REDUCING TERRITORIAL FRAMEWORKS Attacking and Defending Moyos by Fujisawa Shuko
Translated by John Power
Kiseido Publishing Company Tokyo, Santa Monica, Amsterdam
PREFACE The aim of a reducing move is similar to that of an invasion, in that it tries to prevent the opponent from enlarging his area. Limiting the expansion of his territorial framework (moyo) or reducing its size may not bring you actual profit locally, but in the overall context it maintains territorial balance, so it is a large-scale strategy. That means that you have to make a cool assessment of the overall position and that you have to articulate a strategy of defence and offence that applies to the whole board. The reducing move is not directly a fighting technique. However, it often serves as preparation for fighting elsewhere or provokes a counterattack that makes fighting unavoidable. In contrast to the concreteness of an invasion, both the aim and the execution of a reducing move are abstract. Rather than local tactical skills, an overall strategic vision is called for, but for this very reason it is necessary to master its basic concepts and techniques. It may not be a fighting technique, but you must always be ready to fight. The first chapter of this book discusses the basic concepts of the reducing move. The next three chapters give a systematic presentation of the important patterns or josekis. The fourth chapter attempts to give the reader a feeling for how reducing manoeuvres function in the context of whole-board planning by examining the strategic choices involved in deciding between reducing and invading, between surrounding and expanding territory. The final chapter looks at examples, presented as pick-the-next-move problems, taken from my games. The most difficult stage in a game of go is the transition from the opening to the middle game. To steer your course safely through this stage, a sound grasp of the theory and practice of reducing and invading is essential, and acquiring such a grasp is the first step towards giving your game greater profundity. I would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the go writer Aiba Kazuhiro in putting together this book. I would also -iii-
like to express my gratitude to the Ishi Press for making an Englishlanguage version available to go fans around the world. I hope that it can make a contribution to your understanding and appreciation of the game. October 1977 and June 1986
Fujisawa Shuko
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE With the publication of this book, the Ishi Press comes one step closer to achieving its goal of providing a complete coverage of the various fighting techniques of go. Reducing Territorial Frameworks is intended to complement the coverage of invasion techniques presented in Enclosure Josekis. The two books are closely related because in the fighting of the early middle game a player usually has to make a direct choice between the two techniques of invading and reducing. His choice, of course, profoundly influences the subsequent course of the game. This book was written by Aiba Kazuhiro, a leading go writer, in close collaboration with Fujisawa Shuko, Honorary Kisei. In my opinion, it presents the best and most systematic analysis of reducing techniques available in Japanese. It should serve not only as a valuable reference guide but also as a textbook in the techniques involved in reducing manoeuvres and in the underlying strategic concepts. Not only does it explain the tactics involved in reducing moves, it also attempts to provide the reader with the theoretical understanding necessary for making the correct choice between reducing and invading. As Shuko points out, there are intuitive elements involved in any strategic decision that can only be learnt from actual play, but I am confident that this book will provide the reader with a firm basis for experimentation in his own games. June 1986
John Power -iv -
TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface
v
Translator's Preface
vi
Glossary of Japanese Terms
viii
Chapter One: The Basics of Reducing Reduce or invade? The objectives of reducing moves Where to reduce Priority in reducing Making preparations for reducing Conclusion
1 1 2 16 21 23 25
Chapters Two to Four: Reducing Move Josekis Chapter Two: Reducing the Side 1. The Simple Shoulder Hit 2. Shoulder Hit Against the Two-Space Extension 3. The Capping Move 4. The Knight's Move 5. The Large Knight's Move 6. The Ear 7. The Side Contact Play 8. Attaching on Top 9. One's Best Guess
27 28 35 42 65 72 75 78 88 93
Chapter Three: Reducing Corner Enclosures 1. The Small Knight Enclosure 2. The One-Space Enclosure 3. The Large Knight Enclosure 4. The Star-Point Enclosure
102 102 114 120 124
Chapter Four: Reducing the Chinese-Style Fuseki 1. Reducing the Low Chinese-Style Fuseki 2. The High Chinese-Style Fuseki
129 129 137
Chapter Five: Attack and Defence
144
Chapter Six: Problems
170
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GLOSSARY OF JAPANESE TERMS aji: potential atsui: thick, strong furikawari: trade, swap gaisei: outward influence hasamitsuke: clamp hiraki: extension kakari: approach move against a corner stone karami: a splitting attack; a move which attacks two groups simultaneously karui: light (of stones with a flexible shape or which can easily be sacrificed as they have seved their purpose) katachi: correct shape kata-tsuki: shoulder hit kogeima: small knight move kyusho: the vital point leaning attack: see motare miai: points of exchange of approximately equal value — if the opponent takes one, one can always take the other motare: a 'leaning' attack, i.e. applying pressure to one group in order to build up strength to attack another moyo: a territorial framework — potential, not actual, territory nozoki: peep ogeima: large knight move sabaki: settling a group by making a flexible and resilient shape shimari: corner enclosure shinogi: saving an isolated group under attack tsume: a checking extension, i.e. while extending from one's own position, one prevents the opponent from extending from his
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CHAPTER ONE The Basics of Reducing Reduce or invade? The traditionally established order of priority in the fuseki is: 1. empty corners, 2. enclosures or approach moves, 3. extensions, 4. checking extensions (tsume), 5. jumps. This traditional order is not always observed nowadays, with the popularity of moves such as the 3 - 3 and 4—4 points that occupy the corner in one move and dispense with the need for enclosures. Such moves arise from Black's desire to start early fighting. Nevertheless, in fundamentals, fuseki strategy still hews to the traditional order. A reducing move (keshi — also known in English as an 'erasure') has the same value as the fifth move listed above, the jump. In the same sense in which an enclosure and an approach move have the same value (with the difference that the former is steady, the latter aggressive), a jump and a reducing move have the same value. The jump expands territory, the reducing move cuts it down in size. Likewise, a defensive move surrounding territory and an invading move have the same value. Dia. 1. When White has played the marked stone, expanding territory with Black 'a' and solidifying it with Black 'b' have the same potential value. If it is White's turn to move, reducing with 'a' and invading at 'c' or 'd' are worth the same. When the opponent neglects to expand or defend his territory one takes advanDia. 1 tage of his omission to invade or reduce his moyo. Both sides have to take the whole board into account when planning the local strategy. In most games, an invasion or a reducing move will mark the transition from the opening to the middle game, from the fuseki to the fighting. Since the chances are that you'll be fighting inside your opponent's sphere of influence, you have to be very careful about your timing. - 1 -
In Chapter 5, we will refer to the problem of judging whether a reducing move or an invasion is called for, but for a detailed treatment of the latter, see the Ishi Press book Enclosure Josekis. Here we would just like to compare the basic features of the two techniques.
The objectives of reducing moves We indicated earlier that the aim of an invasion is to destroy territory and that of a reducing move is to hamper the expansion of a moyo, but that is no more than a superficial analysis. By its very nature, a reducing move is likely to lead to a much wider-scale clash than an invasion, involving much more of the whole board, so in most cases it will have a large variety of secondary objectives. For example — Dia, 2, White 1 prevents Black from expanding his moyo. However, if White had a stone at 'a', it would also serve to expand White's own moyo. If Black had a stone at 'b', White might try using 1 as a foothold for setting up an invasion of the right side. Depending on the overall position, the same pattern can have different implications. The following is a list of some of the secondary objectives of an erasing move that come to mind. 1. Maintaining territorial balance 2. Limiting a moyo 3. Probing the opponent's response 4. Expanding one's own moyo - 2 -
Dia. 2 5. Creating a foothold for an invasion 6. Mutual reduction 7. Building centre territory 8. Taking aim at defects in the opponent's shape 9. Maintaining the balance of influence 10. Reinforcing weak stones 11. Making preparations for an attack 12. Following a shinogi strategy (i.e. leaving a weak group exposed to attack). The above by no means exhausts the list of possibilities. In most cases, a move will probably combine several of these objectives. How these tactics work out in actual play will be analysed in Chapters 5 and 6; here we will just make a quick survey of the above list. The positions are taken from professional games. Dia. 3 (maintaining territorial balance) (next page) White has secure profit in four corners, but Black has a large moyo. Considering the menacing influence of Black's thickness in the upper right, his moyo would probably turn into untouchable territory if he were allowed to enclose it with 'a'. This is the right time to play 1. White has to maintain the territorial balance; rather than preventing Black from expanding his moyo, he is preventing him from expanding his secure territory. 3-
Dia. 3 Dia. 4 (the continuation) When Black attaches at 1, he is hoping for a fight with White 4, Black 8, White 9, Black 3, White 'a', Black 10. However, White makes a hane at 2, in spite of the fact that the ladder is unfavourable, then makes shape with the crude but effective sequence to 12. Instead of Black 13, attacking with Black ´b´White 'a'-Black 14 is probably better.
Dia. 4 _4_
Dia. 5 (limiting a moyo) Black has moyos in two places, White just one, but if White were able to jump to 1 the scale of his moyo would dominate . the whole board. Now is Black's chance to limit the scope of White's moyo by striking a blow at 1. This may help White to solidify his territory, but Black's own moyos are so thick that they are virtually certain territory, so Black is quite capable of competing territorially.
Dia. 5
Dia. 6 (the continuation) The solid extension of White 1 restrains Black from attaching at 'a'. Consequently, Black makes another reducing move at 2, nipping in the bud any attempt by White to expand his moyo on the left while also building up Black's centre thickness. When White defends at 3, Black continues at 4, loosely sealing off the centre. With his implied threat to attack the two white stones on the right side, Black has turned the centre into a moyo majestic in scale. Dia. 6 - 5 -
Dia. 7(probing the opponent's response) White 1 reduces Black's left-side moyo. White is now interested to see whether Black answers at 'a' or 'b'. If Black 'a', a black invasion at the top becomes a severe threat, so White would extend to 'c'; if instead Black 'b', then enclosing the right side with White 'd' feels right. Black will answer 1 differently if White leaves it till later, as Black 'e' and 'f' are more or less sente.
Dia. 7 Dia. 8 (the continuation) Black counterattacks with 1, aiming to make White heavy. White slides into the side with 2 and 4, laying waste to Black's moyo and cutting off a stone. He is satisfied. However, the fact that Black's position on the left side has been strengthened means that the white stones at the bottom have been weakened, so White now does not have time to spend a move enclosing the right side. This was the aim of Black's strategy. Dia. 8 -6
Dia. 9 (expanding one's own moyo) In the local context, White 1 and 3 are simply reducing moves. However, if one surveys the whole board it becomes clear that they indirectly serve to expand White's centre moyo. If White bluntly set out to enclose the centre with a move like 'a', Black would counter with 'b', and White would probably lose out in the territorial contest. Now it is Black's turn to make a reducing move. Dia. 9 Dia. 10 (the continuation) Black 1 is so slack that it can be called the losing move. White completes his moyo with 2; when Black belatedly invades at 3, White forcefully blocks his way with 4 and 6. Black 2 instead of 1 was the vital point. If White 'a', Black could continue at 3, threatening to swallow up the whole right side, and the game would be even. Note that White 2 at 'b' would be too greedy: White would not be able to attack strongly enough if Black invaded at 'c'. Dia. 10 7
Dia. 11 (creating a foothold for an invasion) Black 1 makes threats in all directions: it aims directly at the invasion at 'd', but it also reinforces Black against the threat of White 'a' and in addition aims at cutting White into two with 'b' or 'c'. If White answers by defending at the top, Black can use 1 as a foothold for launching an invasion on the left side. His strategy will be to eliminate his thinness in the centre during the course of the ensuing fight. Dia. 11 Dia. 12 (the continuation) Black 2 threatens to attach at 'a', so White is forced to make another defensive move. Black then invades with 4 and 6. White judges that jumping out to 'b' would just help Black to strengthen his centre group, which in turn would weaken White's large group to the right, so he contents himself with moving out with 7 and 9. Black takes a firm hold on the white stone with 8 and 10, so his invasion has been a success. This sequence has strengthened his scattered stones in the centre. Dia. 12 - 8 -
Dia. 13 (mutual reduction) The aim of White's invasion at 1 is mutual reduction. If White played 'a' or 'b', the game would become a contest in surrounding territory. Even so, if Black answered 'a' or 'b' with a move around the centre point, White would be compelled to make a reducing move anyway. That would lead to a straightforward fight inside Black's moyo, which White does not want. White has a large secure territory on the left side, so if Black attacked White 1 from above, he would run the risk of fallDia. 13 ing behind in territory. Dia. 14 ( the continuation) When Black answers at 1, White forces with 2, then switches to 4, making the maximum reduction possible. If he had simply played 6 (omitting 4), then later on Black might attack at 'a' and turn the right side into an unassailable territory. Black defends at 5 instead of trying to split the opponent's forces as the two white stones at the bottom are light (once Black has answered them underneath with 1 and 3). Black is pinning his hopes on his own reducing move at 7, but he has been just a little outplayed by White. Dia. 14
Dia. 15 (building centre territory) White has an overwhelming lead in territory, so Black's only hope is to make effective use of his influence at the top. Reducing with 1 is the first step: Black plans to make this stone the starting point for turning the centre into a moyo. Black 1 aims directly at the crosscut of Black White 'b', Black 'c' If Black played 1 at 'd' or thereabouts, he would probably be headed for defeat when White jumped to 'e'. Dia. 15 Dia. 16 (the continuation) Black switches to 2 once he has forced White to defend at 1. When White plays 3, Black extends at 4, taking direct aim at White's weak point at 'a'. He succeeds in turning the centre into a moyo while White is kept busy securing the right side. The depth of the moyo is impressive. Making 30 points in the centre will be quite enough to maintain the territorial balance. After 11, Black forces with 'b' etc., then expands his centre with Dia. 16 'c'. -10-
Dia. 17 (taking aim at defects) White 1 might look vague and purposeless, but actually it is a severe invasion; it aims at pushing through at 'a', then cutting, and also at attacking at 'b'. Moreover, it provides a foothold for a deeper invasion. If White plunged right in at 'c' with 1, he would probably be able to escape capture, but while attacking him Black would build up his outward influence, which would have a harmful effect on White's neighbouring positions. Dia. 17 Dia. 18 (the continuation) Black first strengthens himself at the bottom with 1. Instead of 2, it would probably be better for White to treat the bottom lightly and switch to 'a', but even so Black cannot hope to launch a fullscale attack unless he first reinforces himself with 5, so White is able to attain his objective by settling himself with 6 to 12. The only drawback is that the addition of the black stone at 5 has painfully weakened the white group above. Dia. 18 - 11 -
Dia. 19 (the balance of influence) The marked black stone is too wide an extension: holding back at 'a' would have created better balance. Be that as it may, when the opponent overextends in a moyo contest you have to make a reducing move to maintain balance in the scale of the respective moyos. The bottom right is Black's biggest potential area, so White comes in at 1. Dia. 19 Dia. 20 (the continuation) Peeping at 2 after Black defends at 1 is nicely timed. When Black emphasizes the right side by blocking at 3, White forces with 4, then moves towards the right with 6. If Black emphasized the centre by playing 3 at 'a', White would develop at 'b' after 4. When Black plays 3, 'c' is the only aji White has in the corner, but if Black 3 at'a', White can aim at 'd', which would give him a foothold for invading the right side. Dia. 20
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Dia. 21 (reinforcing) White 1 reduces the right-side moyo and, if Black 'a', also aims at strengthening the white group above with White 'b', Black'c', White'd'. If White settles that group he will at one stroke take the lead: a group which should have become a target for attack would have instead been transformed into thickness. White 1 at 'e' would be more solid, but Black would probably ignore it and play at 'f'.
Dia. 21 Dia. 22 (the continuation) Defending on the side would only help the opponent, so Black counterattacks, splitting White with 1. Plunging in at 2 is natural. Black looks like getting a double attack (karami) with 5 and 11, but the game should be favourable for White if he can rescue both his groups without suffering serious damage. Fights following from reducing moves often develop into whole-board warfare.
Dia. 22 -13-
Dia. 23 (preparing to attack) Black 1 not only limits White's moyo at the bottom but also prepares to attack the two white stones on the left side. If White reinforces them, Black can make a severe invasion at 'a'. If Black can lay waste to this territory, he will go into the lead; his adjacent groups are rock-solid and the white group on the upper right is still unsettled, so Black has no reason to fear a fight. Dia. 23 Dia. 24 (the continuation) White therefore chooses to defend with 1 and 3, whereupon Black attacks on a large scale by blocking at 4. White then cleverly makes shape with 5 to 9; Black in turn builds thickness up to 12, then turns the top into territory with 16. White cannot hope to invade at 'a'. If Black had not played the marked forcing move, a white jump to the same point, threatening to attack the black group on the left, would probably be sente. Dia. 24 -14-
Dia. 25 (shinogi strategy) Tactically, Black 1 is a reducing move, but considering the depth of White's large moyo, it is more like jumping into midair from a precipice. Moving out slowly and solidly with 'a', letting White defend at 'b', would be bad. Black probably felt that if he played 1 at 'b', it would be harder to find a way to settle his stone after White 'c'.
Dia. 25 Dia. 26 (the continuation) White attempts to capture Black by intercepting with 1. White would probably fall behind in territory if he defended at 8 with 1, letting Black backtrack to 'a'. Considering how tightly hemmed in he is, a ko with 2 to 8 is probably the best that Black can hope for. A trade followed later, with White playing a ko threat at 'b', then capturing the four black stones there.
Dia. 26 -15-
Where to reduce As mentioned earlier, reducing manoeuvres are made during the transition from the opening to the middle game. At this stage the player has to choose, taking careful stock of the whole board, among the four options open to him: surrounding, expanding, reducing, and invading. If you play a reducing move too early, you may just help the opponent to strengthen his position; if too late, the opponent may counterattack instead of defending. At the same time, the success of a reducing manoeuvre is determined by where you choose to reduce and by the overall state of the game. If you miss the vital point, so far from achieving your objective, you may become subject to an attack; if you go wrong in your evaluation of the overall position, you may miss the decisive moment or have your lead upset. From the point of view of the player whose moyo is being reduced, you have to judge where to obtain compensation for the interference with the expansion of your moyo. If you make the wrong decision, you may give the opponent more profit than he deserves. The success or failure of a reduction depends upon the evaluation of time, place, and overall position. To keep the loss suffered from a reduction to a minimum, you have to devise the most appropriate defence. Dia. 27. White 1 is the key point for reducing: it stops Black from expanding his moyo by jumping to 5. If Black 2, White 3: White keeps one step ahead, so he is in no danger of being attacked. Since the marked white stone is not at 'a', White does not appreciably weaken his own position on the side. Instead — Dia. 27 Dia, 28. A move like 1 will get White into trouble, as it invites Black to attack with 2 and 4. However, playing 1 at 3 would let Black secure a large territory with 'a'. How, then, does one establish the vital point for reducing? -16
Dia. 28 The vital points for reducing moves can be categorized according to their locations in the corners and on the sides and also according to the criteria of shape. Reducing moves are most often played on the side; moreover, they are usually directed against the opponent's extensions along the third line. This is because the third line is the key line for extensions; the aim of reducing is to prevent the opponent from proceeding to the next stage in the formation of a moyo, namely, making a jump towards the centre. Dia. 29. White 'a', preventing Black from jumping to the same point, is the vital point for reducing. White 'b' and 'c' are points with a directional bias, so the choice of these moves would be determined by the location of Black's moyo. White would only attach at 'd' in special cases, as that move makes it easy for Black to counterattack. Dia. 29 Depending on the position, moves at 'e' and 'f' are also possible. Dia. 30. (next page) If the opponent's extension is on the fourth line, an invasion rather than a reduction is more likely to be called for. Even so, when the opponent has a large, box-like moyo, you may have no choice -17-
but to make a reducing move. The main candidates are White 'a' and 'b'. In most cases, treating the black stone like one on the third line by playing 'c' or 'd' invites a loss, as it helps Black to secure fourth-line territory.
Dia. 30
When the opponent has a deep moyo you may have to make a high move, reducing from 'midair' — the kind of move professionals refer to as 'one's best guess' (see Section 9, Chapter 2). However, most reducing moves are aimed at an extension by the opponent. The fighting these moves start is analysed in Chapters 2 to 4. The basic principles of reducing moves in the corner are exactly the same as those on the side. For example, in Dia. 31 both White 'a' and 'b' treat the marked black stone as a third-line stone, and the same can be said for White 'c', which strikes at the shoulder of the stone below.
Dia. 31
Dia. 32
Dia. 32. When the marked black stone is on the fourth line, White 'a' or 'b' would let Black take too much territory. White usually plays at 'c', hoping to be able to exploit Black's open position on the side, White of course varies his approach depending on whether there is a white or black extension in the neighborhood, but if you bear in mind that an -18-
invasion has the same value as a reducing move, there is no need to insist on making a reducing move. Even when playing in the centre, the same points may be valid for a reduction when one is concerned with a solitary opposing stone. To wit — Dia. 33. In confronting the marked black stone, White 'a', 'b',and 'c' are the vital points for reducing, just as they would be if the black stone were on the side. However, when the moyo is of this scale, White 'd' to 'g' are also worth considering. The vital points for an invasion are very limited, but in contrast there are a large number of possible reducing moves; moreover, as long as you don't go in too far, no reducing move is going to be a fatal mistake. However, the feature of the reducing move is that you will be able to evaluate it quantitatively and judge whether it was the most appropriate move in the light of the overall position. Dia. 33 When the opponent has a deep moyo, the question of depth takes precedence over finding the vital point. If you go in too deep, you will come under attack; too shallow and you help the opponent secure enough territory to upset the territorial balance and spoil your game. Dia. 34. White 1 is too deep. When Black plays on top at 2. White will get a bad result even if he lives.
