BQM154
Bill: My opponent surprised me, first with
, then with
. What now?
Alex Weldon: I would play at a without hesitation, giving my opponent split shape and making all his stones look weirdly placed. However, you are stronger than I am, so if this corner is confusing you, there must be some sneaky play he can make that I'm not seeing. If he plays simply, at b, then W c looks like enough to me.
Bill: I played at a after great hesitation, and Black played at b. After the game I reflected that, although
is hurting, similar sacrifices are made all the time to invade the corner. I have the feeling that I could have done better.
Bob McGuigan: After deleting
and
the white a black b exchange results in a shape that occurs in a joseki for the outside attachment on the 5-4 approach stone. If that joseki result is locally equal we have to think about whether the presence of the
and
stones helps or hurts either player.
IanDavis: I'd prefer playing at b myself.
kokiri
was my instinctive response also, but up to
, i'm not loving black's position. Can black play
at a?
Bill: White can attack strongly with
,
, and
. Unfortunately,
breaks the ladder. After
White is not so happy.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/39/75e216641abd22c2d4093f02ca0f8e42.png)
and ![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/5/21f6fb64b729c1d682873e296bdf0622.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/33/2ae7ca349a6f79efbe2e05e36e5231af.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/45/26f93976199275720a6ac4445bced7b7.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/0/5180c520ce6386baee5525384afa9ac7.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/48/b88d3919aa3b49d2a4db41ffad27c7ae.png)
2024 the Authors,
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