(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2]
RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.50]
GN[Monday Go Meditation - Game 46]PW[BenGoZen]PB[Black]WR[5k]BR[6k]DT[2014-02-18]RE[W+19.50]
;B[qd]C[It's been so long since I've opened up or seen a 3-4 as a first move by Black. Nothing wrong with it at all, but it does set a tone for the board immediately (aka Black is weaker on top and stronger on the right).]
;W[dd]C[As a result, I usually like to take a star point in response to take advantage of that weak side later on.]
;B[pp]C[Star point as the third move is nice and consistent with the 3-4 in the upper right since it opens up more possibilities of building the right side.]
;W[dp]C[As White, I kind of like taking the ninrensei (double star) since it's very flexible and allows me options depending on Black's play.]
;B[fq]C[Black approaches.]
;W[cn]C[I'm quite fond of the calm response here since it usually gives sente to me regardless of what Black plays.]
;B[iq]C[This move here is something I consider a mistake because it allows White to kick Black immediately and overconcentrate him.]
;W[eq]C[Which is precisely what I do next.]
;B[er]LB[fp:A][cq:B]C[Normally Black stands up at A. This hane typically ends up solidifying White's corner and eliminates any chance of Black invading at B later on.]
;W[dr]C[I am happy to protect my corner.]
;B[lq]C[Black extends once more, but the buttom seems rather flat now and does not have much potential for growth.]
;W[fp]C[I decide to go ahead and make good shape here while building nice thickness for potentially building the left and gaining some center influence.]
;B[gr]LB[gq:A]C[This hane was a little passive. I think that A might have been better, but as you can see from the result, White seems to be at a better position since he has a solid corner (that's on the fourth line) and even has some thickness on the left now. Black has some third line territory, but the fact that it's low means its value will be diminished later on in the game.]
;W[od]LB[gq:A]C[I thought about forcing at A before tenuki'ing, but I thought that Black might not respond, so I went ahead and approached his corner as I originally planned.]
;B[pf]C[This move is consistent with building the right side.]
;W[qc]C[I go ahead and attach to settle my group.]
;B[rc]C[Hane is normal joseki response.]
;W[pc]C[Pull back to keep my groups connected.]
;B[re]C[Solid hane that leaves little aji for White to exploit later on. Now Black has nice thickness for building the right.]
;W[lc]LB[qk:A]C[I decide to calmly take my base here now, but it's worth considering playing a splitting move at A instead right now since the right side is looking pretty big.]
;B[ci]LB[cf:B][pj:A][cl:C]C[Black decides to take his sente to split the left, but I personally think that A would have been bigger since it would work much better with his stones overall. 

Question: Which side should White approach from? B or C?]
;W[cg]C[Correct. This direction is best since White already has thickness on the bottom and can use it to harrass Black while White builds the top.]
;B[gp]C[This move was rather surprising. After all, Black had spent a move to split the left, so a two space extension at A would be expected.]
;W[ck]C[Since G4 wasn't threatening anything, I decied to take away his base immediately while securing some profit.]
;B[fo]LB[ep:A]C[Black is hoping to get White to connect at A, but White has no reason to connect. ]
;W[dj]C[I decide to go ahead and try to silence the C11 stone while taking profit alongside the left. ]
;B[ep]C[Black makes good on his threat.]
;W[dq]C[White should connect now since it keeps good shape while protecting the corner. And while Black technically has a ponnuki, you'll notice that the bottom is overconcentrated with stones. (In other words, Black has played almost 8 stones on the bottom for maybe 12 points of profit while White has played five stones for about 15 points of profit)]
;B[do]C[Black threatens to break through.]
;W[co]C[White solidly blocks for clear and easy profit.]
;B[ne]C[Black tries to expand his potential for a moyo.]
;W[nd]C[Even though the moyo looks big, I decide that extending on the fourth line is more than adequate compensation since it will be hard for Black to solidify the moyo.]
;B[me]C[Black extends once more, but now my shape is very strong and there is no need for me to respond.]
