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Extend or Pincer
  Difficulty: Advanced   Keywords: Strategy

Any thoughts or knowledge that can be formulated in heuristic rules? Depending on the situations in other corners and on the sides. -- Conceived by HolIgor


Miz: Interesting topic. But nothing here so far, so I'll make up some examples. I hope more people will comment.

[Diagram]
Diag.: Time for a pincer?

In this position, a White pincer is also an extension from the left side wall, so it seems better than just extending. a would be the natural extension. b would be a more severe pincer. But what kind of joseki would follow? Is c a good compromise, accomplishing both objectives, or is it "neither here nor there"? How about high pincers d and e?


[Diagram]
Diag.: What about this one?

What if we reverse the colors on the left side? Is a pincer good now? a would clearly be a nice point for Black, so perhaps White should deny it to Black, by playing there first?


[Diagram]
Diag.: Just extend?

Now Black 1 seems like a reasonable extension from the wall, so pincer would be an overplay.


[Diagram]
Diag.: Avoid overconcentration?

Equivalently, now a pincer would be too close to the wall.



[Diagram]
Diag.: 19x19 diagram

KarlKnechtel: If friendly stones nearby make a pincer a better idea, especially as a wall, presumably hostile stones nearby make it a worse idea?

Miz: You mean a white move at b now? I'm not sure if it should be called pincer at all, when the marked stone is in place. Perhaps it is playable, but it certainly isn't clear to me if it is any good. So I would simply extend along the right side.



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