Daigo, episode 1

A monthly column by Pieter Mioch featuring a thorough game commentary

tastefully seasoned with go-related stories and clues to the meaning of
life.
About the Title: DAIGO (or TAIGO) can be translated as "enlightenment".
I adopted it, however, because of the proverb, "Taigi wa Taigo no Motoi"
which, in English, reads, "Great Doubt is the Beginning of Great
Enlightenment." By the way, I'm not allergic to it or anything but this
word, enlightenment, often gives me goose bumps, I don't know why. So,
lets simplify the proverb to, "If you never question anything, you won't
get very far."
Introduction
When writing "Gentle Joseki", I often felt I was running down a summery
field full of breathtaking butterflies of all shapes and sizes. Blundering
through knee-high grass, tightly holding my net with both hands, I was
trying to catch as many of the winged creatures as possible. After every
attempt I would find out that I only caught some lesser species, although
these had nice colors too.
At times I caught a satisfying quantity, but was unable to describe them in
proper language; at other times, I only caught one or two, but I could
explain them better, even if I did worry about boring the reader.
Whether or not I caught all this go-wisdom fluttering and flying around my
head, I would always, eventually, end up alone again; between truckloads
of weeds and just a few flowers. The thing to do was to search the horizon
for a "butterfly nest" and kick it a bit to see if any new butterflies would
emerge.
In "DaiGo", I will not desperately hunt anything. Neither will I do a lot of
running around. The game analyses will deal with virtually *every* move
played and the going will be slow. If people start complaining I might want
to reconsider this, but, for now, I'll set off at a pace of something between
10 and 30 moves per DAIGO episode.
Pro Talk
The other day I was hanging around and killing time with Shimojima and
Miyagawa, both 6 dan pros. If there's one thing you should brush up on to
prepare your self for a trip to Japan it is this "hanging around". Everyone I
have ever met here is very good at it, and the go insei and professionals
are no exception. Actually, I think they're exceptionally good at chewing
the fat (what a remarkable expression) while waiting for something to
happen. If nothing happens then eventually someone will be forced to
leave to give go lessons somewhere; this can take anywhere from 10
minutes to 3 hours or more. Anyway, listening to the conversation it

seemed that Yumi Hotta (who by now can buy a house with the royalties
for her successful manga creation "Hikaru no Go") had called Shimojima
and asked, bluntly, "How many games can a professional simultaneously
rig so black wins every game by exactly one point?"
Shimojima, six years the younger, was asking Miyagawa (29) politely for
his opinion. "How about it, Sensei? I had no idea what to tell Mrs. Hotta
and I promised to call her back." Miyagawa: "It's an impossible question,
good luck with it."
"But I have to tell Mrs. Hotta something, don't I?"
Miyagawa: "Look, the problem is that you only can rig a game so closely if
the amateur(s) in question play reasonably well. It is unbelievable if you
seriously start calculating how many points some people just throw away
in the endgame. There's no way on earth, short from filling in your own
territory and other less subtle methods, that you can precisely determine
the outcome when playing against the wrong person. If you really want to,
you can tell Mrs. Hotta that 3-4 games must be doable, but I for one
would never bet my life on it, not if it has to look real."
"Yeah, that makes sense, I guess the 3-4 game number was probably
what she was hoping for. I'll just tell her that."
Now, don't get me wrong. At no moment was either Shimojima or
Miyagawa speaking with contempt for weaker players. This is just a good
example showing that many amateurs, Mrs. Hotta included, think that
professional players are a step closer to god and that they pretty much
know everything about anything. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Aside from extraordinary fighting skills, a lot of pros often have no clue
about the whys and hows; they just don't show it. After all, that's what
they get paid for. By the way, I'm not talking about the world's top ten
players, of course.
On another, later occasion, when I was hanging around again, keeping
Miyagawa company, we came to talk about talent. Miyagawa surprised me
big time and turned out to be a self-made philosopher. "Talent" he
said, "the only talent I believe in is the ability to persevere in one's
studies."
The Game
An e-mail match played over a 4 month period between an up-and-coming
European 5-dan and myself.
The diagrams below are printed in two colors, one for the actual game and
one for the explanatory diagrams and side-tracks, as follows:

