Reducing Territorial Frameworks - Fujisawa Shuko

8/16/2019 Reducing Territorial Frameworks - Fujisawa Shuko

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REDUCING TERRITORIAL

FRAMEWORKS

Attacking and Defending Moyos

byFujisawa Shuko

Translated byJohn Power

Kiseido Publishing Company

Tokyo, Santa Monica, Amsterdam


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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 theexpansion of his territorial framework (moyo) or reducing its size may

not bring you actual profit locally, but in the overall context it main-

tains 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 counter-

attack 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 re-

ducing 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 con-

text of whole-board planning by examining the strategic choices involved

in deciding between reducing and invading, between surrounding andexpanding territory. The final chapter looks at examples, presented as

pick-the-next-move problems, taken from my games. The most diffi-

cult 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

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like to express my gratitude to the Ishi Press for making an English-

language 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 pre-

sented 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 inreducing 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

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface v

Translator's Preface vi

Glossary of Japanese Terms viii

Chapter One: The Basics of Reducing 1

Reduce or invade? 1

The objectives of reducing moves 2

Where to reduce 16

Priority in reducing 21Making preparations for reducing 23

Conclusion 25

Chapters Two to Four: Reducing Move Josekis

Chapter Two: Reducing the Side 27

1. The Simple Shoulder Hit 28

2. Shoulder Hit Against the Two-Space Extension 35

3. The Capping Move 424. The Knight's Move 65

5. The Large Knight's Move 72

6. The Ear 75

7. The Side Contact Play 78

8. Attaching on Top 88

9. One's Best Guess 93

Chapter Three: Reducing Corner Enclosures 1021. The Small Knight Enclosure 102

2. The One-Space Enclosure 114

3. The Large Knight Enclosure 120

4. The Star-Point Enclosure 124

Chapter Four: Reducing the Chinese-Style Fuseki 129

1. Reducing the Low Chinese-Style Fuseki 129

2. The High Chinese-Style Fuseki 137Chapter 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 simul-taneously

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 motaremiai: points of exchange of approximately equal value — if the op-

ponent 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 shapeshimari: corner enclosure

shinogi: saving an isolated group under attack

tsume: a checking extension, i.e. while extending from one's own posi-

tion, 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 tostart 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 defensivemove 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 thesame.

When the opponent neglects to expand

or defend his territory one takes advan- Dia. 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.

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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 terri-

tory 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 in-

vasion, 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 eras-

ing 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

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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 stones11. 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.

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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 un-

favourable, then makes

shape with the crude but

effective sequence to 12.

Instead of Black 13, at-tacking with Black ´b´-

White 'a'-Black 14 is

probably better.

Dia. 4

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Dia. 5 (limiting a moyo)

Black has moyos in

two places, White just

one, but if White wereable 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 strik-

ing 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 com-

peting 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 build-

ing up Black's centre

thickness. When White

defends at 3, Black con-

tinues at 4, loosely sealing

off the centre. With his

implied threat to attack

the two white stones on

the right side, Black hasturned the centre into a

moyo majestic in scale. Dia. 6

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Dia. 7(probing the opponent's response)

White 1 reduces Black's left-side moyo. White is now interested to

see whether Black an-

swers at 'a' or 'b'. If

Black 'a', a black invasionat the top becomes a

severe threat, so White

would extend to 'c'; if in-

stead Black 'b', then en-

closing 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


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 strength-ened means that the white

stones at the bottom have

been weakened, so White

now does not have time

to spend a move enclos-

ing the right side. This

was the aim of Black's

strategy.

Dia. 8

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Dia. 9 (expanding one's own moyo)

In the local context, White 1 and 3 are

ever, if one surveys the

whole board it becomesclear 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', andWhite would probably

lose out in the territorial

contest.

Now it is Black's turn

to make a reducing move.

simply reducing moves. How-

Dia. 9


Black 1 is so slack that it can be called the losing move. White com-

pletes his moyo with 2;

when Black belatedly in-

vades at 3, White force-

fully 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

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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 rein-

forces Black against the

threat of White 'a' and inaddition aims at cutting

White into two with 'b'

or 'c'. If White answers

by defending at the top,

Black can use 1 as a foot-

hold for launching an in-

vasion on the left side.

