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Box Formation
  Difficulty: Advanced   Keywords: Opening, MiddleGame, Strategy

[Diagram]
Diag.: Box framework

This framework made from four stones has a simple geometry, but may not be easy in practice to handle as an even-game strategy. It became popular as one of the experiments in the shinfuseki time, particularly in 1934. It is still used in contemporary go.

One of the difficulties is that the tengen play (marked stone) may be good-looking as part of a large-scale plan, but not large in territorial terms. This distinction is often lost on amateurs, who see that if White invades, Black can attack.


[Diagram]
Diag.: Standard invasion

White's invasion at 1, accepting that Black can attack with 2, is the normal way to invade. The immediate 3-3 invasion at a would play into Black's hands.


[Diagram]
Diag.: Standard reduction

To perform a shallow reduction, White typically chooses a 10-7 point like White 1 here. Black will find it hard to consolidate the whole framework now.

Charles Matthews



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