To crawl or not to crawl

   
[Diagram]
Crawl  

The question here is: is it proper to crawl at a, or would that be the route to defeat?

[Diagram]
Black's sente  

Black's move B1 is sente against the life of the group. W2 turns it into a living shape, the J+1 group. Black has thus blocked the left side in sente.

[Diagram]
White's big move  

Hence, W1 prevents Black's sente block. Moreover, next White can get ahead at a, with a hane at the head of two making much of Black's influence going to waste.

[Diagram]
Next crawling question  

So, Black will usually respond, to keep his thick position on the third line.[1] After all, White is crawling. White faces a new decision, to crawl or not to crawl again?

[Diagram]
No sente  

This time, Black's move is not sente against the life of the corner.

[Diagram]
White's loss  

Therefore, White's crawling once more does nothing more than crawling, which is the route to defeat. Black happily expands his influence from the third line.


[1]

[Diagram]
Joseki  

Note: There is a reason that White plays W1 before W3 in the joseki. After the exchange, W3 - B6, Black is already strong, and is less likely to reply to W1 with B2.


To crawl or not to crawl last edited by 88.112.214.92 on August 29, 2010 - 08:38
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