Game
Perfect Harmony

Diagrams

There it is again, an
empty board, isn't it
beautiful? Unfortunately
you are going to have to
intrude on this perfect
harmony. It's your move
and whether you look at
Go as a contest between
two people, between two
minds, a fascinating way
of sharpening your mind,
or a cool way to have
fun, you have to get
started eventually.
Game Diagram 0
Right now, I will give you the most important and useful piece of advice
for dealing with the opening stage of the game. Once you know this you
might as well skip the analyses and move on to the middle game. You
would miss out on a lot of stuff but I mean it when I say that this
sentence below is the essence of fuseki:
At your first move(s), please, and by all means, do not have a
plan.
Keep loose, be relaxed and play any move you like, a move you like.
Trying moves you saw stronger players make is good. Going your own
way and playing whatever you feel like is better. Combining the two is
best. Try to remember a bit about what happened and use that
information in your next game.
"But I want to try this or that opening," you say. "But I want to try this
wonderful trick joseki," you say. Well, great, way to go, but aren't you
forgetting that this game is played with two people? If you get a chance
to do everything you planned before touching the first stone, go ahead,
but never, ever, try to force your ideas on your opponent, regardless of
what they are doing. A plan is the worst thing possible, it kills the openmindedness that is the most powerful and most essential thing you need
to counter and adapt to your opponent's every move.
So, right from the start with your first move, you're going to play what
you like, because you want to see the look on your opponent's face when
you play at the 6-6 point, or because you just feel down and want to play
at the 3-3 point.
You've just learned how to double your appreciation of a game of go and,
if you can implement the above, I'm sure you'll be playing two stones

stronger within a week. Are there any rules about where black
should play his first move?
Upper Right

It's not a strict rule but,

most of the time, you will
see people, pros and
amateurs alike, play their
first move in the upper
right corner. Playing one
of the squared marked
points is considered good
manners, but nobody will
probably say anything if
you flout it. The leading
Japanese pro Yoda did
this once in a match
game, however, and the
newspapers were
stunned.
Diagram 2
There are many more useful things to think about, concerning your first
move (don't think of naked fantasy objects, don't just throw your stone
anywhere on the board); but it's time to show you the first move of the
game, of my game.
I hate writing, "I did this because..." or "My opponent did not realize
that...", so, if you don't mind I will just discuss the game in the black
player - white player format. This game started at 9:36:30 o'clock, on
May 4, 1999. The average playing speed was about one move per day.
The First Move

Black's first move was at

the 4-4 point, also called
"hoshi". These days, I
have the distinct feeling
that the perfect first
move for black is not
somewhere on the third
line, but not on the forth
line either. Although it
makes the game difficult
right from the start, for
the person who tries it, I
think that the ideal first
move is closer to the
middle of the board than
commonly thought. A
play on the fifth or even
sixth line might come in
extremely handy when
doing some whole board
fighting. Almost nobody
plays moves at such high
altitudes because if
there's no fighting at all,
the lower a stone is (3rd
or 4th line), the more
efficiently it can be put to
use to secure territory. A
play on the sixth line
might as well not be
there at all, strictly
speaking, in terms of the
likelihood of a move
making territory.
Game Diagram 1
Now, what should white be thinking to play his first move of the game?
Are there many things to consider before deciding to play in corner A, B or
C?
The person who manages to ponder over whether to take corner A or C
will almost certainly not be able to finish a game of go in less than two
hours. Which is not to say that, if it were my turn, I would actually
seriously think about A or C. My winning percentage of recent games in
which I played either move deserves brief consideration.
There are books and theories about the second move of the game being
the losing move, but frankly I don't buy it. The beautiful thing about the
opening or fuseki stage of go is that no living being knows exactly what

and how it works. This explains why there are tons of best-selling books
written by professional players about the opening; they are often different
but all claim to be correct. Well, as long as the book is actually written by
a pro, of course, they are telling the truth, or at least a part of it. The bad
thing about the truth, though, is that there is so much of it! Most books I
glance through (they have a huge and up-to-date go book collection at
the new library here) dealing with fuseki eventually end up showing rather
down to earth joseki to demonstrate that this or that is good or bad. It
seems that the author, pros to be sure, are extremely reluctant to go out
on a limb and seriously discuss far-out strategies. Even the latest Korean
books are dealing with new patterns of standard opening/joseki moves.
Don't Worry

As long as I don't see

any books telling why
white 2 is a bad move
and also provide
irrefutable proof that the
white 2 - black 3
exchange is bad for
white, I will certainly not
believe that white should
worry about their first
move being a a "losing"
move. I do advise you,
however, to stay off the
first line.
Diagram 3
Having said all this, there are, of course, things you might want to
consider before playing white 2.
a Matter of Choice

When white chooses to

play at 2 as shown here,
one likely possibility, at
some point in the
opening, could be the
joseki up to 9. This gives
white territory and black
gets a nice moyo-like
(potential territory
framework) formation. In
other words, if you don't
like a game where sure
territory fights against a
moyo, then white 2 (and
the joseki up to 8) is
perhaps an unfortunate
choice, though never a
losing choice.
Diagram 4
Is pincering a good strategy to thwart black's moyo?
No Black Moyo?