His strategy will be to eli-

minate his thinness in the

centre during the course

of the ensuing fight.

Dia. 11


Black 2 threatens to attach at 'a', so White is forced to make anotherdefensive move. Black

then invades with 4 and

6. White judges that jump-

ing 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 him-

self 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 hasstrengthened his scattered

stones in the centre. Dia. 12

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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 answer-

ed '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

which

want.

White has a large se-

cure territory on the left

side, so if Black attacked

Black's moyo,

White does not

Dia. 13

White 1 from above, he

would run the risk of fall-

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 terri-

tory. Black defends at 5instead 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 hopeson his own reducing

move at 7, but he has

been just a little out-

played by White. Dia. 14


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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 start-

ing 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 jump-

ed to 'e'.

Dia. 15


Black switches to 2 once he has forced White to defend at 1. When

White plays 3, Black ex-

tends at 4, taking direct

aim at White's weak point

at 'a'. He succeeds in

turning the centre into a

moyo while White is keptbusy securing the right

side. The depth of the

moyo is impressive. Mak-

ing 30 points in the centre

will be quite enough to

maintain the territorial

balance. After 11, Black

forces with 'b' etc., thenexpands his centre with

Dia. 16 'c'.

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Dia. 17 (taking aim at defects)

White 1 might look vague and purposeless, but actually it is a severe

invasion; it aims at push-ing through at 'a', then

cutting, and also at at-

tacking at 'b'. Moreover,

it provides a foothold for

a deeper invasion. If

White plunged right in at

'c' with 1, he would pro-

bably be able to escapecapture, but while attack-

ing him Black would build

up his outward influence,

which would have a harm-

ful effect on White's

neighbouring positions. Dia. 17


Black first strengthens himself at

would probably be better

for White to treat the bot-

tom lightly and switch to

'a', but even so Black can-

not hope to launch a full-

scale attack unless he firstreinforces 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 whitegroup above.

the bottom with 1. Instead of 2, it

Dia. 18

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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 op-

ponent overextends in a

moyo contest you have

to make a reducing move

to maintain balance in

the scale of the respectivemoyos. The bottom right

is Black's biggest poten-

tial area, so White comes

in at 1.

Dia. 19


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 tar-

get 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


Defending on the side would only help the opponent, so Black counter-

attacks, 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 befavourable 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

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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 terri-

tory, he will go into the

lead; his adjacent groups

are rock-solid and thewhite group on the upper

right is still unsettled, so

Black has no reason to

fear a fight.

Dia. 23


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 to12, 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 samepoint, threatening to at-

tack the black group on

the left, would probably

be sente. Dia. 24

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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 wayto 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 fol-

lowed later, with White

playing a ko threat at 'b',

then capturing the four

black stones there.

Dia. 26

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Where to reduce

As mentioned earlier, reducing manoeuvres are made during the tran-

sition 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 op-

tions 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 maybecome 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, andoverall position. To keep the loss suffered from a reduction to a mini-

mum, 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 mark-ed white stone is not at

'a', White does not ap-

preciably weaken his own

position on

Instead —

the side.

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?

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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 thecentre.

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 direc-

tional bias, so the choice

of these moves would be

determined by the lo-

cation of Black's moyo.White would only attach

at 'd' in special cases, as

that move makes it easy

for Black to counter-

attack. 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

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but to make a reducing

move. The main candi-

dates are White 'a' and

'b'. In most cases, treat-ing 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 terri-

tory. 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

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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 reduc-ing 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 reduc-

ing 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 posi-

tion. 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


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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 linelinking the two marked

stones. However, if a

black answer at 'a' is go-

ing to put White behind

in territory, he has to

take the plunge and in-

vade, attaching at 'b', for

example, rather than re-ducing.

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 markedwhite stone, 'a' will often

be the vital point, seeing

that Black does not have

a tight connection. Simi-

larly -

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

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Dia. 38

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. 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.

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Dia. 40

Dia. 41. White 1 not only limits the size of Black's bottom moyo butalso 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', provok-

ing Black 2 and 4 would

be a minus, as Black could then aim at plung-

ing 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 posi-tions. 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 deter-

mining the suitability of a reducing move is the whole-board position.

