Strike at the waist of the keima

  Difficulty: Intermediate   Keywords: Shape, Proverb

Strike at the waist of the keima is a proverb which advises the following play, called tsukekoshi in Japanese.

[Diagram]

Strike at the waist



The main point of the proverb is that a White play at a tends to be vulgar. There are other variants of the play, where White attaches away from her strength.

Note: As the examples indicate, White typically has a number of supporting stones in the vicinity. Also, the purpose is often a sacrifice.


Linguistic note: There was an early mistranslation of this proverb. While koshi in Japanese does mean waist, in tsukekoshi it is a verbal form meaning crossing over. See /Discussion.


Examples

Example 1: Sacrifice

In this example B2 is a sacrifice for shape and sente.

Example 2: Sacrifice

[Diagram]

Jowa (W) vs. Sakurai Chitatsu

B1 is a sacrifice for shape, sente, and aji.

Example 3: Sacrifice

[Diagram]

Jowa (W) vs. Ito Shusuke

B2 is a sacrifice, mainly for territory.

Example 4: Settle group

[Diagram]

Jowa (W) vs. Mizutani Takujun

W3 could be a sacrifice for territory. However, . . .

[Diagram]

Jowa - Takujun (cont.)

White ends up capturing the black+circle stone and settling his group in sente.

Example 5: Shinogi

Black uses not one, but two tsukekoshi in a row to make life.

Example 6: Sabaki

Hashimoto sacrifices W3 to skillfully negotiate treacherous waters.


More information regarding cutting of a keima can be found here:


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(OC) 2009 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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