The Taisha Joseki

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The taisha starts here; a White move at 'a' leads to the line with most subvariations.

The taisha joseki (大斜定石) is the Japanese term for the most celebrated of all joseki

Joseki

In Go, are studied sequences of moves in the corner areas of the Go board, for which the result is considered balanced for both black and white sides. Because games typically start with plays in the corners, players often try to use their understanding of joseki to gain local advantages in the...

(standardized sequences) in the game of go

Go (board game)

Go , is an ancient board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,000 years ago...

. It is often described in go literature as having a thousand variations (太斜百変, literally 'hundreds'); this is more than a figure of speech, since many hundreds of subvariations have been documented, in high-level games, books and magazine articles. Taisha means 'large slant'.

History

The taisha was first seriously played at the beginning of the nineteenth century. For several decades, although the complicated variations may have been known and privately studied, they hardly appeared in important games. (Since the taisha formation can also occur when White has a pincer in place, on the top side of the board in the diagram, it would have been studied also in that context.) Then in the 1840s, the complex of variations that develops in one particular line have started to be explored. These depend on external factors (the available ladder tactics

Ladder (Go)

In the game of Go, a is a basic sequence of moves in which an attacker pursues a group in atari in a zig-zag pattern across the board. If there are no intervening stones, the group will hit the edge of the board and be captured....

) and can in some cases lead to difficult ko fight

Ko fight

A fight is a tactical and strategic phase that can arise in the game of go.-Ko threats and ko fights:The existence of ko fights is implied by the rule of ko, a special rule of the game that prevents immediate repetition of position, by a short 'loop' in which a single stone is captured, and...

s and capturing race

Capturing race

In the game of go, a capturing race is a tactical situation created in positions when both players have groups striving to capture each other, in some closely delimited area of the board. Typically it is not possible for each side to create a safe group with two eyes.One common outcome is that one...

s. This joseki then gained the reputation for intricacy that it has retained, though in the latter part of the twentieth century the nadare joseki became its rival on that score.

Current use

The taisha fits less well into contemporary opening strategies than the nadare (see Sensei's Library, below), so is not seen with such frequency. It is still played at the top level, . One leading exponent of strategies around the taisha is Ishida Yoshio.

Strategy

In playing the taisha, Black is stretching out the shape to the limits. In the diagram, a play at b instead of 3 is an ordinary pressing play. One point closer to the edge, at c, and this becomes a one-point pincer, a very forceful play. One point further away, at d, it becomes a two-point high pincer, of a very different and better balanced character. In a sense Black is trying to have the best of all worlds. If White doesn't try to break through Black's large, slanting play, Black usually gets a locally favourable result.

Therefore White's resort to trying to cut across Black is often forced, in effect, by the wish not to submit and play passively. There will then arise (at least) a running fight with groups in the centre striving for position. Taisha strategies on a whole side of the board (the top side, in the diagram) are typically premised on such a fight arising, and the preparation of a reception party further along the side.