The pincer of white 2

seems to let go of the
idea of making territory
and instead tries to
prevent black from
making anything like a
framework. After black 7,
however, black's marked
stone is in a nice
position.
Diagram 4a
Moyo versus Territory

This is exactly the same

position as dia 4a. The
only difference is that I
took away a white stone
and a black stone. Can
you see that white is the
one going for the low,
solid territory and that
black is busy making a
moyo? Funny, isn't it,
how you can sometimes
be positive that you're
doing something else,
preventing a certain
situation from occurring,
but after the smoke has
cleared it turns out the
opposite!
Diagram 4b
By the way, white's reduction of this moyo by playing A, and black's
counter at B, is definitely not the first thing that comes to mind, and I
can't imagine white being happy with it.
Letting Go of the Corner

On the other hand, if

white plays at the 5-3
point as in dia 5 (or at
the 5-4 point) it is much
more likely that the right
side of the board will
become white's sphere of
influence. I'm not saying
that things will definitely
develop as in dia 5.
Entering the corner with
black 3, however, is a
very natural move, which
easily sets in motion a
sequence leading to dia 5
or something similar.
Diagram 5

Diagonal Opening
White 2 at hoshi in the
upper left corner leaves
black the opportunity to
play a diagonal opening,
thus reducing the
likelihood that this will
become a game of big
moyos, each player
claiming half the board.
Note that after black 3,
neither player has made
any sure territory yet;
they prefer to develop
their stones quickly,
playing high at 4-4
instead of playing low
and tight. Usually in a
game like this the points
exactly in between the
corner hoshi (side
hoshi?) are extremely
valuable.
Game Diagram 2
Black is doing O.K.

Something tells me that dias 6 and 6a are both better for black; it feels
as if black 6 is worth more than the standard komi (compensation for
the first move of 5.5 points). This kind of opening pattern always
reminds me of the New Fuseki period of the 1930s and the original

Chinese way of playing, in which the first 4 moves or so were always

the same, the diagonal hoshi, as decided by the rules.
Diagram 6 & 6a
Some while ago, I read that Bobby Fischer, the Lee Chang Ho of chess of
the 1970s, suggested alternative chess rules in which the opening
situation of every game is different and decided at random. Perhaps in the
future go will also be played like this, although it seems hard to believe
now. It would, however, force players to get away from their favorite
patterns, an idea that seems to have some merit, and one that might
stimulate players to think more than they have up until now.
To get back at the game, white has one empty corner left to occupy, and
there does not seem to be any particularly good or bad move. As white
you now have the option of choosing between being approached (which
black certainly will do if white plays at the 4-3 point), or approaching (if
white plays at the 5-3 or 5-4 point, black will usually enter the corner,
getting the same result as if black played in the corner first, white played
an approach move, and black ignored him and played elsewhere).
White can, of course, play at the 4-4 or 3-3 point in the remaining corner,
which tends to lead to (locally) shorter and perhaps simpler ways of
playing.
Mind you, a move at the 4-4 point can lead to very complicated fighting
and is by no means an "easy" move. The relatively easy move is the 3-3
point.
Aquarium Ornament?
After white 1 at 3-3,
black 2 is one of the first
moves that comes to
mind. This keeps white
low and builds
"something" towards the
center. After white 7,
black A is often seen.
Playing elsewhere, for
example at B, is also
possible. Black C is an
overplay; black cannot
expect white to just
crawl along the second
line. Black C will lead to
a fight because white will
push through and cut
without second thoughts.
If you don't show your
opponent that you have
fangs, from time to time,

he'll be walking all over

you in no time and use
your head as an
ornament to put in his
aquarium.
Diagram 7
Approaching is Natural

White played at ko-moku

with his second move;
black's next move can be
expected at A, B, C or D.
If black approaches at A,
something like dia 4
might entail. After a
black approach move at
B, white can extend
along the bottom,
although this feels a bit
old-fashioned.
Alternatively, he can play
a pincer at the right side.
Game Diagram 3
A Game from 1982-05-13

