[Welcome to Sensei's Library!]

StartingPoints
ReferenceSection
About


Aliases
Jabberwocky

Referenced by
FrameworkWorkshop
SidePatterns
CrabEyes
Further135Variants
3464EnclosureStat...
White4IsAnApproach

Homepages
HuOfKGS

 

Jabberwocks
    Keywords: Opening

[Diagram]
Diag.: An Ishida favourite

This opening formation based on 3-5 points has been played often by Ishida Yoshio.


[Diagram]
Diag.: The plan

There is a clear idea here: if Black encloses with 1 and White plays 2, Black can continue with the press at a, or (more likely for pros) with the taisha joseki at b. Black then is threatening to build a broad framework across the whole side. If Black does play the taisha, White by adopting one of the simplifying lines will only help Black's strategy.


[Diagram]
Diag.: Early approach

Therefore White's approach at 1 is seen as early as move 4 of the game. Black may still be aiming to play taisha at c.



[Diagram]
Diag.: Whole-board planning: ladders

This fuseki illustrates some taisha-led thinking. If White plays 2 in the adjacent corner as shown, then after 3 and 4 White 2 can act as a ladder-breaker in a taisha to come.


[Diagram]
Diag.: No ladder-breaker

If White played in one of the other two corners, that wouldn't be true. For example White 2 here means Black will be able to set up the 'jabberwock' plan of the first diagram, or to play a taisha with all ladders good after White 4. This may not be provably bad for White, of course.



The same sort of idea may be set up with 4-5 point, or even 3-6 point and 4-6 point plays.

[Diagram]
Diag.: 4-6 plays

In this case the wedge 2 is useful for White, because Black then has two insecure corners. This is a good illustration of miai thinking.



[Diagram]
Diag.: Facing 3-5

This is from an Ishida magazine article. If Black is happy playing a 3564 enclosure (or perhaps a 3555 enclosure), the same type of formation can be set up from the (unorthodox) starting position.



See also Crab Eyes.

Mostly there is no Japanese name for side formations - 'crab's eyes' is one, but exceptional. Jabberwock is just something I made up (after the Lewis Carroll poem, about a scary hard-to-define monster and how to slay it ...)

Perhaps I should say that the idea of the 4-6 example is something I found in a book of Shirae Haruhiko.

Charles Matthews

This is a thoughtful and interesting page. --Hu of KGS



This is a copy of the living page "Jabberwocks" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2003 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.