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3-4 approach, high or low
Difficulty: Advanced
Keywords: Opening, Joseki
SnotNose What factors apply when considering whether to approach the 3-4 black stone at a or b? Presumably the stones in the lower left corner matter. Perhaps those in the upper right do as well. Finally, perhaps there are issues of territory and influence. However, with so many possible continuations (think of all the possible pincers alone!!!), I don't know how to make this decision. Does anyone? Or is it a matter of style? Contributions welcome.
SnotNose One idea that occurs to me is that if white has a thick position in the lower left corner, facing upward toward the upper left, perhaps a play at More generally, if white wants to develop the left, the low approach move might help. Of course, if black doesn't tenuki, white won't get to play a or b. One thing is certain, black won't pincer here so that cuts down the possible joseki to consider.
SnotNose But, if we add some more stones to the board, giving black a moyo in the upper right, perhaps
SnotNose I can't resist giving this high approach example. Black can still develop the top with the attachment SnotNose So, the problem of which approach to choose, high or low, can get complicated, and I'm giving very simple examples!!! With directon of play less clear and with pincers possible, it gets awfully hard for me to select the right play. Anybody have some general guidelines and/or examples? BobMcGuigan: It is really hard to give general rules about when to play high or low since the whole problem is so context dependent. Some issues that have to be considered are: balance with whatever there is in the lower left or upper right, whether white is aiming for territory or a moyo, and even whether white might want to play a two-space approach move. Your examples all had white in control on the left side but white might approach the upper left corner when black controls the left side, e.g. in the Chinese fuseki.
Charles See for example forbidden high approach, or the article One type is like this, in the Shusaku fuseki;
This is quite a rare combination (
Assuming a white 4-4 stone lower left, as we look at it, this is reasonable for White on the left side.
If Black at b, then the following is natural:
However, Kajiwara explains that Charles Well, it can't be that simple.
Look at this side pattern alone, and ask a crude statistical question: is White's next play here at a or b?
There is certainly more to be said about that result.
But reverting to the previous diagram, you can say that
There are few enough examples of this side from recent times in pro games - a small sample only from the last 25 years. When Black does approach in the upper left, This is a copy of the living page "3-4 approach, high or low" at Sensei's Library. ![]() |