Belly attachment
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The belly attachment, in the diagram, is a variety of attachment on the side of two enemy stones.
is the belly being attached to (think of the stone above as the "head").
The belly attachment can be highly effective for living, connecting, capturing, sealing in, or penetrating.
One's immediate instinct in this position is to play at a or b, both of which could indeed be vital points. The interesting thing about is that it takes one of Black's liberties while making these two points into miai, allowing you to take whichever one your enemy doesn't, In situations where either move is useful, that makes this a powerful tesuji.
The belly attachment does the trick. In this particular situation, it is known as attaching at the belly of the weasel (in Japanese, itachi no hara-zuke). Itachi no hara-zuke is considered a proverb, probably best translated as "Attach at the belly of the weasel [in situations like this]".
After the continuation to , which of course Black would not play out, White wins the capturing race.
Persevering with makes it ko. The ko is very disadvantageous for White. There is no need to make it ko if you can win unconditionally.
could also be at a. The continuation is left as an exercise. It's still a ko.
Note that this problem is a different beast altogether! For the solution, see two stone corner squeeze.
Example 2
Or does he? White gets an eye and wins the semai...
This common tesuji for sealing in your opponent is also a form of belly attachment.
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