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OneSpaceLowPincer

 

One Space Low Pincer Jump
  Difficulty: Advanced   Keywords: Joseki

[Diagram]
Diag.: jumping to the center

The intention of white 1 is to stop black from getting a moyo on the left side. It leads to a rather complex joseki, but professionals regard it as slightly better for black. Black will defend his left-side position with A or B.




[Diagram]
Diag.: joseki

After black 1, white 2 is regarded correct. The sequence to white 10 is regarded joseki, but the general feeling among professionals is that this is slightly better for black, because coming back to defend at 10 is too slow.

The order of moves in this variation is not strict. Black may play 5 before 3, or after 7.


[Diagram]
Diag.: another move

Because the result in the previous diagram is considered unsatisfactory for white, other possibilities have been attempted for white 10. One of them is white 1 here. If next black plays 2 and 4, white quietly connects at 5. After black 6, white still has the invasion at A to look forward to. It is unlikely that white will die if she plays there, but she does run the risk that it is too small to play now. A is basically a very large endgame move, and should therefore be kept for the late middle game.


[Diagram]
Diag.: black's alternative

Black could also play black 1 here. White 2 used to be considered joseki. The result is equal to the previous joseki, except for the 1-2 exchange. Unfortunately for white, black might well use stronger weapons...


[Diagram]
Diag.: severe

Instead of 9 in the previous diagram, black could play the crude but severe moves of 1 to 8 first. White's four stones are under attack, and if there is a black stone around the middle of the left side (which often there is when this joseki is played), she probably has to search life with white 10.


[Diagram]
Diag.: follow-up (black 11 at A)

White can live in the corner, but because she has to play white 6 to do so, black can take control of the center with 7 and 9. Black is clearly better off in this diagram.


[Diagram]
Diag.: white's answer

Because the previous diagram leads to disaster, white 2 is considered correct. After white 4, fighting in this area comes to a temporary halt. Sometimes white 4 is omitted. White could try to exchange white A for black B before playing 2.


[Diagram]
Diag.: fighting (black 11 at A)

Black's third possibility is the combination of 1 and 3, which leads to strong fighting (if black 3 is played at 4, we get a conversion to the joseki above). Black should not play this way if the ladder at B works for white, but if it does not, and there are black stones in the neighbourhood to help him, this could become very painful for white.


[Diagram]
Diag.: no alternative

After black 2, there is no real alternative for white A. White B is too mild, while exchanging white 3 for black 4 is considered bad because white loses the option of invading at the 3-3 point. This exchange should only be made if white intends to build a base on the upper side, but doing so has been made a priori impossible by the marked black stone.


[Diagram]
Diag.: similar

The variations after black 2 are similar to those after black A, although there are some differences. One of those is that white 3 is considered not completely out of the question in this position, because white has more difficulties living in the corner, so giving up that option is less of a problem.



AndreEngels, 2D Europe (but feel free to make corrections or additions)



This is a copy of the living page "One Space Low Pincer Jump" at Sensei's Library.
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