;W[qk]LB[qh:B][qn:A]C[So while the common approach might be A, I figured that Black would immediately pincer me and make sure of his thickness on the upper right. As a result, I thought that a splitting move would be best.

Question: Which direction should Black approach from? A or B?]
(;B[qi]C[Based on my understanding, this is the incorrect direction. The reason for this is because it seems to utilize thickness to make profit and pushes White into an area where Black is not very strong.

For my explanation on the correct answer, go back to Move 34 and click on R6.]
;W[qn]C[The two space extension is only natural since White needs to establish a base.]
;B[qo]C[Black naturally kicks to overconcentrate White.]
;W[pn]C[Since White's purpose was to simply make Black's thickness as inefficient as possible, there is no reason to feel bad about being overconcentrated in this area since the goal is to establish strength in an area where you have no allies at all.]
;B[np]LB[qq:A]C[Black follows up with the joseki and his bottom right corner does look rather nice. Although it's worth noting that the invasion at A is still possible.]
;W[ri]LB[rm:A]C[At this point, I felt that my group was still susceptibe to an attack like A, so I wanted to quickly settle so I could focus on other endeavors later on.]
;B[qj]C[Black's extension here is calmer than I expected. I was thinking he would hane at S10, but this worked for me since I wanted to get solid life.]
;W[rj]C[With the extension I'm pretty much set to go.]
;B[pk]C[Black's hane here seems natural since he wants to try and build the center.]
;W[ql]LB[rm:A][rn:B]C[I extend again to protect my shape and defend against any harrassment tactics such as A or B.]
;B[pl]C[Black tries to press White down here, but there is another direction I can go to further ensure my safety.]
;W[qh]C[The hane here makes the marked group weak with cutting points.]
;B[qm]C[Black tries to punish White for ignoring him.]
;W[rm]C[But White was not looking to really profit in this area, so the atari from this direction is perfect.]
;B[pm]C[Black connects.]
;W[rn]C[At this point, I thought about the hane at S5 instead of the solid connection, but I thought that this was better since it threatened the 3-3 invasion and would most likely give me sente.]
;B[ro]C[As expected, Black defends his corner.]
;W[pj]LB[ph:A]C[I considered a calm extension at A, but at the time I wanted to split up the Black group and gain some center influence to negate Black's thickness.]
;B[oj]C[This sacrifice surprised me.]
;W[pi]C[I was happy to get a clean capture and now be free to do whatever I wanted.]
;B[on]C[Black tries to seal White in.]
;W[oo]LB[ok:C][om:B][po:A]TR[pk][pl][pm][qm]C[White's hane here works because if Black cuts at A, White will atari at B and threaten to capture the marked stones with C.]
;B[nn]C[So Black extends.]
;W[po]LB[op:A]C[And now White threatens to push and cut at A.]
;B[op]TR[oo]C[In hindsight, I think that the hane (P5) was actually aji-keshi and only helped Balck solidify his corner. So ultimately P5 was a bad move.]
;W[fd]C[I decided that at this point, the center was far from complete and easy to reduce, so I decided to tenuki and expand my prospects for the left and top side. ]
;B[kd]C[Black tries to flatten White's potential on the top and trying to continue expanding his own potential in the center.]
;W[kc]C[At this point, I figured that I was quite ahead in points since the only real profit that Black had at the moment was the bottom right. So I decide to extend calmly on the third line to take more territory in preparation for an invasion/reduction.]
;B[jd]C[Black extends again to further his influence.]
;W[cd]LB[nh:B][gj:A]C[Here I think is a little cocky of me since this move show a clear disregard for Black's center moyo. At the time, I guess I wanted to remove the 3-3 invasion and figured I could either dent Black's moyo from either the A or B direction; so I wasn't concerned.]
;B[hc]C[Black tries to destroy some top territory.]
;W[fc]C[I decide that the calm iron pillar was enough to protect my corner profit.]
;B[rb]C[This move seemed rather ominous. After all, my group was effectively cut off from the center.]
;W[ob]C[So while this might not have been "necessary," I was unable to read out the numerous variation that could occur and felt this was the best shape point to make my group resilient to attack.]
