Capture the Cutting Stones

    Keywords: Proverb

This is a proverb which may be stated in different ways:

  • It is important to capture the cutting stones.
  • When faced with a choice, capture the cutting stones.

Leaving cutting stones usually means leaving aji behind. Later in the game aji can become your downfall.

When the capture is a ponnuki, there are shape reasons to capture. But quite generally there are strategic reasons to capture if that also connects (and so reduces your number of weak groups).

There is a corollary to one of the meanings of this proverb: cut the side you don't want.


Examples

Capture the cutting stones in joseki 1
Capture the cutting stones in joseki 2


This is a copy of the living page "Capture the Cutting Stones" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2007 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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