Kobayashi Opening Answer, part 2

Guo Juan sent me some more information on what to do against White 1 (below) in the Kobayashi opening.


Black can respond with 2-10 as above, which Guo Juan says is a "hard fight", but it should be good for Black because Black has more stones around to help.



Answering with Black 2 at P2, as in this diagram, is an "easy way" for Black. The result after 8 is bad for White.



White might respond to Black 2 at P4 instead of O3. Black should play as in this diagram. Note that Black 6 is at R2 (not Q2--this is important for keeping White weak). After Black 8, White might play at A, B or C. If White plays A, Black should cut at O3. If White plays B, Black should play at M3--White is not alive; this is good for Black. If White plays C, Black should respond at S2; White does not have two eyes.

Amsterdam!

In just a couple of weeks, I'm going to visit my Go teacher, Guo Juan, in Amsterdam!

I got duped by Easyjet though. They have lots of tricks, like advertising the cheapest flights, which are at 6 am, and it's impossible to get to their remote airports at those times without paying a fortune or staying in the airport all night. Then they have you pick the outbound and return flights separately, so it looks like the flight is cheaper than it is. It's not until later that they add in the extra £20 of taxes. They even charge an extra £5 to pay by credit card. So, in the end, I could have taken a British Airways flight from Heathrow for the same cost. And then I wouldn't have to pay the extra charge to take Easybus out to Luton.

So, they got me once, but I won't do it again.

Waterloo Bridge

Today I joined the throngs of people taking pictures from Waterloo Bridge, eliciting under-the-breath curses from ducking commuters. I cross this bridge over the Thames every day on my way to and from work. (The bridge I cross, of course, is not actually pictured. The one you can see in the above photo is Blackfriar's Bridge.)

It's not really possible to take a photograph without someone crossing your path. I'm sure my profile is featured in many tourists' slide shows. (The two people walking are actually on Waterloo Bridge; the bridge you can see beyond that is the Golden Jubilee Bridge, which is only for pedestrians. Though I am most certainly a pedestrian, I have yet to actually walk across that one.)

Before I figured out that I could increase the exposure to get more light in the photo...









After I figured out that I could increase the exposure to get more light in the photo.










I apologize for the blurriness. Instead of citing my beginner status as a photographer, I'll blame it on the wind. It was so windy that I could barely hold myself still, much less the camera. (This is true, though the pictures would probably have been blurry anyway.)




At several points along the bridge there are signs with outlines of the skyline, labelled so that you can figure out what all of these landmarks are. Since I live here I never stop to study these, so other than Big Ben, I can't name the buildings.

Not so big after all?

How long does one have to live in London before unexpectedly running into someone you know on the street?

Approximately three months: On Saturday, I saw Shu, an Imperial College number theory postgrad student, in Chinatown.