Dia. 34 -19-
Dia. 35. When the opponent has no particular weakness in his moyo, the safety zone ends with the outer rim of his moyo, that is, the line linking the two marked stones. However, if a black answer at 'a' is going to put White behind in territory, he has to take the plunge and invade, attaching at 'b', for example, rather than reducing. Dia. 35 Dia. 36. From the point of view of shape, White 'a' becomes the vital point when White has the marked stone close up to the marked black stone. Even without the marked white stone, 'a' will often be the vital point, seeing that Black does not have a tight connection. Similarly Dia. 36 Dia. 37. White 'a' is the vital point vis-a-vis the marked black stone, but if there is no need for White to go in so deep, he can treat the black stone like one on the third line and reduce with 'b' or 'c'. When Black's moyo is located on the left side, 'd', 'e', and 'f' become the vital points. Dia. 3 7 -20-
Dia. 38. When Black has played the large knight's move, 'a' is the move; anything deeper feels like an invasion. For a moyo on the left, the vital points would be 'b', 'c', and 'd'. Dia. 38 Dia. 39. Against the diagonal move, White plays 'a', 'b', etc.; against a black moyo on the left, White 'c' or 'd'.
Dia. 39 Priority in reducing Priority is, of course, determined by the whole board, but as an aid in making up your mind, it may help to learn how to evaluate relative size in the local context. First, what is the scale of the moyo or territory the opponent will get if you don't reduce? Dia. 40. (next page) White 1 obviously becomes a much bigger move if Black has a stone at 'a'. Needless to say, the value of 1 changes again if there is a white or a black stone at 'b'. In other words, the size of a reducing move depends not just on the size of the enemy moyo being reduced but also on the moyos in the background. The next factor determining the size of a reducing move is the value of the follow-up moves it creates for you or, conversely, the follow-up aims it creates for the opponent. -21 -
Dia. 40 Dia. 41. White 1 not only limits the size of Black's bottom moyo but also provides a foothold for invading Black's position on the right side. If Black had a stone at 'a', meaning that White had nothing to aim at there, the value of White 1 would be greatly reduced, for then it would only affect the bottom. Moreover, if White had a moyo around 'b', provoking Black 2 and 4 would be a minus, as Black could then aim at plunging in on the left. In that case, White 1 would clearly be too deep. Dia. 41 Another factor affecting the value of reducing moves is the relative thickness (strength) and thinness (weakness) of the neighbouring positions. White 1 in Dia. 43 is much more severe than White 1 in Dia. 42. The presence of the marked white stone in Dia. 42 might seem irrelevant at present, but it will turn out to have a bearing on the problem if White 1 comes under attack. In conclusion, however-, one must repeat that the key factor determining the suitability of a reducing move is the whole-board position.
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Dia. 42
Dia. 43 Making preparations for reducing In the basic sequence of fuseki operations, reducing moves are preceded by checking extensions (tsume, i.e. extensions that check extensions by the opponent). At that stage, you need to start mapping out your strategy and to decide whether you are going to aim next at reducing or invading. Dia. 44. If White makes the conservative extension to 1, he is clearly aiming at the shoulder hit at 'a'. If he played 'a' after extending to 'b', Black would push up at 'c', whereupon White 'b' would become a bad move too close to
Dia. 44 —2 3—
a strong enemy position. Furthermore, White 1 has the effect of making Black 'd' less attractive for Black; in contrast, if White 1 were at 'b', Black 'd' would have good follow-up moves, such as jumping sideways to 'e' and invading at 'f'. The conservative extension of 1 makes these moves uninviting for Black. Dia. 45. White 1 aims at invading at 'a'. If Black subsequently expands his position with 2, White either competes territorially with 'b' or reduces from a different direction with 'c'. Dia. 45 Before reducing, you may want to make preparatory manoeuvres to make the reduction most effective. In Dia. 46, beginning with the shoulder hit at 3 is bad; Black builds thickness by pushing up at 'a'. However, if White first forces with 1, strengthening his corner, then 3 is good. Black 'a' now would probably make Black overconcentrated. Dia. 46 There are also standard probes that one can play. Dia. 47. White 1 is a typical probe (see Enclosure Josekis, page 2). White intends to switch elsewhere, but first he wants to see how Black responds, so that he can decide whether to aim at reducing or invading later on. If Black 'a', White is satisfied with getting 'b' for later; he would probably stop worrying about the black moyo and switch to 'c', strengthening his position there. -24-
If Black answers 1 at 'b', the hane at 'a' becomes possible; that makes it easy to invade at 'e', so White can switch to 'd'. If Black answers 1 at 'f', then White can use the contact play at 'g' to reduce Black's moyo; if instead at 'h', White crosscuts at 'a', setting up various forcing moves. Naturally White has to watch the timing of 1; if he gets it wrong, he just helps the opponent to strengthen himself. Dia. 47 Dia. 48. The 3-3 contact play is another well-known probe. If Black 'a', White aims next at 'b' or 'c'; if Black 'b', White will be satisfied with having created the aji of White 'd', so he will now focus on the side, reducing at 'e', for example. Dia. 48 There are many other possible probes. For example, you can peep at the opponent's weak points to see whether he connects or counterattacks, or you can play on the outer margin of his moyo to see whether he defends it or counterattacks. Whatever you do, you should at least investigate the possibility of making preliminary manoeuvres or playing suitable probes in order to maximize the efficiency of your reducing moves. Just because it is safe, a reducing move should not be played too facilely. Conclusion To round off our discussion, let's review the main points. First, it is only natural to observe the basic fuseki priority of playing extensions and checking extensions (tsume) first; if the opponent has defects in his defences, you have to decide whether to invade or reduce -25-
or whether just to watch developments a little longer. Then you have to evaluate the overall position and decide where you are going to reduce and with what objectives. If you can, you should make preparations to maximize the effectiveness of the reducing move, then force your opponent's hand by striking at the vital point. The actual patterns involved in reducing manoeuvres are straightforward, and since you are approaching the opponent's stones from the centre, there's a high degree of safety. However, reducing also entails helping the opponent to solidify his territory, so if you have set yourself the wrong objectives in the context of the overall position, you may just give the opponent a helpful push into the lead. If you go wrong in the depth of the intrusion, your reducing move could reveal itself as slack or as an egregious overplay. Whenever you are considering a reduction, you must carefully compare it with the alternative invasion, basing your analysis on a hardheaded appraisal of the whole board. Footnote: a large life-and-death problem Plunging headlong into a deep moyo sometimes creates a large-scale lifeand-death problem. White counters Black 1 by making a determined attack with 2 and 4. That lets Black lay waste to the side territory with 5, but White continues his attack with 6. If Black were not confident of saving his group, he would have to flee to 'a' with 5, leading to White 5, Black 'b'. White: Otake; Black: Fujisawa Hosai
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REDUCING MOVE JOSEKIS CHAPTER TWO Reducing the Side As we have explained in the first chapter, reducing moves have a wider range of objectives than invasions and are keyed more to the overall position. Consequently, even though the patterns are quite simple, it doesn't pay to follow a certain pattern blindly without carefully thinking out the objectives behind it and investigating the followup moves. However, it is often possible to analyse systematically the local variations. To some extent, josekis have been developed for such basic reducing techniques as the shoulder hit, the capping move and others. The large number of examples from actual games of fighting in large moyos built up from corner enclosures has yielded many local set patterns. The aim of Chapters Two, Three and Four is to present systematically these set patterns in the corner, but there is no reason why they can't be applied to sequences on the sides and in the centre. The main difference, of course, is that corner josekis are usually the opening moves of the game, whereas reducing-move josekis appear well into the game. In the sense of 'a set sequence made up of the best moves for both sides in the local situation', however, the concept is identical. Reducing-move josekis do not have as many variations as invasion josekis. However, they must be chosen in the context of the wholeboard strategy, that is, they must take the overall position into account. In Chapters Two to Four, we will look at the three main categories of reducing moves — on the side, attacking a corner enclosure, attacking the Chinese-style fuseki — and we hope to show how one's play varies according to the background and the objective of the reducing move. Of the three categories, reducing moves on the side are the prototype of the reducing move. Learning their basic patterns is the starting point for mastering this technique. Moves such as the shoulder hit and the cap may look simple, but the opponent can make a wide variety of responses, so these moves require a sound knowledge of the different patterns to gain success. -27-
1. The Simple Shoulder Hit Basic diagram
What action should White take against the black moyo? At this stage, with the game so open, there are plenty of possibilities, including the extension to 'a', the approach move at 'b', and the reducing moves 'c', 'd', and 'e'. Here we will limit the discussion to 'c', the deepest reducing move; we will deal with 'd' and 'e' later, but here let's just note that these two moves would also aim at expanding White's own moyo.
Basic Diagram •
Joseki 1 White 1 aims not just at reducing the bottom area but also at holding Black's right-side moyo in check. When Black has just one solitary stone being attacked, he first pushes up at 2 to make White heavy, then plays 4 to stop him from getting a base on the side. This is the set pattern. Extending at 3 gives White a foothold for attacking the right side, so he is content to backtrack with 5, which helps his left-side moyo, or alternatively to jump towards the centre with 'a' or 'b'. Joseki 1 The subsequent fighting depends on the overall position. Black must strive to make the three white stones a target for attack; for his part, White will be very happy if he can make them operate as thickness. -28
Dia. 1 (after the joseki) In the local context, defending at 1 makes good shape. Another powerful strategy is to play Black 'a', White 'b', Black 'c', so that Black can aim at the cutting point at 'd'. Dia. 2(White's follow-up) White aims at the 1-3 combination, fixing up his shape while splitting Black. In the context of the overall position, plunging into the right side or jumping to 'a' might also be a good strategy. Dia. 3 (an extra push) Pushing up an extra move with 1 before sliding to 3 is a quasi-joseki. Black has to weigh the plus of his augmented influence against the minus of White's additional reinforcement. Note that 3 at 'a' would leave bad aji. Dia. 4 (disagreeable) If Black omits the sliding move, extending to 3 instead, he doesn't like the result when White blocks at 4. This move affects the base for both sides and also reduces Black's liberties.
Dia. 1
Dia. 2
Dia.3
Dia. 4
-29-
Dia. 5 (Black keeps pushing) Black should only keep pushing up when he can put his influence to really effective use. That, in turn, would imply that White's original shoulder hit was misjudged. Dia. 6 (keeping one step ahead) Black plays 3 when he wants to move into the centre ahead of White. White is left with 'a', however, so this is not really proper shape for Black. Dia. 7 (the question of the right side) If Black turns at 3, he can take sente and switch to 5. White will aim at 'a' after 4. If White 'a' is painful, then 3 is probably bad. If White 4 at 'b', Black still plays 5. Dia. 8 (imperfect shape) If White jumps to 2, his shape crumbles after 3 and 5. If White 6 at'a', Black 'b' becomes the vital point.
Dia.5
Dia. 6
Dia. 7
Dia. 8 -30-
Dia. 9 (the simple turn) If Black turns first at 1 and White answers with 2 and 4, then Black gets an ideal result with 5. There is a very strong possibility that White will switch 4 to 5.
Dia. 9
Dia. 10 (a fight) If White immediately blocks at 2, then the problem is whether Black should start a fight by cutting at 3.
Dia. 10 Joseki 2 The aim of White 3 is to settle the group (i.e. get sabaki) as lightly as possible. Black usually hanes in at 4 quite early, thus settling the shape. Playing 7 at 'a', 'b', or 'c' is also conceivable. Joseki 2 The main point of contention after the joseki is whether Black can turn the white group into a target for attack or whether White can use it as thickness. In the local context, Black continues after 7 by linking up to the right with 'd' or by developing new territory with 'e' or by competing for centre influence with 'f'. If Black does nothing here, White can continue by building a base with 'd' or by taking command in the centre with 'f'; alternatively, he might split open the right side by invading. Compared to Joseki 1, this pattern has both good points and drawbacks. -31 -
Dia. 11 (simple extension) If Black 1, White plays lightly with 2. If Black later pushes in at 'a', White won't answer at 'b'. White could, of course, also play 2 at 'a'. Dia. 11 Dia. 12 (heavy) Black 1 is heavy. If White 2, Black gets an ideal development with Black 3, White 'a', Black 'b', but there is a strong possibility that White will ignore Black 1. Even if White does play 2, there is no guarantee that he will answer Black 3 at 'a'. Dia. 13 (concentrating on defence) The aim of Black 1 is solely to defend the bottom area. Playing 2 immediately is unreasonable, but Black must realize that there are various ways that White could attempt to utilize this aji. Dia. 14 ( giving way) If White 2, having to answer submissively at 3 is painful for Black. White can also play 2 at 'a'. Instead of 3 -
Dia. 12
Dia. 13
Dia. 14 -32-
Dia. 15 (sabaki for White) Black 3 here gives White good moves at 4 and 6. This hurts Black's right-side position.
Dia. 15 Dia. 16 ( thick but.. .) Cutting at 1 is about the best move Black has, but White now breaks into the right side. The question is how much use Black can make of his centre thickness. Dia. 16 Dia. 17 (crawling) In most cases, crawling at 2 is submissive and insipid. Black may connect underneath with 4, but he gets a low position and bad aji. He can no longer expect to be able to attack White. Dia. 17 Dia. 18 (just territory) If Black keeps crawling with 1 and 3, his territory is unimpressive. Now it is White who builds thickness.
Dia. 18 -33-
Dia. 19 (a natural sequence) Black 3 and 5, which give the same result as Dia. 12, are a more natural sequence. In this position, White would probably invade at 6 next. Dia. 20 (bookish) White 2 and 'a' make correct shape for connecting, but after defending at 3 Black aims at a fierce attack at 'b'.
Dia. 21 (hard to link up) The aim of White 3 is to settle the group lightly and also to make it difficult for Black to link up. If Black settles the shape with 4 and 6, White plays 7; Black can play 'a', but he gets a thin shape.
Dia. 21
Dia. 22 (light shape) If Black 1, White 2 makes a light shape; the idea is to make miai of 'a' and 'b'. He can be satisfied with his reduction. Dia. 22 -34-
Dia. 23 (keeping White heavy) Black attaches at 1 to stop White from settling himself lightly. If White 2, we get the same result as in Dias. 15 and 16. White has cut Black's moyo down to size. Dia. 24 (precondition for the clamp) Black only plays the clamp at 1 when he can face the fight after 2 with confidence. Dia. 24
2. Shoulder Hit Against the Two-Space Extension When you make the shoulder hit, you have to accept that unavoidably you are going to help the opponent to strengthen his stones. If it so happens that this makes him overconcentrated, that's just what you want. In view of this, the shoulder hit is most often deployed against a two-space extension on the third line. Basic diagram Shallow reducing moves like 'a' and 'b' let Black make a large territory at the bottom. In some positions, that might be perfectly acceptable, but in the local context the shoulder hit at 'c' is more attractive. White wants to secure a foothold for attacking the right side while reducing the bottom. Basic Diagram -35-
Joseki 1 Black 2 is the standard reply to White 1. If White 3, Black does his best to avoid becoming overconcentrated by moving out with 4, which makes correct shape. Playing 2 or 4 at 'a' would Joseki 1 make Black overconcentrated, as the space between the two-stone wall and the marked stone would be too narrow. White moves out with 5: he has his eye on an invasion of the right side. Depending on the surrounding positions, White might also play 5 at 'b'. Black usually switches elsewhere next, as White 5 is considered as concluding the joseki, but continuing here immediately by harrying the white group might be a powerful strategy. Territorially speaking, Black 'c' is a big move, as it links up the black groups and stops White from getting a base; however, Black's group is already settled, thanks to the marked stone, so linking up a safe group would be a little slack. Dia. 1 (spoiling White's shape) One standard procedure for attacking White is to try to spoil his shape with 1 etc. The aim is to make White heavy and to reinforce the right side during the course of the subsequent fighting. Dia. 2 (steady) Black 1, at the 'ear' of White's shape, is a vital point: it menaces White's connection. If White defends at 'a', Black continues with 'b'. Dia. 2 -36-
Dia. 3 (the alternative jump j If White makes the other jump (the marked stone), Black forces with 1 and 3. Black's aim after making White heavy is to continue by attacking with 'a', in the hope of denying White an opportunity to invade the right side. Dia. 3 Dia. 4 (the 'ear') The less precipitate attack with 1 .which presses White to decide his strategy, is also a strong move. Dia. 4
Dia. 5 (low position) Solidifying Black's territory with 1 and 3 takes the pressure off White. The marked black stone is now overconcentrated.
Dia. 5 Dia. 6 (light connection) Black 1 and 3 also make Black overconcentrated, so they are not to be recommended. White defends lightly with 4 or 'c' or 'd', assuming that the Black 'a'-White 'b' exchange may be made at any time. If Black omits 3, White 3 makes White strong. Dia. 6 -37-
Dia. 7 (the jump ) If White jumps sideways to 3, Black settles the shape with 4 and 6. Peeping with 7 before connecting with 9 is correct timing.
Dia. 8 (a severe attack) However, Black 3 is the vital point for attack; White's position looks a little cramped. White 3 in Dia. 7 is probably dubious, at least in this position. Dia. 9 (depending on the right side) Black 4 is a strong move if Black has a solid position on the right side. In this position, counterattacking with 5 at 6 would probably be unreasonable because of the marked black stone. After 10Dia. 10 (attacking on a large scale) The sequence to 16 follows. The marked black stone is overconcentrated, but Black can look forward to making a large-scale attack on White. -38
Joseki 2 Even when Black has the two-space extension, 2 and 4 still make good shape. If White 5, Black jumps to 6. White 5 aims at reducing Black's liberties; jumping to 'a' in-
stead would be a little
Joseki 2
slack. The hane at 'b' instead of 6 would, in most cases, just help White to strengthen himself with 'c'. Compared to Joseki 1, this joseki takes more territory and scoops out White's base; the drawback is that Black cannot expect to mount much of an attack on White later. Even if White tenukis after 6, Black has no severe follow-up. However, White can make good shape with White 'd', Black 'e', White 'f'. If White is feeling really aggressive, he might stake the game on an invasion of the right side instead. Dia. 11 (preparing for an aerial attack) Pushing up an extra move with 1 before sliding to 3 is also a powerful strategy: Black is aiming at attacking on top at 'a'. This threat may persuade White to jump to 4. As always, the drawback for Black is that the marked stone is overconcentrated. Dia. 11
Dia. 12 (beware the ladder) The presence of the marked black stone robs White 2 of forcefulness. What is more, Black can counterattack with 3 and 5 if the ladder favours him.
Dia. 12
-39-
Dia. 13 (light v. heavy) Black 4 and 6 are ponderous moves; in contrast, White makes very light shape. Instead of 6-
Dia. 14 (good shape for White) If Black 1, Black's shape is not as overconcentrated as in Dia. 13, but White makes light shape with 2 and gets a nice follow-up at 'a'.
Dia. 14
Dia. 15 (heavy for White) If White jumps to 3, Black 4 forces White to make heavy shape. Black 8, which stops White from getting a foothold on the side, is probably the precursor of a largescale attack. Dia. 16 (large territory) Black could also use the clamp at 4 to convert the bottom area into territory. This also looks painful for White. Dia. 16 -40-
Dia. 17 (ignoring the bottom) Black can cap at 2 if he wants to build up a strong centre position and is prepared to write off the bottom. If Black's neighbouring positions are solid, he might even have a crack at capturing White. Dia. 18 (encirclement) Black's attack at 2 is an attempt to encircle White. This drives the opponent into Black's own moyo, so he has to know what he is doing. Dia. 19 (wrong choice) When Black has made a three-space extension (the marked stone), the shoulder hit is a mistake. Black 2 and 4 eliminate the possibility of a white invasion at 'a'. Dia. 20 (target for attack) If you make a shoulder hit against a really strong position, you just create a target for the opponent to attack. Leaving aside positions in which such a deep reduction is Dia. 20 the only way to avoid losing, this strategy will get you into needless trouble and lead to a disadvantage. -41 -
3. The Capping Move One way to nip a moyo in the bud is to cap at precisely the point the opponent would like to jump to. The capping move works well in a great variety of positions and actually seems to be more common than the shoulder hit. As a rule, it is used against a stone on the third line. The opponent has various ways of answering the capping move. Here we shall just look at some simple positions, restricting ourselves to the seven answers from 'a' to 'g' in the basic diagram. If you include the corresponding Basic Diagram moves on the left side and tenuki, that makes a total of 13 answers. Incidentally, in addition to reducing, the cap also serves as an attacking move. Dia. 1 (an example from a game) In actual games, the position will usually be more developed than in the basic diagram. Here White 1 forces Black to defend at 2. White then makes light shape by moving out into the centre with 3, which also aims at attaching at 'a'. Dia. 2 (example of an overplay) When the marked exchange has been made, capping at 1 is unreasonable. White is in trouble after Black 2.
Dia. 1
Dia. 2 -42-
Joseki 1 Black 2, which follows the proverb, 'answer the capping move with the knight's move', is the standard answer. Black of course has to analyse the neighbouring positions or the overall position when deciding whether to play 2 on the right or on the left. The following are some of the criteria influencing his choice: play on the side where you can take the bigger or the more secure territory; play on the side where it would hurt you more to have the opponent drive a wedge through your territory; play on the side where you want to develop towards the centre. Experience in actual play is the only way to develop your ability to make the correct decision. Black 2 aims at attacking White with 'a' or at taking territory with 'b'. White's follow-up is to break up Black's territory with 'c' or to emphasize the centre with 'd' or 'e'. Joseki 1 He could also flee lightly with 'f', postponing his decision about what to do at the bottom. We shall examine all these options in order. Dia. 3 (shallow) If Black has solid neighbouring positions, White will be satisfied to force once more with 1 before dropping back into the centre with 3. In some Dia. 3 positions, this might be sufficient to maintain overall balance. Dia. 4 (the ladder?) White plunges boldly into the side with a view to keeping the black groups to the left and to the right separated. If the ladder is Dia. 4 unfavourable for White, then Black has the threat of 'a'. -43-
Dia. 5 (invading) White 1 is the correct point at which to invade. Black 2 is the standard response. If White continues with 3, however, his group becomes heavy after Black 4. Dia. 5 Dia..6 (extending sideways) If White 3, Black 4 spoils White's shape. If White 'a' next, Black plays 'b'.