;B[fk]C[Black begins to try and enclose his center moyo.]
;W[fi]C[This seems rather timid in hindsight, but the idea was to reduce Black's moyo while growing my upper left.]
;B[hj]C[Black naturally protects his center.]
;W[nh]C[I now take advantage to jump in from the other side.]
;B[pg]TR[nh]C[This descent threatens to cut off my marked stone.]
;W[nj]C[I was rather proud of reading out this attachment. It gave me nice shape while further giving me a foothold into Black's center. 

If you think that Black can still cut off the O12 stone, click on P11 to see what I saw.]
(;B[ok]C[Black clearly saw this and thus protected his cutting point.]
;W[oi]C[So I made easy shape and connected no problem.]
;B[mi]LB[ni:A]C[Black played this forcing move in hopes that White would connect at A, but my next move will show you why it's an overplay.]
;W[nk]LB[ni:B][om:A]TR[oj][ok][pk][pl][pm][qm]C[With this descent, White threatens to capture the marked group with A and thus the cutting point at B is not actually a threat.]
;B[om]C[Black saw the problem immediately.]
;W[ni]C[And then I was happy to connect since now I had an excellent foothold into Black's center.]
;B[mm]LB[no:A]C[Black's move here seems to be eyeing the potential push and cut that White could do at A, which is a valid concern.]
;W[lk]C[But I was happy to waltz into Black's center.]
;B[kl]C[Black tries to protect his moyo.]
;W[fm]C[But it is thin and I had no intention of letting him seal it up easily.]
;B[em]C[Black attaches to try and cut off the stone.]
;W[en]C[I hane to threaten to connect.]
;B[fn]C[Black cuts off the stone.]
;W[el]LB[fl:A][dm:B]C[Now I atari with the intention of connecting at A if Black runs at B.]
;B[gm]C[Black correctly sacrifices his stone to try and salvage his center.]
;W[dm]C[I decided that a clean capture was best since it removed the aji of the E7 stone and really solidified my left territory.]
;B[ei]C[Black tries to exploit some aji in hopes of denting my territory.]
;W[ej]C[Calm extension here should be good enough.]
;B[eh]LB[fh:A]C[This move is too heavy for Black since he is already surrounded by White. A hane at A (F12) would probably have been more appropriate.]
;W[fh]C[I was happy to extend and continue solidifying my left side along the 6th line.]
;B[fg]C[Black tries to create complications.]
;W[eg]LB[fj:A]C[Though the cutting point at A (F10) exists, I knew that my cut here would put me one move ahead in the capturing race.]
;B[fj]C[Black cuts as I thought.]
;W[di]C[Except I already had this read out.]
;B[gh]C[Black tries to maximize the efficiency of his sacrified stones at E12 to get more in the center.]
;W[dh]C[Clean capture was good enough.]
;B[ff]LB[ef:A]C[Black extends. Out of habit I almost followed at A since it keeps my territory on the 5th line, but Black center is rather imposing at this point.]
;W[lg]C[So I wanted to jump in as far as I could without the risk of getting cut off (since I did not believe I would be able to live with Black's immense thickness).

If you think Black can cut off the M13 stone, click N12.]
(;B[md]C[Black strengthens his connection with this push and also threatens to push through at N17 and throw the life and death status of the group into question.]
;W[mc]C[I had no intention of trying to create any weak groups since my focus was on the center, so naturally I blocked.]
;B[mg]C[Black tries to threaten to cut.]
;W[mh]C[But it doesn't work. Click M12 to see what I mean.]
(;B[kg]C[Black tries to clamp to make the cut work.]
;W[kh]C[The tiger's mouth was simple enough while also further piercing into Black's center moyo.]
;B[kj]LB[mi:A]C[With this move, Black is threatening to pull out the A stone (N11), but it is not an important stone since it has no significant impact on White's territory nor impacts the life and death of any group.]
;W[so]C[Black's corner is pretty big, and so I couldn't resist taking this sente endgame play (since if Black ignores, White will walk right into the territory he worked so hard to build and protect.]
(;B[rp]C[Black cannot hane at A (T4)* and much make bad shape here.

