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4-4 staircase joseki
Difficulty: Dan level
Keywords: Joseki
White 7 here, giving an example of the staircase shape, is one of the most surprising joseki plays. It is seen also when Black 2 is played at a. HolIgor: One should remember that W 7 is ladder dependent. If black has a ladder breaker in the opposite corner, white could end up with a very bad result.
There are many possible lines in the books, but in this case a standard continuation seems to be current, as shown here. White 10 is to avoid being shut in. In this case playing atari in the staircase formation turns out better for Black than connecting solidly at 4.
With the marked stone played on the fourth line, there are some trick plays possible if Black connects. Top players have continued as shown with Black, playing for central influence. This is a copy of the living page "4-4 staircase joseki" at Sensei's Library. ![]() |