Dia. 6 Joseki 2 Once having attached at 3, White must continue with the crosscut of 5, which is a tesuji for settling a group. This enables White to fix up his shape; the drawback is that Black also strengthens himself. Ideally, White would like to play 3 and 5 after making some preparatory manoeuvres to lead Black into an overconcentrated shape. Black 6 is the usual answer to 5. White's sacrifice gives him two forcing moves at 7 and 9, so next he can fix up his shape with 11. There are, of course, other ways of connecting besides 11, and on occasion White Joseki 2 might even switch elsewhere. There are other sequences, but this is the most basic pattern. However, the result to 11 is ideal for White, so Black might make one of the various counterattacks available to him along the way. -44-
Dia. 7 (depending on the ladder) Black ataris at 1 only when the ladder is favourable. White will have trouble settling himself if he can't atari at 'a'. Dia. 8 (switch in strategy) White will most likely switch to the atari at 2 when the ladder is unfavourable. Black's bottom area is broken up, but he has the consolation of being able to attack at 7. He could also fight the ko instead of connecting at 5.
Dia. 7
Dia. 9 (unattractive) The atari on top at 1 is not appealing. Even if White just submissively follows orders with 2 and 4, Black loses too much territory. Dia. 10 (reverting to Dia. 8) White can also counter with 2, aiming at the result in Dia. 8. If Black 3 at 4, White is happy to extend at 3. Note, however, that playing 2 at 4 would give Black the option of connecting at 2. Dia, 10 -45-
Dia. 11 (the thrust) Thrusting with 1 can be a very strong counter. If White 2, Black improves on his result in Dia. 9 with 3 and 5. If White plays 2 at 3 or at 5, Black extends at 2 and welcomes the fight. Dia. 12 (pulling back) Pulling back at 1 is a little submissive. White plays 2 and 4, or, if that is uninteresting, 2 at 4.
Dia. 13 (fight the ko?) If Black answers 2 at 3, he avoids giving White the two forcing moves in Joseki 2. The drawback is the bad aji he gets after White 4. If next Black 'a' or 'b', a ko fight follows. Dia. 14 (gote) If Black 1, White takes sente with 2. If Black doesn't add a stone at 3, his bad aji will be unmanageable.
-46-
Dia. 15 (refusing to follow orders) White plays 2, expecting Dia. 13. If Black captures the white stone, he gets it, but Black might counter with 3. After 6, the continuation from Black 'a' to White 'd' is natural. Instead of 5 Dia. 16 (heading for a fight) Black can also capture at 1. That will probably lead to a fight, with Black cutting at 5. Dia. 17 (strongest) If the ladder is favourable, Black can make the spectacular counterattack of 2. A difficult fight will follow. Dia. 18 (regardless of the ladder) Black can counterattack even when the ladder is unfavourable, provided that he ataris at 1 before extending at 3. White has to choose between building a base on the left with 2 here and making a counter-atari with 2 at 3, in which case he tries to build a base on the right.
Dia. 18 -47-
Dia. 19 (crude) In most cases, cutting bluntly with 2 and 4 does not work well. White builds a base with 5 and 7: he is taking territory during the course of the fight, so his prospects look good. Dia. 20 (frontal clash) Resisting directly with 1 and 3 is just what Black wants. White's moves are too blunt.
Dia. 21 (avoiding a fight) Black 2, trying to take sente without fighting, may sometimes be a good strategy. White 3 makes a light shape, White 'a' a thick one.
Dia. 22 (tenuki) If the centre takes priority, Black may ignore 1 to attack at 2. If Black 2 is a good move, that means that White 1 was a bad strategic mistake.
-48-
Dia. 23 (a rap on the head) White 3 is a positive move which forestalls Black 'a' and attempts to direct White's strength towards the centre. It is a special strategy which gives priority to central influence over reducing Black's moyo. Dia. 24 (solid) Black 2 is solid but a little submissive. White will move out around 'a' and aim at playing 'b' later. Dia. 25 (unreasonable) Attaching at 3 immediately is usually an overplay. When Black counterattacks with 4 and 6, he gets a stronger position than in Dia. 19 and White is heavier. Dia. 26 (satisfactory for White) If Black 4, the result to 11 is painful for Black. The 1—2 exchange is a gain for White. Instead of connecting at 10, Black will probably choose to fight the ko.
-49-
Dia. 27 (also good for White) Making the hane underneath at 4 gives White a good sequence from 5. In the result to 9, Black has been forced to play much more submissively than in Joseki 2. Dia. 28 (sente for Black) Capturing at 2 is correct. In this result, the marked exchange has removed Black's bad aji. Even if White plays 1 at 3, capturing at 2 is still good enough for Black. Dia. 29 (gote for Black) If Black 2, White usually extends at 3. Black 4 is a little slack: Black has let White build influence in sente.
Dia. 30 (sente for Black) If Black pushes up once more, then connecting at 3 becomes sente. However, White 4 is thick and the threat of White 'a' has become more severe. White 2 at 'b' is out of the question because of Black 2. If Black 3 at 'b', White plays 'c'. -50-
Dia. 31 (aiming at the cut) Black 4 is a strong answer to 3. White might turn at 'a' before playing 5; the latter move at 'b' would also make light shape. White controls the centre, so he is reasonably satisfied. Dia, 32 (staking everything on the centre) Forcing with 3 stops Black from playing 4 in Dia. 31, but White can no longer aim at 'a', so there is an advantage and a drawback. Dia. 33 (leisurely) In most cases White 3 will be too mild. Black aims at 'a'.
Dia. 34 (lightly, lightly) White plays very lightly with 3, keeping all the aji on the side in reserve. This is a good strategy when 3 serves to expand a centre moyo.
-51 -
Joseki 3 Black attaches at 2 when he wants to expand his bottom territory on this side. He accepts that White is going to get centre influence. White 3 is the standard answer. Black 4 reinJoseki 3 forces the bottom area and forces White to defend at 5. Later Black can enlarge his territory with 'a' or secure the bottom with 'b', giving White carte blanche in the centre. If Black does nothing, White can make a thick shape with 'c'. He can also aim at reducing the bottom area by attaching at 'd'. The point to bear in mind about this joseki is that Black attaches at 2 when he doesn't mind letting White strengthen himself in the centre. Dia. 35 (simple expansion) Black 1 and 3 build territory on the 6th line, but White gets so much extra influence that this might not be profitable. If playing Black 5 at 'a' is feasible, White will keep 4 in reserve. Dia. 36 (good shape) White 4 and 6 make good shape. In this position, however, White 4 at 'a' feels right.
Dia. 36 -52-
Dia. 37(seizingsente) The two-step hane of 1 and 3 is an aggressive measure to take sente. White 4 and 6 are good style, but Black achieves his aim with 7 and 9. However, White builds thickness, so the evaluation of this result depends on the overall position. Dia. 38 (protecting territory) The exchange of Black 1 for White 2 is also common. Black 1 at 'a' or 'b' is also possible. Dia. 39 (diagonal connection) White 1 works better in the centre, though it weakens the threat of White 'a'. The continuation to 10 is possible, in which case White 11 looks good. Dia. 40 (large-scale) Black 2 is just right for defending the side. White will aim at attacking with White 'a', Black 'b', White 'c' later.
-53-
Dia. 41 (checkingBlack's expansion) White extends at 1 if he wants to stop Black from expanding the bottom area, but then Black 2 is severe. If fighting with White 'a' is not feasible, then White 1 is probably dubious. Dia. 42 (compliant) Black 2 is just what White wants. White makes light shape with 3 for an ideal result. Dia. 43 (extending sideways) The merits of Black 4 are determined by whether or not White 7 is feasible. Dia. 44 (what Black wants) If White has to compromise with 1, Black extends at 2 and is satisfied. If White wants sente, he plays 1 at 3, followed by Black 1, but then the bottom becomes so large that the value of sente is diminished.
-54-
Dia. 45 (passive) If Black continues after Dia. 43 by defending at 1, White is more than satisfied. In most cases, White 2 rather than 'a' will be the proper reinforcement. Dia. 46 (strengthening White) Black can take territory with 1 and 3, but strengthening White like this is reprehensible. Black cannot expect to do well in the fight when he cuts at 5. The aji of White 'a' remains a nuisance. Dia. 47(challenge) Will cutting immediately work? When White counters with 2 and 4, Black resists with 5 and 7. The result to 11 is satisfactory, providing the ladder works. Dia. 48 (centre fight) If White 2, Black reduces his liberties by connecting at 3. Everything will be decided by the centre fight. -55-
Dia. 49 (avalanche) Sliding into the bottom area with 3 and 5 effectively reducesBlack's territory. White is happy with his shape after 7. If Black 6 at 'a', White plays 'b', Black 6, White 7. White 7 at 'c' is bad because Black 7 makes his position cramped. Dia. 50 (most unreasonable) Cutting at 1 is unreasonable. White can settle himself with 2 and 4 (or 2 at 'a') regardless of the ladder relationship. Dia. 51 ( hane on top) Black 1 leads to a difficult fight after 2 and 4. If the fight is unreasonable for White, an alternative is to make shape with 2 at 3, Black 2, White 'a'. Dia. 52 (counters to the contact play) White can choose between 'a' and 'b' when Black attaches at 2, but before making up his mind one feasible strategy is to do something in the bottom right corner with a view to making the hane at 'c'. -56-
Joseki 4 The aim of thrusting up at 2 is to secure the profit at the bottom and to deny White the chance to create any aji. White's only option is to extend in either direction, but then Black will play 4 Joseki 4 and 6 on the other side. In this shape, there is nothing tricky that White can try. Locally, his continuations are to split open the bottom with 'a' or 'b', to push along on top with 'c', or to reinforce his shape with 'd'. Black 2 is not very aggressive, however, so there is a strong possibility that White will ignore it and switch elsewhere. In this position, for example, a good plan would be for White to invade at 'e' the instant Black starts to surround the bottom territory. Thrusting at 2 is not a move one plays unless one has to. Dia. 53 (very submissive) If Black 1, White jumps to 2. Black may secure the bottom territory, but White gets centre influence.
Dia. 54 ( two-step hane) Black 3 (instead of the extension at 4) is also possible. White 4 and 6 are the standard answer, but in some cases White may be able to resort to force by extending at 'a' with 6.
Dia. 54 -57 -
Dia. 55 (an overplay) Cutting at 3 is unreasonable even when the ladder favours Black. White makes shape with 4 to 10 and can face the fight with confidence. Dia. 56 (White becomes heavy) If White 1, Black always hanes at 2,making White heavy. Black 2 at 'a', letting White jump again to 'b', would be unbearably submissive. Dia. 57 (one-space jump) Black may be content to play at 2, submissive though it be, as it mitigates the threat of 'a'. White will probably switch elsewhere, as Black has no strong follow-up.
Dia. 58 (the vital point) If White 1, Black counterattacks with 2 and 4. The marked black stone now reveals itself as a contact play at the vital point.
-58-
Dia. 59 (good shape) If White 5, Black descends at 6. The marked black stone is now much more useful in the fight than one at 'a' would be. NextDia. 60 (the threat of the ladder) White plays 1 to 5, hoping to use the threat of the ladder at 'a' to settle his stones. If that ladder is bad for Black, he connects at 3 with 2 and should be able to handle the fight. Dia. 61 (the two-space extension) Unless White has influence in that direction, extending to 2 is likely to be a slack move. Black has no prospect whatsoever of being able to attack White. Dia. 62 (making shape) White 1 works easily. Even if Black counterattacks with 2 and 4, White has no trouble making shape up to 11.
-59-
Dia. 63 (squashed flat) If Black answers underneath at 2, White can be content to pull back at 3. If Black 4, White squashes Black flat with 5 and 7. Dia. 64 (helpless to resist) Crosscutting with 3 is also good, of course. Black has virtually no way of resisting.
Dia. 65 (the diagonal move) As a rule, Black 2 is crude; Black's shape is spoiled when White pushes along at 3. If Black 4 and 6, White attaches at 7; the best Black can do is to hane at 'a'. Dia. 66 (thickness) Extending at 1 stores up strength. Reducing with 2 is the safetyfirst move for White.
-60-
Dia. 67(counter-cap) If Black has strong neighbouring positions, he may return tit for tat by capping at 2. In some positions he might even have a chance of capturing White. Dia. 68 (attacking from the outside) Black might also ignore the bottom in favour of building strength in the centre by attacking with moves like 2. Dia. 69 (where to defend) The capping move hits at the centre of a moreor-less symmetrical shape, so the defender is faced with the problem of deciding which side to answer on. With the knight's move we enunciated some principles for Dia. 69 the defender: surround the larger or more secure territory, leave open the side where a splitting move won't hurt you, play on the side where you want to move out into the centre, etc. (see page 43). The problem in the position here is that the position is not perfectly symmetrical. Black's answer will have a big effect on the development of the game, so we should review the possibilities. A further complication is that one has to take into account the subsidiary aims of the reducing move, such as reinforcing the opponent's position, preparing for an attack, and so on. These aspects will be analysed in detail in Chapter 5, but here we can look at the basic points. -61 -
Dia. 70 (taking secure territory) Black 2 is the standard answer. If Black had a stone at 'a', it would be more than that: it would be essential. Invading at 3 the instant Black defends is natural. This is the result White was hoping for. Dia. 71 (seizing the initiative) However, Black takes sente with 1 and 3. Black 7 or 'a' then parries or mitigates the threat of White 'b' and seizes the initiative for Black. Dia. 72 (the larger side) If Black 2, White invades at 3, leaving 'a' and 'b' as miai (those weaknesses make the right side the smaller one). NextDia. 73 (going on the offensive) The correct counter for Black is to recapture sente with 1 to 11 so that he can switch to attack with 13. This is a sure and steady development for Black, though territorially the result is just a little slack. -62-
Dia, 74 (attaching) Black can also take sente with 2 and 4, then defend at 6. However, the overall picture is not so interesting for Black: White builds centre thickness and continues at 7. Dia. 75 (attaching on the other side) If Black 2 and 4 on this side, White should extend at 5. If Black cuts at 'a', White sacrifices with White 'b' to Black 'e', then invades at 'f'. Dia. 76 (thrusting up) If Black 2, then White has to choose which side he wants to play on. The left side looks bigger, so White 3 is correct. White waits for Black to surround territory with 4 and 6, then invades at 9. Dia. 77 (giving up the right) If White 3, Black abandons any idea of turning the bottom right corner into territory (because 3 has limited its potential). Black 6 at 'a' also looks good. Dia. 77 -63-
Dia. 78 (ideal development) White 1 reduces Black's moyo and expands White's. If Black 2, White immediately invades at 3. His strategy is working perfectly. White also threatens to strengthen himself by attaching at 'a'. Dia. 79 (correct for Black) Consequently, in this kind of position Black must move out towards the centre with 2. Reference diagram If Black 2 at 'a', White can play 'b', Black 'c', White 'd'. Given that Black needs to answer on the left, Black 2 is superior to 'e' because it makes it harder for White to play 'f'. White can continue his reducing manoeuvre by moving out with 3, but Black maintains territorial balance by laying waste to White's territory with 4. In this example from professional play, the proverb, Reference Diagram 'answer the capping move with the knight's move', does not apply. -64-
4. The Knight's Move Basic diagram We have already looked at White 'a' and 'b' in this position, which is so open that there are many possibilities. In some games, White 1 may well be the best move. How do you tell? Basic Diagram The only answer is by having a good look at the whole board. White 1 is halfway between the capping move and the shoulder hit. White 'c' is a more severe follow-up with 1 than with 'b', so Black may defend at 'd'; if so, White enters at 'e'. Note that White's left-side moyo has not been weakened, as he can aim at pressing down on Black at 'f'. Dia. 1 (what White wants) If Black 2, White instantly invades at 3. The result to 14 is ideal. Next, White can aim at developing his left-side position with 'a'. Instead of 8 -
Dia. 2 (Black must resist) If he has any pride, Black should make some attempt to resist. If Black plays 1, he can probably take sente.
-65-
Dia. 3 (a joseki for the overall position) Since White is aiming at pressing at 'a', Black forestalls that by extending to 2. This permits White 3, but Black switches to defence at 4. He is thinking of the whole board rather than the local position. Dia. 4 (forcing moves) From the same standpoint, Black might try attaching at 2, the idea being to get in some forcing moves before making the kosumi at 8. Joseki
The kosumi is a standard shape move in response to the knight's move. It prevents White from pressing down on Black at the same point while aiming at pressing down on White at Joseki 'a'. White can break up the bottom area with 3 and 5, but Black doesn't mind as he was reluctant to defend at 'b' to begin with. Black 6 is the vital point: Black must crawl here to stop White from getting a base on the side. If White plays 7 to forestall a black hane between 5 and 7, Black can choose between attacking on top at 'a' and defending territory while attacking with 'c'. Either way, in playing 2 Black bases his strategy on attack; during the fighting he hopes either to defend his right-side moyo or to slide into White's left-side moyo. The position would, of course, be all the better for Black if he had an extension at 'd' and it is with this in mind that he plays Dia. 3 or 4 above. -66-
Dia. 5 (emphasizing the centre) If the centre is more important than the side, White might prefer to play 1, even at the cost of permitting Black 'a'. If Black dislikes the prospect of White 'b', he can answer 1 at 'c'. Dia. 6 (Black counterattacks) When White plays 1, he hopes for Black 'a', White 'b', but in almost all cases Black will do better to counterattack with 2 here. Dia. 7 (blockade) White might try blocking Black off from the centre with 3; the precondition is that the ladder following Black 'a' favours White. Black will probably defend once at 'b' and aim at playing 'c' later. Dia. 8 (attach-and-extend) If White 1 and 3, Black cannot aim at cutting (with 'a' in Dia. 7), but now White has no really good way of blocking Black off from the centre. -67-
Dia, 9 (the crucial point) The evaluation of Black 4 is determined by whether White can block at 5. The result to 7 represents a failure for Black. A success would be if White had to play 5 at 7, followed by Black 5, White 'a'. Dia. 10 (a fight) Is cutting at 2 feasible? White can countercut at 5, so a difficult fight follows. Dia. 11 (three choices) Black 2 is the severest answer to White 1; White has come in a little deeper than the capping move (i.e. White 2), so Black sets out to cut off his escape route. In handto-hand fighting like this, the ladders are going to Dia. 11 be all-important. They determine which of 'a', 'b', and 'c' White chooses next. If the ladder heading towards the right side is favourable, White hanes at 'a'; if the one leading to the left is favourable, he can continue aggressively with 'b'; if both ladders are bad for him, White has no choice but to extend to 'c'. Conversely, if all ladders are bad for Black, he is bound to suffer for giving White such wide latitude in choice of strategy. -68-
Dia. 12 (the ladder favours Black) In this position, White 3 is unreasonable. Black makes use of the favourable ladder on the right to cut at 4. After the sequence to 10, White's position is a little cramped because of his shortage of liberties. Dia. 13 (the ladder favours White) If the ladder works, White can play the tesuji combination of 1 and 3. White 5 gives Black a disagreeable result. Dia. 14 (left-side ladder favours White) In this position, the hanekomi of 3 is correct. White 7, refraining from giving the atari at 'a', is a subtle strategy. White has adequately settled his group. Black 2 has to be regarded as suspect. Dia. 15 (the question of the ladder) The problem of the ladder comes up if Black plays 1 here instead of 4 in Dia. 14. If White cannot capture with 4, then his position is in tatters. 69
Dia. 16 (same result as the shoulder hit) If the ladders on both sides are bad, White plays 3 and 5, reverting to the shoulder-hit joseki. However, this way White has failed to achieve his goal, and it's hard to see what was the point of starting with the knight's move. Dia. 17 (full of holes) Black 2 is thin; after 3 and 5, Black's position is full of cutting points. Following Dia. 16 is good enough for Black. Dia. 18 (from a game) In this professional game, Black countered 1 by making the forcing moves to 6. However, Black 'a' rather than 8 is the correct shape (as mentioned in Dia. 4). NextDia. 19 (continuation) The left-side ladder favours White, so naturally he wedges in at 1. For his part, Black uses the power built up by his forcing moves to resist with 2 and 4. After the sequence to 15 here, attacking with Black 'a'-White ´b´-Black 'c' looks good. -70-
Dia. 20 (extending sideways) In most cases, extending sideways with 4 will be uninteresting. White 5 and 7 work well: White is sliding into Black's moyo. In this position, White 3 should be at 'a', which Black should answer at 'b'. Instead of 5 Dia. 21 (light sabaki) White could also consider settling himself lightly with 1. Dia. 22 (kosumitsuke) The aim of the diagonal attachment at 2 is to continue with 4 and 6. In certain positions, this might be a surprisingly effective strategy. Dia. 23 (a challenge) If White 3, Black hanes at 4; if White 'a' next, Black will launch a challenge by cutting him at 'b'. The precondition for Black is a favourable ladder.