*If you don't know why, go back to Move 110 and click T4.]
;W[sp]C[White can continue to push.]
;B[sq]LB[rq:A]TR[so][sp]C[Black can now block since the cut at A (S3) only results in White's marked stones getting captured.]
;W[sn]C[So now White connects.]
;B[rq]C[Black must defend the double atari cutting point and thus White reduces the corner in sente.]
;W[jg]C[Now I returned my attention to the center with the simple atari.]
;B[li]LB[lh:A]C[Black pulls his stone out and threatens to cut at A (M12).]
;W[lh]C[I had to connect for this one since trying to live in Black's influence would most likely have turned out disastrous.]
;B[kf]C[Black saves his stone.]
;W[jj]LB[kk:A]TR[li][mi][kj]C[This attachment here threatens the cut at A (L9) and the capture of the marked Black stones.]
;B[kk]C[Black saves his stones.]
;W[ki]LB[jh:A][lj:B]C[This move protects the cutting point at A while also threatening the cut at B.]
;B[jk]TR[li][mi]C[Black recognizes that the marked stones are not important, and correct defends his center territory.]
;W[ij]C[This extensions seems a bit dubious, but the idea was to reduce Black's center.]
;B[ik]C[Black defends.]
;W[gi]TR[ff][fg][gh]C[Now I'm pushing through with my eye on possibly cutting off the marked group and making my upper left significantly bigger.]
;B[hi]TR[ij][jj]C[Black threatens to capture the marked stones.]
;W[hh]C[But I have my eye set on something a bit bigger.]
;B[ji]C[Black makes good on his threat.]
;W[ih]LB[ge:B][ii:A]C[I maximize the aji of the marked stones with this extension. If Black captures at A (J11), I'm hoping to seal in the group with B (G15).]
;B[hf]C[Black sees what I'm going for, and saves his group.]
;W[ii]LB[gb:A][ib:C][es:B]C[Since I lost my target, saving the two stones seemed to be the bigger, but in reality, a move like A (G18), B (E1), or C (J18) probably are bigger in terms of endgame value.]
;B[fl]C[Black seals off his center and threatens to start a ko.]
;W[gg]TR[ff][fg]C[But the ko at A (E7) is not critical at all so capturing a stone here is bigger since it also threatens to cut off the marked stones.]
;B[gf]C[So Black saves his stones.]
;W[jc]LB[ef:A]TR[hc]C[Though the push at A (E14) seems big, at the time I figured that this was bigger since it expands my territory / eye-space while pushing the possibilty of cutting off the marked stone (H17).]
;B[hd]C[Black solidifes his connection.]
;W[lf]C[Here I start to harrass the group and poke at the connections.]
;B[jf]C[Black strengthens his connections.]
;W[es]LB[ds:A]C[If Black was able to play at A (D1), it would be a sente endgame play; so this atari serves to counter it and at worse be a reverse-sente move as opposed to getting pushed around later.]
;B[hb]LB[ea:A][ka:B]C[This descent by Black is very powerful. Threatens a miai monkey jump on either side (A or B).]
;W[gb]C[Since my corner was bigger, I decided to protect this side instead.]
;B[ka]C[Black naturally jumps to the other side.]
;W[kb]C[There is a saying that when your opponent monkey jumps, a general principle to dealing with it is "hitting the monkey on the head."]
;B[ja]C[Black pulls back his reduction stone.]
;W[la]LB[ia:A]TR[ja][ka]C[White blocks and threatens to capture the marked reduction group with A (J19).]
;B[ia]C[Black saves his stones.]
;W[ef]C[Now I seal off my left side.]
;B[fe]LB[ee:A]C[Black threatens to push and reduce at A (E15).]
;W[ee]C[So I naturally block in good form.]
;B[lj]TR[li][mi]C[Black saves his two stones.]
;W[ll]C[Threatening to push further into Black's moyo.]
;B[lm]C[Black blocks.]
;W[nl]C[Here I strengthen my connection while destroying two potential points for Black (O7 and P8).]
;B[rg]C[Black takes a vital shape point and expands his territory.]
