3-4 point high approach, two-space high pincer, keima
This move will be answered by Black's cut at a, regardless of any ladder. Actually, Ishida may say this is bad for White - but that's old information.
1. White stretches aggressively
When White aggressively stretches with , Black can stretch too at
or play a (see later).
After Black's outside attachment, White will eventually have to live on the side, while Black takes central influence. Next Black can aim at attacking White's other group. This fight has been regarded as favourable for Black in most circumstances, a.o. by Ishida's Joseki dictionary.
Each of Black's moves ,
and
are sente and cannot be answered by a hane: each cut will be favourable for Black. In the end, White cannot even play
at
, so Black takes a big corner. All the cannots'' in the above explanation can be explored further.
2. White stretches into the other direction
This variation has been played for 20 years, and is popular right now in pro games. is a common tesuji.
What are the followups here? -- JohnAspinall (who played this very badly last night on KGS)
Charles Up to is a common continuation in recent pro games. Where to play
is not so easy. Black a - White b is a standard way.
If White pushes at and
, Black happily connects. White will not be able to save his top stones.
Dieter: I wonder what happens with this one.
3. White peacefully plays atari (not recommended)
This peaceful result can easily be visualized. Black takes a substantial amount of territory. White takes influence and sente. However, it is felt that is not placed effectively. In fact, there is a joseki resulting from the ogeima variation where
is instead at a. That result is considered even and the final judgment will depend on whole board strategy or personal preference.
3. What if black doesn't play the tesuji at 2?
Instead of 2 it is also possible to play a, b or c, all of which I have been told yield bad results for white, or is that no longer true? A seems to leave white in an inferior position to black, B gives white a lot of territory but black has gained too much influence all around and C keeps white split into two weak groups