shoulder hit
A proponent stone played diagonal to an opponent stone with the threat of pressing down to achieve a wall in compensation for territory conceded. In the first diagram, Black is asked to reduce White's large potential territory. A black stone played at A would be very bad because White would reply at B significantly expanding the white territory. But, given the imposing white thickness, invading at C is exceedingly dangerous and so also out of the question. (White would attack with a reply at D.) The best answer is for Black to play the shoulder hit at D. (A shoulder is a diagonal intersection towards the centre.) The second diagram shows the most likely continuation. Instead of crawling along the third line, white 2 resists by extending towards the centre, but eventually, with white 6 needed to settle the three isolated white stones, Black achieves his objective. |