Plays against low Chinese opening

Sixth move in low chinese  

This is the position in the low chinese opening, before . We're assuming a ni ren sei formation for White on the left, as is very common. According to An Younggil of gogameguru, a-j are common options for . We'll highlight a few of them.

Checking White's influence  

White's high extension of and keeps the central influence of the chinese formation in check. Next, Black will use his sente to dismantle White's left side with a or c, or build the upper side with b. If is played at immediately, the follow-up remains largely the same.

Black could also pincer around , but then White will play at to enclose the black corner stone, which immediately makes the game complex for Black. See ^[1]

Keeping distance  

Nowadays (2012), a steady move like is popular with the professionals, which avoids direct contact with the stones of the low chinese, while keeping its influence in check on a larger scale. Next, Black who is locally unaffected by , turns his attention to the upper side. is commonly seen, but local continuations like a and b are also common.

Ordinary joseki  

Another idea is to play at the top immediately, allowing Black to form an ideal territorial framework at the upper right. Next, Black will naturally shift his attention to the lower left, using the influence of the low chinese opening to build.

Popular in 2013  

This pattern has been very popular since 2013. is counterintuitive because it allows splitting with immediately. However, establishing a group in the corner is mindful of the framework potential of the low Chinese.

Popular in 2013 (cont)  

Moreover, puts disposable but influential stones at the top. Black's cutting stones end up somewhat inefficient, which compensates for the effect of White's stones being cut.

Pincering the reduction stone  

Black pincers at to next split the natural answer at .

Pincering the reduction stone (ctd)  

In 3 of the 5 games in a gobase search where Black pincers the reduction stone, this is the continuation. prevents White from making use of her influence at the right side. White then turns to the lower side with , where the influence is less strong and the black stone has more flexibility.

Dieter's opinion here is that Black has not made clear use of his original low Chinese formation. White seems to have a more active position which is why I believe this variation is abandoned by Black.

See 3-4 point distant high approach from the wrong direction for more analysis of this corner position.

Elom: I once heard that this formation is bad for black. Why?