Episode #3 Expect the unexpected
Welcome back.
In the opening stages of the game, often joseki are being played.
Still you have to think a lot about which josekis you want to play to make your stones work together as much as possible.
It's easy to choose the joseki you know well.
But be careful! Sometimes the joseki you know so well doesn't fit with the overall board position.
In this screencast we would like to show you a simple joseki which most people know
and how this joseki suddenly can become very complicated when there are other stones closeby.
Let's start with the basic joseki first.
In the first episode we showed what can happen when black plays tenuki [here].
And white plays the keima.
However, when white approaches black's stone at the 3-4 point, black can also choose to play the same keima himself.
This is a basic joseki.
Both black and white secure their bases.
Black can now choose to play either [A] or [B].
When black already has a stone around the marked point, he will probably play at [A].
When he doesn't have that stone, he will play at [B].
This finishes the joseki.
Both players have a strong base.
After the joseki black can play [this] pressing move if he wants to play a moyo on the top side.
For example, imagine that black has stones at [A] and [B].
So when there is a possibility of moyo at the top side, white can also play [this] move instead of the wider extension at [A].
This prevents black from playing [B].
When black already has the marked stone in place, if white chooses to play the same joseki..
..black will now have the option of playing somewhere else instead of [A] or [B].
Black can play this severe pincer.
Because of black's thin position, [this] is usually a good move for white.
But because of the marked stone white is not able to cut black.
White tries to seperate black's stones, but black resists.
Instead of this tesuji, bluntly cutting white at [A] is also possible.
White keeps trying, so black has no other option but cutting.
Instead of cutting black, white's own stones have been captured.
The marked stone is in a perfect position to capture the four white stones.
White still has to make a base with his stones on the right side.
Black [A] makes this difficult.
Instead of trying to exploit black's thin position, white can choose to settle himself.
White settles himself, but [A] forces white into a very low position.
This looks promising for black.
When white does not want black to make the pincer in the previous variation, he can choose to [not] attach in the corner.
This is a simple and flexible solution for white.
So next time you play [this] simple basic joseki, expect the unexpected.
Or try this out yourself, to surprise your opponent.
Thanks for watching and see you next time!