Small avalanche - trick play

Trick play  

In the small avalanche joseki, (instead of a) is a trick play that may be played when the ladder at b is good for Black. The refutation for White can be hard to find however.

Tesuji  

is natural to prevent the ladder, but after , it seems that White has a problem. The tesuji at saves the day.

Tesuji continuation  

With the moves up to , Black can cut off , but White takes the corner and manages to escape with as well.

If White tries to avoid being sealed in by playing at , Black will connect under at , and White's horrible shape quickly becomes apparent.

Falling for the trick play  

With , White has fallen for the trick play. With the moves up to , Black seals white into the corner while cutting off . White can push through at a, but b is atari, forcing White to capture, after which Black can finish his wall with a move at c.

Falling harder for the trick play  

is even worse. After , the white groups are disconnected and heavy.

A signicant improvement for white over 'Falling for the trick play'  

is not so bad if white plays 5 as descent rather than atari.

continuation  

As white descended she has an extra liberty and can push through and capture the stone on the 2nd line in sente, which is a big improvement over the previous diagram. I (Uberdude) think this is playable for white as she gets sente and there is still some aji on the outside: activating the marked cutting stone and the peep at a are things to look forward to.