MonkeyJump/Into High Position

Sub-page of MonkeyJump
[Diagram]

How to stop the monkey jump?

What's White's proper defense here?

[Diagram]

Failure

W2 is wrong, as Black can push further into White's territory at B3. The marked squares are miai for Black, and White cannot cut B1 off. Try it out!

Chris Hayashida: What about W2 at B3? Seems to me that Black can't live by taking the inside. Actually, I found my answer. If Black extends upward (down in the diagram) to B2, and White extends to a, then the black hane is hard to deal with. It would work if the ceiling were one line lower, though.

[Diagram]

Correct response:

It looks suprising, but W4 works:

[Diagram]

6 is crucial

W6 putting the two marked stones into atari is correct. If Black continues with B7, W8 cuts it off.

[Diagram]

variation

What if Black does not play 7 like in the above diagram?

Then White still plays 8 like above and starts hunting the Black group, which by now has only one eye. It depends on the situation at the right side of the board which player will succeed.

[Diagram]

Correct sequence

Therefore, Black should play as follows:

In an actual game Black should be satisfied by the exchange of the marked stones and keep the plays 1 through 10 in reserve. There is no need to play them out immediately.


WTD: I believe Black's play in 'Correct sequence' above, is not optimal. If B1 is played at 6 (in that diagram), the result is 2 points worse for White.

[Diagram]

Better Black reply

The full sequence is shown in 'Better Black reply', and W4 at 5 gives the same result. Black can still tenuki after W2, but if Black plays next locally, it should be at B3, rather than 7.

[Diagram]

Better White defence

However, if White plays kosumi in response to the monkey jump as here, Black must play B3 to avoid being cut off, then W4 is required. Apart from tenuki, black has three alternatives for B5 (at 6, 7, or 9), each giving the same result. This is equal in value to the 'Correct sequence' above, but without the drawback described in 'Better Black reply'.


Relevant sequences are shown for a narrower but very similar position, at goproblems.com in problems [ext] 3762 and [ext] 4105, the creation of which led to this analysis.


This is a copy of the living page "MonkeyJump/Into High Position" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2011 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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