diagonal plays as non-standard
Consider this play (which isn't standard joseki).
After the close pincer
,
is played in cases when Black is strong locally - it's not a normal joseki. Black next at a or b: if Black at b, White in these circumstances will be happy to play at a.
This is from recent days (Kato Masao-Cho U (B) 2003-05-26) in game 2 of the Honinbo match. Black's formation is a Kobayashi variant, considering the position of
. Playing
is therefore not the most obvious idea, and
is severe.
Probably White reasoned this way: in the actual Kobayashi formation Black can react to a later invasion by White at a by invading at the 3-3 point in the right corner (as we are looking at it). In this case Black is a little heavier. Therefore White can spend time up to
building up in the centre.
These other variations on the theme are in the same state: they are not joseki in their own right, and can't be called good shape. But they are sometimes used for particular reasons.
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/39/6be5b430111f710bdc5db2ff846cc8d9.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/48/c2dfaa25819fd1e8d490d2a6a683a5ad.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/35/095d2234a73b143c574680750ae5eb14.png)
![[Diagram]](../../diagrams/25/9c5e280084e5a0bb5512b2ee5ef81e3b.png)
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