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5. The Large Knight's Move Basic diagram White plays 1 when Black's moyo is so deep that a capping or small knight's move is liable to invite a counterattack from on top. This move is similar in feeling to the 'best guess' reduction disBasic Diagram cussed later, but it differs in that it has more definite follow-up aims. In this position, however, there is a strong suspicion that 1 is slack. Its follow-up moves are 'a' and 'b'; 'c' is a little too distant to aim at. In view of this, there is a danger that Black will just ignore it. On the other hand, White 1 has a high degree of safety just because it is too far away for Black to attack. Dia. 1 (a docile answer) Black 2 is what White wants. If you hypothesize the result after White's invasion at 3, then a stone at 1 is lighter than one at 'a' and so easier to look after. The drawback is that White 1 lacks the perfect follow-up that White 'a' would have at 'b'.
Dia. 2 (the kosumi) Black 2, aiming at the counterattack at 'a', is more efficient than 2 in Dia. 1.
Dia. 2 -72-
Joseki The standard counter for frustrating White's plan is the shoulder hit at 2. If White 3, Black can choose between 'a' and 4, but extending into White's moyo with 4 is in the spirit of 2 and is the Joseki standard move. White 5 builds central influence and relieves the pressure on his group; in this position, Black might perhaps defend at 6 next. The aim of playing Black 4 at 'a' would be to make miai of the twostep hanes on either side of White's two stones: if White 'b', Black 'c', and vice versa. The drawback is that Black is going out of his way to help White build influence. That is not very appealing in a position like this, in which Black has a star-point stone in the bottom right corner: after Black 'a', White 'b', Black 'c', entering the corner at 'd' would be perfect for White. Note that if White plays 5 at 'b', Black hanes at 'e'. Dia. 3 (plunging in) If White wants to invade, 1 is correct shape. When Black pushes up with 2 and 4, the question arises of how effectively the players can utilize their respective influence, but in the local context White can easily settle his group. Dia. 4 (push and cut) Black has the frightening counter of 2 and 4. In most cases, White will be forced into a disadvantageous fight. -73-
Dia. 5 (tenuki) Since White has no really severe follow-up to 1, Black could placidly defend elsewhere, at 2, for example. White then either uses 1 as a foothold for breaking into the right side or sets about taking control of the centre. Dia. 6 (another tenuki) In some positions, extending to 2 might be quite adequate. Giving the opponent a chance to tenuki is the drawback of 1. Dia. 7 (an example) In this professional game, Black answered 1 at 2. White played 1 because of his judgement that in this position White 'a' would lead to a tough fight. Dia. 8 (continuation) White 1 to 5 followed. White 5 not only strengthens the centre but also aims at 'a'. Dia. 8 -74-
6. The Ear Basic diagram
How should White play in this position? White 'a' (instead of 1) is a good point, but then Black would jump out to 'b', expanding his moyo. Instead of mutual expansion, mutual reduction is Basic Diagram called for. If White played elsewhere, Black 'a' would not only make White's moyo shrivel up but would also extend Black's moyo from the right into the centre. In this kind of position, playing the high move of 1, at the 'ear' of Black's shape, as a probe to see how Black responds can be quite an effective way of reducing Black's moyo. White 1 can also be played when Black already has a stone at 'a'. Dia. 1 (inviting a blockade) If White invades at 1, he can lay waste to the side, but he lets Black build centre thickness by attacking at 2. In some positions this would be bad for White. Dia. 2 (a question of timing) If White first plays 1, Black answers at 2; if White then plays 'a', Black will answer at 'b', so White risks losing 1.
-75-
Dia. 3 (playing the forcing move first) If White plays 1 first and Black answers at 2, White gets a comfortable shape with 3. Dia. 4 (an easy invasion) If Black 2, White aggressively goes in at 3 and gets a much more comfortable shape than in Dia. 1. Instead of 2, Black could consider attacking with Black 'a', White 'b', Black 'c', but even then White would still play 3. Dia. 5 (stopping the connection) If Black has already jumped sideways with the marked stone, then White will probably be subjected to a strong attack, since the marked stone makes it difficult to link up on the side. Dia. 6 (alternative) The vital point changes depending on the overall position. In this case, White 1 looks more appropriate than 1 in Dia. 5. -76-
Dia. 7 (freedom of choice) Things are different again if White has played the marked stone. White has no trouble either reducing with 1 or invading at 2. If White 1, Black 2, White leisurely caps at 3; he has in reserve the threat of sealing Black off from the centre with 'a'. Dia. 8 (knight's move is unreasonable) If Black 2, White plays 3. Playing 2 at 'a' is unreasonable as White is left with the threat of White'b'after 3. Reference figure From a professional game. If Black plays 1 at 'a', White will jump to 6, making it very hard for Black to touch his leftside territory. Black 1 may look just a little too deep, but Black saw his chance and took it. He forces White to answer at 2, then makes shape with 3 and 5. He then Reference Figure switches back to territory with 7, staking the game on being able to look after his invading group if it is attacked. Note that Black 3 is also the 'ear' of White's shape; likewise 7 if White were to play there. -77-
7. The Side Contact Play Basic diagram White 1 is a common tesuji, both in handicap and in even games. Moves such as 'a' and 'b' are also possible; White plays 1 when he judges that they will not give him a good result. White 1 is also a Basic Diagram strong move when White wants to start a fight here or to build up influence towards the centre. The way the fight is conducted will, of course, depend on the neighbouring positions. When White has the marked stone, White 1 becomes to some extent an attacking stone; if the marked stone were black, 1 would be purely and simply a reducing move. Here we will discuss the former case. Dia, 1 (Black's responses) Black has four possibilities: 'a' is straightforward; 'b' is aggressive; 'c' is submissive; 'd' is profit-oriented.
Dia. 2 (don't tenuki) Ignoring 1 is bad. If, for example, Black 2, White gets a good result with the forcing moves of 3 and 5.
-78-
Joseki 1 Black 2, above all else, keeps things simple; it is also aggressive, so we can consider it the standard reply. In this position, however, White has a severe follow-up at 3, which splits Black into Joseki 1 two and makes full use of the marked stone. After 7, Black 'a' through 'e' would probably follow; whether that is playable for Black can only be decided on the basis of an assessment of the overall position. Note that jumping to 5 is a crucial move; if instead White plays at 7, Black might choose not to push up at 6. White 5 makes Black 6 mandatory because White 6 next would be such good shape. At first glance, White 7 at 'f' might seem lighter, but actually it would make White too thin: his shape would crumble after Black 'g'. Dia. 3 (dubious) White 3 is dubious when the marked black stone is in place. Black gets excellent shape with 4 and 6. Dia. 4 (playing lightly) In cases like this, capping at 3 may be an appropriate strategy. The 1—2 exchange is a gain for White, provided that it has no major negative effect on White's position on the right side. Dia. 4 -79
Joseki 2 The aim of Black 2 is to make White heavy so that Black can attack him later. However, in this position, with the marked black stone isolated, Black's strategy may not be as effective as he Joseki 2 might wish. If Black 4, White must turn at 5 or he will not be able to play strongly in the continuation. As a rule, Black 6 and White 7 could be expected next. In the local context, the marked white stone is working well and Black looks like coming under attack, but in the overall context this way of playing might be feasible for Black. Note that pushing an extra space with 4 at 5 makes it more difficult for Black to get a good result: White simply extends at 'a', weakening the marked black stone. Dia. 5 (a risky forcing move) If Black can play the forcing move of 4, then connecting at 6 will be just right. However, there is a danger that White will counterattack at 'a' with 5. Dia. 6 (quasi-joseki) Black 4 is a little timid, but it may prove to be effective. It sets up the connection with 6. If next White 'b', aiming at 'a', Black plays 'c'.
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Dia. 7 (concentrating on shinogi) If Black has played the marked stone, then White does not mind solidifying Black's position. After Black 4 or 'a', White could move out with 5 and 7. If next Black 'b', White plays 'c'. Dia. 8 (White dodges) Dodging to 3, inviting Black 4, is a light move. If Black takes further action here, he will push up at 'a', leading to White 'b', Black 'c'. Dia. 9 (counter-hane) White may counter with 3 in an attempt to burrow under Black's position. Black must answer with care: 4 here is very submissive. Dia. 10 (the cut) Blocking at 1 defends the corner more effectively, but then White can atari at 2, giving Black an inferior result in the centre.
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Dia. 11 (the fighting answer) Whatever happens, Black must counter with the atari of 1. White 2 makes White heavy. If White ataris at'a'after 5, Black can be satisfied with capturing the three white stones. Dia. 12 (White is destroyed) White 1 does not work. After 2 to 6, White's group is lost. Dia. 13 (a trade) If White 2 and 4, Black gets a strong shape by cutting at 5. The corner was originally open at the 3—3 point, so Black is not upset at losing it. White 4 at 'a' leads to a major loss when Black counters at 4. Dia. 14 (bad shape) Descending at 3 reduces White's liberties. Black plays 4 and 6, then attacks on a large scale with 8. He is satisfied.
-82
Dia. 15 (submissive) Black 2 is submissive. White falls back to 3 and is very satisfied. Dia. 16 (splitting Black) White could also resort to strong-arm tactics, separating the black stones with 3. Giving way with 2 has only given Black bad aji. Joseki 3 Black 2 is a safetyfirst move designed to link up Black's stones, White will get thickness, but Black will secure profit. White naturally blocks at 3, so Black cuts at 4; he then pushes up at 6, following the proverb, 'push on the side you cut'. Black's aim is to make shape up to 12. Joseki 3 White of course expected this. He builds centre thickness and still has some aji left on the side, not to mention the still-remaining aji of the 3 - 3 invasion, so he does not mind letting Black solidify himself. This pattern has many variations; in particular, there are many pitfalls for Black. Considering that the initiative for playing these variations lies on White's side, Black has to take a careful look at the overall position. -83-
Dia. 1 (after the joseki) White strikes at 1 if he wants to take control of the centre. Black has no good way of moving out.
Dia. 2 (aji on the side) Playing the combination of 1 and 3 as a probe may prove very effective. If Black 4 at 'a', White 'b' is sente, so White can do something in the corner. If Black 4 here, the aji of 5 will be a burden on Black. Dia. 3 (worst for Black) Connecting at 1 is spiritless: it just helps White split Black into two and lets the latter in for a tough fight.
Dia. 4 (no connection) Black 1 is a desperate attempt to connect. It's a tesuji of a sort, but if White resists strongly with 2 to 8, things won't be easy for Black.
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Dia. 5 (ponnuki) Using the atari of 2 to split Black is not worth it, as Black gets too much thickness.
Dia. 6 (double threat) Having given Black the ponnuki, White would probably continue with 1, meaning to fight a ko, but Black could be content to answer simply with 2 to 6. This makes miai of blocking at 'a' and getting a geta with Black 'b', White 'c', Black 'd'. Dia. 7 (White's ponnuki) If Black ataris at 1 before connecting at 3, he can link up underneath, but giving White the ponnuki is bad.
Dia. 8 (Black's low position) If instead Black plays 3 here, White gets a ponnuki with 4 to 8. If Black 5 at 'a', White ataris at 5. White might also challenge Black to a fight with 6 at 7.
Dia. 7
Dia. 8 11: ko -85 -
Dia. 9 (pushing on the other side) If Black pushes up at 3 (instead of 6 in Joseki 3), White plays 4 to 8 if the ladder favours him and Black half collapses. Dia. 10 (the correct push) Pushing up on the side you cut is correct. The exchange to 8 gives Black an extremely thick shape — the tortoise shell capture with tail attached — and causes White a heavy loss.
Dia. 11 (thrusting sideways) White 2 must be answered with care. If Black 3, White captures his key stones with 4 and 6.
Dia. 12 (correct counter) Filling in a liberty with 3 is important. If White 4, Black captures White with 5 and 7. Lack of liberties renders White helpless.
Dia. 12 -86-
Joseki 4 White 9 makes miai of pushing through at 10 and capturing two stones with 11. This reverses the result in Joseki 3: now Black gets thickness and White profit. Black 10 at 11 incurs Joseki 4 a major loss: White 10, Black 13, White 12. Connecting at 10 to set up the squeeze with 12 etc. is the key point of this variation. Playing the second atari at 14 before pressing at 16 is also important; playing 14 at 18 immediately is not good enough, as it has little effect on the marked white stone. Black has lost all his side territory, but in compensation he has built up powerful centre influence and has also struck a severe blow against White's right-side position, so he has no reason to be dissatisfied with the trade. Dia. 13 (after the joseki) Black continues with the throw-in at 20, then hanes at 22. Attacking White by playing 22 at 'a' is also good, but not 22 at 'b', as White would ignore it. Dia. 14 (spiral ladder) Bear in mind that if Black has the marked stone in place, he can get a ladder by playing 14 in Joseki 4 at 1 here.
-87-
8. Attaching on Top Basic diagram Moves like White 1 force the opponent's hand and can create something out of nothing. The aim may be to play a ladder block, to make a diversionary attack, to play a probe or Basic Diagram to reduce a moyo: the possibilities are varied. This contact tesuji has a broad range of applications, but here we will restrict ourselves to its function as a combined probe and reducing move. In the position in the diagram, White can easily aim not only at both 3—3 invasions but also at an invasion of the bottom. The drawback is that if he lays waste to one part of Black's position, the remainder will be solidified. White 1 aims, as far as possible, at reducing that drawback. Dia. 1 (strengthening the rest) If, for example, White invades at 1, Black takes sente with 4 and 6 and switches to 8, Alternatively, he could expand his position with 'a' or 'b'. Dia. 2 (large moyo) Black could also intercept with 4 and 6, his aim being to build up a large moyo at the bottom.
-88-
Dia. 3 (slack) With this shape, capping at 1 is slack. Black may answer by securing a corner with 2 or 'a'. If White 3, Black counters strongly with 4. Dia. 4 (nothing to aim at) Attaching at 1 also just helps Black to secure a large bottom territory. There are now no weak points for White to aim at. Joseki Black answers 1 at 2 or 5, depending on which side he wants to make territory. If White 3, he takes sente with 4 and switches to 6. Playing 4 at 'a' just helps the opponent to defend a cutting point; assuming White 5 and Joseki Black 4 follow, White then pushes up at 'b', getting much greater thickness than in the joseki. After the joseki, White either takes aim at the weak points in Black's shape at 'c', 'd', and 'e', or builds centre thickness with 'f', depending on which strategy is called for by the overall position. If Black dislikes the prospect of 'f', he can exchange Black 'g' for White 'h' before switching to the corner.
-89-
Dia. 5 (complications) Black 1 is certainly the vital point for attack, so Black might play there instead of 'a'. However, White will force with 2 and 4, then jump out with 6. It's unlikely that Black could face this fight with confidence. Dia. 6 (example from a game) The continuation here has been played. White makes shape with 1 to 5; next, 6 and 7 are miai. Dia. 7 (hurrying out) White hurries out into the centre with 1 instead of 5 in the joseki when he attaches more importance to the centre than to the bottom left. Black defends the corner, biding his time before attacking. Dia. 8 (playing lightly) White 1 makes light shape. Black 2 and 4 aim at attacking White on a large scale.
-90-
Dia. 9 (the cut) Another possibility for Black is throwing in a cut at 4 before connecting. The premise, of course, is that White can't get a ladder with 'a' (as he can here). Dia. 10 (sabaki tesuji) Even when the ladder is unfavourable, White still has the tesuji of 1 to settle his group. If Black 'a', White plays 2, Black 'b', White 'c', etc. Black 2 avoids trouble, but suffering 3 looks painful. Dia. 11 (large influence) Pushing up with 4 and 6 worked well with the side contact play (Section 7, Joseki 3), but here the result is bad for Black. White builds thickness, and both 3—3 points are still vulnerable. Dia. 12 (Black collapses) If Black pushes up on the side away from where he cut, disregarding the proverb, White gets an even better result than in Dia. 11. After 7, White sets up a squeeze with 'a', Black 'b', White 'c'. -91 -
Dia. 13 (direction of the hane) If the marked exchange has already been made, then Black naturally hanes at 2, as he can be sure of making territory on this side. Dia. 14 (purely a reducing move) White 1 is still a powerful reducing manoeuvre even when both corners have been decided. The pattern to 5 has appeared in professional play. Dia. 15 (submissive) Pulling back at 2 is submissive; it keeps things simple, but it can't be considered a joseki. White plays 3 in sente, then enters at 7. Instead of 4 — Dia. 16 (helping the opponent) If Black attaches at ], his bottom left corner just becomes more and more weakened when White continues with 2 to 6. If Black 1 at 'a', White plays 'b', aiming at blocking at 6. -92-
9. One's Best Guess Basic diagram In view of the name of this reducing manoeuvre, there are naturally no josekis. However, we will endeavour to give some hints as to how you go about making your 'best guess'. Basic Diagram When Black has a deep moyo as in the diagram, a deep reducing move like 'a' or even a shallow one like 'b' is bound to meet with a counterattack from above; the invader's prospects of surviving this attack will be slim. On the other hand, one can hardly let the opponent go ahead and enclose such an enormous area. Keeping the moyo in check by coming in lightly at the top is the kind of move we are referring to as 'one's best guess'. If this kind of reducing move is inadequate, White probably has to plunge right in at 'c' and start some desperate fighting. Dia. 1 (a guess) White 1 is the limit. White will be satisfied to have Black answer at 2 and will probably switch to a good point elsewhere. Dia. 2 (an unreasonable attack) Black 2 does not worry White; he easily looks after his invading stone with a move like 3. He might also counter aggressively at 'a'. Dia. 2 —9 3—
Dia. 3 (an enormous territory) If White plays conservatively at 1, Black secures an enormous territory with 2. The difference of one line is equivalent to ten points. Dia. 4 (too deep) On the other hand, White 1 ventures in too far. Black 2 is severe: White is faced with a tough fight. Even if he is not captured, his other positions will be adversely affected.
Dia. 4
Dia. 5 (too far to the right) If White enters at 1, Black will answer at 2, automatically reinforcing his weak point at 'a'. Dia. 6 (too far to the left) On the other hand, if White enters at 1, Black will attack at 2, forcing White towards Black's thickness on the left. Plunging in further at 'a' would be reckless for White, so Black will wait for the right time to surround a large territory with 'b'.
Dia. 5
-94-
Dia. 7 (vital point for enclosing) If Black is going to enclose the bottom area, a move around 1, linking up the two marked stones, is a good point. The vital point for enclosing area is also the vital point for reducing it, a principle worth remembering when making a 'best-guess' reduction. Dia. 8 (even bigger) If Black expands his moyo even further with 1, then 2 has to be considered the limit for a white encroachment. Reference Figure 1 It is not possible to explain the 'best guess' reduction exhaustively in the local context, as the balance of forces over the whole board has to be taken into account. The example here is taken from my game with Sakata Eio (the fourth game) of the 5th Top Position title (1960). Sakata's Black 9 was Reference Figure 1 dubious: making a pincer at 11 immediately was superior. White scored a success with 12 to 16. -95-
Reference Figure 2 If Black plays 17 at 'a', the marked stone becomes a very slack move, but if Black blockades White with 'b', the cutting point at 'c' becomes a burden. On top of that, giving White the next move is very painful in the context of the competition between the white moyo on the top left and the black moyo at the bottom. The idea behind Black's strategy Reference Figure 2 with 17 is that if he builds up Black's moyo while at the same time reducing White's, the cutting point at 'c' will be reduced to the status of a minor defect. Dia, 9 (ladder block and reducing move combined) The usual move when one wants to apply pressure to a stone on the third line and expand one's own moyo is the knight's move of 1. If White 2, Black further expands his moyo with 3, but in this position a reducing move at 4 will be ideal for White, as it sets up a ladder block for when White attacks at 'a'. In effect, what Black does with 17 in Reference Figure 2 is to play first at 3 in this diagram, his aim being to come back to 'b' if White answers at 2. Dia. 9 • 9 6 -
Dia. 10 (losing points first) One strategy for applying pressure to White is to cap at 1, but then White can take profit with 2 and 4, then reduce the moyo with 6. This looks feasible for White as Black's moyo is biased towards the bottom. Even after Black defends at 'a', there is some aji left in his position, but be that as it may, White will switch to 'b', satisfied Dia. 10 with having checked the expansion of Black's moyo. Dia. 11 (concerning the ladder) Reducing with 1 is also conceivable. Black hopes for White 2 at 'a', as he can then play 2 himself, so White 2 is natural. If then Black 3, White takes advantage of the favourable ladder to attach at 4. One possibility is for Black to play a ladder block at 5, leading to the exchange to 7.
Dia. 11 -97-
Reference Figure 3 I naturally answered with 18 and 20, moving in the direction of Black's moyo. Blocking White's path with 21 is also natural. If next White goes for profit with 'a', Black's moyo will become a real threat with 'b'. This is White's chance to reduce. What looks best?
Reference Figure 3 Dia. 12 (mutual reduction) Playing 20 in Reference Figure 3 at 1 here is not interesting, as it provokes Black 2. White naturally continues with 3 and 7, but at this stage Black's moyo is still so low that White can't damage it badly, while Black 8 not only lays waste to the left side but also threatens White's thin position at the top.
Dia. 12 -98-
Reference Figure 4 My invasion at 22 was too deep. This game shows how hard it is to make one's 'best guess'. When Black attacks at 23, White has to escape towards the right, as that is the only direction that is open, but the marked black stone lying in wait promises to make things a little difficult for him. When you consider that Black has the threat of 'a', it's clear that White has missed the central point of Black's moyo.
Reference Figure 4
Dia. 13 (the correct reduction) White 1 is the vital point. If Black 2, White jumps to 3; if Black attacks with 4 and 6, White could probably counter aggressively with 7, as he has the escape route of 'a' and 'b'. If Black plays 2 at 'c', his bottom position is too narrow; if Black attacks from the side with 2 at 3, White plays 'c', making miai of 2 and 'd'. That means that White is in no danger of meeting with a severe attack.
