Monkey Jump

Table of contents Sente or Gote? Ending in Gote Ending in Sente Responding Connecting See also

Monkey jump is a big yose move  

The Monkey Jump is a large knight's move from the second to the first line. Similar to that is the Knight's move to a, which makes a Small Monkey Jump.

It is normally a big endgame move: You use an open skirt to run under your opponent's group to reduce her potential territory.

Sente or Gote?

A monkey jump is proverbially worth 8 or 9 points in sente, although the exact amount depends on the position, and it may very well be gote. In cases where it is gote, it is often incorrect.

In the diagram above, is usually not sente, simply because White does not need to answer at all. It also seems that White can answer it in sente:

Ending in Gote

Monkey jump ending in gote.  

But Black can play better:

[edit]

Ending in Sente

Monkey jump ending in sente.  

Monkey jump ending in sente (follow up).  

Later, White will probably get this exchange in sente. But this is still a gain for Black. See Value of a monkey jump for a detailed discussion.

Monkey jump ending in sente  

If the marked stone is one line higher, as in this diagram, Black can keep sente with this simpler (and better) line, as White needs to defend the cutting point at a.

Monkey jump in to a corner  

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in this corner case (pun intended) the monkey jump is gote, correct? Even with the marked stone in the previous diagram gone, a play at a or b would still be gote because white will just atari. Is there a line of play for black that would still be sente in this case?

Herman: Here, the Small Monkey Jump is more appropriate.

GreenAsJade: is this only gote because of the marked stone (I just marked it now)? Without that stone there, it seems black does not have to worry about the atari after b because of the double atari response at c ? There is a mess after that, but it seems to turn into a big reduction of the corner, at the loss of one stone for black.

Responding

The best response to the monkey jump depends heavily on the surrounding circumstances. See Monkey Jump/How To Stop, and Monkey Jump/Into High Position.

Any of a, b, c, d, e may be right depending on whether White has stones on the circled points. a and b are often best if they can be played.

Responses  

Connecting

Monkey jumps may be used for connecting two groups. See Monkey Jump Connection.

See also

• Continuations
  • Monkey Jump Failures — positions in which it does not work
  • How to Stop the Monkey Jump — mistakes are common and the best answer depends on the rest of the position
    • Monkey Jump into High Position — defence when the invaded position is high
  • Monkey Jump and Ko — ko-threats after the one-space jump
• Alternatives
  • Value of a Monkey Jump — complicated: it varies between just over four and just under (or maybe over) six points
  • Monkey Jump or One-space Jump — sometimes a one-space jump is better
  • Small Monkey Jump — sometimes professionals prefer a keima
  • Counting Crawls — the board being finite, crawling may sometimes be better
• Applications
  • Monkey Jump Connection — between two second line stones three spaces apart
  • Open Skirt — such positions are sometimes reduced by a monkey jump
• Related positions
  • How big is the 6-point double sente — which threatens a monkey jump
• Similar moves
  • Large Knights Extension from Third Line — a monkey jump one line higher may also be feasible
  • Reverse Monkey Jump — back up to the second line
  • Xray Monkey Jump — when you can jump through an obstacle
• Other pages
  • Etymology — there is more to it than you may expect
  • Monkey Jump Problem Series — test yourself!
  • Monkey Jump Workshop — a book by Richard Hunter
  • The Monkey Jump — an expanded version of Monkey Jump Workshop, also by Richard Hunter