Day 11 - 1 game (34), 23 kyu

While spectating a game last night I noticed some things about ladders that hadn't occurred to me. Take this situation for example:

 

The marked white stone is what white would play if black cut at D9, and intuitively you might think that playing it earlier defends the cut even more, but it's actually the opposite:

A more elementary observation was that this ladder doesn't work:

 

Good to know!

I also played a game last night. I was white, and played a 3-4 opening. To my surprise, black decided to attack my corner before even claiming a second one for himself. Like my previous opponent he played this awkward shape where his stones aren't supporting each other:

In the fight that followed I came out ahead quite comfortably, and decided to play towards the left corner and extend my territory:

I have the feeling that playing here was too cowardly, and that I could've gone for the top right corner instead where there was more potential gain. I kept playing up along the left side of the board, and and this point black resigned:

In my estimation the game wasn't over yet, if black connects at F6 then he could reduce my territory in the lower left by a significant amount, and at this point I didn't have any influence on the other side of the board.