;W[qg]C[I push and reduce his territory.]
;B[qf]C[Black blocks.]
;W[ng]TR[mg]C[Though it seems like I'm just aiming to capture the marked stone, I'm actually aiming to cut off the K19 group and possibly kill it if Black is not careful.]
;B[oe]C[Black sees the issue though, and immediately connects. Haha.]
;W[eo]LB[qb:A]C[This descent here gains a few points but I think that the area around A (R18) is bigger.]
;B[fr]C[Black connects to prevent White from starting a picnic ko.]
;W[qb]C[I realize the a reduction here would be pretty big, so I protect my upper area.]
;B[em]C[Black takes the ko...]
;W[dn]C[But I see no reason to fight it and just cleanly capture.]
;B[ek]LB[fm:A]C[White can technically take the ko at A (F7), but I saw nothing to gain by it.]
;W[dl]C[So the solid connection seemed best.]
;B[qa]C[Black reduces White's territory by one point (Q19) and gains a point (T19) in gote. ]
;W[pa]C[White blocks.]
;B[ra]C[Black connects.]
;W[gj]TR[hi][hj]C[White reduces Black's territory while putting the marked stones in atari.]
;B[hk]C[Since White cannot intrude directly into the moyo, Black is correct in saving the stones and letting White push once more.]
;W[gk]C[Since it's sente, White pushes once more to reduce Black's territory by one point.]
;B[gl]C[Blacks blocks of course.]
(;W[hg]C[This move might seem odd, but it gains two points for White: G12, and K12 (since White is not forced to capture the stone). 

To see a clear explanation of what I mean, go back to Move 173 and click on F1.]
;B[ga]C[Black tries to reduce White's top, but this is in gote, so I think blocking at A (F1) is bigger since it's more likely that White will respond than not.]
;W[fa]C[White blocks.]
;B[ha]C[Black connects.]
;W[mf]C[I gain a point by forming an eye.]
;B[ic]C[Black threatens to make a point at K18, but since that would be in gote...]
;W[no]C[I went ahead it was time to push and reduce this area one last time.]
;B[mo]C[Black blocks.

Question: Can White tenuki?]
;W[sl]LB[rl:A]C[Absolutely not. If White omits a move like S8 o T8, Black will immediately atari at A (S8) and Black will gain roughly 20 points. ]
;B[pd]C[Black gains a point at Q15.]
;W[rh]C[I constrict Black from gaining any more territory here.]
;B[fs]C[Black gets around to the block here.]
;W[ds]C[I dutifully connect.]
;B[gc]C[Black ataris.]
;W[fb]C[I connect.]
;B[gd]C[Black gains another point at G15.]
;W[ld]C[I threateng to cut off the group. However, the life of the group cannot really be thrown into question, it's more a matter of reducing Black's points if he ignores me.]
;B[le]C[Black has no reason to force a life and death situation, so he connects.]
;W[sg]C[I take this opportunity to atari and gain a point at T11.]
;B[sf]C[Black gives White the option to start a ko.]
;W[sh]C[Though the connection cannot be said to be wrong per say, I really should have taken the ko at least once to burn one of Black's ko threats before connecting solidly. So in reality, this move is slightly inefficient as a result.]
;B[rf]C[Black connects since a ko at this point would be in favor for White.]
;W[if]C[One more reduction move to take away a point from Black (J15).]
;B[ie]C[Black blocks.]
;W[ig]C[White connects.]
;B[jb]C[Black gains another point at J18.

Question: Do you see any aji in the top area around O18?]
(;W[mb]C[I certainly did. To see what I saw, go back to Move 199 and click on O14.]
;B[fm]C[Black ends the ko here.]
;W[ph]C[I threaten to make a point at P12.]
;B[og]C[Black takes it away.]
;W[ml]C[I threaten to make another point at M10.]
;B[nm]TR[oj][ok][pk][pl][om][pm][qm][nn][on]C[Instead of destroying my N9 point by playing N10, Black gains a point by not letting me atari the marked stones later on and removing a point at N6.]