- 2 2


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Dia. 42

Dia. 43

Making preparations for reducing

In the basic sequence of fuseki operations, reducing moves are pre-

ceded by checking extensions (tsume, i.e. extensions that check exten-

sions 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 Whitemakes 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 becomea bad move too close to Dia. 44

— 23 —


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a strong enemy position. Furthermore, White 1 has the effect of mak-

ing 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 thesemoves uninviting for Black.

Dia. 45. White 1 aims

at invading at 'a'. If

Black subsequently ex-

pands his position with

2, White either competes

territorially with 'b' orreduces 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'. How-

ever, 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', strength-ening his position there.

- 2 4 -


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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

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 hewill now focus on the

side, reducing at 'e', for

example.

is another well-known probe. If

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 counter-

attacks, or you can play on the outer margin of his moyo to see whetherhe 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.

ConclusionTo 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


31/205

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 op-

ponent's hand by striking at the vital point.The actual patterns involved in reducing manoeuvres are straight-

forward, 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 your-

self 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 consider-

ing a reduction, you must carefully compare it with the alternative in-

vasion, basing your analysis on a hardheaded appraisal of the whole

board.

Footnote: a large life-and-death problem

Plunging headlong into

a deep moyo sometimescreates a large-scale life-

and-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 hisattack 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 care-

fully thinking out the objectives behind it and investigating the follow-

up 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 pat-

terns. The aim of Chapters Two, Three and Four is to present system-

atically these set patterns in the corner, but there is no reason why theycan'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 whole-board 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 proto-

type 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.

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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 at-

tacking the right side, so

he is content to back-

track with 5, which helps

his left-side moyo, or al-

ternatively to jump to-

wards the centre with 'a'

or 'b' . Joseki 1

The subsequent fighting depends on the overall position. Black muststrive 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.

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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 splittingBlack. 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 slid-

ing to 3 is a quasi-joseki.

Black has to weigh the

plus of his augmented in-

fluence against the minus

of White's additional rein-

forcement. 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. Thismove affects the base for

both sides and also re-

duces Black's liberties.

Dia. 2

Dia. 4

- 2 9 -

Dia.3

Dia. 1


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Dia. 5 (Black keeps

pushing)

Black should only

keep pushing up when hecan 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 prob-

ably 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 a t 'a' ,

Black 'b' becomes the

vital point.

Dia. 8

- 3 0 -

Dia.5

Dia. 6

Dia. 7


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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 willignore 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 bot-

tom area. Playing 2 im-

mediately is unreason-

able, but Black must

realize that there are vari-

ous ways that White

could attempt to utilizethis 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'. In-

stead of 3 -

Dia. 12

Dia. 14

- 3 2 -

Dia. 13


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Dia. 15 (sabaki for White)

Black 3 here gives

White good moves at 4

and 6. This hurts Black's

right-side position.

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. 17 (crawling)In most cases, crawling

at 2 is submissive and in-

sipid. Black may connect

underneath with 4, but

he gets a low position and

bad aji. He can no longer

expect to be able toattack White.

Dia. 18 (just territory)

If Black keeps crawling

with 1 and 3, his territory

is unimpressive. Now it

is White who builds thick-

ness.

Dia. 15

Dia. 16

Dia. 18

- 3 3 -

Dia. 17


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Dia. 19 (a natural se-

quence)

Black 3 and 5, which

give the same result as

Dia. 12, are a morenatural sequence. In this

position, White would

probably invade at 6

next.

Dia. 20 (bookish)

White 2 and 'a' make

correct shape for connect-

ing, 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 diffi-

cult for Black to link up.

If Black settles the shape

with 4 and 6, White plays

7; Black can play 'a', buthe gets a thin shape.

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 re-duction.

Dia. 22

- 3 4 -

Dia. 21


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Dia. 23 (keeping White

heavy)

Black attaches at 1 to

stop White from settling

himself lightly. If White

2, we get the same re-sult 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 unavoid-

ably 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 territoryat 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 foot-

hold for attacking the

right side while reducing

the bottom.

Basic Diagram

- 3 5 -


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Joseki 1

Black 2 is the stan-

dard 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 play5 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 proce-

dure 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 thesubsequent fighting.

Dia. 2 (steady)

Black 1, at the 'ear' of

White's shape, is a vital

point: it menaces White's

connection. If White de-

fends at 'a', Black con-tinues with 'b'.

