active defense

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

An active defense is a defense which takes an active role in defending a weakness. This is in contrast to a "solid" move - an active defense is more fluid. Example:

[Diagram]

Solid defense

Black 2 here is a "solid" move. But with a pincer, watch what happens:

[Diagram]

19x19 diagram

Note that black 4 has "by the way" helped to protect black's bottom. It is still not secure yet, but black has made a move in this area; therefore we can say he has employed an "active defense" of this area with the pincer at 2. Also, black 2 has a good chance of living. This is a well known joseki so black isn't going to get more than white; but there may be some situations in middlegame fighting where by employing an active defense, you can come out ahead. Sometimes, the solid move is the best move; in other situations it's slack and an active defense is neccessary. In yet others the active defense move is an overplay, so you must be careful to balance the slack with the overplay.

Active defense is preferred by people who play in the Taiji Style. It's a neccessary component of the style. To properly perform an active defense (or active attack!) you should be well grounded in strategic concepts such as motare and leaning attack. kikashi (forcing move) is also a key concept. Learning to recognize kikashi wherever it appears can make you a very strong player.

-kungfu

What are the follow-up? Black 2 seems quite isolated and can be subject to a pincer.

-stefp

Tapir: A typical continuation is a.


This is a copy of the living page "active defense" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2016 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
[Welcome to Sensei's Library!]
StartingPoints
ReferenceSection
About