Black: Sato Masaharu,

7p
White: Ishida Akira, 8p
Result: B+Resign
A fuseki (opening) as
common as they come.
Any person who has
been playing for a couple
of months could get this
on the board. After black
13 the "traditional"
moves are A, B and C,
while D and E are more
modern and extremely
popular nowadays.
Diagram 8
Cho and Kobayashi
Date: 1992-05-27,28
Event: 47th Honinbo title
Black: Cho Chikun
White: Kobayashi Koichi
Result: W+Resign
Here, black 9 is very nice
with the back up of the
black hoshi in the upper
left corner. Instead of
making a moyo (not
something Cho is famous
for) with a black followup move at C or D, black
chooses to get out his
old, spiked glove and
slap it in white's face as
a challenge. For white,
going along with black
and playing at A is not
bad. During the match,
however, it seems likely
that the tense
atmosphere in the
playing room would have

spoken for itself. The

almost-palpable feeling
coming from the
contestants that says,
"I'm not going to give
you an inch if I can help
it. I'm going to be at
your throat at every
chance, and you had
better be ready." White
pushed through and cut,
and difficult fighting
followed.
Diagram 9
It would be nice if somebody could check if any game records survive of
games between these two Japanese go giants when they both were "only"
students at the school of master Kitani. Cho and Kobayashi have met each
other in so many different arenas and have played so many extremely
intense matches that I guess they must feel part of each other by now.
A Distant Approach Move

Black 1 here is more or

less in the same spirit as
a move at A. With either
move, it is less attractive
for white to play a pincer
since the black approach
move is at close to the
white corner stone. Any
pincer white might play
would not have a great
impact on black.
Diagram 10
An Unexpected Turn

Black 5 was a move

nobody expected, and
it's not seen often. I
think black is more
concerned with trying
something different than
anything else. Black will
have a hard time making
the tengen stone come
out nicely and this can
be expected to become
the focus of the game.
White 6 is only natural,
not hurried, and playing
a tight game, waiting to
see what black is going
to do.
Game Diagram 4
One thing you should realize when talking about tengen is that this play is
not about trying to make territory in the middle of the board. This can
easily be seen below:
Wasted Move

You won't see this kind

of shape in your own
games very often. But,
now that you have it in
front of you, it is obvious
that a black play on the
triangle spot would be a
wasted move. It is not
necessary to defend this
territory. If you really
want to do something in
the middle, a move at
the 14-9 point looks
better.
Diagram 11

This is not to say that black cannot put his tengen stone to good use when
making a large territorial framework, a moyo. Takemiya's games of the
80s are a very good example of how to make huge side/center oriented
territory. I still, however, would like you to only think about the possible
territory one can make with a tengen stone as an afterthought and not a
prime directive.
Go Seigen Game
Date: 1962-06-27,28
Black: Hashimoto Utaro
White: Go Seigen
Result: W+7 pnt.
This is the right spirit.
Black played his first
move at tengen and is
threatening to make over
a third of the board his.
White has often little
choice when this occurs,
and, as can be seen in
the game example, white
invaded black's sphere of
influence. The only thing
black needs to be careful
about is that the weak
white stones don't easily
link up or make eyes.
Ideally speaking, the
only thing left for white
would be to jump out
and try to escape or
make eyes in the center
of the board, and voila,
there is black's tengen
stone exactly at the right
spot!
Diagram 12
Well, white wasn't born yesterday and he (being Go Seigen), of course,
had read out this whole scenario; he probably invented it himself. After
black 6, white played A, black B and white cut at C. White then had to
sacrifice a couple of stones, but he quite neatly succeeded in making a
living group inside black's moyo while leaving tons of aji to look forward
to.
I'm in love with many moves of this amazing game and the tengen play is
certainly one of them. Putting it to good use is often difficult, but playing
against a tengen opening is no piece of cake either.

Poetic License
Yesterday I was in Gifu,
and I had a chance to
put this on the board at
the pro study group.
Since most of the pro
were finished, and it was
still too early to start
playing Mah-Jong, they
were willing to kick it
around a bit.
To make a long story
short, "Er, that does not
compute, not enough
information, er, does not
compute, not ..." That
was the general opinion.
The tengen stone
changes a lot of the
normal ways of thinking
about fuseki. Having
played an early move
right in the middle of the
board seems to give
black a kind of a poetic
license. Now, he has all
kinds of (crazy) options,
and, although the pro's
were giving it some
serious thought, it is way
too early to decide on
*the* best next move.
Everything depends on
the continuation, and a
rigid state of mind here
would be dangerous. To
show a couple of the
follow-up moves
discussed, those at or
around A, B, C and D all
look playable.
Game Diagram 5
Remember, it's how you use available troops that counts; their
location is but a minor detail. (I'm sure some dead general said this at
one time or another, the argument which followed with his troops doing
him in.)

