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

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

-vi~

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 44 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 bWhite '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

-12-

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.

-22

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

-26-

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 12 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.

-71 -

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
12 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'.

-80-

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.

-81 -

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 33 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.

-84-

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
33 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 33 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 33 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 33 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 34 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.

-141-

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

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 1113 tesuji ready for
the ensuing fight. When
he jumps to 19, the
initiative is completely
in his hands.

Answer to Problem 30
-200ras-