In the game of
Go (
Wei Qi/
Badouk), the word
fuseki refers to the first few moves of the game, similar to
openings in
chess. Not many openings have specific names, but a few do.
The Manchurian fuseki is similar to the Chinese fuseki in that it aims to build a moyo (large-scale territorial framework) down one side of the goban (board). In fact, it differs from the high Chinese fuseki only by one stone being one line different. Of course, in Go, one line can make all the difference.
The Manchurian fuseki is formed by the three black (X) stones shown below (the white stones are in san-ren-sei formation, very standard for White).
a b c d e f g h j k l m n o p q r s t
19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
16 . . . O . . . . . + . . . . . + . . . 16
15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . 15
14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
10 . . . O . . . . . + . . . . . + . . . 10
09 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . 09
08 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08
07 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 07
06 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06
05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d c . . 05
04 . . . O . . . . . a . . . . . + . . . 04
03 . . . . . . . . . b . . . . . X . . . 03
02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02
01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01
a b c d e f g h j k l m n o p q r s t
The + signs are hoshi points. For those who don't play Go: ignore them. They're for reference only.
Notice the placement of the top right stone, at the 5-4 point instead of on the hoshi at Q15. It is this that distinguishes this fuseki from the Chinese fuseki.
Like the Chinese fuseki, this fuseki aims at building a moyo down the side of the board (the right side, in this diagram). The eventual goal is to force the opponent to invade the framework at "c" or "d", and attack the invading stones strongly to build territory in the top right and bottom sides of the board. Consequently, a stone around "a" is very useful, and White will often play "b" as soon as possible in order to prevent this.
Since the difference between this fuseki and the Chinese fuseki is the top right stone, let's discuss that. 5-4 is a somewhat common opening move, although far less so than 4-4 or 3-4. Unlike those moves, where an immediate corner invasion is inadviseable, the idea of 5-4 is to provoke an immediate invasion (generally at the 3-4 point, although 3-3 is also playable) by the opponent, during the course of which the defender will build outside thickness and influence. This works very well in this fuseki, since the wall will be facing the planned moyo, greatly increasing its potential value while making invasion more risky. Shown here is one possible sequence:
a b c d e f g h j k l m n o p q r s t
19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . 18
17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . 17
16 . . . O . . . . . + . . . 2 . + 5 . . 16
15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X 3 . . 15
14 . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . a 4 6 . 14
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b . . . 13
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
10 . . . O . . . . . + . . . . . + . . . 10
09 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . 09
08 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08
07 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 07
06 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06
05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05
04 . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . + . . . 04
03 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . 03
02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02
01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01
a b c d e f g h j k l m n o p q r s t
When White invades the corner with 1, Black
presses at 2. White attaches at 3, and the Black
hane at 4 is inevitable. White pulls back at 5, and Black descends at 6 (although defending the cut at "a" is also playable). White slides to 7 and Black 8 is the vital point for
shape, according to
Rui Naiwei in her book
Essential Joseki. Black now need not fear the cut at "a," because Black will simply play
atari at "b" and is strong enough locally that the
cutting stones will have a hard time living. The numbers make it hard to see the position clearly, so here's the final position:
a b c d e f g h j k l m n o p q r s t
19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . 18
17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . 17
16 . . . O . . . . . + . . . X . + O . . 16
15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X O . . 15
14 . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . X X . 14
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
10 . . . O . . . . . + . . . . . + . . . 10
09 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . 09
08 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08
07 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 07
06 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06
05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05
04 . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . + . . . 04
03 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . 03
02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02
01 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01
a b c d e f g h j k l m n o p q r s t
It's clear now that the Q9 stone is in a great position to make use of the
influence generated by the top right sequence. The area between Q9 and the Black top right structure is almost guaranteed to produce a fairly large amount of profit, while White's corner is not all that big, especially considering the Black descent at 6, leaving White with an
open skirt.
Because the choice of a 5-4 point opening almost forces White to invade early on and let Black build a wall facing his moyo, I consider this opening superior to the Chinese fuseki, although it is far less often played. I think the reason Chinese is played more often is that most amateurs aren't aware of this choice, and are wary of 5-4 openings in general, since conventional wisdom is to go for corner territory first, and 5-4 allows the opponent to take the corner quite easily.
One possible problem that can arise with this fuseki is if the 5-4 stone is played first, the opponent may choose to play in the bottom right, preventing the Manchurian fuseki and thus making it harder to make good use of the 5-4 stone. To get around this, I've taken to playing the 3-4 stone first and, if my opponent chooses to play in the corner where I wanted the 5-4 stone, to forget about the Manchurian fuseki and convert to an asymmetric komoku fuseki instead.