Three-three point joseki

Three-three point joseki

Generally speaking, the simplest joseki start with a stone on the
three-three point, as in Dia. 1. This used to be considered a poor
play, but that belief has been dispelled in the present century,
when professional players have come to make frequent use of
three-three point joseki.
The virtue of the stone in Dia. 1 is easy to understand: it
denies Black access to the corner. If Black attacks, he will have
to build his position in the center or along one side of the board,
where it is harder to find security.
The drawback of a play on the
three-three point is that, tucked so far back in the corner,
it does not give much help in developing into the center.
The two sections of this chapter will show what happens
when Black approaches the white stone in Dia. 1.



If Black does not get around to playing against White’s
stone, then sooner or later White will want to make a shimari, by
adding a stone at 1 or ‘a’ in Dia. 2. Such a move, reinforcing the
corner, reaching out into the center, and preparing for wide
extensions on both sides, is of great value.


SECTION 1



Black 1 is our first example of a kakari, a move which
approaches an isolated enemy corner stone from the outside. It is
worth quite a lot for White to push back against this particular
kakari with 2, and Black 3 to 5 are the standard continuation.
White makes a modest amount of corner territory, while Black
gets a center-facing position.
This is the basic joseki pattern, but it is often altered to fit
surrounding circumstances. In particular, Black 3, White 4, and
Black 5 are often played differently. We shall examine the
meaning of the moves in the basic joseki, and then look at some
of the variations.

The basic joseki

Dia. 1. White 2 in the basic joseki is a big move, for if White
leaves it out and Black gets a chance to play 3, then although
White can still live in the corner, he will be confined much more
tightly than before; see section 19. White 4 is important for the
same reason.
Dia. 2. If Black omits 3 and White gets to play 4, then Black
1 becomes almost useless. This formation is better for White
than just a shimari would be. Therefore Black 3 in the basic
joseki is another important move.



Dia. 3. Black 5 in the basic joseki is easier to leave out than
the three moves which preceded it, but it does prevent White 1 in
this diagram, a move which prepares both to attack the black
stones and to make territory on the left side.



Dia. 4. After the joseki, Black 1 here is a big move,
preparing to make territory and eye shape on the lower
side, and stopping White from enlarging his corner in
that direction. Sometimes it is best to play 1 instead
of Δ.Dia. 5. To prevent Black 1 in the last diagram,
White often continues the basic joseki by playing 6,
although that gives Black sente.





White 4: variations

Dia. 6. Here is one variation in the basic joseki.
Black 7 prepares to wall off the left side at ‘a’, so
White usually plays 8 at ‘b’, leaving Black to take ‘c’
or some other point.



Dia. 7. Black 1 is especially appropriate when White has
made two extensions like Δ from his corner stone.
After 5, White can attack the stones Black has played, but unless
by some chance he succeeds in actually capturing them, he
cannot get a lot of territory here. Compare his prospects in this
diagram with what they would be if he could make a shimari at
3. Incidentally, this is a situation where Black might play 5 at ‘a’
for a faster get-away into the center. Either way is joseki,
but ...



Dia. 8. Instead of following the basic joseki pattern, in this
situation White might well play 4 and so on to take territory on
the left side. Black can finish the sequence with 13, giving
himself some room for eyes and getting ready to attack White Δ.


Black makes a one-point jump

Dia. 9. By way of introducing some of the other variations in
this joseki, let’s examine this sequence, taken from a
professional game. White attacked Black Δ with 1, and Black 2
and 4 made a nice reply. Against White 5, Black jumped out to 6,
and White wedged in at 7.




Dia. 10. If Black had played 6 here White would
have skipped out to 7, and it would have been hard for
Black to do much of anything with 6 and Δ. He could
not very well attack the white stones in the middle of
the lower side, because they could connect to the left
hand corner at ‘a’.




Dia. 11. In one variation of this joseki, White plays
7 as shown to take territory on the lower side, but in
the present game that would let Black get a big point
at 8 on the right side. Later Black could play ‘a’ or
‘b’ in sente, even if White first played ‘c’, and there
would remain ways, such as Black ‘d’, for him to break
into the lower side.
Dia. 12. But it would not have been good for Black
to play 8 after White 7 here, because then White 9
would have taken a large lower side and left Black Δ
very weak.




Dia. 13. So the actual game continued this way. Next Black
was able to live on the lower side by playing ‘a’ and ‘b’.
Dia. 14. White could have secured the lower side
territory by playing 11 here—the connection between
it and Δ could not be broken—but then Black would
have played 12 and White would have been faced with
the need to make an invasion on the right side. White
13 looks like the best point, since White does not want
to be pushed toward Black’s strong wall in the lower
right, but however he invades, he cannot get the worry-free
position he had in Dia. 13. 11 is a joseki move for
White, but in these circumstances it would have been
an unnecessary addition to his stones on the lower side
and an invitation to trouble on the right.




In conclusion

These sequences can be used not only in the corner, but
whenever a stone anywhere on the third line is attacked with a
shoulder-hitting move like Black 1. Since such shoulder-blows
are one of the common ways of reducing large potential
territories, the patterns of this section turn up frequently in the
opening and early middle game.