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The problem is from "Get Strong at Joseki 1" (Kiseido K52), problem 9.
It was one which caused many problems at West Surrey Go Club and for which we were not totally happy with the published solution. I am still not convinced about all the variations and need to work some more on it. Changes and additional material have been added in November 1999.
White 6 tenukis to play in some other important part of the board. This may of course affect ladders.
This particular sequence does work for white, but is quite involved and it is very easy to go wrong. This is unnecessary when the correct solution works and is much simpler.
As published in K52.
It is apparent that this sequence works, with Black having one fewer liberties than white due to the White's eye. Mostly when Black descends, White connects on the first line on the same side. When Black does some other move, White removes a liberty.
Most of the complications with this resulted from the question "What if Black plays 4' elsewhere?" In particular, what if 4' is played at 5.
Cutting with 5' at 6 here appeared for several years to be the obvious move. However it has problems - compounded by my misunderstanding of the answer to problem 6 in the Joseki problem book. Tim Hunt has pointed out that White 5 in Dia 5 is much more effective.
A Black connection at 6 runs out of liberties as shown here. If Black ataris the two fourth line white stones instead, they escape fairly easily leaving Black in a worse position than before.
This black 6 seems to be a ko. I haven't managed to find a better variation for White yet.
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British Go Association
Last updated 2004-08-10
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