;W[mj]C[So it's more or less an even trade and I get a point too (though it's in gote which means it's actually better for him). ]
;B[nf]C[Black gains another point at P14.]
;W[fp]C[I take the last ko.]
;B[]C[Black passes since he does not see a point in fighting this out.]
;W[ep]C[I connect.]
;B[]C[Black passes.]
;W[]TW[aa][ba][ca][da][ea][ma][na][oa][ab][bb][cb][db][eb][lb][nb][pb][ac][bc][cc][dc][ec][nc][oc][ad][bd][ed][ae][be][ce][de][af][bf][cf][df][ag][bg][dg][mg][ah][bh][ch][eh][gh][jh][ai][bi][ci][ei][ji][qi][si][aj][bj][cj][qj][sj][ak][bk][mk][rk][sk][al][bl][cl][rl][am][bm][cm][sm][an][bn][ao][bo][do][ap][bp][cp][aq][bq][cq][ar][br][cr][as][bs][cs]TB[sa][ib][sb][sc][id][rd][sd][ge][he][je][ke][pe][qe][se][of][hl][il][jl][hm][im][jm][km][gn][hn][in][jn][kn][ln][mn][go][ho][io][jo][ko][lo][hp][ip][jp][kp][lp][mp][qp][gq][hq][jq][kq][mq][nq][oq][pq][qq][hr][ir][jr][kr][lr][mr][nr][or][pr][qr][rr][sr][gs][hs][is][js][ks][ls][ms][ns][os][ps][qs][rs][ss]C[And with that, I manage to win by +19.5. Definitely a fun and challenging game!])
(;W[nf]LB[ma:B][nc:A]C[If you don't see any aji, the two weak points I'm staring at are A (O17) and B (N19).]
;B[nc]C[This is an obvious forcing move.]
;W[oc]C[White must connect.]
;B[ma]C[But now Black can atari here and White cannot connect at A (M18) because it would be a shortage of liberty situation and then the entire group would die. ]
;W[na]C[This is probably White's best response.]
;B[lb]C[Black would capture.]
;W[nb]C[And though White lives, Black got a nice reduction in sente.]))
(;W[fs]C[Assuming White plays a move here.]
;B[gs]C[Black will block.]
;W[ds]C[White will end in gote.]
;B[ig]C[And now Black can atari here]
;W[jh]C[Forcing White to capture (which removes the K12 point)]
;B[hg]C[And then Black can atari here to remove the G12 point.]))
(;B[sp]C[This is a basic endgame shape mistake where Black tries to immediately block. If you don't know this, be sure to learn it.]
;W[rp]LB[sn:A]C[White will immediately cut and not passively connect at A (T6).]
(;B[sn]C[If you think Black can capture]
;W[qp]C[White will cut off the stones and Black's corner is significantly reduced.])
(;B[qp]C[If Black connects instead]
;W[sq]C[White will capture and again Black's corner is significantly reduced compared to the correct response.])))
(;B[lh]C[White looks cut off.]
;W[kh]C[Simple atari.]
;B[li]C[Black wants to keep the M13 stone cut off, so he must connect.]
;W[ki]LB[lf:B][kg:A]TR[lh][li][mi]C[But White keeps the stones firmly gripped. Neither the A or B atari for Black will help save the M12 stones.]))
(;B[mh]C[Black tries to cut off the M13 stone.]
;W[mg]C[White tries to connect.]
;B[ng]C[Black successfully cuts off the stones!]
;W[lj]C[Except the net here connects everything up, so no dice for Black.]))
(;B[oi]C[Black tries to cut.]
;W[oh]C[White tries to connect back to his group.]
;B[ph]C[Oh no! Black cuts him off!]
;W[ok]C[Just kidding! Now White is connected and even stronger than ever!]))
(;B[qn]C[Based on my understanding, this is the correct direction to approach since it pushes White into Black's thickness on the upper right. 

In addition, the reason I think the small knight's move is best is because the M3 stone is very far away, so the small knight's move does the best job applying pressure while starting to solidify the corner (whereas the large knight's move would be extremely weak to the 3-3 invasion.]))