Over-Extension

Black chose to play the

over-extension of 7. If
this move were more to
the left, white could still
consider an extension
from his shimari to the
left of A. Now, however,
A is too tight, and if
white plays here, black
will probably switch to
somewhere around B.
This will leave white a
little low, and black
racing to grab all the big
points.
Game Diagram 6
White probably did not play an approach move at C because he didn't like
the prospect of being pincered at D. This way of playing seems to make
the black stones come out nicely.
Tengen Looks Nice

It is not as if white's way

of playing is wrong or
bad. The point is that the
black tengen stone looks
a kind of natural, sitting
there right in the middle
of the board, and is
doing a good job of
setting up a huge moyo.
Diagram 13

Black Not So Happy

White can try to initiate the fashionable

joseki shown in dia 14. The end result is
not to black's liking, and his trianglemarked stones are not very effective.
Diagram 14
Black Happy

Black, however, will walk away from the

joseki in dia 14. He will certainly not play it
just because it happens to be the latest
trend. Black will play a very simple and
older joseki as shown in dia 15. After white
9, black can choose to play "honte"
(proper reinforcement) at A, B, C and
sometimes D.
Diagram 15
White's next move seems to be part of the psychological warfare that
more often than not takes place when two players meet each other at the
go board, right from the "Have a nice game" at the beginning.
Entering the Dragon?

White 8 is a kind of "in

your face" move. It is, as
we saw, by no means the
only point on the board.
White, however, was
probably concerned
about a possible black
moyo because of the
presence of the tengen
stone. So, before any
kind of moyo can
materialize, white enters
early, seemingly
confident that while he's
playing in what looks like
a black stronghold he'll
be able to easily settle
his stone(s).
Game Diagram 7
Just to mention some possible replies, black A, B and C all look common.
Black B is the move to play if black wants to continue building his moyo.
Black Is Not Complaining

If white enters at the 3-3

point, something like dia
16 could occur. This is
very much to black's
liking and it seems that
white has to come up
with something else.
Instead of the 3-3 point,
jumping to A looks
better, but, even so,
black is not complaining.
Diagram 16
Playable as Well

Because of the presence

of the marked black
stone, playing a pincer
with black 1 is often
judged too tight or overconcentrated. This might
be clearer if the marked
stone were one space to
the left, but, in its
current position it is
playable, although my
guess is that many
players would prefer the
marked stone to be at
least as far as A
Diagram 17
Balance of Power
The sequence from black
9 to white 12 looks very
much like a textbook
example. Usually black is
reluctant to make the
black 9, white 10
exchange, because his
corner is still vulnerable,
and white can easily
invade later at the 3-3
point. The reason for
black 9 is to prevent
white from sliding in at
A. And, because of the
marked black stone,
white cannot extend
further than 12, which
leaves him one point
short of the optimal
extension. Of course,
white read out this
possibility and he doesn't
mind it too much.
White's strategy is to

single out the marked

black stone and try to
shift the balance of
power at the lower part
of the board. Whether
this is a good idea or
asking for too much,
because of the "extra"
black stone on tengen,
remains to be seen.
Game Diagram 8
Hanging on to the Corner

The invasion at the 3-3 point is not likely

to happen any time soon; it is too small. In
the future, however, white will be aiming
at playing here. If black wants to keep as
much of the corner territory as possible,
dia 18 is probably best.
Diagram 18
Sealing White In

Black can also choose to strengthen

himself in "sente" (while holding the
initiative) as shown in dia 19. Instead of 5,
white could play at 6, after which black
usually pushes through and cuts.
(Remember this from Gentle Joseki? Cut at
the side you don't want.)
Diagram 19
Next move?

Next move problem. The

pros unanimously choose
one move as the most
natural, two moves as
"possible" (not good, not
bad, everything depends
on the continuation) and
one move they did not
mention at all.
Diagram 20
Determine how the pros evaluated the moves A, B, C and D, and find out
the answer in the next episode of DAIGO.

