I'm going through J. Fairbairn's book and thinking on 5-x openings, and I was trying to see if I understood something.



Move 4 could as easily be made in the other 5-4 in that same corner. My best understanding is that black's answer, 7, would then face the (distant) influence of black's enclosure. In a way, black's man'o'war would place a nice broadside right under the flotation as White's still deploying her guns.

Did I misunderstand that?

Thanks. Take care

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玄 之 玄

The game sequence shows the purpose of the direction White chose for the 5-4: it faces towards the right side reducing the influence of the black top right shimari, so when black entered the corner and they played a normal joseki white ended up extending along the right side. That should be easier to understand than ship metaphors.