Dia. 2

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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 tocontinue by attacking

with 'a', in the hope of

denying White an oppor-

tunity to

right side.

invade the

Dia. 3

Dia. 4 (the 'ear')The less precipitate at-

tack with 1 .which presses

White to decide his stra-

tegy, is also a strong

move.

Dia. 5 (low position)Solidifying Black's

territory with 1 and 3

takes the pressure off

White. The marked black

stone is now overcon-

centrated.

Dia. 4

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 madeat any time. If Black

omits 3, White 3 makes

White strong. Dia. 6

- 3 7 -


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Dia. 7 (the jump )

If White jumps side-

ways 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 alittle 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 strongmove if Black has a solid

position on the right side.

In this position, counter-

attacking with 5 at 6

would probably be un-

reasonable because of the

marked black stone. After

1 0 -

Dia. 10 (attacking on a

large scale)

The sequence to 16

follows. The marked

black stone is overcon-

centrated, but Black can

look forward to making alarge-scale attack on

White.

- 3 8


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Joseki 2Even 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 lib-

erties; jumping to 'a' in-

stead would be a little Joseki 2slack. 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. 12 (beware the ladder)

The presence of the

marked black stone robs

White 2 of forcefulness.

What is more, Black cancounterattack with 3 and

5 if the ladder favours

him. Dia. 12

- 3 9 -

Dia. 11


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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 isan attempt to encircle

White. This drives the op-

ponent 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 mis-

take. Black 2 and 4 eli-

minate 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 op-

ponent to attack. Leaving

aside positions in whichsuch 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.

- 4 1 -


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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 thanthe shoulder hit. As a rule, it is used against a stone on the third line.

The opponent has vari-

ous ways of answering the

capping move. Here we

shall just look at some

simple positions, restrict-

ing 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 thecentre with 3, which

also aims at attaching

at 'a'.

Dia. 2 (example of an

overplay)

When the marked ex-

change has been made,capping at 1 is unreason-

able. White is in trouble

after Black 2. Dia. 2

Dia. 1

- 4 2 -


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Joseki 1

Black 2, which follows the proverb, 'answer the capping move withthe knight's move', is the standard answer. Black of course has toanalyse the neighbouring positions or the overall position when deciding

whether to play 2 on the right or on the left. The following are someof the criteria influencing his choice:

play on the side where you can take the bigger or the more secureterritory;

play on the side where it would hurt you more to have the opponentdrive 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 attack-

ing White with 'a' or attaking territory with 'b'.White's follow-up is tobreak up Black's territorywith 'c' or to emphasize

the centre with 'd' or 'e'. Joseki 1He could also flee lightly with 'f', postponing his decision about whatto do at the bottom. We shall examine all these options in order.

Dia. 3 (shallow)

If Black has solid neigh-

bouring positions, White

will be satisfied to force

once more with 1 beforedropping 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 groupsto the left and to the right

separated. If the ladder is Dia. 4

unfavourable for White, then Black has the threat of 'a'.

- 4 3 -


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Dia. 5

Dia. 5 (invading)

White 1 is the correct

point at which to invade.

Black 2 is the standardresponse. If White con-

tinues with 3, however,

his group becomes heavy

after Black 4.

Dia..6 (extending sideways)

If White 3, Black 4

spoils White's shape. If White 'a' next, Black

plays 'b'.

Dia. 6

Joseki 2Once 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 sacri-

fice gives him two forcingmoves 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. How-

ever, the result to 11 is ideal for White, so Black might make one of the

various counterattacks available to him along the way.

- 4 4 -


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Dia. 7 (depending on the

ladder)

Black ataris at 1 only

when the ladder is favour-

able. White will havetrouble 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 un-

favourable. Black's bot-tom area is broken up,

but he has the conso-

lation of being able to at-

tack at 7. He could also

fight the ko instead of

connecting at 5.

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 re-

sult in Dia. 8. If Black 3

at 4, White is happy to

extend at 3. Note, how-

ever, that playing 2 at 4

would give Black the op-

tion of connecting at 2.

Dia. 7

Dia, 10

- 4 5 -


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Dia. 11 (the thrust)

Thrusting with 1 can

be a very strong counter.

