Thickness Example 11
Dieter : Here, Black's influence has gone to waste. Yet, White has got some work before Black's thickness has vanished as well.
Here, Black can even said to be alive but his influence has gone to waste as much as in the previous diagram.
anonymous: It seems too harsh on black to say his thickness has "gone to waste". In the first diagram there are three extra white stones relative to black; the second diagram has four extra white stones. Presumably black put some of these missing black stones to good use elsewhere.
Dieter: I am just comparing local positions to try and understand thickness and influence. I am not discussing the value of moves versus playing elsewhere, for which I second the usage of whole boards, displaying the play elsewhere.
However you are right that globally, Black will have benefited from his intial thick position. That is exactly the point: his thickness has not gone to waste; his influence has.