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Monkey Jump
Path: Endgame   · Prev: BasicEndgameTheory   · Next: EndgameClamp
  Difficulty: Beginner   Keywords: EndGame

[Diagram]
Monkey jump is a big yose move

A monkey jump (Japanese: saru-suberi) is a large-knight jump from the second line to the first line into the opponent's would-be territory, reducing it by a considerable amount. The stone on the diagram cannot be cut off. If White has a large territory to the right she cannot ignore the move and has to reply.

A monkey jump is proverbially worth 9 points in sente, although the exact amount depends on the position.

In some cases a small jump to a is reasonable as well. This is sometimes known as a small monkey jump.



In the diagram above, B1 is not sente. Does the proverb really say "8 points in sente"?

[Diagram]
Monkey jump ending in gote.

Black can keep sente by not playing 5 but then White can capture 1 and 3 so this isn't 8 points for Black.

Notice that if the marked white stone is one space higher...


[Diagram]
Monkey jump ending in sente

This monkey jump is sente because White must now defend at a after B5.

Jonathan Cano



This is in response to Jonathan Cano's suggestions.

[Diagram]
Monkey jump ending in sente.

I see in many go books that they recommend this sequence (after W4, Black plays elsewhere).


[Diagram]
Monkey jump ending in sente (follow up).

The follow-up moves can be considered as W1, B2. But how many points is it worth then? --unkx80

See Value of a monkey jump for an attempt to answer -- Andre Engels.



Is a monkey jump just another name for a large knight's jump, or does a monkey jump have to be a large knight's jump which invades the opponents corner territory?


The monkey jump is a large knight's move on the edge that can be connected to a stone on the second line. Other large knight's moves are not called monkey jump. The stone on the 2nd line has to be strong. e.g. monkey jump (Black a) doesn't work here because of the weakness at b.

[Diagram]
Monkey jump fails here.

[Diagram]
Monkey jump fails here (continuation 1)

[Diagram]
Monkey jump fails (continuation 2)

Cheers,

  Jonathan Cano


Jonathan states that the monkey jump is invalid, this I'll agree. But White's response is no good! In (continuation 1), Black 3 can always play at 5 and Black's loss is minimal compared to when Black just plays at 5 alone (without playing the monkey jump at 1).

[Diagram]
Monkey jump fails here (better version)

I propose this diagram. White really should play at 2. If Black responds at 3, then the atari at 4 and the throw-in at 6 will capture all the black stones. Thus in response to White 2,Black can only connect at 4, then White plays at 3, and you can see the difference yourself!

--unkx80



Defending against monkey jumps... what's White's proper defense in the following:

[Diagram]
how to stop the monkey jump?

It seems to me that the circled points are miai and the squared points are miai, in each case with Black connecting and pushing for many more points than 5-6 into White's prospective territory.

Which means that W2 was wrong, right, and should really have been at a? Even then it's not clear to me how White's defense is supposed to go. In the sequenced I'm looking at, I see only horrors like:


[Diagram]
continued

If White plays a, then Black ladders her to the right edge. If White plays b, then we get the following diagram, only one point worse.



ArnoHollosi: White can play at a:

[Diagram]
3 is crucial

W3 putting the two marked stones into atari is correct. If Black continues with 4, W5 cuts him off.

Therefore, Black should play as follows:


[Diagram]
Correct sequence (1-10,a,b)

In an actual game Black should be satisfied by the B1-W2 exchange and keep the plays, B3, etc. in reserve. There's no need to play them out immediately.



In the original position, is the one-space jump better than the monkey jump?

[Diagram]
Better than the monkey jump?


Well, if white is ahead in Ko threats, then we can assume this may happen:

[Diagram]
One Possibility

In which case the answer is No, the monkey jump is better by 2 points. (The two points marked with a Square).

However, if Black can win the Ko..


[Diagram]

Then Black can do much better when white tries to resist, but...


[Diagram]

White can also do this, essentially reverting to the original monkey jump diagram.

AlexanderYoshi


Fhayashi: My attempt to summarize...

[Diagram]
Which defense?

The correct white response to B1 depends on whether there is a white stone at 'a' or not. If not, 'c' is the correct response, and if there is, 'b' is the response. I think if there is no white stone at 'a', the monkey jump is 10 points in sente, while if there is a stone at 'a', it is your regular 8 points in sente.


[Diagram]
10 point monkey jump

[Diagram]
wrong defense


[Diagram]
8 point monkey jump

[Diagram]
dead monkey - why w2 works

It comes down to whether black can capture W4 or not. With the stone corresponding to 'a' in the initial figure, W4 is safe.



[Diagram]
Is it sente?

One point which I believe is important: The monkey jump is sente for black if there's no white stone at 'a' and gote if there is. This may be a very important thing to take into account when deciding whether to make the jump or not.



Path: Endgame   · Prev: BasicEndgameTheory   · Next: EndgameClamp
This is a copy of the living page "Monkey Jump" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2003 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.