or at a would have been better.

Recommendation  

I would say that here should suffice.

Is this all that bad?  

If the outside does matter, is this all that bad? After , if White a, then Black b.

Better  

Andrew Grant: OK, I realise you wanted to try out the table shape, but really the a-b and c-d exchanges only serve to strengthen White. Just playing is good enough. If White answers at c the white area is still only a moyo, nothing to panic about - depending on the outside position a reduction at e may be feasible, for instance. Just because your sequence makes a good shape it doesn't make it best.

Tewari  

Here is another idea for Black's play, though it is a bit advanced, and that is to make a probe in the corner and base your play on the side on White's response.^[1]

Probe: Corner Aji  

If extends, Black can jump at . Now, even if , Black has some aji in the corner. If - first, White would not respond to at .

Probe: Side Aji  

If White protects the corner with and , Black has some aji on the side to use against White's lone stone.

Probe: Side Aji (ii)  

Play might continue this way. Black plays tsuke-nobi and then cuts at to create some more aji. Now:

Probe: Side Aji (iii)  

Black can turn the corner on White with - . White cannot respond too strongly, because of the aji of the stones.

And in the while-we-are-at-it department, Black's initial extension was too close.^[2]

One space more  

Black should extend all the way to . Now is small, and Black can be satisfied with . If White plays elsewhere, Black threatens to extend to a.