BQM 236

Keywords: Question

The result of this invasion felt unsatisfactory for Black.

To put it simply, I got spanked by this twice at go club last week. This week I would like to show that I learned something and not get spanked again ;)

Looking at this, it occurs to me that I should have played this sequence in the corner first. How would this affect the invasion?

Bill: Yes, Black's position is much better in the second diagram. In the first diagram the black+circle stones look a bit heavy, and in the second Black can exploit the weakness of white+circle .

Please show the whole board and your continuation in the game. Thanks. :-)

Velobici: I wish I could show the whole board and continuation. Unfortunately, I dont remember the games. Both were played at the go club that I attend on Sunday evenings. Had it been on a go server, I would gladly provide the SGF file.

Bill, could you show one or two ways to exploit the weakness of white+circle ?

Bill: Ba. Normally that will be sente. Usually it is not worth playing, but if Black is in trouble....

Charles Matthews By the way, Black left an incomplete formation.

(See the /Discussion page for Charles's point about the Invasion diagram.)

Velobici: Given correct play by Black, as in the digrams " tenuki" or "Shape point", how should Black handle the White invasion on the third line shown in both digrams: "Invasion" and " tenuki" ?

Bill: Velobici, I see that nobody has posted an answer yet. I showed this to a U. S. 5-dan the other night, and we discussed it a little. Afterwards I said, "Aren't 5-dans supposed to know this kind of thing?" ;-)

Well, I cannot provide a definitive answer, but you need some help. So let me give my immediate reactions.

My first imression is that is a mistake. Black is too strong on the left for an invasion this deep. Normally I would expect something like the standard keshi with the shoulder strike at a.

My plan is simple. Enclose . White can probably live, but at the cost of playing at b, which loses the big cut at c, and giving me a strong wall to work with the rest of Black's moyo.

The kosumi, , is my first thought. may be better, but I know is solid and will lead to a strong wall. Also, attachments tend to lead to more variations. I have an advantage; I want to keep it simple.

I suspect that would be better at a, but that would not be consistent with the invasion. White plays before - , because later Black might not respond at . - is a standard sequence.

It looks like White can live with - . This looks pretty bad for White.

There are still some sticky questions. How strong is White's threat at a? Should Black continue now with Bb - Wc? That strengthens Black on the left but loses territory on the right.

The answers, I think, lie with the rest of the board, which we cannot see.

Path: <= Big Question Mark =>

BQM 236 last edited by Dieter on July 5, 2008 - 12:48

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