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This week ended very quickly and now it’s time for the 2nd Whiteboard Sunday. After the first edition a few peope wrote that they like the joseki explanation. I decided to continue this topic and today I want show another follow-up to the last joseki.

Diagram 1 — Extra stones

This week I’ll discuss a tricky little follow-up. The main topic for this post is Diagram 1. I added some black stones to the situation from last Whiteboard Sunday. The question is: “Can black find a better follow-up that uses these extra stones?”

Diagram 2 — Tesuji

The answer is black 1. This tesuji gives black a local advantage. Of course, you can only use it if you have the extra stone at R9. Let’s check a few possible white answers to this tesuji.

Diagram 3 — block from the outside

The most natural answer is to seal in black and block from the outside. Unfortunately, this is wrong. Black can steal the whole white territory and connect with his stone at R9.

Diagram 4 — block from the inside

Defending from inside looks solid, but black has another great move – the crosscut tesuji. After black 2 from Diagram 4, white can play atari from either of two sides. Which to choose? Let’s start with white 3 from Diagram 4. This gives white a very strong shape (ponnuki – shape after capturing one stone), but black gains a big territorial profit. This looks too good for black.

Diagram 5 — atari from the second side

An atari from other the side is also not so great. Black again takes solid profit. This variation is very painful for white, because black has a nice follow-up at Q14 which will seal white inside and build a powerful black wall. Before we lose all hope, let’s back up a few moves and search for the mistake we made.

Diagram 6 — White counterattack

Instead of capturing a stone with white 3 on Diagram 5, white can play a counter atari. This tesuji leads to a ko, and the fight looks even. Unfortunately, black can extend on the second line and connect to his R9 stone. This is why black needs the stone at R9 to play the tesuji in Diagram 2.

Diagram 7 — Answer

The proper move is white 1 in Diagram 7. This is an awesome tesuji which connects all the stones. Of course, black can build some thickness, but the final outcome looks even.

Diagram 8 – Black’s greed

If black becomes too greedy and tries to cut the white stones, he will incur a big loss. A and B are miai points for connecting the white stones.

Diagram 9 — Joseki

The best that both sides can do is Diagram 9. White secures territory and black gets some nice forcing moves to build a small wall. The result is acceptable for both sides.

Diagram 10 — Black to move

This time I’ll leave you with a very famous life&death problem, which happens very often in real games. White wants to live inside, but it’s black’s move. Can you kill the white group unconditionally?

I have decided to cover the shape from this post (and the previous post) for a few more weekends, so if you want to master this joseki stay tuned!

Related posts:

1. Whiteboard Sunday – First Joseki #5
2. Whiteboard Sunday – First Joseki
3. Whiteboard Sunday – First Joseki #3

Tomasz Slazok

Haengma founder. Baduk Teacher. 2-dan EGF.