3-4 point high approach, two-space high pincer, outside attachment
With the attachment at , White is actually challenging Black to a fight. Black can reject the challenge with a, or accept it with b or c. In particular Black c (the Magic sword) can lead to long and complicated variations.
After , there are two variations for Black.
leads to a position that is also known without the pincer. White can cut at
to take the corner, or at
to take the outside with a ladder.
is rare when the pincer has not been played, but in this position it is quite common. White attaches at
, and Black defends at
or
. Because of the pincer, White has little room to make a base here, so jumping out at
is common, after which
stops White's hopes of a counter-attack.
Charles The other way is in response to
, which is natural suji, not allowing atari. Then
is agreed to be better shape here than at a which suffers Black b. This line occurs in pro games.
Cutting with is a fierce play, and White might well suffer greatly if she makes a mistake here.
threatens both a and b.
Exchanging White a for Black b is too great a loss, so White gives atari with , sacrificing two stones. Black gets a good amount of territory on the upper side; white's compensation is that she has sente, and thus played one stone less in this corner.
If White is not willing to give Black as much territory as in the previous diagram, can played at
here instead, and take the corner, giving Black thickness. After
, White might exchange White a for b to stop from playing a in sente; this does however strengthen Black even further, and Black still has the sequence Black c, White d, Black e and White f as a forcing sequence on the top.
looks like bad shape (after
, White has the hane at the head of two shape), but it is still joseki. Black invariably cuts with
, after which the position is known as the magic sword of Muramasa, a joseki which shares with the taisha and the onadare a reputation for complexity. See magic sword for this position.