PJQ 2

Komi 6.5, no prisoners.  

How does Black stand? What should be his plan?

 

How does White stand? What should his plan be? Since the group including the circled stones had three options a,b,c, I felt that it was not necessary to defend it yet. In the game I played 1 but my feeling is that it is a bit premature. Other serious options I see are d,e, f.

Why not cut?  

unkx80: This may be tangential to your question, but my very first reaction is, why not cut? Because white is so tight in liberties, a subsequent move at a captures the stones in a crane's nest. Depending on the circumstances, Black may choose to sacrifice the three stones and opt to capture the lone White stone. I'll score this position +3 for black.

 

Therefore, if black plays , I am sure will defend the cut. Now White is very thick on the right side, so effectively the stones get completely controlled, and white has a lot of potential in the center. At the same time, Black is low on the right side. I might score this position -5.

Shobute  

here seems premature to me. Black may decide to play a shobute with and . It is very difficult to evaluate this position as it is, but if black can get sente to return to the corner at a, then I think the position would be at least playable for black.

Komi 6.5, no prisoners.  

Karl Knechtel: Isn't the circled point awfully big? With it, White solves local tactical problems and prepares to attack the corner; Black splits off the stones, and limits the middle group.