Daigo, episode 2
A monthly column by Pieter Mioch featuring a thorough game commentary
tastefully seasoned with go-related stories and clues to the meaning of
life.
"If you never question anything, you won't get very far"
Introduction
Imamura, 8 dan professional is a 33-year old rather handsome pro
belonging to the Nihon Ki-In of Nagoya. Although we're only a month or
two apart in age and in spite of the fact that we both play go I don't know
him very well. As a matter of fact, we never got to talk at all, even though
we ran into each other regularly at the Ki-In.
This is why I welcomed the pro-ama game I had to cover for the Nagoya
Keizai shinbun last month, July 2001. Every month one or more strong
amateurs of some standing get the chance to show what they're worth
against a pro. The July game I attended to was between Mr. Tsuboi,
section chief from "Nihon-Gashi" and Imamura Yoshiaki.
Imamura suggested the handicap used to be 3 stones but Mr. Tsuboi
wouldn't have any of it and quickly placed a fourth stone on the board. It
was a nice and worthwhile game which Mr. Tsuboi unfortunately lost by 4
points, a post-game analyses followed after which I got at my computer to
try and evenly spread the game out over 10 episodes. One of the things I
touched a couple of times through the articles was that even among pro's
there can be quite a difference in strength. I felt justified in making this
point since a while ago when Cho Chikun and O Rissei were fighting it out
over the 24th Kisei title one of the attending professionals mentioned that
he perhaps could not expect to win against Cho, even if he were to receive
a two-stone handicap. A fellow pro dryly added to this: "Well, are you
positive you'll win with three stones then?".
Remarks like this say, of course, quite a bit about Cho's strength, or
maybe it says even more about the 9 (!) dans who made the comment. It
certainly says a lot about the inflation present in the rating system, maybe
in the future pro's will be demoted the moment their results get bad.
So, in the Nagoya newspaper I wrote something like "The color of
Imamura's 8-dan rank is by no means thinning as is sometimes the case
with pro rankings". I half-and-half expected it to be edited out but they let
it stand as I wrote it, they sure know how to please their collaborators.
During the same game comment a few days later I again talked about
Imamura's strength and that a win against him on 4 stones would be of
the same value as winning against a 9 dan player. The next day I got a
telephone call from the Nihon Ki-In. I braced myself for some severe
criticism and somebody asking me who the h-ll I thought I was.
Luckily I was worrying too much, a habit which'll kill me some day, and
the call from the Ki-In was only to provide me with some inside

information! As it turned out I was closer to the truth than I had imagined
with my remarks about Imamura being such a strong pro -- I really meant
it though and was not just turning up the flattery to make a good
impression -- the fact is, Imamura is *strong*.
The Oteai is the official rating tournament in which you have to get x wins
over an y period before you can get promoted. The higher the rank the
more wins you need. The unexpected touch to this system is that once a
player scores enough wins to bring about a promotion the candidate
himself has to make the application for his next rank. In other words, if a
player were to forget to apply although he has a sufficient score, he will
have to start from zero again and once more needs to win x games over
an y period.
The call from the Ki-In informed me that Imamura sensei has consciously
passed (!!) on at least two opportunities to be promoted to 9 dan! So here
we have a pro 8 dan with a heavily positive score, i.e., he's walking over
the better part of his opponents, who refuses to be promoted because he
thinks he does not deserve the highest rank yet. You'll have to decide for
yourself whether Imamura sensei is just forgetful or if he has this rare and
often troublesome gift, character.
The Oteai system, by the way, will not survive next year in its present
shape, I'm not sure about the definite changes but there was a lot of
talking about hooking up the ranking system to the other, newspaper
sponsored tournaments like the Kisei, the Meijin and the Honinbo title. So
maybe Imamura is just waiting for the Oteai system to change and then
win the Kisei title or something, that would be a very impressive way to
get a 9 dan promotion!
When I asked to Romanian 5 dan pro Catalin Taranu when he thinks he'll
make 6 dan he shook his head. "Even if I would win all my games for the
Oteai straight, it won't be in time before the change to the new system is
made. So, I have no idea when and if I can say goodbye to my 5-dan
rating, sigh.
The Game
The diagrams below are printed in two colors, one for the actual game and
one for the explanatory diagrams and side-tracks, as follows:

Game
Keeping Your Stones Together

Diagrams

This may come as a

surprise but the pro's took
black 1 to be the most
natural move in this
situation. The reason given
was surprisingly simple
too, "Black does not like to
let the Tengen stone get
separated".
This "Keep stones
together" concept is very
important but
unfortunately rather
difficult to implement. If
you'd take it literally you
would be playing every
move next to the previous
one which is, of course,
the only way to be 100%
sure your opponent won't cut you somewhere in the future!
A narrowed down version of the same concept is perhaps more
workable and goes like this:
"After the opening stage of the game, which usually takes 4~12 moves,
if you have stones separated from each other by 4 or more spaces
(preferably on the same longitude/ latitude or only 1 board line apart)
consider adding a move, especially when this gap is between single
stones. If your stones are 4 or more spaces apart but one side (or both
sides) is a strong position, for example a shimari, then you might
consider leaving the gap as it is."
Diagram 1
Well, now you know why short and good sounding proverbs are *much*
more popular, if you make an attempt to write out what is exactly meant
it does not sound so good anymore and the stronger player will miss a
chance to impress the novice (lucky novice).
It is, of course, best to cut back on words as much as possible and just,
quietly, show some situations which help making things clear.
Meijin Title 1968/Sep/21,22

