3-4 point low approach two-space low pincer

This is a classical pincer that is not so often played since the 1930s. There are a number of quite obscure variations.

Hanmanchu: From Ishida Volume 1, 1977: "Black 1 was at one time the most popular pincer play. Nowadays it has yielded the place of honour to the two-space high pincer, but it is still a representative pincer."

In Fuseki Revolution it is said: "Since the advent of AI, the view that a pressing move is always an effective answer to a pincer has been established". That is, in the age of AI, a would be the go-to move.

White's usual ideas are the jump to a, the counter-pincer at b, and tenuki (3-4 point low approach two-space low pincer, tenuki).

White may also play any of c to f (3-4 point low approach two-space low pincer diagonal) and g to make shape (for at z see BQM 250). The one-point jump out probably isn't joseki here There are further lines (for example, in game 2 of the first ever Kisei match Hashimoto Utaro tried one, but got a bad result).

Past discussion

The variation where White plays e and Black cuts through is or ought to be notorious for its difficulty (little recent pro game evidence to go on, meaning it may have unexplored joseki status); one joseki book gives a result which is seki, contradicting the go song:

There's no seki in joseki, there's no seki I know ...

(To the tune of 'There's no business like show business'.)

Charles Matthews

Pressing - extend, no cut

Hanmanchu: Here is a representative modern pro game:

In the past, instead of , a was the usual joseki move.

is a strong move, inviting a fight. does not yield and cuts. avoids a Black pressing move at that point. After , preparing a cut at a, the fight becomes very difficult.

White moves out with , Black cuts. makes shape. in turn moves the stones out. is the correct move here, threatening the black corner group and to cut the three black stones. In a completely similar game in 2022, Gu Zihao - Jiang Weijie, white played a (instead of 7) which was suboptimal.

Pressing - "Push out and cut"

Overview

Hanmanchu: I want to try to give some representative examples for the push out and cut variation. In the position in the diagram, extending away at a and the descent (or block) to b are now possible.

Descent (block)

Here is one representative modern pro game. at a is suboptimal both according to older joseki books and AI. is cutting and squeezing. can also be played directly, instead of .

is absolutely necessary, otherwise white plays there. After , white continued on a - this is one possible way to play.

Older joseki books give b as a continuation here - the white group is then alive in the corner. If black then jumps out to c, white, after d - e, cuts through on f and captures the black stones.

Extend

After extending to , Black can now either extend away himself to a, or push from behind at b. This position commonly arises also after the 3-4 Point High Approach, Two-Space Low Pincer.

Extend - extend, keima

Here is one representative game for a in the previous diagram. The keima and start the typical windmill shape. The shoulder hit is one way to play here. After and , locks white in.

Instead of the keima , white can also play the kosumi at . This is discussed in Joseki Revolution, page 45.

in turn blocks Black's way out. After , which forces , the joseki comes to a temporary halt. In the actual game, Weon played a next.

Extend - extend, kosumi

Hanmanchu: Here is a recent pro game with the kosumi. For an explanation, I quote from the book Joseki Revolution. The kosumi aims at 'a'. This is forestalled by .

The attachment is countered by the attachment , aiming to make a sacrifice.

The game continues with 'b' - 'c'. According to Shibano Toramaru, this is an established joseki at present (2022).

Extend - push from behind

When Black pushes on like here, white can choose a (the classical way) or b (the modern way).

Here is one game with the classical way. might be hard to find in a real game. Actually, according to AI, both and are slightly suboptimal.

This is the continuation. After , a was played. This exact variation is also given in Ishida Volume 1.

Returning the pincer

Hanmanchu: a and b are the main replies here.

Tenuki

Please refer to 3-4 point low approach two-space low pincer, tenuki.

Past discussions

tapir: I wonder for how long this page remained unedited. The shoulder hit on black, cut variations (well at least those I know a bit) in the far high and near low pincer both end with the pincer stone damaged. The far low pincer stone looks much nicer placed in any of those variations. And there are not much games for it, I guess. Can anyone knowledgeable comment some more?

guppyfry/honus: I want to echo tapir's above comment from 2010 to say that this page could use updating on the shoulder hit by white ("e" in the above diagram) This seems like it has gained popularity and been explored more by the AI?