Dominique vs. David Part 1: A Kakari
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As expected, Dominique (white) took one of the remaining corner hoshis. I took the last one.
With move 3, white then played a kakari (approach) against my stone in the topright corner. The question is: how should I respond to this? Points a through h in the diagram below show many of the common responses to this move.
a through e are what are called pincer attacks, assaulting the enemy's stone from the opposing side. White would really like to play an extension at b or c, to build a base against the edge of the board which can be used for making territory, as well as making the eyes necessary for life. The purpose of a pincer attack is to deprive your enemy's stones of such an extension. Now, this does not mean that a pincer attack is an attempt to kill. It is very hard to kill groups of stones in go, and though it does happen, even in professional games, it usually happens because a player decided that it is too expensive to make a group survive, not because they were incapable of doing so. A pincer attack, therefore, is an attempt to increase the cost of survival for your opponent, as well as to limit its territorial potential along the edge.Of the available pincer attacks, a and b are somewhat calm, whereas something like d or e are quite severe, and immediately start a serious fight, and c is perhaps somewhere in the middle. If black is going to play a pincer here, he must temper his aggressiveness with knowledge of the marked white stone below, which may have an influence on a fight on the right edge of the board, so he should play one of the calmer moves.
Alternatively, black can play a simple extension at f or g. These are the most common responses to the kakari white has played. f, an ikken tobi (one space jump) extension on the fourth line, emphasizes influence and power over the rest of the board, whereas g, a keima (knight's move, as in chess) extension on the third line, emphasizes building territory along the top edge.
A move like h is best reserved for when black has supporting stones in the area. It is the most severe attack on white. White will almost invariably respond with a simple extension one point to the left of 3, and then black must follow up with an extension at f or g, to stabilize his group. If he does not, white can play a very severe attack on black one point to the left of his hoshi stone. While black will survive in the corner, his group will be shut in from the rest of the board, and white will gain power which can be used in subsequent battles. After black stabilizes his group with f or g, white can now play a longer extension than before, thanks to the additional stone black invited him to play to the left of 3. As such, this is a better result for white than he deserved, unless there was already a black pincer stone at, say a (preventing such a long extension by white), or a black stone near f or g, which would make stabilizing the black group less urgent.
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