Dia. 13 -99-
Reference Figure 5 I intended to settle myself lightly with 24, which made miai of 'a' and 'b', but instead Black attacked me on a large scale and made me heavy. Preferable would have been attacking at 'c', aiming at making shape quickly with Black 'd', White'e', Black'f', White 'g\ If Black answers White 'c' at ´h´, White jumps to 1' and will probably have no trouble settling the group. Reference Figure 5 Dia. 14 (a severe attack) If White plays 1 without making the White 'a' —Black 'b' exchange, Black will launch a severe attack with 2. White 5 runs into the marked stone, so White's position is cramped. Of course, the whole white group will not be captured, but if Black strengthens his centre position, Black 'c' will turn the right side into a large moyo that it will be difficult for White to touch.
Dia. 14 -100-
Reference Figure 6 When Black blocks White's path with 25, White has to scramble ignominiously to settle his group. I should at least have played 26 at 'a' or 'b', being prepared to make a furikawari (exchange). Black 27 secures the bottom area while attacking White. Black drives White out and in the process also starts securing the right side. Black is doing well. Reference Figure 6 Dia. 15 (an oversight) I thought that I could attack with 1, but if Black resists with 2 and 4, the best White can do is to play 5 etc. The position becomes simplified and White loses any chances of winning. If Black 2 at 'a', White gets an ideal result with 'b', but expecting this showed how selfindulgent my analysis was. Coming on top of my mistake with the reducing move, this made my disadvantage in the game decisive.
Dia. 15 -101 -
CHAPTER THREE Reducing Corner Enclosures In principle, the technique of reducing is the same whether it is directed against the side (that is, an extension from a corner enclosure) or against the corner (that is, an enclosure), but there are enough differences between the two cases to make it worth devoting a separate chapter to corner reductions. When we talk of reducing a corner enclosure, we mean of course a moyo based on a corner enclosure. First of all, we have to choose between invading and reducing; if the latter, we then have to decide whether to focus on the enclosure itself or on the extension from it. Finally, we have to search for the weak points in the opponent's position.
1. The Small Knight Enclosure Basic diagram
This is a tight enclosure which guarantees the corner profit. Conversely, the drawback is that it does not have so much potential for expansion, so it is hard to use it as the basis of a large moyo. For example, even when Black has extensions in both directions as in the diagram, he needs a reinforcement at 'a' before his position is secure.
Basic Diagram
The same point of 'a' is the vital point for reducing the moyo. In some positions, the shoulder hits at 'b' and 'c' are also strong moves. Depending on the overall position, White might choose to focus on the side, playing 'd' or 'e'; to help him make up his mind between reducing and invading, he might also play a probe at 'f'. Our analysis will focus on 'a', 'b', and 'c'. - 102-
Joseki 1 White strikes a blow at the vital point with 1. If Black 2, he can cut into the bottom area with 3 and 5, then make shape by moving out lightly with 7. White 3 looks crude but is essential: it forces Black to answer 5 at 6. White 7 is reducing the side on which Black has defended (with 2); depending on the position, White might prefer to focus on reducing the bottom area by moving out with 7 at 'a' or 'b'. White 'c' is heavy; in most cases, it would be bad. Dia. 1 (after the joseki) Black attacks on a large scale with 1, inviting 2 so that he can reinforce with 3. White 2 might seem inefficient, but if Dia. J White attaches at 'a' instead, Black's attack gains momentum with 'b' Dia. 2 (capturing is bad) If Black 1 and 3, White will be only too happy to discard his three stones. If you compare Black's ten points of profit with White's wall of steel, it's obvious that Black has lost out badly in the exchange. If Black tries to be a bit trickier, peeping at 5 with 1, attaching on the outside at 6 is the tesuji for sabaki. If then Black 3, White resolutely sacrifices as before, playing 4. The result is again bad for Black. Dia. 3 (helping White) Black's intention in pulling back at 4 might be to avoid playing submissively, but actually this makes it easier for White to settle his stones. The defect of 'a' will always be a burden for Black. 103-
Dia. 4 (the simple contact play} If White simply attaches at 3, Black takes the vital point of 4 and makes White heavy. If White connects, Black harries him with 6. White gets a very cramped position and, compared to Joseki 1, has fallen almost a move behind. Once Black has played 4, there is no good way for White to get sabaki. There might, of course, be exceptions, but as a rule the simple attachment at 3 is to be avoided. Dia. 5 (technique) The instant Black defends at 2, White might try attaching at 3 in an attempt to outwit Black and gain extra forcing moves. If Black 'a', White will force with 'b', Black 'c', White 'd'. However, Black might counterattack with 'd' in response to 3. Joseki 2 Black plays 2 when he wants to secure the bottom area. The point of White 1, however, is that it makes miai of encroaching upon the bottom and the side. Black pulls back at 4 so as not to give White any help in settling himself, whereupon White makes a light shape with 5, concluding the joseki. White 5 at 'a' would be more solid, but since this is Black's sphere of influence it would be too heavy. It would run the risk of presenting Black with a target for attack. Dia. 6 (timorous) Playing 1 or 'b' would be too timid. However, playing elsewhere with 1, being satisfied with having made a forcing move and creating the aji of 'c', is feasible. - 104-
Dia. 7 (White is unperturbed) Attacking with 1 and 3 looks severe, but it has surprisingly little effect on White, who gets a comfortable position with 4 to 8. White can now aim at the big endgame move of 'a'. Joseki 3 The hane at 4 is the standard answer to 3. White plays the well-known sacrifice tesuji of 5 to create forcing moves and make shape up to 11. Black is a little unhappy about suffering the double forcing moves of 7 and 9, but this pattern is reasonable for him because he secures the corner profit in sente and retains some prospect of attacking White. Dia. 8 (wishful thinking) Black may switch 6 in Joseki 3 to 1 here, in the hope of eliminating White's forcing move at 7 in Joseki 3. If White falls in with his wishes by answering at 2, Black now picks up a couple of forcing moves himself with 3 and 5. In this result, Black 1 has made it difficult for White to settle his group, so it becomes a good move. Dia. 9 (trade) Extending at 2 is more natural: this is the Achilles' heel of Black 1. Permitting White 3 would now be unbearable, so Black extends at 3, leading to the exchange to 8. This is the result that could usually be expected after 1. Black loses his corner and still needs to add a reinforcement on the Dia. 9 outside, so considerable courage is required to play 1. -105-
Dia. 10 (the problem of the ladder) The counterattack of 1 (instead of 6 in Joseki 3) is another variation that has to be learnt. The crux is the problem of the ladder after 8. Incidentally, if White succeeds in exchanging 4 for 5, that will make a big difference if he later hanes at 'a'. Dia. 11 (an aggressive exchange) If the ladder is bad for White, he will probably counter with 2. One can assume that Black will answer 4 by connecting. Black hopes to take compensation for the damage to his corner by attacking the white group. Since he has no eyes in the corner, White must flee with 'a' or 'b'. Joseki 4 Black captures at 8 to avoid giving White the forcing move at 'a', but in exchange White gets the atari at 9. If next 10 and 12, Black ends in gote, but he gets a large corner and can aim at striking at the vital point of 'b', so it seems reasonable to call this sequence a joseki. White will probably continue by defending at 'b' or pushing at 'c' to take the pressure off his weak point. Dia. 12 (fighting the ko) If Black has plenty of ko threats, he may choose to fight the ko with 1. The ko is a very big one: if White captures and connects the ko, Black's position will be in shreds, while if Black captures at 'a', all White's moves here will have lost him points. Connecting at White 'a' is out of the question. - 106-
Dia. 13 (changing the timing) Cutting at 1 is also feasible. If Black 2, the sequence reverts to Joseki 4 with White 3. White plays this variation when he does not want Black to connect at 1 if White plays 3 first. If you bear in mind that Joseki 3 is gote for White while Joseki 4 is sente, the reason for changing the timing is obvious. Dia. 14 (obstinate resistance) Extending at 2 is a little unreasonable; after White 3 and 5, it's hard for Black to find a continuation. The result is similar to Dia. 11, but White has a more comfortable position. White is in no hurry to atari at 'a' with 5 because he wants to retain the option of 'b'. Dia. 15 (reinforcement necessary) Reinforcing with 12 in Joseki 4 is the proper move (honte). If omitted, White 1 can be very nasty. If Black 2, White 3 is a tesuji; if White plays either 4 or 5 instead, Black attaches at 3, drastically reducing White's liberties. If Black defends with 4 and 6, moves such as White 'b' and 'c', aiming at 'a', become a threat; if Black ataris at 5 with 4, a ko follows after White 4, Black 6, White 'b', Black 'd', White 'a'.
Dia. 16 (attacking at the bottom) If White prefers to attack at the bottom, he has the option of pushing through at 3 before playing the tesuji of 5. If Black 6 and 8, White 9 is then just right. - 107-
Dia. 16
Joseki 5 The aim of Black 2 is to settle the shape by putting pressure on White and to secure the corner profit. Black can answer White 3 aggressively by extending at 4; the best White can do is to make shape with 5 and 7. Even if White plays 5 at 6, he can't cut at 'b' after Black 'a', so he has no choice but to atari at 5 anyway. That being the case, it's wisest simply to hane at 5 to begin with. Dia. 17 (depending on circumstances) Depending on the neighbouring positions, White might try descending at 1. Black naturally cuts at 2, but if White 3 and 5 give him an uninteresting result, then he has to reconsider playing 2 in Joseki 5. Note that if Black had a stone at 'a', White 1 would be dubious, as Black would attack with 2 at 3. Dia. 18 (territory on both sides) In the local context, pulling back at 4 is submissive, but on occasion it may be effective, as it secures the corner territory and makes it difficult for White to invade on either side. White continues with 'a' or 'b', neither a very forceful move, but he has achieved his aim of reducing the moyo. Dia. 19 (slack shape but. ..) White 3 makes a slack shape, while 4 makes perfect shape for Black, but even so it is not out of the question if White wants to build influence towards the centre. White develops rapidly with 5, which makes miai of 'a' and 'b'. This approach emphasizes the whole over the part, influence over territory. -108-
Dia. 20 (biased towards profit) The aim of thrusting up with 2 is to solidify the corner territory. If White answers 2 at 4, Black plays'a'; if instead White 'a', Black plays 3, making White heavy and vulnerable to attack. White therefore attaches lightly at 3, getting a favourable result. If then Black 4 and 6, White is satisfied with 7; if Black 4 at 6, White jumps to 'b', making an even lighter shape. Dia. 21 (attaching on the outside) Black 2 and 4 also give an uninteresting result when White extends at 5. If Black now cuts at 'a', White sacrifices with 'b'. Simply playing 2 at 4 looks far superior. Other alternatives are 2 at 'c', which is extremely submissive, and 2 at 'd', which is thin. Dia. 22 (the shoulder hit) White 1 strikes at the shoulder of the marked stone. The variations are not much different from the shoulder hit on the side. White plays 1 when Black has a big moyo on the side and he does not mind letting Black solidify some territory. Black's responses include defending his territory with 'a', building thickness with 'b', expanding the bottom moyo with 'c', and perhaps even attacking severely at 'd'. Dia. 23 (following orders) Black 2 and 4 follow White's orders, but that may not matter if they take enough territory. White, of course, is happy at being given a free hand; he reduces the bottom with 7 and 9 and builds influence. He could also play 7 at 8. -109-
Dia. 24 (the jump) White could also jump to 3, aiming to settle himself lightly. If Black wedges in at 4, White plays 5 and 7, making miai of blocking above 6 and attaching at 'a'. If Black answers White 'a' with 'b', White plays the tesuji of 'c', Black 'd', White 'e'. Dia. 25 (attacking on a large scale) If Black considers 4 in Dia. 24 to be submissive, he might attack on a large scale with 1 and 3. Actually, this approach gives White less leeway and can be considered a quasi-joseki. If Black plays 1 at 'a', White 'b' and Black 'c' follow, for a result which, needless to say, is inferior to this diagram. If Black answers White 'b' at 'd', White counters with an atari at 1; this way the marked black stone is weakened. Joseki 6 The aim of Black 2 is to prod White into action and to secure the corner with a thick shape. If White 3, Black wedges in at 4 to settle the shape. White connects at 7, making miai of 'a' and 'b'. This result is not as good for White as Dia. 23, but he has more or less succeeded in his objective of reducing Black's moyo. If Black 4 at 6, White makes a light shape with 'c'. Dia. 26 (a little thin) Black can link up his stones by clamping at 1, but the thinness of his position is a little worrying. For example, White can attach at 'b', which utilizes the threat of 'a'. Even so, this is better for Black than Dia. 23. The standard continuation after 1 is White 'c', Black 'd', White 'e'. - 110-
Dia. 27 (Black tenukis) Switching elsewhere after pushing up with the marked stone is not interesting: it lets White build formidable centre influence with 1 etc. After 9, White can cut off one of the black stones on the side with 'a' or 'b'. The slight increase in Black's corner profit does not make up for the damage Black has suffered. Dia, 28 (White tenukis j For that matter, White is not permitted to tenuki either. If he ignores the marked stone, Black 1 gives him a bad result. He has not only lost a stone without compensation but has also helped Black to strengthen himself. The situation is quite different when Black has answered White at 'a'; that is submissive, so White can tenuki. Dia. 29 (the solid extension) White 3 is a little heavy. Black 4 scoops out his base and threatens to subject White to an attack. However, the presence of a stone at 3 makes White 'a' a feasible aim. Black might play 4 at 'b' to eliminate that threat, but when White extends at 'c' it becomes more difficult to attack his group. Dia. 30 (White's aim) If Black 2, White gets ideal shape with 3, which makes miai of 'a' and 'b'. Black therefore answers patiently with 2 at 'a', or presses at 'b' to keep White separated. If White answers the latter move by playing at 'a', Black pulls back at 'c' and continues his splitting attack. If White prefers to play 1 on the right side, the tesuji in this shape is White 'd', Black 'e', White 'f'. -111 -
Dia. 30
Joseki 7 Black 2, building a wall with a hole in it, looks like a strange answer, but actually it is sometimes an effective way of expanding Black's bottom moyo. White will force with 3 and 5, then make shape with 7, after which Black hopes to be able to solidify the bottom area while continuing his attack. Black might try to achieve the same aim by playing 2 at 'a'; if White still plays 3 and 5, Black gets a better result, but the ominous threat of White 'b' would give Black very bad aji. Dia. 31 (concentrating on attack) The cap at 2 focuses mainly on attack; if White 'a' after 3 and 5, Black cuts at 'b'. However, if White reinforces at 'c' instead, Black will have to add a stone at 'd'. Dia. 32 (going in deep) The shoulder hit at 1 makes a deep intrusion into Black's sphere of influence, so the danger that White will be subjected to an attack is correspondingly greater. The usual answer is Black 'a'; Black 'b' aims at building thickness; Black 'c' expands the right side; Black 'd' aims primarily at attack. In this pattern, there are no sequences sufficiently established to be called josekis. Dia. 33 (low position) Black 2 and 4 run no risks, but linking up with such a low position is not satisfactory. White gets a good follow-up for reducing the right side with 5 and 7. Black may secure profit, but White gets good influence. - 112-
Dia. 31
Dia. 32
Dia. 33
Dia. 34 (a quasi-joseki) Instead of 4 in Dia. 33, expanding the right side with 1 or 'a' seems superior. If White blocks at 2, Black attacks with 3. One could call this pattern a quasi-joseki. Dia. 35 (even more submissive) White plays 3 when he wants to settle himself lightly. He is inviting Black to play 4 and 6. This gives White an even more comfortable result than in Dia. 33. After 8, White could play 'a' or he could first secure the safety of his group with 'b', then invade more deeply at 'c'. Instead of 4, Black should attack at 'd'. Dia. 36 (heavy) Pushing up at 2 is a cumbersome move, but it's hard for White to ignore it, as Black 3 next would make good shape. If White 3, Black plays 4. Black's aim next is to attack - if White 'a', Black 'b'; if White 'c', Black 'a'. White 'd', making miai of 'c' and 'e', would be one way for White to settle himself lightly. Dia. 37 (Black falls behind) White 3 is a light move and in this case is clearly superior to the extension at 3 in Dia. 36. Black will play 4 to forestall White 4 or 'a', but now Black has no severe attack even if White switches elsewhere. If White continues here, he will play 'b'; if White tenukis, one vital point for attacking him is Black 'c'.
-113-
Dia. 38 (emphasizing the right side) If Black plays immediately at 2, he is a little unhappy when White forces with 3. It seems wisest for Black to crawl once at 3. Dia. 39 (a forceful attack) Black 2, inviting White 3, is preparation for attacking with 4 and 6, but it does seem a little over-aggressive. If next White 'a', Black 'b', White 'c', Black has no effective way to continue his attack; if Black answers 'a' with 'd', White 'e', Black 'f', then White will deliver a counterpunch with the tesuji of White 'g', Black 'h', White 'i'. Note that White could also play 5 at 'a'; Black 'b' and White 'c' follow.
2. The One-Space Enclosure Basic diagram The one-space enclosure focuses on influence, so one cannot make a reducing move that counters its influence. Consequently, the best way to deal with a large moyo based on this enclosure is to attack the extension along the side or to take advantage of its territorial weakness by inBasic Diagram vading. Alternatively, as mentioned in the first chapter, you can play a probe to help you make up your mind whether to reduce or to invade. However, there is one technique that falls halfway between a reducing move and an invasion. This is the side attachment at 'a'. Black's influence is mainly directed along the bottom, so the aim of 'a' is to make him overconcentrated there while building influence for White. In common with reducing moves, this move lets Black secure the corner profit. The way the subsequent fighting develops will vary depending on what extension Black has made along the bottom. - 114-
Dia. 1 (reducing the side) When Black has a onespace enclosure, reducing moves are usually directed against the side. After 1 to 5, White aims at invading at 'a' Dia. 2 (a probe) The moves here constitute an ideal reducing sequence. After 1 and the probe of 3, which creates aji in the corner, White defends at 5. Dia. 3 (the contact play) White attaches on the side of the enclosure at 1 when he has a stone around 'a' or at least when Black does not have a stone there. The important consideration is that any influence Black builds should not work effectively. Dia. 4 (a pre-emptive reduction) When White has an extension at the bottom, White 1 serves to expand his moyo. It forestalls Black 'a'.
