3-4 point low approach three-space high pincer, two-point jump, tenuki

  Difficulty: Expert   Keywords: Opening, Joseki
[Diagram]

Black's tenuki

It is seen frequently enough in contemporary pro games that Black will here ignore white+circle - probably playing into the marked area to support the pincer stone black+square. Since black+square is usually played to avoid a severe counter-pincer, this may simply be a logical strategy.



[Diagram]

White confines Black

White then plays W1 to challenge black+circle to make life. There isn't too much difficulty for Black to live somehow, with possibilities at each of the marked points. If Black does so early in the game, White will undoubtedly gain a thick outside position.



If that is the case, though, it is probably true that black+square is better placed where it is, rather than at a, b or c. The same tenuki strategy has been tried with each of them: in case c, the three-space low pincer, there are half-a-dozen Go Seigen games featuring this idea.

The corner aji problem here is in fact genuinely intricate.

[Diagram]

Black lives quickly

Black can get life with B1 and B3. No marks for subtlety here, though.

[Diagram]

White attempts suppression

W1 here is taught (in all these pincer cases) as White's next move here; and B2 as a sabaki play after that. This sequence actually is played by pros, presumably because White build unarguable thickness in sente. There are other ways to play (W3 at B4) that grudge Black such a good result, but aren't clearcut either.

Charles Matthews


This is a copy of the living page "3-4 point low approach three-space high pincer, two-point jump, tenuki" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2009 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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