 Dia. 1 |
Dia. 1. Lack of fighting spirit Attaching with Black 1 and playing the moves to Black 5 seem to be quite normal. Black has strengthened his stones in the lower right and staked out the territory on the top right, but White has managed to establish a position on the right side. Although no one can say that Black's moves are bad, one thing for sure is that they lack fighting spirit. |
 Dia. 2 |
Dia. 2. Attack the weak stone! Black should regard the marked white stone as weak and attack it with 1. Usually, this would not be a good move because it doubles up with Black's marked stone, but in this case that is not an important consideration. In fact, the momentum that Black gains by attacking with 1 makes it a minor issue. |
 Dia. 3 |
Dia. 3. A large-scale moyo White tries to dodge the problem of his weak stone by jumping into the corner with 2 and living with the joseki to 10. But Black ends in sente, so he can jump to 11, mapping out a large-scale moyo on the right side. With regard to White's position at the top, both his marked stone and the one at 10 are low on the third line, so the potential for territorial development there is limited. |
 Dia. 4. |
Dia. 4. 'Attach to settle your stones.' Since the corner invasion of Dia. 3 didn't turn out so well for White, he might try to settle his weak stone by attaching with 2. This follows the proverb 'Attach to settle your stones.' White hanes with 3 and White cuts with 4. Suddenly the weasel's-belly attachment that was presented in the previous instalment appears. |
 Dia. 5. |
Dia. 5. Black secures the corner. If White turns with 8, Black forces with 9, then secures the corner with 11. White has little to show for his efforts. Before playing at 8, White might atari at 9, then connect at 8, but Black can still secure the right side with 11. |
 Dia. 6. |
Dia. 6. Omitting the tesuji If Black omits the weasel's-belly attachment of Black 7 in Dia. 4 and immediately plays an atari with 7 as here, he gets a bad result and White a good one. White plays a double atari with 8, forcing Black to capture with 9. The latter then ataries above with 10 and Black links up with 11. Next — |
 Dia. 7. |
Dia. 7. White has settled his stones. White captures with 12 and Black connects with 13. White's thickness in the top right is now working well with his marked stone on the left. But more importantly, White has settled his stones. |
|
Recommended reading
The proverb 'Attach to settle your stones' is extensively covered in See also Sabaki — The Art of Settling Stones, which introduces all the techniques used to make sabaki or prevent your opponent from making it.. The book ends with 122 problems taken from positions that arose in professional games. |