Joseki Encyclopedia

Komoku Low Approach Special Plays

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komoku-low-approach-special-plays

Level: beginner/intermediate
Updated: 2026-05-17
Concepts: direction · side base · efficiency · timing
Tags: joseki · komoku · low-approach · special plays · efficiency

Lesson board

Komoku, low approach, situational attach-press.

Lower-left corner

Black plan

A direction-sensitive plan. Use it when the nearby side rewards Black's outside pressure or when White is locally cramped.

White base

The safer finish. White keeps the stones connected and accepts a modest, settled base.

Sequence

setup

Black 1 komoku, White 2 low approach

The komoku corner is lower than the star-point version, so special answers need a clear whole-board direction.

The attach-press can be useful when Black wants to expand along the side or compress White's outside direction. Without that surrounding reason, quieter komoku answers are usually more efficient.

Treat this as a situational tool, not the first response to memorize in an open corner.

Playable branches

Later notes

Future follow-up

Do not turn the later cut into the first main line

A direct cut after the tiger-mouth shape can fail, while a prepared hane-then-cut fight becomes complicated.

Learn the basic settled shape first; treat the cutting fight as a later reading problem.

Comparison

Komoku makes the corner smaller

Patterns copied from the star point lose value here because the low komoku stone already takes away some corner size.

Do not copy star-point special moves without checking the corner value.

Future follow-up

Sharp shoulder-hit fights are optional study

Some direct fighting choices are playable for students who want a battle, but simple strengthening is also acceptable.

If you do not want the fight, strengthen first and keep the corner aji for later.

Mistake map