- 115-
Joseki 1 Black 2 is natural: it secures the corner profit while building centre influence and making White heavy. If White 5, Black hanes at 6 and moves out into the centre one step ahead of White. However, White can drive a wedge into the right side with 11, forcing Black 12, then expand his influence at the bottom even further by pushing up at 'a'. Black 12 is an efficient answer to 11, but later, after extending along the side, White can exchange 'b' for Black 'c', then block at 'd', aiming at White 'e'. Dia. 5 (unbearable) If Black omits 'a', then his corner will be stripped naked with White 1 and 3. Black 2 at 3 fails because of White 2, Black 'b', White 'c'. Dia. 6 (not helping White) Black 2 is possible, but it is usually considered slack, as it is a little submissive. White extends to 3, hoping to play 'a' in sente later. On the right side, White plays 'b', followed by 'c'. However, this strategy is possible for Black when he does not want to help White make shape as in Joseki 1. Dia. 7 (helping White) Black 2 will probably make it easy for White to settle himself. The two-step hane of 3 is good style. If next Black 'a', White 'b', Black 'c', White 'd', then the pattern more or less reverts to Joseki 1, with the difference that Black has made the bad exchange of 2 for White 3. If instead Black Dia. 7 plays 2 at 'c', then his result is even more submissive than Dia. 6. -116-
Dia. 8 (taking centre influence) If Black wants to emphasize centre influence, then he can apply pressure from on top with 2 and 4. However, suffering the hane at 5 is very painful. White 'a' also becomes a big move: White might even play there immediately with 7. Unless the neighbouring positions are just right for Black, this strategy is likely to be questionable. After 7, Black will probably jump to 'c' to alleviate the threat of White 'b'. Dia. 9 (dipping down) When White already has the marked stone or a stone at 'a' in place, then Black must dip down to 4 to prevent White from peeping there. Actually, to avoid giving White any help at all, it's possible to play immediately at 4 with 2. Dia. 10 (considerable profit) Instead of 6 in Joseki 1, Black could also extend at 2. This takes profit and eliminates White's forcing moves on the side. White can then play a forcing move on top with 3, but the idea behind Black's strategy is that Black takes greater profit than in Joseki 1 without giving White greater influence. Dia. 11 (playing first at the bottom) If Black plays first in the area where White's influence is directed, then White can choose between attacking at 3 and pressing at 5. If White 3, Black defends at 4 and White 5 becomes gote; if White 3 at 5, Black will probably answer at 3. Black 4 at 5 might, at first glance, look like good Dia. 11 shape, but it is not practicable, as it leaves White with the peep at 'a'. -117-
Dia. 12 (the two-step hane) Black 4, rebelling against White's orders, is sometimes a powerful move. If White 5, Black answers at 6 and is then forced to answer White 7 at 8, but even so this makes a big difference in the centre. Another advantage of the two-step hane is that it creates the vital point for attacking White at 'a'. Dia. 13 (both satisfied) Making the cut at 1 is painful, as it destroys the aji of 'a', but in this case White perhaps has no choice. After 3 and 4, White 5 is sente; both sides are satisfied. If Black captures the stone with 4 at 5, then White can force with 'b', then play on the right side before Black. This would hollow Dia. 13 out Black's centre thickness and make it ineffective. Dia. 14 (losing a stone outright) The aim of White 1 is to force Black to defend at 'a', after which White would force again with 'b'. However, if Black blocks at 2 regardless, cutting at 'a' will not work immediately. On the other hand, playing an atari at 'b' will just destroy what aji White does have at 'a', so White extends at 3. Black 4 then captures White 1 outright. Dia. 15 (the ponnuki) Even when White already has the marked stone in place, Black can answer the peep aggressively with 2. If White 3, he is satisfied with the ponnuki with 4 and 6. If White cuts at 'a', Black lives with 'b'. If White plays 3 at 6, Black blocks at 3; if next White 'c', Black 'd', White 'e', then Black connects with 'f' and the corner is safe. -118-
Joseki 2 White can play 9 one space closer than in Joseki 1. This has the merit of reducing the size of Black's corner territory but the drawback of being closer to Black's thickness. If White plays 9 after he has pushed up with 11, then he will be in for a tough fight when Black counterattacks at 'a'. After the joseki, White extends along the Joseki 2 side, then waits for a chance to play White 'b' through 'f'. Dia, 16 (a sente seki) The counterattack at 1 is possible even when the White 'a'—Black 'b' exchange has not been made, but the exchange of 2 for 3 of course loses points for Black. White gets a seki in sente in the corner, an unbearable result for Black. White could also attempt to live with White 4 at 7, Black 4, White 10. Dia. 17 (a hollow shell) If Black connects at 3, then attacks at 5, White easily lives with 6 and 8. White has not only taken all the corner territory but also played on the outside, so Black's position is a hollow shell. Dia. 18 (preparing for the attack) Building strength on the outside with 5 before attacking is a more effective approach. If White 6, Black 7 now works well. If White 'a', Black plays 'b'; if instead White tries to live in the corner with 'c', Black prevents him from doing so with 'd'. Consequently, White will have to use 6 to add a reinforcement in the corner, so Black will be able to atari at 6. Black loses Dia. 18 a lot of territory, but his centre thickness is sufficient compensation. If Black is not happy with this trade, he should follow Joseki 2. - 119-
3. The Large Knight Enclosure Basic diagram In the case of a moyo based on a largeknight enclosure, the enclosure itself has many weak points, so that means that White has to consider all the more carefully his choice of whether to invade or to reduce. If he invades, he loses the option of reducing, and vice versa. Basic Diagram The usual point for an invasion is 'a', which aims next at 'b'. When reducing, however, White usually focuses on the marked black stone because of its low position, the vital points being 'c' and 'd'. The shoulder hits of 'e' and 'f' are unsatisfactory, because, in contrast to the smallknight enclosure, Black secures too big a corner. The above reducing points are all directed against the corner enclosure itself. Joseki 1 White 1 is blunt but effective. Up to 7, White has made an adequate reduction. As it makes Black so solid, this sequence would be ideal when Black has a stone around 'a'. The features of this pattern are that Black has no scope for variation and the fact that White can make good shape with 7. Later, Black either attacks by taking away White's base with 'b' or expands the right side while attacking with 'c'. Dia. 1 (unprofitable) If Black resists with 2, White simply extends at 3, making miai of 'a' and 'b'. Black has just helped White; doing nothing would be better than doing things by halves like this. -120-
Dia. 1
Dia. 2 (making it easier for White) The aim of pulling back with 4 is to avoid giving White the sente block at 5 as in Joseki 1, but actually this makes it easier for White to settle himself. If Black cuts at 'a' with 6, White plays 7 and succeeds in settling his group even when the ladder is unfavourable. Dia. 3 (various forcing moves) If Black attacks at 1 instead of 6 in Dia. 2, White makes a cut with 2 and 4, then pushes up at 6. If Black 'a', White can stop him from linking up with White 'b', Black 'c', White 'd', thanks to the cutting stone. Instead of 8, White could also make a comDia. 3 fortable shape with 'e'. If Black plays 1 at 'f, White descends at 'a'. White is in no danger of being captured, so Black gets no compensation for the large reduction in his territory. Joseki 2 In response to the cap at 1, Black plays solidly at 2 when he wants to secure the bottom area. White attaches and cuts with 5 and 7, but forcing first with 3 is good style. Black 4 at 'a' or 10 would give bad aji. Answering White 9 at 10 gives Black good thickness. The sequence to 13 is a standard sabaki pattern. Dia. 4 (aji remaining) If Black plays 4 in Joseki 2 at 1 here, then he cannot capture White cleanly when the latter plays 2. If Black 3, White is almost alive after 4; if Black 3 at 4, White aims at 'a' and 'b'. If instead of 1 Black Dia, 4 plays at 'c', White plays 2, Black 3, White 'd', making miai of 'e' and 4. White may not play this sequence immediately, but it is aji that Black has to worry about. -121 -
Dia. 5 (a large corner) If Black ataris at 1 with 8 in Joseki 2, White breaks up the corner with 2 and has no trouble settling himself. The amount of territory he has destroyed makes this result a little favourable for White. Playing 2 at 3 is surprisingly uninteresting for White; he gets a ladder after Black 'a', White 'b', but then he has to worry about the problem of the ladder breaker. Dia. 6 (gote for Black) If Black plays 10 in Joseki 2 at 1, he ends in gote, which is not appealing. After 4, White threatens to set up a ko with White 'a' through 'g', so Black has to add a reinforcement fairly soon. White has built a comfortable position superior to Joseki 4 in the small-knight section (page 106). Dia. 7(too ambitious) Black 2 seems to work well at the bottom, but when you consider how thin his corner enclosure is, it is clearly too ambitious. White plays the standard pattern to 7, setting up an effective atari at 9. If Black 'a', White ataris at 'b', giving a similar result to Dia. 6. If Black 'b', White attaches at 'c', putting Black on the spot. Dia. 8 (a vague invasion) Black 2 prepares to counter White 'a' with Black 'b', White 'c', Black 'd'. However, 2 leaves the bottom thin, so White leisurely moves into it with 3. He can be satisfied with his reduction. If Black 2 at 'e', White 3 still looks good. -122-
Dia. 9 (biased towards the corner) The aim of Black 2 is to secure a large corner territory. However, it lets White reduce the moyo, so Black had better know what he is doing. After 4, White chooses between 'a' and 'b'. If Black omits 4, White can aim at gouging out the corner with 'c'. White 3 at 'd' is dubious because Black 3 makes very good shape. Joseki 3 Black plays 2 in an attempt to defend his own moyo on the right. However, if White attaches at 3, Black must counter with 4 and 6 and be contented with securing the corner and retaining the option of attacking with 12. Black 4 at 8 suffers a bad loss when White plays 6. Dia. 10 (ineffectual) Black pushes up on the side he has cut with 1, but in this position 1 lets White establish a base in the area that Black set out to defend. White could also trade the side for the corner with 4 at 'a', followed by Black 'b', White 'c'. Countering with Black 1 has achieved virtually nothing. Dia. 11 (attaching on the outside) When Black plays 2 and 4, he must add a stone at 6 to forestall White 'a'. White reduces his moyo and builds thickness, while Black merely secures the corner profit, so Black loses out on the exchange. Instead of 3, White can also play the variation White 'b', Black 4, White 'a', sliding into the corner. He could also emphasize the centre by extending at 'c' with 5. - 123-
4. The Star-Point Enclosure Basic diagram When Black has used three stones, starting with the star-point stone, to surround the corner, the 3—3 point remains open, but even so an unsupported invasion is not possible. If White has a stone at 'a', he can invade at 'b'; if a stone at 'c', he can invade at 'd'. When White does not have an ally in the neighbourhood and Black has a moyo Basic Diagram based on this enclosure, then White has to find the best way of reducing it. We will look at the main possibilities. If White wants to reduce the bottom area, the move is capping at 'e', but this is much more effective if White first plays a probe at 'b'. If White wants to reduce the right side, then the shoulder hit at 'f' is the move, but, similarly, this works best when White first plays a probe at 'd'. Joseki 1 If White 1, Black is almost certain to answer at 2. White is satisfied with having played a forcing move and so reduces with 3. The exchange ends with Black 4. Black's play seems just a little submissive, but the result is reasonable as he secures his corner. If Black omits 4, he will be handicapped by his bad aji: White threatens to attach at 'a', to thrust at 'b', or to push up at 4. Dia. 1 (the effect of the forcing move) If Black plays 1, White 2 is sente. Without the marked exchange, Black would probably play Black 'a', White 'b', Black 'c' before coming back to intercept at 3, but this is not possible when the exchange has been made, so White's forcing move proves its worth. -124-
Dia. 1
Dia. 2 (just right) White 1 is a powerful follow-up move after Joseki 1. Countering aggressively with 2 and 4 is worst for Black, as 5 and 7 make full use of the marked white stone. All the same, playing 2 at 'a' makes Black overconcentrated. If Black plays 4 at 'b', then he just helps White to build a thick shape with White'c', Black 7, White 4. Dia. 3 (the problem of the ladder) Black 2 brings up the question of whether White can get a ladder with White 3, Black 8, White 9. If instead Black fights with 4 and 6, the question of the ladder, at 'a', again comes up after 7 to 11. Even if the Dia 3 ladder is unfavourable for White, he can try other variations, but if the ladder is unfavourable for Black he faces a crisis. Dia. 4 (Black's low position) White 3 is a standard sabaki tesuji. Capturing at 6, to avoid giving White the sente block at 'a', seems wisest for Black. Since his corner is so solid, White 7 does not worry him. He connects at 8 and looks Dia. 4 8: connects forward to attacking at 'b'. However, Black's overall position is low and he has played a little submissively. Dia. 5 (an exchange) If the ladder is unfavourable, Black can counterattack at 1. The ladder in question arises after White 3, Black 'a', White 'b'. However, White has the option of playing for a trade with the atari at 2; he breaks up the corner area, then escapes. This result Dia. 5 5: connects can only be evaluated in the light of the overall position and Black's subsequent attacking potential. Fighting a ko with 5 at 6 is also a strong strategy. -125-
Dia. 6 (strongest) Black 1, utilizing the solidity of Black's corner position to counterattack, offers the strongest resistance. If White resists strongly in turn with 2, large-scale moyo warfare follows. White 2 at 4 is what Black wants: he collapses when Black connects at 2. If Black cannot face this fight with confidence, he captures at 4 with 3, then connects the ko in answer to White 3, thus reverting to Dia. 5; alternatively, he could cut at 'a' and fight the ko. Dia. 7 (tenuki) Ignoring White 1 can work surprisingly well. Even if White gets another move here, it has no effect whatsoever on Black's rock-solid corner. Dia. 8 (losing points) To go back a little, answering the probe with Black 2 loses a lot of points. When White invades the 3—3 point with 3, Black cannot hope to capture him unless he has exceptional thickness on the outside. Black 4 and 6 are a strong attacking combination, but White uses the sacrifice of 7 to live up to 15. (Note that if White played 7 at 13, he would die when Black pulled back at 11.) Except for when outside influence is the paramount consideration in the overall position, Black 2 is a slack move. Dia. 9 (living without the support of allies) Black 2 and 4 give a similar result to the previous diagram. When White plays 5, Black cannot hope to kill him. If Black plays 4 at 'a', White lives with 'b' through 'f'. If Black follows 'a' with the two-step hane of White 'b', Black 'd', White can go for a Dia. 9 trade with White 'c', Black 4, White 'g'. In either case, it is painful for Black to have White live after an unsupported invasion. -126-
Dia. 10 (outside knight's move) Answering with a knight's move on the outside at 1 generally causes Black a loss as White can counter immediately with 2. If Black 3 and 5, White is satisfied with breaking up the right-side area with the moves to 14. If instead Black plays 5 at 6, White reduces the bottom area with White 5. The point of White 2 is that it aims at dodging to 8 if Black plays 3 at 4. Even if Black plays 3 at 8, White should have little trouble in looking after his group by clamping at 5. Dia. 11 (reducing first) Reducing the right side with 2 and 4, without setting the stone at the bottom into motion, is a calm approach. White aims later at 'a' or'b'. If Black does defend at'b', he more or less secures the bottom area.
Dia. 11
Joseki 2 Exchanging 1 for 2 before reducing at 3 is another standard technique. If Black 4, White jumps lightly to 5 and has achieved his objective. Since 4 helps White to make shape, Black could also consider playing it at 'a'. The stone at 1 seems to constitute a loss for White, but it is not yet completely dead. For example, White can play a probe at 'f', utilizing the aji of White 'b', Black 'c', White 'd', Black 'e'. Dia. 12 (bad aji) Jumping to 2 creates bad aji. If Black 'a' after 5, he cannot avoid a ko after White 'b', Black 'c', White 'd'. This is where the preliminary probe in the corner proves its value. -127-
Dia. 12
Dia. 13 (guaranteed sente) When Black has the marked stone in place, he may attack from on top at 2, but since White 3 is definitely sente, White will be satisfied if he can just escape with 5. The aim of the marked stone was to guarantee the sente move at 3, which is why 2 should be at 3, as in Joseki 2. Dia. 14 (reducing the side) Depending on the position on the right side, White might use the aji of the marked stone to attach directly at 1. If 2, White can hane at 3, leading to a similar result to Dia. 12. If Black plays 4 at 5, White connects at 4 and capturing at 'a' becomes sente for him. If Black plays 2 at 5, White 4 makes miai of 'a' and 'b'.
Dia. 15 (plenty of vitality) If Black plays 2 or 'a', it's difficult to live directly in the corner. However, in the case of Black 2, White 'b' makes miai of 'c' and 'd'. That means that there is plenty of life remaining in the white stone, so with the aid of its aji White should have no trouble finding a way to reduce the moyo. Attempting to capture with 2 or 'a' creates such bad aji that Black does not profit. Dia. 16 (reluctance to destroy the aji) Exchanging White 'a' for Black 'b' helps White when he plays 'c', but it constitutes a small loss as regards the right side. Similarly, exchanging White 'd' for Black 'b' Dia. 16 helps when playing White 'e' but constitutes a small loss as regards the bottom. If White prefers to avoid this loss, he may simply play at 'c' or 'e', but unavoidably there will be some constraints on his freedom of action in the subsequent fighting. -128-
CHAPTER FOUR Reducing the Chinese-Style Fuseki The distinctive feature of the pattern known as the Chinese-style fuseki is that it does not attach absolute importance to corner enclosures. This new concept was developed by Yasunaga Hajime and Kajiwara Takeo. It attracted the interest of the Chinese during a Japanese tour of China,and from China it was later imported back into Japan, where it enjoyed a boom. As with the sanren-sei (three star-point stones in a row) pattern, Black plays first on the large points on the side and tries to use the advantage of having the first move to establish a lead in the fighting that follows. However, one of the features of this pattern is that it is not directed exclusively towards influence: the 3—4 stone in one corner maintains territorial balance. The way fighting develops varies depending on White's position and in any case Black is playing on a whole-board scale right from the start, so we cannot expect to find any definitive patterns. In this chapter, we intend to present a general survey, based on an examination of professional games, of the most popular and most researched patterns connected with reducing territory in the Chinesestyle fuseki. The nature of the moyo, of course, changes completely when Black plays the high move on the side.
1. Reducing the Low Chinese-Style Fuseki Basic diagram The low extension at 5 gives the standard pattern. The nature of White's position on the left side will have a big influence on the fighting on the right side, but the usual move for attacking this formation is White 'a'. Black answers at 'b' or 'c'. If White answers Black 'b' at 'd', Black switches to the large point of 'e' at the bottom. The focus of our discussion will be on the question of what happens if White now attempts to reduce the bottom moyo with 'f' or a similar move. We will also touch upon the pattern in which White occupies 'e' and Black makes an extension at the top. -129-
Basic Diagram
Dia. 1 (expanding with the capping move) If Black 2, White takes profit with 3 and 5. Black builds a large moyo, but to some extent his territory is biased too much towards one part of the board. Dia. 2 (why the pincer is not popular) Black almost never plays a pincer at the top. If, for example, Dia. 1 Dia. 2 Black 2 here, White keeps sente, then switches to the excellent reducing move of 23. Dia. 3 (double forcing moves) Black can intercept with 4. If White 5 and 7, Black plays the carefully timed and effective sequence to 12. Instead of 16, it would probably be better to fight with Black 'a', White 17, Black 'b', White 16, Black connects. Dia. 4 (hane first) White could avoid the previous result by making a hane at 1. Dia. 3 Dia. 4 Black will probably switch to 2. If Black 2 at 3, he gets an inferior result after White 'a', Black 'b', White 'c'. -130-
Dia. 5 (second basic diagram) Black usually plays 2 and 4. The focus now becomes the bottom right corner. Dia. 6 (Kajiwara style) The peep at 3 is the unique Kajiwara style. White varies the location of 5 depending on Black's response. This peep seems to be more appropriate when the marked stone is at 'a'.
Dia. 5
Dia. 6
Dia. 7 (getting quick life) If White plays at 1 after Dia. 5, the continuation to 7 is steady. White can also exchange 'a' for Black 'b' instead of 3, but this would be more or less what Black hopes for. Dia. 8 (one way to attack) In this example Dia. 7 Dia. 8 19, 22: ko from a game, the shape at the top is a little different. After 7 and 9, Black continues the attack with 10 and 12. -131 -
Dia. 9 (a strong attack) When White caps at 3, he is hoping for Black 'a', but Black will probably counterattack at 4. If White 5, then White is rocked by Black's strong attack with 6 and 8. Dia. 10(a heavy shape) If White plays the series of forcing moves from 5 to 9, Black cannot make the counterattack in Dia. 9, but White's whole group Dia. 9 Dia. 10 becomes heavy and he looks like coming under attack. Dia. 11 (too cut and dried) The Black 'a'-White 'b' exchange has not been made and White has used the forcing moves of 5 and 9 to settle his group. The shape has been decided everywhere and there is no aji for White to aim at. Dia. 12 (tenuki) White regards 4 as a submissive answer to 3 and switches elsewhere. He aims at Dia, 11 Dia. 12 White 'a'-Black 'b'-White 'c' later, so this seems to be quite an effective strategy. -132-
Dia. 13 (holding back) White holds back at 3 to prevent Black from launching a strong attack; 'a' and 'b' are miai. White hopes for Black 'c'. Dia. 14 (making White heavy) In this example from a game, Black answered at 4, inviting White 5 and 7. Black's strategy was to make White heavy Dia. 13 Dia. 14 so he could aim at attacking him later. Black probably should atari at 'a' before connecting at 12. Dia. 15 (Black wants to fight) In this game, in which both sides have low positions (the marked stones), largescale fighting developed from White's hanekomi at 7. In theory, fighting is what Black wants. Dia. 16 (territory rather than fighting) Black 2 sacrifices
Dia. 15
Dia, 16
the opportunity to attack in favour of taking territory both at the bottom and on the side. It's a feasible strategy. -133-
Dia. 17 (the two-space high approach move) White 1 has little impact on the corner; it's not often seen in professional play. If Black 2, White 3 is just right. Dia. 18 (the vital point) Attacking at 2 seems to be the move. If White 3, Black 4 becomes the vital point. The continuDia. 17 Dia. 18 ation is not interesting for White, as his shape crumbles. Dia. 19 (one conclusion) The conclusion seems to be that in this shape White should push up with 3 and 5. He can then make a comfortable position with 7. Dia. 20 (reducing leisurely) The even more leisurely reducing move of 1 has been seen. If Black defends with 2, White plays 3 and has no need to Dia. 19 Dia. 20 worry about a counterattack. The drawback is that Black solidifies his territory. -134-
Dia. 21 (emphasizing the bottom) White can play at 1 if his main concern is to reduce the bottom moyo. If Black 2 at 3, White plays 2: this would be what White wants. Dia. 22 (circumstances alter cases) When Black has the marked stone in place, White 1 is dubious, as Black expands his bottom moyo with 2.
Dia. 21
Dia. 22
Dia. 23 (White occupies the bottom) The position on the left might make White want to play first at the bottom with 1. Black will naturally occupy the top with 2. This position is worth looking at in more detail. Dia. 24 (competing moyos) When White wants to expand his moyo on the left, he often exchanges 3 for 4.
Dia. 23 -135-
Dia. 24
Dia. 25 (low extension) ' When White has played the low moves of 1 and 3, countering with 4 shows the right fighting spirit. The tesuji for White is to push up once with 5, then to play the probe of 7. This may solidify Black's corner, but White keeps sente and can also play 'a' in sente, so the result is even.
Dia. 25 Dia. 26 Dia. 26 (using the peep as a foothold) In some games, White has crawled at 1 (instead of 5 in Dia. 25) so that he could use the peep at 3 as a foothold for breaking into the right side. Dia. 2 7 (playing lightly) The light reducing move of 3 has also been seen. If Black 4 at 'a', White will switch elsewhere, satisfied with having played a forcing move. Dia. 28 (reduce before invading) In this game, White first capped at 3, then invaded at 5; the presence of the stone at 1 makes this combination possible. The resulting exchange is even.
Dia. 27
-J36-
Dia. 28
Dia. 29 (frustrating White's strategy) In this game, White intended to switch to the top if Black answered 3 at 5, so Black countered with a tenuki. Dia. 30 (the two-space high approach move) When White kept his distance with 1, Black tried to get an attack going with 2 and 4.