Black: Rin Kaiho defending

Meijin
White: Takagawa Kaku
challenger
Komi: 5.0 points
Result: white wins by jigo
White has no big gaps
between his stones, the
biggest distance his stones
are from each other is
three spaces. If black
decides to invade here
white ought to be able to
put enough pressure on
black to make a very solid
position. White might even
kill black although this
usually is not as easy as it
might look.
Black, trying to make most of his advantage of the first move, is racing
around the board, he skillfully sacrificed one stone (left upper corner)
and in return he got to make two shimari and an impressive looking
framework. If white wants to invade somewhere (the potential black
territory is much bigger than white's potential territory so it is not really
a matter of wanting/ not wanting) he can start with counting the spaces
between the black stones.
Judging like this black has two "defects" in his position, he has a fourspace extension at the bottom and a five-point extension at the left.
White does not want to get in trouble to close to black's shimari in the
lower left corner and therefore his normal invasions would be at A or B.
Also possible are white C, which is a skilful probing move, or white D.
This last move says it is all-right for black to make his potential territory
into real territory as long as it is not above the 3rd line (= not enough
to win). By the way, there are even more ways for white to deal with
the black territory, the four mentioned above, however, are all wellknown and considered standard, add them to your repertoire while
trying moves you thought up yourself.
Diagram 2
The game ended in a draw but white won anyway according to the rules.
Later they changed this rather inelegant rule by making the komi 5.5
points, this is also not really a subtle way of avoiding a deadlock but the
need to decide games fast is something you have to thank the
newspapers for who want a crisp and clear tournament to sell to their
readers, not some match which just keeps going on and on because of all
the jigo's.
The Continuation

Replay this game between

two "Dinosaurs" of the
Japanese go scene from
white 1 and try to get a
feel for exactly how strong
each stone on the board
is. By the way, would you
have dug in your stones as
fast and solid as black did
with move 10-14, 20 and
22, too?

Diagram 2a
Not to White's liking
Another reason why the
one-space jump shown in
dia 1 is a nice move is
shown in dia 3. Suppose
that black got the chance
of playing an extra move,
somewhere in the future,
for example the
stone at
the left. Now white is
starting to feel a little
claustrophobic. Normally
white would want to run
away to the center but, for
example, a white jump to
A does not look very
promising. If white would
play at A it seems as if the
three
stones are
forming a kind of a faraway net which might very well prove tight enough (with the addition of
a move or two) to keep white from breaking free. This would mean that
white'll have to make eyes locally, something which is not considered
very attractive in the early stage of the game.
Diagram 3

Digging yourself in and making a secure living group in the opening is

sometimes inevitable but in 99% of the cases it will result in your
opponent's stones becoming stronger too, and *his* stones will end up on
the outside, surrounding you and still actively taking part in the game.
Your stones, alive but on the inside, are more or less played out already.
Even if you could get some points in return for being locked up it's seldom
enough.
What I'm trying to get trough here is that you should not play moves like
white 1 and 3 in the dia and think "Well, maybe black got stronger, so
what?" The exchange of white 1-3 and black 2-4 is good for black, when
playing white you should be reluctant to play this way and that goes
double (make that triple) for handicap games where the reverse situation
is only too often seen, thin white stones are somehow managing to isolate
black stones.
In handicap games, more often than not, black finds himself suddenly
surrounded by white stones and deems it necessary to play some moves
on the inside to make eyes, thus strengthening the white stones which
automatically will reduce the effectiveness of the handicap stones by
anything from 10 to 90%. If the inside black stones die, it's a major
disaster, if the black stones manage to make eyes but strengthen white
it's maybe not "major" but it's still a disaster.
Important: If the same white 1-3 sequence would be played much later
on, close to or already in the endgame, than it is a different story
altogether and the white moves might be excellent plays and the biggest
points on the board.
The Other Moves

about Tengen.

This was the next move

problem of last episode.
Black A seems the most
natural move. Black B or D
do not seem to be bad
moves either but they do
not make it easier for
black to let the center
stone come out nice. Black
C was not discussed or
suggested at all by the
study group pro's in Gifu.
If I'd be forced to come up
with a plausible sounding
reason for this I guess it is
because of the Tengen
stone, again. Of the four
moves A-D, black C seems
to be the least concerned

