4-4 point high approach

High approach  

The high approach to the 4-4 point at is extremely rare in professional play, and is usually played as part of a special strategy, most often with the intention of setting a framework on the right of . One characteristic of this high approach is that it tends to give black a sizable amount of fixed territory.

The common answer by black to will be a. This could be described as a situational joseki.

Joseki

Joseki  

is one common play. and aims to reduce the corner territory, is usually either played up at a or as an extension to b, c or d. Because of the monkey jump at e, white's territory at the top cannot be said to be large.

For an example of a context in which it is good to play this approach and the upward move of a, see Side Pattern - Rin Kaiho's Onadare And 4-4 High Approach.

Black gets territory

To see how large the territory black gets truly is, we can compare the position with the following common 4-3 joseki:

Comparison with 4-3 Joseki  

As we can see, the black stones , and in this position are all one line lower than they are in the 4-4 joseki on the right. This means that in the 4-4 joseki, black gets about 5 points extra (the marked points) compared to this 4-3 joseki, which explains why it is so rare. White must be certain that building up a framework with the high approach is worth at least 5 points extra.

Other Joseki options

Alternative Joseki  

Another joseki is and , but it is played quite rarely, usually only when black already has a stone around a and can attack the heavy white group, or when black has a position there and becomes somewhat overconcentrated

Chris Hayashida: I have seen a similar pattern in pro play, where Black plays b as an answer to . White tenukis, then Black attaches underneath at and then draws back to . The shape ends up looking similar. I don't think pros would play this way if the 3-3 invasion was a problem.

Refute this:  

Got this in a game the other day. What would you do? Black has a stone on the left and white one at the top...

Bad aji  

There are many variations after but the best black can do is get a ko or else leave very bad aji. Here are some illustrative diagrams:

Not much better  

Now a white move at a looks troublesome.

Black kills with bad aji  

After White has the aji of the moves a through e and Black may prefer the results in one of the earlier diagrams.

So I doubt that the attachment underneath is really a joseki unless the surrounding position is right.

What about the shoulder hit?  

Chris Hayashida: What about the shoulder hit that was mentioned above?

Velobici: It may be that the attachment underneath is a misapplication of the well known 3-4 point one space high approach joseki. In that joseki there is less room available to White should he decide to invade the corner, as a result Black's corner is secure.

In my opinion the proper joseki is to respond to the high approach with a one space jump as in

Joseki  

If White strengthens herself, as in the second diagram on this page, Black still gets a lot of corner territory, with no bad aji. After attaching underneath it would be bad for Black to remove the aji of the move at the 3 - 3 point right away as that would be gote and White would have been strengthened.

The 3-3 is bad for White  

Chris Hayashida: is in the wrong place after the 3-3 invasion. Black makes good shape with .

Sanz: I saw this type of "punishing move" in a book. a would also work.

Joseki  

IaGo: my dictionary suggests this, with a possible extension at a, and at being possible depending on ladders...

It seems a little more secure in the corner.

Charles I don't see any examples of this by pros.

KL? is low in position. What if plays at 5-6? The point of playing 4-4 is moving in a higher line.

How about 6 at b to make the ThreeCrows? Too overconcentrated?

unkx80: Thanks all for correcting my misconceptions on this joseki.

High approach, low pincer  

iopq: Yuki Satoshi - Cho Chikun

Kirk: Here's an example from one of my dragon games. Any suggestions for a good continuation after c12?

Continuation 1  

Kirk: Here's one continuation I considered. I guess this result is okay. As black, I'm very concerned about utilizing my influence at the bottom, so I don't like white to get a position on the left. Nevertheless, the thinness of white's position at the top coupled with the fact that I can probably engineer a splitting attack against that and the lower right white group (after a) makes this look playable.

Continuation 2  

Kirk: Here white blocks on the other site. I'm not sure 8 is right -- actually there doesn't seem to be a good shape for white here. White still seems to have a lot of potential on the left, and black's influence still isn't doing anything. I guess a-d follows fairly logically (at least to me! :-)

Continuation 3  

Tiny81?: Kirk, did you think about continuations followed by 3?

Sinprejic: Another response to the high aproach that I just ran across and had difficulty with is 4-4 High Approach 2 Space Wide Pincer. Perhaps someone would like to help me find the correct response to this?

whole board example  

Here the high approach at makes sense, but a is preferable to b because there is not much for white to develop around c.