Dia, 29
Dia. 30
2. The High Chinese-Style Fuseki Basic diagram Black 5, known as the 'revised Chinese style', emphasizes influence and aims at early fighting. The difference of one line makes a big difference to the moyo fighting. White's reducing manoeuvres become more akin to invasions. If White 'a', Black 'b', White 'c', then Black extends to 'd' and is prepared to fight when White comes in at 'e'. If White plays first at the bottom at 'd', Black extends to 'c', whereupon White will probably make an approach move at 'f'. We will use examples from professional games to illustrate our discussion of these variations. -137-
Basic Diagram
Dia. 1 (bottom moyo) If White 1, Black answers simply at 2, then builds up his moyo with 4. Dia. 2 (Kajiwara style) If Black 4 at 'a', White gets a sente move at 'b', giving him thickness at the top; if Black 4 at 'c', there is no need for White to add a move at 5. Black 4 is therefore natural. Making Dia. 1 Dia. 2 this exchange so that he can aim at 'c' later is Kajiwara style. Dia. 3 (getting settled quickly) After Dia. 1, White comes in at 1. Settling his group quickly with 3 and 5 is the peaceful approach. In this shape, Black will want to attack at 8 as early as possible. Dia. 4 (the high extension) White plays 1 when he wants to aim at invading the right side later on. Dia. 3 -138-
Dia. 4
Dia. 5 (crosscut) White attaches once at 3, then crosscuts with 5 and 7 to get sabaki - this is a technique invented by Ishida Yoshio. Dia. 6 (Black thrusts) If Black thrusts up at 1, White makes shape with 2 and 4. White could also play 4 at 'a', Black 'b', White 4; White aims next at sliding to 'c'. Dia. 5 Dia. 6 Black 1 at 'b' is just what White wants, as he can atari at 1. Dia. 7 (counterattack) If Black counterattacks with 1, White counters in turn with 2. Territorially, this seems inadequate for Black. After Black 7, White uses the cut at 'a' to settle his group. Dia. 8 (emphasizing the centre) Black's aim with 1 is to confine White to the corner. In some positions, this could Dia. 7 5: connects Dia. 8 be an effective strategy. White lives in sente in the corner, then switches to a reducing move. -139-
Dia. 9 (preventing sabaki) The aim of 4 is to prevent White from settling his group by forestalling the contact play at 10. However, Black 8 is slack, as White settles himself with 9 to 13; Black should attack at 'a' or 11 instead. Dia. 10 (the contact play) White gets stylish Dia. 9 Dia. 10 shape if he can make the contact play at 5. In this shape, Black 'a' does not work. Dia. 11 (the two-space high approach move) When Black has played the high move (the marked stone), White will have trouble settling himself after 1. Dia. 12 (profit v. influence) In this game, the aim of White 1 was to build centre influence while yielding the corner profit to Black. The precondition, of course, is that White's influence works well on the left.
Dia. 11 - 140-
Dia. 12
Dia. 13 (moyo at the top) If White takes the bottom with I, Black of course takes the top with 2. Next — Dia. 14 (standard continuation) White usually continues by entering at 1. Settling his group with 'a' or 'b' after 6 gives a leisurely game. Dia. 15 (too hasty) Switching to 1 or 'a' after Dia. 14 is too impatient. Black 2 is a severe attack. White can no longer hope to invade at 'b'. Dia. 16 (the high extension) The high move of 1 can be surprisingly effective: it forestalls any sudden attack by Black. If Black 'a', White gets a solid shape with 'b', Black Dia. 15 Dia. 16 'c', White 'd'. If instead Black 'b', White blocks at 'e', then switches elsewhere.
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Dia. 17 (foiling Black': strategy) Black plays 2 in the expectation of White 'a', which would let him secure the corner with 'b', White 'c', Black 'd'. Since Black is trying to secure the top, White could foil his strategy by invading at 3. In this sequence, White does not attach importance to the right side. Dia. 17 Dia. 18 Dia. 18 (a high probe) The high move of 3, which is a probe, has been played. If Black 4, White goes for a trade with 5. Black 4 at 5 would probably be submissive. Dia.
19
(extending
first) White first extends to 3, then seeks sabaki with the tesuji of 9. This is an effective strategy. White aims at invading at 'a'. Dia. 20 (double knight moves) If Black makes a second knight's move at 4, White plays Dia. 19 Dia. 20 lightly with 7 and takes aim at the bottom right corner. When Black has defended with 6, White seeks a foothold for his invasion at 'a'. -142-
Dia. 21 (the checking extension) In this game, in which Black had made the checking extension (the marked stone), White reinforced with 5 etc. Dia. 22 (the approach move is out) In this game, in which the marked stone was one line closer than in Dia. 13, White continued not with 'a' but with the reducing move of 1. After 17, Black continued his attack with 'b'. Dia. 23 (straightforward reduction) If Black 2, White simply plays 3 and 5. Note that there is no black stone at 'a'. Dia. 24 (when Black has reinforced) In this game, in which Black had made a reinforcement (the marked stone), White used the crosscut of 5 and 7 to settle his group. His aim was to keep sente so that he could slide to 15. In this case, White 7 at 9 would be heavy. -143-
CHAPTER FIVE Attack and Defence Reducing in the context of the overall position Compared to invasion josekis, the number of reducing josekis is small and the variations limited. In the context of the whole board, however, the reverse may be true: there is a wide range of reducing techniques and the risk of making a mistake in the direction of play is considerable. Reducing manoeuvres must be based on a sound assessment of the overall position, but these manoeuvres are executed in the opening, when such an assessment is most difficult. Not only do you have to make an approximate comparison of the size of the territories, you also have to judge the relative strength and weakness of each player's groups and evaluate his thickness. Even professionals go astray in trying to juggle all these elements, and assigning numerical values to them is almost impossible. That means that, in the final analysis, you have to rely on your intuition. If we try to explain 'intuition' in words, we run the risk of losing sight of its real meaning, so in this chapter we will just show you a large number of examples from professional games in the hope that you can absorb them visually, not intellectually. If you go wrong in the overall judgement of a reducing manoeuvre, you can lose one or two dozen points without even realizing that you are bleeding. Attack and defence: two sides of the same coin In view of the fact that the fighting arising from a reduction tends to spread all over the board, it is difficult to give a systematic presentation. A reduction on one side is an attack on the other; an attack on one part of the board is a reduction in another; reducing leads to enclosing; a ladder break becomes a reduction. There may be times when it is better not to reduce, other times when an invasion works better. - 144-
From the viewpoint of the defender, there are times when he has to attack the reducing stone, others when ignoring it is correct, but the only way to determine which is which is to look carefully at the whole board. The aim of this chapter is to give a synthetic analysis of wholeboard attack and defence focused on reducing manoeuvres. The examples are taken from professional games, but we recommend you to ignore the names of the players and just try to get a feel for the way reducing manoeuvres are executed in actual play. In go terms 'intuition' resolves itself into a feel for the efficiency of the stones one plays. Reducing, surrounding, attacking, defending — all hinge upon this basic concept of efficiency.
-145-
Relative depth A difference of one line turns a good reduction into a bad one. In Dia. 1, Black made a deep invasion at 1. He was aiming at- the contact play at 'a', but when White attacked with 2 and 4, he found it surprisingly difficult to settle his group. The sequence to 10 is good for White: he has turned the three black stones into a target for attack. Dia. 1 White: Fujisawa Shuko; Black: Rin Kaiho Dia. 2. Black should have held back one line with 1. If you bear in mind that White's moyo is open at the sides - Black can reduce it with 'a' and 'b' — there is no need to invade deeply. Black 1 also takes aim at White's thin position, so the proper answer (honte) for White is 'c'. Black could now either go in further with 'd' or drop back to 'e', satisfied that he has struck a blow at the core of White's moyo.
Dia. 2 -146-
A leaning attack A reducing move usually has a subsidiary aim, as explained in Chapter One. In Dia. 1, White forces with 1 to 5, then caps at 7. This is an efficient sequence; he is reducing Black's moyo while also aiming at the black group on the left. That group may not be vulnerable to an immediate attack, but the threat does place some constraints upon Black's freedom of action. Dia. 1 White: Rin Kaiho; Black: Kato Masao
For this reason, Kato commented that he should have jumped to 1 in Dia. 2. White fixes up his shape with 2 and 4, but Black turns solidly at 5. He not only threatens to attack the white group on the right side but also aims at invading on the top left. Black's left-centre group is virtually secure and he has profit in three corners, so the game looks easy for him. Dia. 2 -147-
The direction of a reducing move When the opponent has a large-scale moyo, you can't afford to go wrong in the direction of the reducing move. White 1 in Dia. 1 is usually a bad move, as it helps Black to eliminate the thinness of the largeknight enclosure, but in view of the thickness of Black's bottom moyo and the size of his left-side moyo, it is the only move. White's light move at 5 makes miai of 6 and 7.
Dia. 2. If White caps at 1, Black answers on the larger side with 2. Even though White can break into the side with 3 to 11, Black launches a severe attack with 12. Approaching Black's influence (the marked stones) will only get White into even more trouble. Similarly, White would have trouble settling himself if he played 1 at 4, as the marked stones block his path. Dia. 2 10: connects -148-
The best order of moves Sometimes a preparatory manoeuvre will enhance the effectiveness of a reducing move. Invading at 1 before reducing at 3 shows good timing. If 4, Black forces with 5 and 7, then fixes up his shape with 9. Black has achieved his aim. If White plays 6 at 'a', Black uses the tesuji of 'b' to strengthen himself. Instead of 9, strengthening himself for the centre fight with 'c' would have been even better.
Dia. 2. If White answers at 2 instead of 4 in Dia. 1, Black plays 3 to 7, whereupon it becomes apparent that the exchange of the marked stones has benefited Black by making White heavy. White 8 is just right in response to Black 7, so Black could consider playing 7 at 'a'. If Black simply jumps to 9 with 1, White will keep ahead of him with 'b', so Black will be driving him into his own moyo.
- 149
Planning a counterattack One can make either a direct or an indirect counterattack against a reducing move. In Dia. 1, Black has played a probe at 1, then reduced at 3. White does not feel like answering at 'a' or 'b', so he wants to counterattack. If he attacks directly at 'c', however, Black will defy him by jumping to 'd', so White would only be helping Black to settle himself. Dia. 1 White: Ishida Yoshio; Black: Ohira Shuzo Dia. 2. White 1 threatens to attack on a large scale. White 'a' next would be troublesome, so Black drops back lightly to 2. If Black 2 at 'b', the ladder after White 'c' is bad for him. White 3 both menaces the centre and sets up a squeeze after White 'd'. Black indirectly reinforces the centre with 4, whereupon White opens hostilities with 5. In the subsequent fighting, White will be looking for a chance to attack in the centre.
Dia. 2 -150-
Follow-up to a forcing move In the context of the whole board, a reducing move is a kind of forcing move. Whether you continue immediately, using the reducing move as a foothold, or switch elsewhere depends on the overall position. In Dia. 1, White wants Black to answer 1 at 2; he hopes that 1 will make a contribution to his moyo on the left. In this position, playing 1 at 'a' is not interesting, as Black will jump out at 'b'.
Dia. 2. Attaching at 3 immediately would have kept the position more open. Black will secure his corner with 4 and 6, but the result is that White has extended his moyo along the bottom and can aim at expanding further with
Dia. 2 -151-
Planning one's defence Continuing on from the previous example, Black 1 was a perfect reducing move at the bottom. If White 'a', Black invades at 'b'; if White 5, Black plays 'c', White 'd', Black 'e', turning the marked white stone into a bad move. Finding no good direct answer, White switched to 2, which showed good judgement, but 4 should have been the hane at 'f'. Pulling back at 4 let Black counterattack with 5 and 7, confronting White with a crisis. Dia. 2. In this position, reducing with 1 would be dubious, as White can stake out a good position with 2 to 6. Black 1 at 'a' is no better: White answers with 'b', Black 'c', White 'd'. Black 'c' in this sequence is not as severe as 3 in Dia. 1.
Dia. 2 -152-
The right timing With any reducing move, just as with any tesuji, timing is of the utmost importance. Black 1 in Dia. 1 is an overplay, as White 2 weakens Black's position in the upper right corner. Instead of 3, Black should at least have concentrated on attack by turning at 6. Because he started worrying about territory, White was able to switch to the much larger move of 8. It's now a tough game for Black.
Dia. 1 White: Go Seigen (giving 2 komi); Black: Ohira Shuzo
Dia. 2. This was Black's last chance to reduce with 1 at the vital point, the 'ear' of White's shape. Since Black has the sente move of 'a', White has little choice but to answer underneath with 2. At one blow, Black has greatly reduced White's territory, so he switches to 3 and takes the lead. Depending on how play progresses, he can even aim at attacking from the side at 'b'. This is a big contrast to Dia. 1. Dia. 2 -153-
Declining to reduce When you are leading, doing nothing is sometimes the best policy. Black 1 in Dia. 1 is an allout move: it reduces White's moyo at the top while also aiming at the white groups on the left side and in the centre. However, White seizes the opportunity to do something in the top left, sacrificing his centre stones. This confuses the issue and throws Black's lead into doubt.
Dia. 1 White: Magari Reiki; Black: Fujisawa Shuko
Dia. 2. A much steadier approach would be to do nothing and just secure the top left corner with J. Black has 50 points on the left side and can expect to get some territory in the centre and on the top right. White just has 25 points on the right side; it's unreasonable for him to expect to make 30 points at the top while also preventing Black from increasing his area. This is a case where positional judgement has to take precedence over attack.
Dia. 2 -154-
Derailing the opponent Fighting spirit demands that one frustrate the opponent's strategy. Black foils White's plan when he extends to 2 in Dia. 1. When White encroaches at 3, Black seizes the opportunity to force with 4 before defending at 6. If Black played 4 after 6, White might answer with 'a', Black 'b', White 'c', Black 'd', then switch elsewhere. Dia. 1 White: Fujisawa Hosai; Black: Go Seigen
Dia. 2. White wanted Black to answer at 2. He would then force with 3 before invading at 5. If White begins by extending to 3, Black 'a' becomes a good point — note that it strengthens the bottom moyo in addition to expanding the top moyo. With each move in Dia. 1, the players are trying to frustrate the opponent's strategy, to avoid giving him good moves. Dia. 2 -155-
Rebelling against a forcing move Continuing from the previous example, everyone would agree that White 1 next is the only move. White has solid profit in three corners, so all he has to do to make a game of it is to prevent Black from getting a large moyo. Black countered by switching to a large point on the left side with 2, so a fight started at the bottom. If White plays 3 at 'a' or 5, Black will counter with 'b' or 7 respectively, and White will be unable to resist because of the unfavourable ladder. Note that Black 2 acts as a ladder block.
Dia. 1
Dia. 2. If Black makes the conventional answer at 2, he might fall behind when White switches to the last remaining large point with 3. Black will probably be unable to launch an effective attack against White: the two white stones at the top are solid, while if Black 'a', White dodges to 'b'.
Dia, 2 -156-
A reducing move with ulterior aims A move that in the local context is a reducing move may have various other aims in the context of the whole board. White 1 and 3 in Dia. 1, for example, just look like reducing moves at the top, but White's real aim is to seek an opportunity to cut at 'a' or to block at 'b' in the course of the fighting that 1 and 3 start at the top. Dia. 1 White: Fujisawa Shuko; Black: Rin Kaiho Dia. 2. Continuing from Dia. 1, Black placed priority on the security of his group at the top with 1 and 3. Playing Black 3 at 7 only helps White: after White 8, Black 9, White continues with 4, Black 5, White 'a'. In the result to 10, black territory is transformed to white, so at one fell swoop White has caught up. This sequence demonstrates how forceful a reducing move with dual aims can be. Dia. 2 -157-
An overhasty attack Attacking feels good, but you run the risk of falling behind in territory. White 1 in Dia. 1 is a perfect reducing move. Attacking at 2 looks unreasonable: White has no weak groups in the vicinity, so Black cannot make a 'leaning' attack. White easily looks after his group, forcing with 3 to 9, then making miai of 'a' and 'b' with 11. White still has the threat of 'c', so Black cannot single-mindedly conDia. 1 tinue his attack. Black 2 White: Otake Hideo; Black: Kato Masao was overhasty. Dia. 2. Black should defend once at 2: this aims at attacking at 'a', so it forces White to do something with his stone. Black 2 is a calm steady move: it secures profit and aims at getting the opponent to create a bigger target for him to attack. If Black 2 at 'b' in this position, White 'c' will be severe; if at Black 'd', White can reduce his territory with 'e', so 'd' does not accomplish much.
Dia. 2 -158-
Creating aji When neither an invasion nor a reducing move works well, the contact play is a good way of conjuring something up out of nothing. When Black solidly blocks the way at 1, White cannot hope to expand his leftside moyo any further, so he plays a probe at 2. This exquisite move creates a lot of aji. If Black 3, White crosscuts at 4, creating the dual threats of 'a' and 'b'. White attaches lightly at 6, forcing Black 7, then moves out at 8. He has destroyed one half of Black's moyo,
Dia. 1 White: Kajiwara Takeo; Black: Shimamura Toshihiro
Dia. 2. The blunt invasion at 1 gets White into trouble. Black 2 and 4 eliminate all aji on the side, so the defenceless white group has to scurry out into the centre. Compare this to the various threats White retains in Dia. 1. If instead White 1 at 'a', Black just answers at 'b' and White runs out of steam. White 'c' would just invite Black to plunge into the left side.
Dia. 2 -159-
An overplay There is no need to make a deep reducing move when you are ahead. Black 1 in Dia. 1 is an overplay; White intercepts with 2, setting up a splitting attack on 1 and the black group below. Black reduces White's territory with 3 to 7, but he does not secure a base; when he tries to escape through the centre, his group below will immediately suffer. If next Black 'a', White emphasizes attack with 'b'.
Dia. 1 White: Takemiya Masaki; Black: Fujisawa Hosai
Dia. 2. Black should have made the shallow reduction of 1 and 3 while also strengthening his group below. White secures an enormous territory with 2 and 4, but not only can Black match that with his three corners, he can also attack the stone at the top with 5. He might even be able to aim at a double attack on it and the white group on the right side. Dia. 2 - 160-
Reducing while attacking When you have trouble finding a foothold for reducing, an effective method may be to attack a weak enemy group and in the process just slide into his moyo. In Dia. 1, Black tried to reduce the bottom moyo directly, but this weakened his own group when White took the key point of 2. This way Black's thickness at the top goes to waste. Dia. 2. Black first atDia. 1 tacks the isolated white White: Ishida Yoshio; Black: Rin Kaiho stones with 1. If White 2, he continues the attack with 3, a superb move which also serves to expand his moyo on the left. When White tries to save his group with 4 and 6, Black slides into his bottom moyo with 5 to 9. This is best for Black. If Black peeps at 'a' with 3, the strong attack with 'c' would be feasible if White answered at 'b', but the problem with making a single-minded attack like this is that you fall behind Dia. 2 if the opponent saves his group. -161 -
Severing the opponent's connection As mentioned a number of times, a reducing move directed against the side may also serve to attack a weak enemy group from a distance. Cutting the opponent's lines of communication can have a big effect on the subsequent fighting. White 1 in Dia. 1 forces Black to defend at 2, whereupon White 3 stops the two black groups from linking up. White 1 at 'a' would not achieve this aim. Black takes profit with 4 and 6, but then can no longer put off fleeing with 8, so Black 9 secures the corner and still aims at attacking in the centre. White has taken the lead in this fight.
Dia. 1 White: Ohira Shuzo; Black: Fujisawa Shuko
Dia. 2. If White worries too much about territory, extending to 1, then Black will link up with 2 etc. and get an easy game.
Dia. 2 -162-
A voiding reducing Sometimes expanding one's own moyo will be the biggest move on the board, bigger than invading or reducing. White 1 in Dia. 1 was an overplay: it shows that White was too concerned about his opponent's moyo. White's thickness in the top left is rendered ineffective when Black reduces with 4 and 6. This is not an interesting result for White. Dia. 2. The majestic move of 1 is the best strategy. If Black tries to counter moyo for moyo, then White 3 occupies the key point for expanding both moyos, giving White a reasonable result. Assuming White answers Black 'a' at 'b', White's moyo is a match for Black's. White has so much thickness that White 1 at 'c' would fail to make proper use of it. On the other hand, playing 1 at 'd' would let Black exchange 'e' for White 'f', Black 'g' for White 'h', then reduce the moyo with 'c'.
Dia. 1 White: Fujisawa Hosai; Black: Handa Dogen
Dia. 2 -163-
Neglecting to reinforce Dia. 1. Continuing from the previous example, going for territory with White 1 was a slack move. Black attacked once with 2, forcing White to move out awkwardly with 3, then broke into the left side with 4 to 8. If White 9 at 'a', Black ataris at 'b' and builds up a moyo at the bottom.
Dia. 2. Having missed the chance to expand his left-side moyo, White should have given up trying to defend there and reinforced his invasion stone on the right. In the local context, Black 4 makes White very unhappy, but he should grin and bear it with 5 and 7, pinning his hopes on his attack on the right side. The excellent position White builds with 1 and 3 would also give him a foothold for invading the top.
Dia. 1
Dia. 2
- 164-
Expanding with the capping move Sometimes the aim of a reducing move is actually to expand one's own moyo. White 1 in Dia. 1 is an example. If Black 'a', White attaches at 'b'; if Black 'c', White attaches at 3 and attempts to build up his moyo at the top. This is a standard technique when one's primary objective is in the centre. Black moves out with 2, then breaks into the right side with 6 and 8, but White keeps on the offensive and has a good game.
Dia. 1 White: Kajiwara Takeo; Black: Hashimoto Utaro
Dia. 2. White 1 also acts as a ladder breaker for when White cuts at 3. Black could even defend at 2 and let White make the cut. If White later plays on the top left, he either goes for territory with 'a' or tries to build a centre moyo with 'b'.
Dia. 2
- 165
A sacrifice strategy White can also reduce at the border line of the opponent's territory. Depending on the opponent's response, he will either pull out the stones he already has there or sacrifice them. In Dia. 1, Black plays 2 to create some aji, then tries to capture the white stones with 6. Black anticipates that the white position at the bottom will be strengthened, so he makes sure that he can force with Black 'a', White 'b', Black 'c'. For his part, White can use his sacrificed stones to squeeze, so he has a thick shape at the bottom. He switches to the invasion at 13.
Dia. 1 White: Ohira Shuzo; Black: Sakata Eio
Dia. 2, If Black pokes his head out at 2, White easily pulls his stones out with 3. After 9, Black cannot make a severe attack. If White plays 1 at 3, Black gets a nice attack with Black 1, White 'a', Black 'b'. Even if White plays 1 at 'c', Black still launches a strong attack with 'd'. White 1 can also be considered a tesuji probe.
