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Hane At The Head Of Two
  Difficulty: Advanced   Keywords: Proverb, Shape, Tactics

[Diagram]
Diag.: the head of two

This proverb says that in a position like the one in this diagram, playing hane with black A or white B is very big move. If one is faced with a position like this, it is hardly ever good to play somewhere else on the board. The difference between these two moves is simply too large.


[Diagram]
Diag.: joseki

As an example of the value of the 'hane at the head of two', we look at this corner position. Black 1 and further are joseki (see ThreeThreePointInvasionJoseki). Black gets a lot of thickness, white a modest amount of corner territory. Now see what happens if white is the first to play in this position.


[Diagram]
Diag.: terrible for black

Now the position looks radically different. Instead of black making influence, white does. And she is making fifth-line territory as well. Add to that the trouble black will have dealing with white A (understandably - when hane at the head of two stones is good, then hane at the head and the foot will be even better), and the only conclusion we can draw, is that the difference between these two diagrams is too large to allow the opponent to get what is yours in this position.


[Diagram]
Diag.: hane at the head of three

Apart from 'hane at the head of two', one also often hears 'hane at the head of three' - and rightly so. In fact, although the value of the hane decreases when the line gets longer (with two or three stones, it is quite menacing for the opponent's stones, especially when combined with the 'foot hane', when there are more stones they can more easily manage themselves), playing hane at the head of a line is a key point for influence for any length of line.

-- Andre Engels



This is a copy of the living page "Hane At The Head Of Two" at Sensei's Library.
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