(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2]
RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[-39.50]TM[600]OT[3x30 byo-yomi]
GN[Monday Go Meditation - Game 56]PW[Pericles]PB[BenGoZen]WR[6d]BR[3k]DT[2014-04-14]PC[The KGS Go Server at http://www.gokgs.com/]RE[W+Resign]
;B[pd]BL[593.766]C[Believe it or not, this will be the last time you see me open with the star point for a while in Monday Go Meditation. A little after this game, I decided to switch up my style to continue growing since I felt my play style was starting to get stale.]
;W[dc]WL[593.867]C[White opens with the 3-4 komoku with the strong side facing my star point.]
;B[qp]BL[585.697]C[And so I continue along with my favorite fuseki since I'm playing against someone significantly stronger than I am. ]
;W[dp]WL[589.797]C[White plays the star point.]
;B[fq]BL[582.809]C[So I immediately approach. ]
;W[cn]WL[584.417]C[White plays the calm response.]
;B[lq]BL[580.989]C[So I play the ever so popular micro Chinese opening. My goal was to hopefully gain some new insight on my opening since Pericles is a lot stronger than I am.]
;W[qj]WL[569.434]C[White splits the right side.]
;B[qg]BL[543.74]C[I decided to approach from this side, but I think the large knight's move was too timid.]
;W[rn]WL[560.615]C[White does this weird 3 space jump to the second line.]
;B[ql]BL[521.005]C[So I immediately invade since I'm strong in the area and believe the fight should come out in my favor.]
;W[pn]WL[557.815]C[White jumps here to split my stones.]
;B[op]BL[516.781]LB[ol:B][lq:A]C[And then I decide to protect my corner. However, with the A (M3) stone being so close to my corner enclosure, perhaps splitting at B (P8) would have been more interesting?]
;W[pk]WL[555.247]LB[ql:A]C[White captures my A (R8) stone and now I have sente.]
;B[de]BL[508.958]C[I decide to approach White's upper left corner to see what he wants.]
;W[gc]WL[548.111]C[And then he plays the two space extension (which I'm not familiar with.]
;B[cc]BL[494.078]C[I decide to attach in order to settle.]
;W[cb]WL[544.137]C[White hanes to settle his own group.]
;B[cd]BL[490.077]C[And then I extend like you normally would in these kind of josekis to keep my stones connected.]
;W[ci]WL[528.33]C[And then White pincers! Ahh! Right on my extension point too!]
;B[jc]BL[452.26]LB[bb:A]TR[cb][dc][gc]C[I decided to rush and take the biggest strategic point on the board while hoping to maybe harrass the G17 group (triangle), but I think the honte (i.e., proper) move in this situation is to hane at A (B18).]
;W[eb]WL[520.035]C[White plays the solid diagonal here for strong shape.]
;B[bb]BL[424.532]C[I decide to hane now to settle, but it's a little late.]
;W[ba]WL[473.549]LB[eb:A]C[With the A (E18) stone in place, White can now hane here which starts to destabilize the Black group.]
;B[ck]BL[361.236]TR[bb][cc][cd][de]C[I try to be fancy and invade/pincer here, but this is an overplay because this creates a second weak group for myself. (The C17 group [triangle\] is still weak.)]
;W[cg]WL[470.491]LB[de:1][ck:2]C[White plays this very nice one space jump that gives him a mini-base to fight off of while keeping my two groups separated. Black is in for a tough fight.]
;B[eg]BL[339.837]TR[cg][ci]C[I try to attack the C13 group (triangle) with this knight's move.]
;W[ei]WL[462.999]C[But it's very hard to attack him as I'm weak on both sides and White can easily jump out into the center like this.]
;B[ek]BL[300.251]C[I try to keep White split as well, but I'm only compounding the problem.]
;W[gi]WL[460.558]LB[eg:1][ek:2]C[With this jump, Black is clearly split in two groups.]
;B[ge]BL[227.491]C[I try to play a shape move to strengthen my group.]
;W[id]WL[447.945]C[But my shape is a mess and White just keeps piling on the pressure.]
