4-4 pincer variant - not in joseki dictionary

Question

I am 4K and played against 2K in handicap game (2-stones).

The point of B3 was to prevent a double-wing shape for white (along the right and bottom)

So W4 pincer leads us into this joseki variant. Josekipedia suggests alternatives.

$$ ----------------
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . 4 . 8 6 . . |
$$ . 9 . . 1 7 . . |
$$ . . . 5 . . . . |
$$ . . . . . 2 . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . 3 . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ 

Josekipedia suggests playing this way:

$$Wm10
$$ ----------------
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . 1 O . O O . . |
$$ 2 X . . X X . . |
$$ . . . X . . . . |
$$ . . . . . O . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . X . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ 

Instead we played where I lost a large corner altogether with unstable shape outside.

$$Wm10
$$ ----------------
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . O 9 O O . . |
$$ . X 8 3 X X 1 . |
$$ . . . X 6 5 4 . |
$$ . . . . . O 7 . |
$$ . . . . 2 . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . X . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ 

For unrelated reasons, I won the game (SGF) against this 2K.

Was the pincer at 3 and kosumi at 5 the right choice? How could I have prevented the loss of the corner?

Answer 1

It is difficult to tell if the pincer at 3 was the right choice. Generally, such a wide pincer is good if you plan on a moyo on the right side. I'm assuming that W1 was in the upper left and B2 a hoshi in the lower right, as in this:

$$Wcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . 1 . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 4 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . 2 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

On this board, B4 looks like a reasonable pincer. Typically, you'd expect something like this:

$$Bcm1
$$ ---------------------------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . 4 2 8 . |
$$ | . . . O . . . . . , . . . . 5 X 3 6 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 7 . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . . . . 1 . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . X . . . . . , . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------------------------

Now the black right side has nice potential to grow big.

In the game, white chose the counter pincer instead, which is a good move (especially in handicap games). Your choice of the kosumi B5 was good, as it simplifies the game and leaves white less chances to start a complicated fight than other options (most notable the tsuke on top of W2.

White deviation from joseki was a mistake. Let's study why. First, one correct variation:

$$Wm1
$$ ----------------
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . O 3 O O 7 . |
$$ . X 2 1 X X 5 . |
$$ . . . X 4 a 6 . |
$$ . . . . . O . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . X . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |

Here, white first plays W1 to force black to play an empty triangle at 4. Next, white hanes at 5, and after W7, black would need to play at a to fix the shape. But that would leave black with a pretty heavy shape (too many stones used). This heavy shape is a direct result of the kosumi B5 in the original diagram, which often leads to shape troubles. This is still acceptable in handicap games, though.

Let's compare this with the game:

$$Wm1
$$ ----------------
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . O . O O 3 . |
$$ . X . a X X 1 . |
$$ . . . X . 4 2 . |
$$ . . . . . O . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . X . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . |

In this variation black does hane at 2, followed by W3 and connect at 4. Note that white a does not threaten a cut anymore, because black already fixed at 4. Thus, black is less heavy, and the variation is a little bit worse for white than joseki.

Answer 2

When White hanes at 10, you need to play 11 at 13, then connect after he does. You cannot answer a contact move with a non-contact move in this situation (and most others).

Answer 3

You didn't lose the corner, you exchanged it for a position on the right side. That's how pincers work, so nothing wrong here. The high pincer combined with your move at 11 looks right here as it prevents a white moyo.

The sequence might not be optimal (see josekipedia/eidogo for the many variations), but the end result looks ok. Capturing at 13 is quite big for white, but its downside is that it gives black the initiative. You could have played 13 before 11, but then it would have given white the opportunity to play 14 somewhere else.