BQM78
Please can anybody advise on Black's best course of action when confronted with this irregular but tricky move?
I have investigated several lines and cannot find a clearly good answer.
Thanks - Tamsin
Charles Matthews Hamete alert! Lights flashing, alarms going off, whoowhoo from the sirens! Next at a is the common sense play. So, how does White proceed after that to get a good result, in which
/
isn't just a wasted exchange? White b, we look at Black c or d; I suppose the key line is White c if Black is unhappy with Black b, White e.
That is, I take the query in this sense: after here, does the
/
exchange make it look like Black has played submissively
here?
- Bill: In this position, is the comparison between
and
? Without
,
is normal,
is not. So I think we should compare
and
, which is clearly bad for White.
- That having been said,
does look too passive.
- That having been said,
Ah, it seems that with your suggested move that Black can transpose into a variation analogous to a good line that I found in Kogo:
Black chooses between a and b. At a is the correct move while b is falling for White's hamete:
Good for Black
One way that suggests itself is sealing off the centre with , accepting poor shape at
but making the point about White's shape with
in answer to
. (On second thoughts I might not have the nerve for
, playing at a.) This might work in strategic terms.
The initial attachment, to set up attach-extend (more likely attach-block to render White heavy), has to justify itself strategically against the diagonal attachment ordinary choice. I think the main reason for rejecting the diagonal attachment would be so as not to weaken . In this case it will become a stone backed up by influence.
Bill: My first thought was the outside hane, but it's difficult. E. g.,
After , Black at a.
Suzuki-Kitani's Small Joseki Dictionary shows instead of
, but that's without the
stones. White threatens White b - Black e, but Black's
stones are working.
Oops! In the related sequence, Go Seigen, in Watch out for these plays! (Kono Te Goyoushin), shows the refutation to , namely,
.
And what is wrong with the inner hane? E. g.,
It's not so good on an empty board, because White is too good on the left side. But that is not so when Black has the stone.
Charles I can't answer that question, Bill. But as I assess the character of the player with White, she'd play ...
... this way. So Black needs to be content with
?
- Bill: I like Black a (bo-tsugi) instead. :-)
- Charles Possible ways to play
to make shape are at b and c now. Black a seems to be stronger against White c, Black at 3 as shown against White b? Interesting.[1]
- Bill: Well, White has difficulties either way.
- Charles Possible ways to play
Charles I don't think we have answered the initial question yet, quite. I do think the inner hane is good.
If here, what will White play? It appears that in this case of the staircase, giving White nothing at all to work with by connecting might be apt.
I don't believe White can connect solidly in return. The bulge must be all Black could hope for round here.
After I think we see up to
(perhaps
at
is also possible in some cases). Isn't Black content with
? White can now exchange White a for Black b; but surely White is too heavy to launch a strong attack? White's play at c would have to be very telling, to call this a good result for White.
Charles The added stone has marginally interfered with a normal 3-3 invasion sequence. White at a will be a nuisance later for Black. On the other hand White could try the 3-3 invasion at
after the attach-extend, anyway. In that case Black blocking at
would give this sequence, only with White knowing that White a has been answered at b (could be at c or d from the diagram position).
Therefore to argue this is poor for Black, you need to say that Black would want to block on the other side, at . That does look conventional.
[1] Charles Some results to consider.
If is played,
up to
tries to make the best of a bad job. White looks to make a and b miai, staying as light as possible (White is undeniably heavy after
).
- Bill: No thanks to
and
, either.
- How about White c instead of
?
- How about White c instead of
If instead here, I think
is appropriate, to leave some aji at a. If
is at
, White gets into the corner.
Bill: Oh, I would be thrilled to give White the corner.
Because of White's local ko threats, I assume that White can play , and take sente. Even so, comparing this with the 3-3 invasion, which also ends in White's sente, this is better for Black. White's corner is smaller, the exchange of
and
favors Black, and
is not well placed.
As against that, White does have some aji on the left side.
Charles Given that, at
could be considered here. But perhaps this feeling of constraint justifies Bill's botsugi idea.
Bill: Ooh, I like that play, Charles!
However, Black cannot win this fight. In this variation, Black loses his stones on the top side.
Is the botsugi doomed? Maybe not.
aims at White's shortage of liberties. Now
is safe. White has nothing better than to live with
.
at a looks good enough.
However:
Black 4 - Black 6 works if the ladder does. But even then, gives Black problems. I like White's chances.
First Correct move