;B[cq]BL[128.323]TR[cn][dp]C[I am trying to find a way to find back, so I'm hoping the 3-3 invasion here will destabilize the D4 group (triangle).]
;W[dq]WL[444.212]C[What proceeds next is joseki. ]
;B[dr]BL[123.609]C[Black threatens to connect underneath.]
;W[er]WL[442.646]C[White blocks.]
;B[cr]BL[120.421]LB[eq:A]C[Black connects and threatens to cut at A (E3).]
;W[eq]WL[441.378]C[White connects solidly.]
;B[bo]BL[118.719]C[Knight's move to expand eye space and territory.]
;W[co]WL[440.527]LB[bn:A]C[White normally blocks at A (B6) next, but I think White was trying to end in sente.]
;B[bn]BL[101.69]TR[ck][ek]C[Since White did not seal me from the left side, I extended in hopes of connecting to my C9 group (triangle).]
;W[bm]WL[438.282]C[White blocks.]
;B[cm]BL[87.735]C[And then I cut because I'm feeling rather desperate and trying to make something happen, but this is an overplay.]
;W[cl]WL[419.005]C[White ataris.]
;B[dm]BL[82.22]C[I extend.]
;W[bl]WL[415.689]C[And then White connects.]
;B[cp]BL[79.819]LB[do:A]C[I solidify my corner while threatening the atari at A (D5).]
;W[en]WL[413.568]C[White jumps out in nice shape.]
;B[em]BL[62.249]TR[cn][en][co][dp][dq][eq][er]C[I extend in hopes of possibly weakening the E2 group (triangle) to near death.]
;W[an]WL[401.592]LB[bp:A]C[White hanes and threatens the atari at A (B4).]
;B[ap]BL[26.241]C[So I protect my corner.]
;W[dn]WL[388.814]LB[bk:A]C[And then White makes a mistake here. The correct move is A (B9).]
;B[bk]BL[17.301]C[I'm pretty sure I'm reading this out correctly, so I take the vital point for myself.]
;W[dl]WL[378.805]C[White pushes here, but he had underestimated my reading abilities and didn't realize the position he was in.]
;B[el]BL[13.053]C[I connected solidly.]
;W[dk]WL[374.374]C[And then he threatens to come out.]
;B[dj]BL[8.411]C[But with this block, I am one liberty ahead in the capturing race. And though this is a success in the actual game, in reality this was never supposed to work. I was just lucky Pericles underestimated me here.]
;W[di]WL[359.957]TR[bb][cc][cd][de][ge][eg]C[White connects to prevent me from linking up with the C17 group (triangle).]
;B[ej]BL[30]OB[3]C[I connect to prevent White from reversing the capturing race in his favor.]
;W[hf]WL[357.827]C[White then plays this very sharp move that seals my group in (and killing it, though I didn't realize it at the time).]
;B[gg]BL[30]OB[3]C[I try my best to survive by making shape.]
;W[hg]WL[355.202]C[White keeps me sealed in.]
;B[bf]BL[30]OB[3]C[I try to expand my eye shape.]
;W[cf]WL[352.944]C[White pokes out a potential eye.]
;B[be]BL[30]OB[3]C[I pull back to try and make one eye.]
;W[bc]WL[343.168]C[White then destroys any eye potential I have here.]
;B[bd]BL[30]OB[3]LB[ce:A]C[I connect here to force White to capture and connect my groups since the weakness at A (C15) would have been a finishing blow.]
;W[ab]WL[340.408]C[White captures.]
;B[ah]BL[30]OB[3]C[And then I try to connect back to my B9 group.]
;W[bi]WL[312.479]C[White descends solidly.]
;B[ai]BL[30]OB[3]C[I try to push through.]
;W[aj]WL[309.074]LB[ag:A]C[But with this hane, I cannot connect since of my weakness at A (A13).]
;B[bg]BL[259.593]C[So I repair it and continue trying to live.]
;W[bh]WL[306.526]C[White first forces with this atari.]
;B[ag]BL[257.202]C[I connect and get to make one eye in sente.]
;W[bj]WL[303.235]C[And then White connects.]
;B[fi]BL[245.87]TR[dk][bl][cl][dl][bm]C[At this point, the D8 stones (triangle) are at risk of being saved, but I felt I didn't have the time to do that. So I try and fight back here.]
