Monkey Jump
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![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/40/6217f165d7a15bf548b457a731f94e94.png)
Monkey jump is a big yose move
The Monkey Jump is a large knight's move from the second to the first line. Similar to that is the Knight's move to a, which makes a Small Monkey Jump.
It is normally a big endgame move: You use an open skirt to run under your opponent's group to reduce her potential territory.
Sente or Gote?
A monkey jump is proverbially worth 8 or 9 points in sente, although the exact amount depends on the position, and it may very well be gote. In cases where it is gote, it is often incorrect.
In the diagram above, is usually not sente, simply because White does not need to answer at all. It also seems that White can answer it in sente:
Ending in Gote
Later, White will probably get this exchange in sente. But this is still a gain for Black. See Value of a monkey jump for a detailed discussion.
If the marked stone is one line higher, as in this diagram, Black can keep sente with this simpler (and better) line, as White needs to defend the cutting point at a.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but in this corner case (pun intended) the monkey jump is gote, correct? Even with the marked stone in the previous diagram gone, a play at a or b would still be gote because white will just atari. Is there a line of play for black that would still be sente in this case?
Herman: Here, the Small Monkey Jump is more appropriate.
Responding
The best response to the monkey jump depends heavily on the surrounding circumstances. See Monkey Jump/How To Stop, and Monkey Jump/Into High Position.
Any of a, b, c, d, e may be right depending on whether White has stones on the circled points. a and b are often best if they can be played.
Connecting
One time I remember seeing something about using the monkey jump to connect two groups. I tried it in a game and I couldn't get it to work and now I can't find the page which talks about how to do it.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/21/d99b8ea278ca384fda98d6d7c1d8bfe1.png)
Strongeye (W, 6k KGS) vs. INCUBUS (B, 7k KGS)
Herman Hiddema: It usually only works if the stones on the second line that you are connecting are 3 points apart. So the move should be a monkey jump from the stone on one side, and a kosumi from the stone on the other side. It may work in other cases, eg if it is a one-point jump from another stone on the first line. See also: Monkey Jump Connection.
Subpages
Monkey Jump into High Position
Contributors: fhayashi, AlexanderYoshi, Jonathan Cano, unkx80, ArnoHollosi, IaGo
First WikiMasterEdit by dnerra, 2003-12-01.
Second WikiMasterEdit by Bill and andorian, 2007-7-28.