Dia. 2 -166-
The value of a forcing move Dia. 1. The virtue of making the forcing move at 1 is that even if White gives Black thickness when he surrounds the top with 3 etc., he can safely reduce Black's moyo with 11. If White played a loose move like 'a' instead of 1, Black might just ignore it and attach at 'b'. Dia. 2. If White plays 1 after Black has built thickDia 1 ness at the top, Black might White: Fujisawa Hosai; Black: Fujisawa launch a fierce attack with Shuko 2. The neighbouring black positions are so solid that even if White lived, he would probably suffer damage to one of his other positions. The need to make the White 1 -Black 3 exchange at an early stage to avoid a counterattack shows the importance of timing in reducing, but on the other hand there is the danger that a misguided reducing move will just help the opponent to solidify his territory. You have to take the whole Dia. 2 board into account when reducing. -167 -
Deciding how to defend Even when the reducing move is obvious, the defender's response may not be. The aim of Black 1 in Dia. 1 was to reduce the moyo stretching from the top to the left while also making White's two-space extension overconcentrated. Black's overall thickness relieved him of the need to worry about the safety of his two stones, so he plunged in again at 5.
Dia. 1 White: Otake Hideo; Black: Ohira Shuzo
Dia. 2. White 2 and 4 are correct shape. White 4 gives White a foothold for doing something at the bottom. When Black moves out with 5, White expands his top moyo while attacking by playing at the 'ear' of Black's shape with 6. White can still aim at the vital points of 'a' and 'b' in Black's moyo. This would be a good opening for White.
Dia, 2 -168-
Choosing between peace and war Some reducing moves force the opponent to counterattack; others make him feel inclined to defend. When White played 1 in Dia. 1, he expected Black 'a', White 2, but Black naturally found the idea of submitting like this unbearable and so counterattacked with 2. Black 4 made White heavy and 6 scooped out his base. The reducing move started a Dia. 1 rough-and-tumble fight. White: Yamabe Toshiro; Black: Fujisawa Shuko
Dia. 2. The leisurely jump to 1, leading out the solitary white stone, would also be a good reducing move. White aims at 'a', Black 'b', White 'c', so Black defends with 2, but then White eats into the corner with 3 and 5. In contrast to Dia. 1, this approach avoids immediate fighting and creates an open position; it seems slightly superior to Dia. 1. Dia. 2 -169-
CHAPTER SIX Problems Large-scale forcing moves In the local context, reducing moves restrict the opponent's moyo, but from an overall point of view, they have a big influence on the fighting in other parts of the board. Sometimes they build influence directed towards the centre; at other times they act as forcing moves that also cut off the opponent's retreat or function as ladder blocks. The subtle workings of reducing moves cannot be learnt from a book but have to be absorbed from actual experience on the go board. A reducing move is not just a local technique but rather an important element of the fuseki or the middle game. In the whole-board context, the majority of reducing moves are forcing moves, and you have to work out how to use them as a bridge to the next stage of your strategy. This chapter, based on problems from my games, attempts to explain the varied and complex functions of reducing moves. Before proceeding, I would like to emphasize once again that the positional judgement on which a reducing manoeuvre should be based involves not just a comparison of territories but also an overall assessment of the relative weakness and strength of all the groups on the board.
-170-
Problem]. Should White pull out his solitary stone on the bottom right side or should he try to reduce the black moyo on the left side? White has weak stones, so beware a black counterattack! A leisurely approach is the essence of the reducing technique.
Problem 1. White to play Black: Rin Kaiho, 22nd Honinbo league, 1967 Problem 2. After forcing with 1 and 3, Black naturally turns his eyes next to the open areas at the top and the bottom, but in this game White is so thick that Black cannot afford to make himself thin. Reducing the leftside white moyo while maintaining a balance in influence is the ideal.
Problem 2. Black to play White: Handa Dogen, 15th Oza semifinal, 1967 171 -
Answer to Problem J. Ready to go either way White 'a', if it worked, would just about obliterate the black territory on the left side, but the prospect of the counterattack of Black 'b', White 'c', Black 'd' is daunting. White 1 aims at 'a', so Black must defend at 2, whereupon White tries to expand his bottom area with 3. Each side counterattacks in turn with 6 and 7, leading to a vigorous fight. Answer to Problem 10: connects Answer to Problem 2. Maximum pressure Black presses forcefully at 1, building thickness with which to counter White's and making miai of the top and bottom. If 6 or 8 at 13, Black 'a' is sente, so he links up with 'b'.
Answer to Problem 2 -172-
Problem 3. Black tries to stake out a position at the bottom with 1 and 5. Responding to 5 with an ordinary joseki will let Black use his great influence effectively. Black is ahead, but if White can find a clever way to nullify his thickness, he need not abandon hope.
Problem 3. White to play Black: Hashimoto Shoji, 15th Oza title, Game 2, 1967 Problem 4. White 'a' would be the conventional move, but that invites Black to play 'b', which then makes 'c' a good move. It's time for White to start a fight.
Problem 4. White to play Black: Takagawa Kaku, 7th Judan playoff, 1968 173-
Answer to Problem 3. Dual objective White 1 not only reduces the moyo but also sets an ally in position for the coming fight at the bottom. If Black 3, White will attach at 'a'. Actually, Black 3 is best: White is grateful for the chance to create complications with 3 and 5.
Answer to Problem 3 Answer to Problem 4. Opening hostilities White 1 is a probe. Black hopes to make White heavy with 2 and 4, but the latter succeeds in making shape up to 11. He then answers 12 by starting a fight in the corner. His reducing manoeuvre has achieved its goal.
Answer to Problem 4 - 174-
Problem 5. Black is ahead in territory, so he has to hold in check the expansion of White's moyo on the left.
Problem 5. Black to play White: Miyamoto Naoki, 8th Judan tournament, 1969 Problem 6. Black has a very deep moyo at the top, so White might be captured if he goes in too far. How far in is safe, in view of the balance between White's influence on the left and Black's thickness in the centre?
Problem 6. White to play Black: Otake Hideo, 8th Judan tournament, final of losers' section, 1969 -175-
Answer to Problem 5. Holding White in check Black 1 is a good guess: he is satisfied if he can limit White's moyo to 'a' (if 'a', Black 11). Black 1 at 'b' is risky: White 'c'; Black 1 at 'c' is not enough: White 'b'. Black 1 is just right, so White makes a diversionary attack, but 3 to 11 offer indirect assistance (though 7 and 9 are better left unplayed).
Answer to Problem 5 Answer to Problem 6. Thus far and no farther White 1 is as far in as White can go. If White 'a', Black cuts off his escape route with 'b'. If Black answers 1 at 'c', White plays 9; if instead Black 'a', White plays White 'd', Black 9, White 'e'. Black doesn't want White to get a moyo in the centre, so he makes a 'leaning' attack with 2 and 4.
Answer to Problem 6. -176-
Problem 7. If Black does not invade White's enormous moyo, he will lose. If he can chop it down to size, he has a chance. Remember that White 'a' is sente.
Problem 7. Black to play White: Otake Hideo, 17th Oza title, Game 1, 1969 Problem 8. There are still some gaps in Black's moyo on the left, so doing something at the bottom takes priority. White must act before Black gets a chance to seal off the area with 'a'.
Problem 8. White to play Black: Otake Hideo, 17th Oza title, Game 2, 1969 - 177-
Answer to Problem 7. Hoping to weather the storm If Black 1 and 3, White will probably compromise with 2 and 4. Black also has to stop the right-side moyo from swelling up, so he invades again at 5 and stakes the game on being able to save both groups.
Answer to Problem 7
Answer to Problem 8. Getting the jump on Black You have to reduce the moyo that is on the verge of being converted into territory, so White attacks the bottom with 1 etc. He manages to keep sente and so can switch to 9. If White answers 10 at 'a', Black 'b' will be severe. The light touch of 11 feels right.
Answer to Problem 8 178-
Problem 9. White has overall thickness. Black goes all out with 1 and 3: if he just played at 3, he could aim at the placement at 2, but he concludes that that is not enough. White cannot let Black take all the top area. How does he exploit Black's thinness?
Problem 9. White to play Black: Otake Hideo, 9th Meijin league, 1970 Problem 10. The territorial balance is destroyed when Black forces with 1 and 3, then jumps in at 5. White's only hope is to expand the centre or to make a radical reduction to Black's left-side territory. Can you find a move that combines the above two aims?
Problem 10. White to play Black: Rin Kaiho, 9th Meijin title, Game 1, 1970 - 179-
Answer to Problem 9. Creating aji White 1 relies on the support of his sente move at 'a'. Forcing with 2 etc. is Black's privilege, but the problem for Black is that if he plays 8 at 14, White will slide further into his moyo with 9. Black 8 and 10 offer the strongest resistance; White counters with the tesuji of 11 etc., making miai of 'b' and 'c'.
Answer to Problem 9 Answer to Problem 10. Creating complications White hopes to complicate the game with 1. Black 2 is the steadiest answer; if Black 'a' instead, White plays 'b'. After White attacks at 3, Black simplifies with 4 and 6, but the sacrifice tesuji of 'c' is better. After 6, White 'a' makes the game close.
Answer to Problem 10 180-
Problem 11. White's profit versus Black's large moyo: the latter is too deep for an easy reduction to be feasible. Black plays 1 to increase his thickness. White 2 is the first step in setting up a moyo at the top, but would such a moyo be enough?
Problem 11. White to play Black: Sakata Eio, 25th Honinbo league, 1970 Problem 12. Black 1 is too small: White takes the lead with 2 and keeps it even when Black gouges out the side with 3 and 5. The centre black moyo is beginning to look big. Should White build defensive thickness or reduce Black's moyo (if the latter, how)?
Problem 12. White to play Black: Rin Kaiho, 9th Judan tournament, semifinal of losers' section, 1971 -181-
Answer to Problem 11. Sacrifice strategy White 1 checks the spread of the moyo and threatens to cut with White 2, Black 'a', White 'b'. After 2, White secures the right side with 3. That lets Black split open the top with 4, but White keeps sente and maintains balance by reducing with 13. If White 1 at 'c', Black plays 'd'; if White 3 at 'c', Black plays 'e', White 'f', Black 'g'.
Answer to Problem 11 Answer to Problem 12. Too hasty If White is going to reduce, White 1, which also reinforces his stones on the left, is the move, but Black 2 makes White's overall thinness painfully apparent. White should have built thickness with 'a', without worrying about Black's centre area.
Answer to Problem 12 -182-
Problem 13. White 1 virtually secures the group at the top. Black launches his final challenge with 2, hoping to turn the right side into a moyo. Playing solidly would be good enough for White to win, but nipping Black's plan in the bud and settling the shape is the shortcut to victory.
Problem 13. White to play Black: Ohira Shuzo, 1st Japan Number One Position tournament, 1959 Problem 14. Black 1 creates a large moyo on the left. If Black answers White 2 defensively at 'a', White will invade at 'b', making it a tough game. Black has a move that kills three birds with one stone: it threatens the insecure white group on the bottom right, reduces the bottom white moyo, and expands Black's left-side moyo. Problem 14. Black to play White: Rin Kaiho, 11th Meijin title, Game 2, 1972 -183-
Answer to Problem 13. A decisive reduction White uses 1 to build influence here, then plunges in at 7. Black 8 is forced - if at 'a', White fights with 'b' and the forcing moves he played on the right should help. When White continues with 9 to 13, he is within sight of victory.
Answer to Problem 13
Answer to Problem 14. A trade The aim of Black 1 is to split White with 'b' if he answers at 'a'; if instead White 4, Black blocks at 'c' and aims to stop White from moving out. Since White fought back with 2, Black countered with 3. The continuation makes White thick, but Black takes enough profit by gouging out the corner to make a game of it.
Answer to Problem 14 184-
Problem 15. Both sides have solid territory. Black wants to stop the white moyo at the bottom from expanding any further by striking at his weak point.
Problem 15. Black to play White: Sugiuchi Masao, 13th Meijin league, 1974 Problem
16.
Black
1
links up two groups and builds thickness; with 2, White pins his hopes on his moyo. How can Black use his thickness to strike a blow at the moyo?
Problem 16. Black to play White: Honda Kunihisa, 13th Meijin league, 1974 -185
Answer to Problem 15. Black's challenge Sounding White out with 1 is the move. If White 'a', Black plans to fight with 'b', White 'c', Black 'd', White 4, Black 'e'. When White compromises with 2, Black's strategy is to play lightly with 3. If White 6 at 7, Black plans to attach at 'f', but 6 and 8 bring the fight to a pause.
Answer to Problem 15
Answer to Problem 16. Seizing the initiative Black need not fear capture even it he makes a deep invasion, but if he lets White seize the initiative, his thickness will go to waste. Black 1 and 3 make Black even thicker. While White is worrying about reducing that thickness with 4 and 6 and 18, Black secures the top right corner and goes into the lead.
Answer to Problem 16 -186-
Problem 17. White already has a good game because of his profit in three corners (White 1 secured the third). The problem is the potential of the black moyo on the left and at the bottom, which threatens to swell up with Black 'a'. White has to crush Black's hopes as early as possible.
Problem 17. White to play Black: Takagi Shoichi, 13th Judan tournament, final of winners' section, 1975 Problem 18. Black nips the white moyo in the bud with 1 to 5, then strengthens one wing of the emerging black moyo with 7. When Black has a moyo of this scale, a mistake in the reducing move will immediately give White a losing game. White's mainstay is his profit in three corners.
Problem 18. White to play Black: Rin Kaiho, 13th Judan playoff, 1975 -187
Answer to Problem 17. A resolute blow White strikes firmly at 1. Black defends against the threat of 'a' with 2, his aim being to attack White 1 on a large scale. When White reinforces the group at the top with 3, however, he need have no worries about his reducing stone (Black can no longer aim at a double attack). White 1 will also be a ladder block if Black starts a fight with 'b'.
Answer to Problem 17 Answer to Problem 18. A leisurely reduction White judges 1 to be the central point of Black's moyo, so he seizes it first. When Black defends at 2, White plays 3 to prevent Black from attacking there. He then creates some aji in the corner with 5 and 7 before jumping out to 9. He has made a leisurely reduction while also aiming at the three black stones on the top right. Before playing 4, Black should have exchanged 'a' for White 'b'. Answer to Problem 18 -188-
Problem 19. Black 1 completes the joseki. White 2 and 4 are a quasi-joseki. White builds up strength with 6, so Black takes the large point of 7. In order to make full use of 6, White's next move must be severe.
Problem 19. White to play Black: Kano Yoshinori, 22nd Nihon Ki-in Championship, 1975 Problem 20. Finding the next move after 3 is difficult: all the large points have been taken. If White wants to attack the 3-3 stone on the bottom right, it's not clear which side is best to approach on. Enclosing the left side would be too slack. That leaves the black moyo at the top to focus on.
Problem 20. White to play Black: Sakata Eio, 14th Meijin league, 1975 -189-
Answer to Problem 19. Reducing while attacking White 1 solidly blocks Black's path. White 3 next makes a light shape. White then completes a major reduction with 5: his policy of reducing while attacking has been a success. If White played anywhere else with 1, Black would jump to 1, simplifying the game.
Answer to Problem 19 Answer to Problem 20. Mounting a challenge White's aim in attaching at 1 is not only to start a fight here but also to deny Black an opportunity to invade the left side. Black 2 and 4 are the best answer: Black tries to make White heavy and turn him into a target for attack while also aiming at 'a'. However, White more or less succeeds in making shape with 5 and 7.
Answer to Problem 20 -190-
Problem 21. The tight moves of 1 and 3 apply silent pressure to the rightside white moyo. White wants to hold in check the bottom black moyo while also eliminating the thinness of his own moyo. What is the move that combines these objectives?
Problem 21. White to play Black: Otake Hideo, 14th Meijin league, 1975 Problem 22. Black has launched an attack against the white group invading his moyo. What is the best way to continue the attack? Attacking immediately obviously will not be effective, so Black has to make some preparatory manoeuvres.
Problem 22. Black to play White: Fujisawa Hosai, 14th Meijin league, 1975 191-
Answer to Problem 21. Both objectives accomplished White 1, with its follow-up at 7, is the move. Black 2 and 4 are well timed; Black 6 next not only defends the bottom moyo but also reinforces Black's top and leftside positions. Still, White achieves his objectives up to 17.
Answer to Problem 21 Answer to Problem 22. Creating a foothold Black reduces with 1. If White 'a', Black can use 1 as a foothold for invading at 'b'. In the ensuing fighting, Black might be able to engineer a double attack on the white group at the top and the one underneath, so White dodges to 2. Black destroys the side territory with 3, then switches to attack with 5 and 7.
Answer to Problem 22 -192-
Problem 23. When Black burrows underneath White's position with 1 and 3, he takes an absolute lead. White's last remaining hope is to build a large centre moyo with 4. Black has to calculate just how much territory he can give White, then play a safety-first reducing move.
Problem 23. Black to play White: Miyamoto Yoshihisa, 1st Tengen title, semifinal, 1976 Probem 24. Not only is the centre beginning to look black after 1 and 5, but Black also has the threat of splitting White with 'a', so the potential scale of Black's moyo is ominous. Where can White strike a decisive blow to nip the moyo in the bud?
Problem 24. White to play Black: Cho Chikun, Top Eight tournament final, Game 2, 1976 -193-
Answer to Problem 23. Wrapping the game up Black 1 strikes at the centre point of White's moyo while also offering some encouragement to the two black stones on the left. If White immobilizes them with 2, Black seeks an escape route with 3. White cuts him off, making a sacrifice to do so, but even so Black is in no danger of being captured after 13 and 17. With his territory, Black is headed for a win. Answer to Problem 23 Answer to Problem 24. Diversionary sacrifice White 1, the'ear', is the vital point of the shape. If Black 'a', White will be satisfied with his reduction and will attach at 'b', expanding his own moyo. Black plays 2, so White repairs his defect with 3, then tickles Black with 5, wresting off three stones. If Black 6 at 7, White attaches at 'c'.
Answer to Problem 24 -194-
Problem 25. Black has just ensconced himself inside White's moyo with 1 to 5. Making two eyes on the edge and fleeing into the centre are miai for him, so White cannot make a severe attack. However, he can utilize the threat of an attack to take action against Black's left-side moyo.
Problem 25. White to play Black: Rin Kaiho, 31st Honinbo league, 1976 Problem 26. Black is staking everything on his moyo. White 6 forestalls Black 'a', but if White continues to defend the right side, the black moyo will become untouchable. This is the time to reduce.
Problem 26. White to play Black: Sakata Eio, 31st Honinbo league, 1976 -195-
Answer to Problem 25. A leaning attack White takes a bite out of the black moyo with 1: his aim is to separate the black stones above and below. Black 2 at 3 is what White wants: he cuts at 2 and aims at the black group above. If White simply played 1 at 2, Black would pull back at 1, eliminating all the bad aji in his moyo. With 2 etc., Black keeps the damage to his moyo down to a minimum. Answer to Problem 25 Answer to Problem 26. Driving in a wedge The core of Black's moyo is at the top, so White drives a wedge into it at 1. If he made a lower move, Black would use his powerful influence at the top to enclose all the centre. The result to 7 makes the game even.
Answer to Problem 26 196-
Problem 27. White 1 is big, but Black 2, expanding the whole centre, is a superb point. Doing anything with the three white stones clinging to Black's wall is, of course, out of the question. The black moyo has such a wide frontage that it's hard to know where to come in.
Problem 27. White to play Black: Ishida Yoshio, 1st Asahi Meijin league, 1976 Problem 28. Black 1 induces White 2, which makes enclosing with 3 natural. White can no longer hope to invade the right side. That in turn means that letting Black solidify the side, even at such an early stage of the game, will not lose points or destroy aji.
Problem 28. White to play. Black: Kudo Norio, 15 th Judan tournament, 1977 -197 -
Answer to Problem 27. Not too close, not too far White 1 feels right. Black decides that closing off the moyo would be a mistake, so he sets out to attack White on a large scale with 2 to 8. However, White strengthens his adjacent group with 9 to 13, confident that Black cannot swallow up his stone.
Answer to Problem 27 Answer to Problem 28. Rhythmical reductions White plays a probe at 1; if 2, he attaches once more at 3, then switches to 5. As he expected, Black chooses a joseki that defends his territory, so White attacks with 9, then continues on the right with 11. His rhythmical series of forcing moves there is working perfectly.
Answer to Problem 28 -198-
Problem 29. Black 1 strengthens the centre: Black wants to use his thickness there to simplify the game. White is relying on his moyo potential on the left; his main weakness is his group at the top right. Black has to take both these factors into consideration in working out his strategy.
Problem 29. Black to play White: Takemiya Masaki, 1st Kisei tournament, 1977 Problem 30. White fell behind in the balance of influence when he played 4. If Black plays 'a' out of concern for his isolated stone, White will get ideal shape with 'b'. Black must ignore the part and take the key point of the whole position. (The correct move for 4 was 'b'.)
Problem 30. Black to play White: Hashimoto Utaro, 1st Kisei title, Game 3, 1977 -199-
Answer to Problem 29. A natural flow When Black attacks directly with 1, the continuation is forced. This natural flow of moves keeps in check White's right-side moyo while building up Black's centre moyo. Since Black would have been outnumbered, an immediate invasion of the left side would not have led to an advantageous result.
Answer to Problem 29 Answer to Problem 30. The overall picture Black 1 reduces the white moyo and expands the black moyo at the bottom: it is the key point overall. Black has the 11—13 tesuji ready for the ensuing fight. When he jumps to 19, the initiative is completely in his hands.
Answer to Problem 30 -200ras-
