[Welcome to Sensei's Library!]

StartingPoints
ReferenceSection
About


Referenced by
Fuseki
PlaysAgainstLowCh...
SidePatterns

 

A Hoshi Mokuhazushi Strategy
    Keywords: Opening

DaveSigaty: Recently I have been playing the following combination of hoshi and mokuhazushi as White against Black's nirensei fuseki.

[Diagram]
A white strategy (to confuse Black? :-)

This idea followed a period in which I answered Black 1 and 3 with the symmetrical 2 and a. This is a very common choice for White but I think it gets boring after a while. My first idea to change was to switch from a to b hoping to get the chance to play the Taisha Joseki (I came up with plan after reading a book on the Taisha by Ishida). There are a couple of problems with this plan:

  • It is difficult to plan to play the taisha because there are a lot of ways to avoid it (see the discussion on BQM13).
  • Unless you are really well prepared, you meet quite a few people who know one or another version of the taisha better than you do!
  • Most important (for me) is that if Black simply ignores the upper left, I think White b is facing in the wrong direction to counter the influence of Black's nirensei.

So finally I settled on White 4 as shown above.

What do you think?



DaveSigaty:

[Diagram]
Follow up 1 - When Black ignores the left

The first question arises when Black ignores the left in order to complete a sanrensei fuseki on the right with 5. Should White complete a shimari in the upper left with a? If not, should White continue in the upper right at b or the lower right at 6? Usually I choose 6, thinking as follows:

  • The sanrensei is a speedy, influence-oriented strategy which I am trying to counter with an equally rapid development. The shimari at a is a perfectly normal follow-up that does not happen to fit into my current plan.
  • The mokuhazushi (5-3) play at 4 is an outward-oriented approach that White plays with the confidence to handle a black invasion of the corner. Immediately making a shimari to close the corner seems inconsistent with the original choice in the upper left.
  • In choosing between the upper right and lower right there are two possible ideas:
    • White might choose the upper right because White 4 is more outward-oriented along the upper side than Black 1. As a result, White may expect that a white approach at b will be more effective than a play at 6 in developing White's position.
    • On the other hand, White may reason that the position along the bottom is symmetrical so that whoever plays first will have a natural advantage. On the other hand, the upper side is not symmetrical so it is less clear who will gain an advantage in this area. This is the basis for my choice to play 6. If I am able to settle the bottom on my terms, I am ready to see what Black will try on the top. After all, I chose the relationship at the top, not Black.

What do you think?



BillSpight: I would tend to make the shimari, expecting a wariuchi, and then play at White 6, but I think that White 6 is good, too. :-) I think that the bottom is bigger than the top. Black has a good kakari at c, but a kakari at d is not so good. ;-)

[Diagram]
Kakari in the top left

By the way, I like the kakari at Black 1 for Black, given White's marked stone.



DaveSigaty

[Diagram]
A moral dilemma - Black 3

The other part of White's strategy in choosing the mokuhazushi play in the upper left is the intention to answer Black 1 with the one-space low pincer at 2. The basic idea is to press Black hard and build positions on both sides, one at the top negating the influence of Black's hoshi in the upper right and the other combining with White's hoshi in the bottom left. However, in practice there is a dilemma here.

In playing this at the 1k level on IGS, almost always (I have reached the point of White 2 above in probably 30 games minimum in the last year) Black answers at 3. This is called an inferior choice by Ishida's Joseki Dictionary (vol. 2) and I agree. Although there are alternatives for White to choose, in the simple variation shown White takes the corner and ends in sente. Black can not extend any further than 9 (if even a, for example, White is left with the opportunity to play 9 later). White turns next to deal with the right side.

The dilemma is that after encountering this same approach by Black so often, I now find myself using this strategy in expectation of an inferior reply from Black. Thus I have allowed myself to be seduced by the idea of a cheap advantage away from the original quite positive thinking (in my humble opinion at least :-) that got me involved in this strategy to begin with.

So what do you think:

  • Should I give up this temptation and seek purity in some alternative strategy untainted by the desire for cheap advantage?
  • Or should I give up and admit that I am a "coffee-house" go player at heart?


Interestingly enough (at least to me! :-) Go Seigen analyzes this position in A Way of Play for the 21st Century. There are (at least) two very interesting points:

[Diagram]
1. The Time-Honored Way

First he tosses out this position in setting the stage...

"The standard black response has been the territorial play at 5 (komoku). After White 6, Black would play kosumi with 7, attempting to get the best of it with this strong shape. However, this would allow White to occupy the big point (oba) of 8, so White would have a lot to hope for as well."

From 1.6 Nirensei vs 5-3 Point

Which is completely different from how I've been looking at the situation for the last year or so :-)


[Diagram]
2. Simple and clear - and interesting

His main point, however, is that 5 here rather than a "is simple and clear, and won't result in a loss, so I think it is very interesting."


[Diagram]
2a Choosing the right play

Go then presents his analysis of choices available including: - Why 3 instead of a? (a is too slow)

- Why 5 instead of the normal joseki move at b? (better balance)

- Why 5 instead of the normal pincer at c? (because White is willing to let Black build a wall and wants to counter it from a distance)

- Why 6 instead of the normal joseki move at d? (because d falls into White's plan of allowing Black to build a wall in gote, and then take the initiative elsewhere)

- If indeed Black d why should White use the submissive e instead of the normal joseki move at f? (because if Black responds correctly the "time-honored warlike joseki" of f followed by the cut is not interesting for White)

- Etc. - some of the analyses runs along for over 40 moves from this position.

"A Way of Play for the 21st Century" is all about different ways to look at Go. Nevertheless, this is one nice example (amongst many) of rejecting the joseki books and relying on an analysis of the whole position on the board and the opportunities that it offered.

--DaveSigaty



DaveSigaty: I am not too modest to report that this strategy has now received perhaps the ultimate accolade in amateur Go!! Yes, it is true. Hikaru used my fuseki in volume 9 of Hikaru No Go. Specifically he plays it as White in his game against Hon Suyon, the Korean Kenkyusei (insei). Although it is not possible to tell from the manga, the new Hikaru No Go Gorgeous Character Guide gives the game diagram - see below.

[Diagram]
Moves 1-10

White: Shindo Hikaru

Black: Hon Suyon

[Diagram]
Moves 11-20


[Diagram]
Moves 21-30

We still haven't identified the original source of this game so if it looks familiar post what you know on Hikaru No Go Games, thanks.



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