4-4 point 3-3 invasion, jumping away

  Difficulty: Expert   Keywords: Joseki
[Diagram]

A new move

This choice of B1 is a relatively modern move, which became quite popular from the late 1980s onward. Its aim is to get sente. A black stone at a is more or less required. White usually answers at W2. Exchanging white b for black c first is also possible; variations are not much different. Black B3 next is the proper move; Black d might be a bit of an overplay, although it has been played by professionals. After this, White can choose between d and e.

[Diagram]

Overplay?

B3 has been experimented with but rejected. It could be considered an overplay. Instead of W4, white could also play white a or W6, and after B7 there are no established variations. However, the outcome of all variations is similar: White lives in the corner in sente and black gets an outside wall with bad aji. I assume it is this aji that made professionals decide against this variation.

[Diagram]

Joseki

W4 is the most common continuation after B3. The continuation to B9 is joseki, after which White will either secure the position with W10 or play tenuki. There exist examples of Black playing B7 at B9, leaving aji at the top in exchange for more influence in the center.

[Diagram]

Not sente (W2 tenuki)

If White does not play at W10 in the previous diagram, B1 is not sente: White cannot be killed. However, capturing a stone in sente with B3 and B5 gives Black an extremely strong position, while the white corner is reduced to about 5 points.

[Diagram]

White's follow-up

If White does play the marked stone, Black will usually not answer it. White's follow-up will probably be W1 and W3 here. This also shows why the black+circle stone is important. Without it, White would play the double hane at B4 rather than W3, which would not be to Black's liking.

If black does play this variation without the black+circle stone, black answers white+circle at B1, apparently considering black's larger wall compared to the basic joseki more important than white's increased territory.

[Diagram]

The second option

White's second option is to play at W1 immediately, without first playing hane at a and connecting. It could even be played before white+circle. After W3, the joseki ends.

[Diagram]

early tenuki

Black's aim in this joseki is usually to take sente, and one way to do this is to play tenuki immediately when white plays the marked stone. White then has the variation upto B8 to settle the shape. The order of W5 and W7 can be reversed, and W1 to B4 can be skipped. Another option for white is to cut with W8 and fight.


Author: Andre Engels


This is a copy of the living page "4-4 point 3-3 invasion, jumping away" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2014 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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