Handicap

[Plate 21] (D)

WhiteBlack
1. C 6.2. G 3.
3. J 3.4. C 4.
5. E 6. Instead of entering the corner, White attacks from both sides.6. G 5. Black tries to get out toward the center; this move also prevents White fromplaying at E 3.
7. J 5.8. G 7.
9. F 8.10. H 2.

Black has a good game.

We now come to the “Joseki” where no handicaps are given. In such cases, of course, Black has the first move. The first stone is generally played on an intersection adjacent to the point on which the handicap stone is placed when given. There are, therefore, eight intersections on which the first stone might be played. In the lower left-hand corner, for instance, these would be C 3, C 4, C 5, D 3, D 5, E 3, E 4, E 5. By common consent C 3 has been rejected as disadvantageous for the first player, because the territory obtained thereby is too small. E 5 has been rejected because it allows the adversary to play behind it and take the corner. D 4, or the handicap point, is also not used. The other six points may be divided into duplicate sets of three each, and, therefore, there are only three well-recognized methods of playing the first stone. These are: in the lower left-hand corner, C 4 or D 3, the most usual and conservative, which is called “Komoku,” or the “little ‘Me’ ”; E 4 or D 5 which is [[144]]bolder, called “Takamoku,” or the “high ‘Me’ ”; and E 3 or C 5 which is not so much used as either of the others, called “Moku hadzushi,” or the “detached ‘Me.’ ” We shall give about an equal number of examples of each of these methods of opening the game, commencing, as is customary in the Japanese works, with “Takamoku.”

[[Contents]]

I

No Handicap

[Plate 22] (D)

BlackWhite
1. D 5. “Takamoku.” This is the most aggressive of the three methods of opening.2. D 3. This is White’s best answer. E 3 is also good. C 3 is bad.
3. C 3. Black plays to get territory on the left; he attacks from inside.4. C 2. Best; if he attempts to cut off at C 4 he gets a bad game.
5. C 4. Black extends.6. E 2. Necessary to secure the connection at D 2.
7. C 9. Black takes territory on left side.8. G 4. White takes space to the right.