3-4 point high approach, two-space high pincer, outside attachment

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.

Table of contents Lower Hane Upper Hane Magic Sword

Table of diagrams Outside attachment Lower Hane Lower Hane, Hane again Lower Hane, Extension Lower Hane, Extension 2 Upper hane Upper Hane, Main line Upper Hane, Mistake Upper Hane, Mistake, cont'd Magic Sword

Lower Hane  

After the exchange of for , black can play either a, which involves a ladder, or b, which is more common with the pincer.

Lower Hane, Hane again  

This 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.

See also: 45Point43ApproachOutsideContact

Lower Hane, Extension  

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.

Lower Hane, Extension 2  

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.

Upper hane  

Cutting with is a fierce play, and White might well suffer greatly if she makes a mistake here.

Upper Hane, Main line  

This is the main line for this joseki. White takes the corner, giving Black thickness. After , black can later play a or c in sente, requiring white to defend the corner. Exchanging white a for b to stop black from playing a in sente is usually not good as white is pushing from behind on the second line. On the top black has the sequence Black c, White d, Black e and White f as a forcing sequence.

Upper Hane, Mistake  

Playing hane with is a mistake. Black plays , after which a and b are miai for black.

Upper Hane, Mistake, cont'd  

Exchanging White a for Black b is too great a loss, so White can only play atari with , sacrificing two stones. Black gets a lot of territory on the upper side; white's only compensation is that she has sente, and thus played one stone less in this corner. To see why this is bad, compare this with diagram 2 of the small avalanche. This sequence is identical to that one, but all black stones are one line higher.

Magic Sword  

looks like bad shape (after , White has the Hane at the Head of Two Stones 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.