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Three Three Point Invasion Joseki
  Difficulty: Professional   Keywords: Joseki

[Diagram]
Diag.: The 3-3 point invasion

For a first view of this Joseki, see ThreeThreePointInvasion. Players for whom this discussion goes too deep, are advised to read that discussion instead. After white 1, black will block at 2 or 3. The general rule here is to block on the wider side. After this, black A is the traditional joseki, black B is a more modern variation, trying to get sente. Black C is rarely played.


[Diagram]
Diag.: tenuki is bad

Under no circumstance should black play tenuki at this point. No point elsewhere can be large enough to compensate for allowing white 1.



[Diagram]
Diag.: The basic joseki

Playing hane at 1 and extending at 3 are a calm way of playing. Black accepts that he will end in gote, and takes a magnificent wall in return. Although she has sente, this result is in general regarded locally bad for white, because of black's thickness. Because of this, white should not invade at the 3-3 point too early, but only when a kakari from the side is already less interesting. Black should not play 5 at A, see ThreeThreePointInvasion for white's answer.


[Diagram]
Diag.: double hane (white 10 at 3)

Instead of black 3 in the last diagram, black can also play the more severe move of black 3 here. In most cases the intention is to get sente, in which black succeeds in this diagram. White 10 is forced, white cannot allow a black capture at that spot. Black in his turn should not omit 7 and 9, or white can come out too easily.


[Diagram]
Diag.: taking the corner

Black can take the corner by playing black 7 here, but giving white this ponnuki is not good in most cases.


[Diagram]
Diag.: continuation

White will most likely continue with these moves. In most cases, when white invades at the 3-3 point, black has stones at both sides, at or around the places shown here. Black's left side stone has lost much of its value after this sequence.


[Diagram]
Diag.: double hane

Black would probably like to play the double hane of 1 in this diagram, but the marked white stones have too much aji to do so. White can retake the corner - or worse.


[Diagram]
Diag.: white's counter

If black plays the double hane at 3, he has to be prepared for this white 4. White intends to sacrifice the corner in exchange for a position on the top.


[Diagram]
Diag.: joseki

After white 6 in the previous diagram, black 1 is the joseki move, reaffirming the unity of the black stones. After black 5, white can secure a base for his stones with a move like A or play tenuki.


[Diagram]
Diag.: slightly vulgar

Black 1 is vulgar, and white gets a relatively large corner. Still, if the upper side is important this might be playable. Black 3 at 7 is sometimes possible, depending on the position on the top side.


[Diagram]
Diag.: inside hane

The inside hane at 1 is the third possibility in this position (next to 7 and 3). White has sente, but black has been able to enclose both sides. On the other hand, white has the aji of white 6 to look forward to.



[Diagram]
Diag.: An interesting option

Black 1 is another possibility which is quite interesting. What is the purpose of this move and how should white react? I suggest to start the discussion on a new page: ThreeThreePointInvasionJosekiNewMove

NB This is not a joke! This move was shown to me and several other Belgian players by Guo Juan, 5p. I remember to have seen it in a pro game, but I can't remember which one.

--Alain



[Diagram]
Diag.: a new move

Black 1 is a relatively modern move, which became quite popular in the 1990s. Its aim is to get sente. A black stones at A is more or less required, but in this joseki it is almost always present anyway. White invariably answers at 2. Black 3 next is the proper move; black B is a bit of an overplay. After this, white can choose between C and D.


[Diagram]
Diag.: overplay

As stated above, black 3 is an overplay. Although the white group is confined to the corner after black 9, the aji of white A is unpleasant for black.


[Diagram]
Diag.: game example

Black 1 was played by Chang Hao against Ma Xiaochun in the 1999 Qisheng match. As in the other variations of this joseki, black's intention was to get a wall in sente.


[Diagram]
Diag.: joseki

White 4 is the most common continuation after black 3. The continuation to 9 is joseki, after which white will either secure her position with white 10 or play tenuki. There exist examples of black playing black 7 at 9, leaving aji at the top in exchange for more influence in the center.


[Diagram]
Diag.: not sente

If white does not play at 10 in the previous diagram, black 1 is not sente: White cannot be killed. But capturing a stone in sente with 3 and 5 does of course give black a very strong position, while the white corner is reduced to about 5 points.


[Diagram]
Diag.: white's follow-up

If white does play the marked stone, black will not answer it - if black does intend to answer it, he should have done better to play the old variation. White's follow-up will probably be white 1 and 3 here. This also shows why the marked black stone is important: Without it, white would play the double hane at 4 rather than 3, which would not be to black's liking.


[Diagram]
Diag.: The second option

White's second option is to play at 1 immediately, without first playing hane at 4 and connecting. She will however have to take the possibility of black 4 in account - this is not a small move. This variant was played between Hane Yasumasa (black) and Fujisawa Shuko in the 1991 Oza match.



[Diagram]
Diag.: A rare move (5 tenuki)

Black 1 is played only rarely, and I do not know whether there is any standard joseki defined. In a game for the 1993 Myeongin? title, Yu Ch'ang-hyeok played tenuki after white 4. Yi Ch'ang-ho later exchanged 6 for 7 and 8 for 9.



Further reading:

  • ThreeThreePointInvasionWithKeima
  • ThreeThreePointInvasionWithIkkenTobi?
  • ThreeThreePointInvasionWithTwoKeima?
  • ThreeThreePointInvasionWithKeimaIkkenTobi?
  • ThreeThreePointInvasionWithTwoIkkenTobi?

Author(s):



This is a copy of the living page "Three Three Point Invasion Joseki" at Sensei's Library.
(C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.