At first sight, the additional seki of the -group with the upper part of the -group only slows down the semeai with the big Black group at top right. However, the real purpose of this seki lies deeper.

In the classic hanezeki the - / -stones are only one group. The seki splits it into two, and works as a "buffer", weakening the connection between the fates of the upper, and lower, parts. Only by this means is it possible to adjust the score, and to give the problem two, nearly equivalent, main variations - the semeai, and the Capture Variation.

In the Semeai Variation ( 791), White captures Black's -group, finally, and Black gets White's -group on the left edge, which is of slightly less value.
In the lower right, White's -group dies, while her -group lives.

In the Capture-Variation ( 757), White captures Black's -group. In return, Black also gets the upper part of the -group, which is of slightly less value.

The additional seki is also essential for making the Punishment Semeai work.