If White 2, Black im-

proves on his result inDia. 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 alittle 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 un-

manageable.

- 4 6 -


52/205

Dia. 15 (refusing to fol-

low orders)

White plays 2, expect-

ing Dia. 13. If Black cap-

tures 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 favour-

able, Black can make thespectacular counterattack

of 2. A difficult fight will

follow.

Dia. 18 (regardless of the

ladder)

Black can counterat-

tack even when the ladder

is unfavourable, provided

that he ataris at 1 before

extending at 3. White has

to choose between build-

ing a base on the left

with 2 here and making

a counter-atari with 2 at3, in which case he tries

to build a base on the

right. Dia. 18

- 4 7 -


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Dia. 19 (crude)

In most cases, cutting

bluntly with 2 and 4 does

not work well. Whitebuilds 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 with1 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 ig-

nore 1 to attack at 2. If

Black 2 is a good move,

that means that White 1was a bad strategic mis-

take.

- 4 8 -


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Dia. 23 (a rap on the

head)

White 3 is a positive

move which forestallsBlack '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 immedi-

ately is usually an over-

play. When Black counter-

attacks 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.

- 4 9 -


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Dia. 27 (also good for

White)

Making the hane un-

derneath 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 cor-

rect. In this result, themarked exchange has re-

moved 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, Whiteusually 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 connect-

ing at 3 becomes sente.

However, White 4 is thick

and the threat of White

'a' has become more

severe. White 2 at 'b' isout of the question be-

cause of Black 2. If Black

3 at 'b', White plays 'c'.

- 5 0 -


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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 reason-

ably satisfied.

Dia, 32 (staking every-

thing on the centre)

Forcing with 3 stopsBlack 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 3will 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 re-

serve. This is a good

strategy when 3 serves to

expand a centre moyo.

- 5 1 -


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Joseki 3

Black attaches at 2

when he wants to expand

his bottom territory onthis side. He accepts that

White is going to get

centre influence.

White 3 is the standard

answer. Black 4 rein- Joseki 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 Whitecarte 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 posi-

tion, however, White 4 at

'a' feels right.

Dia. 36

- 5 2 -


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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 evalu-

ation of this result de-

pends on the overall

position.

Dia. 38 (protecting terri-

tory)

The exchange of Black

1 for White 2 is also com-

mon. Black 1 at 'a' or 'b'

is also possible.

Dia. 39 (diagonal con-nection)

White 1 works better

in the centre, though it

weakens the threat of

White 'a'. The continu-

ation 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 attack-

ing with White 'a', Black

'b' , White 'c' later.

- 5 3 -


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Dia. 41 (checkingBlack's

expansion)

White extends at 1 if

he wants to stop Black from expanding the bot-

tom 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 side-

ways)The merits of Black 4

are determined by

whether or not White 7

is feasible.

Dia. 44 (what Black

wants)If White has to com-

promise with 1, Black ex-

tends 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.

- 5 4 -


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Dia. 45 (passive)

If Black continues

after Dia. 43 by defend-

ing at 1, White is more

than satisfied. In most

cases, White 2 rather

than 'a' will be the pro-

per reinforcement.

Dia. 46 (strengthening

White)

Black can take terri-

tory 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' remainsa nuisance.

Dia. 47(challenge)

Will cutting immedi-

ately work? When White

counters with 2 and 4,

Black resists with 5 and7. The result to 11 is

satisfactory, providing

the ladder works.

Dia. 48 (centre fight)

If White 2, Black

reduces his liberties byconnecting at 3. Every-

thing will be decided by

the centre fight.

- 5 5 -


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Dia. 49 (avalanche)

Sliding into the bot-

tom 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 be-

cause Black 7 makes his

position cramped.

Dia. 50 (most unreason-

able)Cutting at 1 is un-

reasonable. 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 diffi-cult fight after 2 and 4.

If the fight is unreason-

able for White, an alter-

native is to make shape

with 2 at 3, Black 2,

White 'a'.

Dia. 52 (counters to the

contact play)

White can choose be-

tween '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 witha view to making the

hane at 'c'.

- 5 6 -


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Joseki 4

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

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 alongon top with 'c', or to reinforce his shape with 'd'.

