Does this shape have a name? I found myself making it 2 or 3 times. It seems pretty strong but I don’t think I recall seeing it in any lists of strong shapes. What are the pros and cons of this vs, say, a table? More vulnerable to attachments?
That’s what I’d call inefficient.
Take away one of the stones, then it is called the big bulge. https://senseis.xmp.net/?BigBulge
Why is it inefficient?
I can just guess what smurph had meant. I suppose the reasoning is similar to an empty triangle, where one of the stones is obsolete. Usually just 3 of the stones would do as much good and the 4th one secures one eye only. Under certain circumstances this can be a good shape. If you are forced to live in a small space, somewhere in a center, this would be a good way to bootstrap a living group.
I highly disagree. It’s a highly useful shape in shinogi that’s widely used by pros.
Name three matches.
Easy. Takemiya Masaki - Kim Su Chang 27/9/1992
Awaji Shuzo - Sakata Eio 15/12/1983
Cho Riyu - Muramatsu Hiroki 8/6/2015
And I only gave you those with the isolated pattern. There are way more with other accompanying surroundings.
Just because you don’t use it in your games doesn’t mean it’s bad.
See “Shape Up!” by Charles Mattews and Seong-Jure Kim, p191. They say they are “robust, influential shape” and “their efficiency depends on the state of fighting”.
Basically meaning if you make this shape with the first 4 moves of the game, you’re an idiot… but if you manage to make this shape in the middle of your opponents only moyo, he probably hates you a lot.