;W[fh]WL[300.584]C[White blocks.]
;B[fj]BL[242.487]C[I connect.]
;W[eh]WL[299.11]C[White connects.]
;B[gh]BL[237.783]TR[cf][cg][bh][eh][fh][bi][ci][di][ei][aj][bj]C[As planned, I cut now and tried to see if I could capture the F12 group (triangle). (I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to, but it was my last chance and reconciling the game.)]
;W[fg]WL[298.078]C[White pushes through.]
;B[gf]BL[235.15]C[I connect solidly to try and keep the capturing race going.]
;W[hh]WL[292.889]C[White then seals me off from the center.]
;B[dg]BL[208.603]C[I decide to destroy White's eye here.]
;W[ff]WL[289.748]C[But I forgot about this powerful move here.]
;B[fe]BL[198.031]C[I have to trun in order to keep my groups connected and maximize my liberties.]
;W[ee]WL[288.545]C[With this wedge, it started to dawn on me that I was in trouble.]
;B[ef]BL[176.411]C[I try to atari from the bottom and make dead shape.]
;W[ed]WL[286.117]C[White simply extends.]
;B[cj]BL[174.685]C[Except this weakness prevents me from actually doing anything.]
;W[df]WL[277.414]C[So White captures here and my entire upper left is dead.]
;B[hi]BL[167.235]C[Well in my experience playing with stronger players, I am always aiming to make them prove their superiority. So I have one final fight in me left.]
;W[gj]WL[275.464]C[White runs.]
;B[hj]BL[159.994]C[I chase.]
;W[gk]WL[273.951]C[White escapes.]
;B[gl]BL[134.636]C[Except capturing this group is not my goal (as you'll see shortly).]
;W[hk]WL[271.231]C[White extends.]
;B[hl]BL[130.541]C[And I extend once more as a forcing move.]
;W[ik]WL[268.526]C[White extends and is safe now. ]
;B[fn]BL[123.083]C[Now, onto my main objective, trying to capture the bottom!]
;W[fo]WL[267.519]C[White hanes.]
;B[eo]BL[120.092]C[But I have this forcing move first.]
;W[do]WL[265.366]C[White connects.]
;B[go]BL[117.827]LB[fm:A]C[And then I counter atari, but this is an overplay as White can just play at A (F7) and end my shenanigans.]
;W[fr]WL[218.048]C[Luckily Pericles took it easy on me.]
;B[fp]BL[110.251]C[So I captured and thought I had a good chance at killing the group.]
;W[hq]WL[216.391]C[White jumps out to try and find life.]
;B[ir]BL[49.029]C[This move was meant to undercut White and remove his base, but this is too close and gives White too many forcing moves.]
;W[iq]WL[144.006]C[White's press here is sente.]
;B[io]BL[37.31]C[But I decide to try sealing him in first.]
;W[jr]WL[141.877]LB[ir:A]C[White ignores me and goes and and captures the A (J2) stone.]
;B[gr]BL[13.991]C[I try and be fancy here.]
;W[gq]WL[137.409]C[White cuts as anticipated.]
;B[hr]BL[7.778]C[And then I connect.]
;W[gs]WL[133.125]C[White hanes.]
;B[es]BL[3.445]TR[gr][hr][ir]C[But my goal is not to save the H2 stones (triangle).]
;W[is]WL[130.63]LB[ep:A]C[White keeps ahead in the capturing race. If White did not play this move, Black would play at A (E4) and win the race.]
;B[kr]BL[30]OB[3]C[I kick here to keep White's eye space to a minimum.]
;W[hs]WL[128.216]C[White captures.]
;B[hr]BL[30]OB[3]C[I knew it was unreasonable, but I was like, "Only one eye for you!"]
;W[jp]WL[124.443]C[And then with this solid kosumi, the impending doom is becoming evident.]
;B[jo]BL[252.848]C[Black can try to seal White in.]
;W[kp]WL[121.86]C[But White can break through Black's defenses and Black does not have enough strength to kill White. So I resign here. Interesting game no? Haha.])