Black 2 is not very aggressive, however, so there is a strong possi-

bility 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 terri-

tory, but White gets cen-

tre 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 Whitemay be able to resort to

force by extending at

'a' with 6. Dia. 54

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Dia. 55 (an overplay)

Cutting at 3 is un-

reasonable even when the

ladder favours Black.

White makes shape with4 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, submissivethough it be, as it miti-

gates 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.

- 5 8 -


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Dia. 59 (good shape)

If White 5, Black de-

scends at 6. The marked

black stone is now muchmore useful in the fight

than one at 'a' would be.

N e x t -

Dia. 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 in-

fluence 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 counter-

attacks with 2 and 4,White has no trouble

making shape up to 11.

- 5 9 -


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Dia. 63 (squashed flat)

If Black answers un-

derneath 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 iscrude; 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 safety-

first move for White.

- 6 0 -


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Dia. 67(counter-cap)

If Black has strong

neighbouring positions,

he may return tit for tat

by capping at 2. In somepositions he might even

have a chance of captur-

ing White.

Dia. 68 (attacking from

the outside)

Black might also ig-nore the bottom in favour

of building strength in

the centre by attacking

with moves like 2.

Dia. 69 (where to defend)

The capping move hitsat the centre of a more-

or-less symmetrical shape,

so the defender is faced

with the problem of de-

ciding which side to

answer on. With the

knight's move we enunci-

ated some principles for Dia. 69the 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 compli-

cation is that one has to take into account the subsidiary aims of thereducing 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.

-6 1 -


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Dia. 70 (taking secure

territory)

Black 2 is the standard

answer. If Black had a

stone at 'a', it would bemore than that: it would

be essential. Invading at

3 the instant Black de-

fends is natural. This is

the result White was hop-

ing for.

Dia. 71 (seizing theinitiative)

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 in-

vades at 3, leaving 'a' and

'b' as miai (those weak-

nesses make the right

side the smaller one).

N e x t -

Dia. 73 (going on theoffensive)

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 developmentfor Black, though terri-

torially the result is just

a little slack.

- 6 2 -


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Dia, 74 (attaching)

Black can also take

sente with 2 and 4, then

defend at 6. However,

the overall picture is notso interesting for Black:

White builds centre thick-

ness and continues at 7.

Dia. 75 (attaching on the

other side)

If Black 2 and 4 on

this side, White shouldextend at 5. If Black

cuts at 'a', White sacri-

fices with White 'b' to

Black 'e', then invades

at 'f'.

Dia. 76 (thrusting up)

If Black 2, then Whitehas to choose which side

he wants to play on. The

left side looks bigger, so

White 3 is correct. White

waits for Black to sur-

round 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 (be-

cause 3 has limited itspotential). Black 6 at 'a'

also looks good.

Dia. 77

- 6 3 -


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Dia. 78 (ideal develop-

ment)

White 1 reduces

Black's moyo and ex-

pands White's. If Black 2,

White immediately in-vades 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 con-tinue his reducing ma-

noeuvre by moving out

with 3, but Black main-

tains territorial balance

by laying waste to White's

territory with 4. In this

example from profes-

sional play, the proverb, Reference Diagram

'answer the capping move with the knight's move', does not apply.

- 6 4 -


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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 in-stantly invades at 3. The

result to 14 is ideal. Next,

White can aim at develop-

ing 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.

- 6 5 -


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Dia. 3 (a joseki for the

overall position)

Since White is aiming

at pressing at 'a', Black

forestalls that by extend-

ing to 2. This permitsWhite 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 stand-point, 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 stan-dard shape move in re-

sponse to the knight's

move. It prevents White

from pressing down on

Black at the same point

while aiming at press-

ing down on White at Joseki

'a'. White can break up the bottom area with 3 and 5, but Black doesn'tmind 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 be-

tween 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.

- 6 6 -


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Dia. 5 (emphasizing the

centre)

If the centre is more

important than the side,

White might prefer toplay 1, even at the cost

of permitting Black 'a'.

If Black dislikes the pros-

pect of White 'b', he can

answer 1 at 'c'.

Dia. 6 (Black counter-

attacks)When White plays 1,

he hopes for Black 'a',

White 'b', but in almost

all cases Black will do

better to counterattack

with

Documents

Reducing Territorial Frameworks - Fujisawa Shuko