Reduce high enclosure

  Difficulty: Expert   Keywords: MiddleGame

An example of good technique for moyo reduction. You can find this discussed in the Improve your Intuition series by Takagawa. Another book worth looking at is Reducing Territorial Frameworks.

[Diagram]

Starting position

Assume that White wants to reduce the black framework here, and at the same time strengthen her own a bit.

[Diagram]

White plays a probe at W1.



We shall assume that Black answers strongly at B2 because he doesn't want White to live in the corner. If Black plays B2 at W3, White plays at B2. If Black then plays to the right of B2 to kill White, White will play a; have fun investigating that move, it's neat :)

[Diagram]

Now White attaches and the sequence to W5 follows.



Black has some bad aji in his territory and has to add a move, in particular Black cannot push through and cut above W5. Takagawa recommends that Black add a move at a.

The beautiful thing about this is of course the timing. White can only play the forcing moves in the corner before attaching at W1. If White omits the forcing moves, Black can cut after W5 and is unlikely to answer the same way in the corner.

-- ChristianNentwich


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