3-4 point high approach, two-space high pincer, ogeima

  Difficulty: Expert   Keywords: Joseki
[Diagram]

Ogeima

The ogeima W1 here was invented by Fujisawa Kuranosuke. The most common continuation is at a, which will be further discussed on this page. There is also



Main line

[Diagram]

Main line

B6 here is now almost always played: the alternatives at a and b are nowadays considered to be inferior. The continuation with W7 at a gives Black too much in the way of outside influence (see below).

There is also Cho Chikun's variation where White plays W5 at c and Hashimoto Soji's variation where Black plays B4 at W5.

[Diagram]

Main line (continued)

The normal moves are as shown here, completing the joseki. For a while the relative timing of the W1/B2 and W3/B4 exchanges was considered a critical issue[1], but (it seems) no longer. B2 at b is a variant which is stronger in the corner. The exchange of W3 for B4 is a loss for White, as it greatly weakens the aji of his solitory stone, but it means that W5 indirectly covers the cutting point at c. B6 is of course not played if Black already has a stone in the area.

Variations

[Diagram]

Variation

W5 in the previous line can be played at W1 here instead, provided the ladder works for White. The first time it appeared (perhaps) was in a game between Miyazawa Goro and Ishikura Noboru. Can the latter therefore be considered to have invented the variation ?

[Diagram]

Variation (continued)

There are two issues in this joseki:

kokiri: also played by Nie weiping and discussed in his (unfairly criticised IMO) Nie Weiping On Go but in that example he used it to build a (black) position down the side.


Joseki too

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Modern variant

W5 is a modern variant of the joseki.

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Joseki

This is the contunuation


Noseki

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Noseki 1: Vulgar

W1 here is considered vulgar. White seems to end in sente, but if she takes it, Black can play Black a-White b-Black c-White d in sente, completely enclosing White in the corner, The result is considered better for Black.

[Diagram]

Noseki 2: wrong cut

The cut at W2 is not good for White. If the ladder works for Black, he can cut at a to annihilate White. If not, he crosses under at b to give the following result.

[Diagram]

Noseki 2: continuation

This result is comparable to the one in Hashimoto Soji's variation but it is worse. White's influence is diminished by the gaps at a and b.


[1]

[Diagram]

Critical line?

This is a possible critical line for the supposed timing issue. W1 before W3 is natural, simply because W3 is locally a bad play, weakening the marked white stone (it is only played at all to strengthen White's cutting point). The question is, what if Black now plays B4 to cut, the shape to the right having been fixed by W1/B2?

This position has occurred in a game, Cao Dayuan vs. Sakata Eio 1987-04-27.

[Diagram]

One critical line

After these plays and White a, Black b, White c, White has died inside and has much influence outside.

[Diagram]

Another critical line?

Another possible critical line occurs when White pushes in the centre first, as here; and Black makes the bamboo joint B2 to thwart White's later play in the corner (now if White a, Black b and White has less eye shape). That invites W3 and induces the cut B4.

This was played in a Korean game (Seo Neung-uk vs. Cheong Su-hyeon 1990-12-07); variations are given in Jungsuk in Our Time.


See also Deviating From Joseki In Games 1.


Authors


This is a copy of the living page "3-4 point high approach, two-space high pincer, ogeima" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2004 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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