Flying off orthogonally

  Difficulty: Advanced   Keywords: MiddleGame, Joseki, Tactics, Strategy

Charles The 'flying off' feel is like this:

[Diagram]

Flying off at ninety degrees

When Black cuts with black+circle (probably questionable) W1 tries to set up a driving tesuji based on White's atari at a. This is one element of many sabaki techniques.

Nota Bene: Beginners play atari.

This W1 is much better than either available atari play.

[Diagram]

White makes Black look good

If White just forces out this way, black+square sits on an ideal point. I think one becomes stronger just by realising that this is entirely the wrong approach to the game. Black's initial cut works badly with black+square, but White has ignored all that.

[Diagram]

Standard sabaki example

From Yoda's Vital Points and Skillful Finesse for Sabaki. W7 defers white's decision on which atari to make against B6, setting up both a driving tesuji and impacting black+square. At first glance B4 looks severe, but after W7 white has no difficulties here. If B8 at a white effects the tesuji.

This concept has something to do with leaning, but appears at the level of suji.


A large-scale example.

[Diagram]

Black 1 'at right angles'

This position is from Cho Chikun - Cho Sonjin (B) in game 2 of the 54th Honinbo final (1999-05-24,25), at move 79.

Here B1 again exemplifies one of the most interesting 'feelings' about fighting: that rather than trying directly to cut at a (a failure, according to easy way out of a double kakari), Black should spread the struggle out in an orthogonal direction to take some wider advantage.

Black succeeds, no doubt deliberately, in starting a complex fight, rather than just playing out a corner joseki. (One can note that not too many of the worked-out 4-4 point joseki lead to large-scale fights, if you believe the books - but that may be a problem with joseki as definitive sequences, as much as anything else.)

Sometimes the way this is expressed is of 'incorporating' other parts of the board into the fight.

[Diagram]

Moves 80 to 89

[Diagram]

Moves 90 to 99

[Diagram]

Moves 100 to 109

[Diagram]

Moves 110 to 119

Here W9 threatens in one direction while looking in another, which is a variant on the same idea.

[Diagram]

Moves 120 to 129

After W1, White has an attack in the centre.

[Diagram]

Moves 130 to 139

Finally here the fighting affects the opposite corner of the board.


This is a copy of the living page "Flying off orthogonally" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2011 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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