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Connections and shapes · Lesson 12

Attachment, hane, block and push: what is happening in a fight?

Playing directly against an opponent’s stone is an attachment. Bending around its head is a hane; stopping its extension is a block; advancing toward a gap between opposing stones is a push through.

These names describe contact, not who profits. Black bends beside White, limiting one side, but must still watch the connection between its diagonally adjacent stones.

A straddle often threatens to cut a knight’s move; a clamp pinches an opponent from both sides; a wedge presses into a gap. When your child uses these names, first look at which route they want to block and which groups they want to separate. Memorizing every label can wait.

Stones in contact

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Black D4 and White E4 touch directly, beginning contact.

Black bends around

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Black E5 bends around White E4: a hane. D4 and E5 are still diagonal neighbors, not directly connected.

Original lessons by Yiban ·