BQM 439
fractic: In a recent game I got caught by the following move which I didn't know.
fractic: It started innocent enough but I had never seen
before. Here is the game continuation which was very bad for me.
fractic: I continued by cutting at a. It ended with white getting the whole corner and a big wall by capturing
in a ladder. How could I have prevented this?
Andy Pierce: How about this
? You have a friend with
, so head for your friend. If white can't kill black in the corner, it's very bad for white.
fractic: This looks much better for black. Thanks :)
Bill: This looks horrid for Black to me.
is terrible shape.
fractic: How about
like this? If
then black has much better shape.
Bill: The exchange,
-
, is still bad.
Bill: Even eliminating that bad exchange, we can make a better shape for Black. (I have added a stone for White.) But isn't this still problematic for Black? Isn't Black overconcentrated? The problem goes back to
, which is too passive.
fractic: If White puts up more resistance with
then
still works. If White plays c black can play a or directly b. If White plays atari at a instead and then defends at c Black b captures three white stones.
Bill: (Later comment than below.) Avoiding the squeeze is very important. This looks playable. :)
Bill: Black does not want to allow the squeeze. White's stones are divided.
Andy Pierce: To be fair, the shape of
here isn't great either. :) Did black go wrong earlier than
?
Bill:
is part of an effective cut, by contrast with the empty triangle in the b escapes diagram above.
Andy Pierce: How about
here instead? Maybe not so good, since white gets a in sente, whereas
above ends most of the aji in the corner, although I think white still gets some play on the left.
Dave: The only real example I found. Note there are nearby stones such as those marked that may have led Black to try this line.
Bill: The proverb says to Hane at the head of two stones. In this position Black can hane at a or White can hane at b. Both look strong, especially b, since it weakens Black's stones so much. If a does not work, Black almost has to play b to prevent White from playing there.
BTW, hasn't this shape, with a different
position, been discussed here this year?
fractic: I don't know whether it has been discussed here or not but I looked at Kogo's joseki dictionary. For some other pincers this move is mentioned. But after Black a White b White does not extend the stone at b after the atari. Probably because the variation you gave above.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/25/ef70b7c13ab6937f1475d4129acf675f.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/37/fe35fb4f6e9ee5837493c8645fa2e8d1.png)
at ![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/44/15ce891533326eb49acb219f9e2ba81d.png)
connects)![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/38/3602f953f0d44a5c3204ec26f6f6b62d.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/49/b78552307f2f97d55f682a1a26f0c950.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/50/65b395bd40e6f5a4d7d73dfbf9487cf2.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/52/86667a09d29031c660d73bc4cd7c7733.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/13/b03465e671ada21bc215617b99aff022.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/52/fa05e2d803667696b9beb02b6a772a8d.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/7/103eacfab7ed1e47a671d1202675771d.png)
there are opportunities to stop the squeeze.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/51/839ee4e839f340bf74bff7e18299b18d.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/42/f0013eacae853be7c9900dff1352e7cd.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/49/14b7aebeed95320e3258c17ff5939d4f.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/47/fc71ad53b29ae6e921ddaaeeb9bd77bd.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/50/b0604dcff6cc22cb58963511e6051c75.png)
2024 the Authors,
published under the ![Sensei's Library [Welcome to Sensei's Library!]](../../images/stone-hello.png)