Diagram 4
A Kind of a Defect
Although this black formation is natural in a
way too, it has the drawback of being
vulnerable to a white invasion at A. If white
plays here too soon black is not really
worried since he can choose between either
blocking at B or C. A black stone at B will
make white's left weaker so black is not
complaining there. Later on, however, black will start to feel the need
for eyes, to get settled he will have to add a full move for a piece of the
board which is territorial wise not at all interesting.
Diagram 5
Learn to Let Stones Go
This is definitely the last word I'm
going to say about this next move
problem, I promise to get on with
the game in a minute.
After the white invasion one point to
the left of A in dia 5a, many a
players' first instinct is maybe to try
to somehow connect the black
stones. Although this is often a good idea, if possible that is, it is not the
only option and it often throws away golden opportunities to attack, all
for the sake of one lousy stone. Black 1 in dia 5a is a move you should
remember and come to like. After white 2 black seems to have achieved
nothing at all but when black plays the skilful shape-moves of 3 and 5
next, suddenly white's capture does not seem so big anymore.
If white really wants the black stone he even will have to add another
move after black 7, although connecting at A makes a rather awkward
shape. If white plays at A black has several interesting moves. The
fancy loose connection play at B is nice to move out to the center but
black C is very attractive, too.
Black C is not cutable and white's stone is afloat. Depending on the
situation black D is also a move worth thinking about (although this
move does not apply to the game). By the way, instead of white 4 a
play at 7 (hane) is sometimes better, for one thing it probably will avoid
making the white stones look like a blob of putty.
Diagram 5a
White Plays Steady

In the game black played

the approach move of 13,
perhaps to inquire if white
would pincer or play an
extension. White, after
having given it some
thought, decided to
maintain his original
attitude of playing steady
moves, making solid
positions and waiting to
see what on earth black is
going to do with his stone
on Tengen.

Game Diagram 9
Bold Attack
To play a pincer at for
example white 1 feels like
a challenge to black to
finally show what he's got
and at the same time
gives the black player the
chance to bring Tengen
(back) into the game.
Black, hating Joseki, plays
the fierce counter pincer of
black 6 and if white
continues with an orthodox
approach, the one-space
jump of 7, black goes allout with 8-14. Although
playing a pincer (like white
1) seems possible white
should be very careful to
not end up as in dia 6.
Black's position is still thin but there does not seem to be an easy way
out for white. To avoid being locked up like this perhaps playing a twospace jump with white 5 after which white'll ignore black 10 is better.
Note that black's aim is to put pressure on white and get a strong
position on the outside while holding the initiative which is worth very

much since for either player it will mean the chance of playing around A
first. Black is not thinking about capturing the white stones, of course
not, (coughbucoughllsh coughitcough).
Diagram 6
Going for Influence
Black 15 seems pretty
much in the same spirit as
his previous moves, i.e.,
going for influence and not
worrying about thin
shapes or territory so
much.
By the way, when doing
the post mortem you
always feel like asking:
"But why can't black play
one space to the left?" or
"Isn't playing on the third
line possible?".
Speaking for myself, I
used to not take questions
like this very serious when
there was a difference of
say 5 stones or more. This
not taking the weaker player serious can be rather convenient, it is an
excellent way of masking that you actually have not the faintest idea of
how to answer the question. It goes without saying that I'm doing my
best to atone to the go community for my poor attitude (of the past, I
hope).
Game Diagram 10
In the opening, to correctly explain what all the differences are
between a given play and the same play on an adjacent spot
is very hard
When analyzing with the Gifu professional players they often just put a
white stone on the board when I suggest a certain black move. "The move
you're suggesting might be playable but you have to show what you have
in mind" is what the pro is saying when silently waiting for your next
move. If you don't come up with some interesting continuation you'll get
the cold shoulder: "If you didn't even bother to read out a continuation
what are you asking questions for?" is what the chilled piece of meat is
telling you.
The second way of reacting is less pride-harming and makes you feel like
a pro yourself for a minute or two. Sometimes when you suggest a move
a pro will say something like: "Sore mo ikkyoku". "That move is also a

game" what the pro means is that the move suggested is possible too and
it would take a lot of analyzing see whether is was good or bad and why
exactly.
A Little Low
Black 1 in dia 7 feels too
low. Even if white would
play the most peaceful
continuation somehow
black's stones seem to be
too far apart to make an
effective framework. For
example if the upper side
is threatening to become a
huge potential territory
then white has the nice
reducing move of A to hold

the black position in hand.

After white A black has to choice whether he is going to crawl along the
third line or whether he will move out and try to attack the white
reducing move, the latter one is often more interesting.
Furthermore, the gap between black
and black 3 is a little wide, white
could at any time play in between and settle himself easily.
Diagram 7
Kakari, White Approaches
White 16 is a move as
common as they come, it
also bridges the widest
open space on the board
so it only seems natural.

Game Diagram 11

Usually when I want to show you a sequence longer than 3 moves I

restrict myself to stuff I saw the pro's put on the board or moves I'm
pretty sure are joseki. Dia 8 is an exception on this "rule" and although
I'm confident that this sequence up to white 7 is not too outrageous, at
least it looks natural, after black 8 my sight grows fuzzy. Although I
probably could stare at my monitor for three hours and (fall asleep) read
out what is most likely to happen I will let that up to you, dear reader.
Anti-Tengen Strategy
Anyway, whatever the
proper continuation might
be, it seems that white 1 is
better than the game
move, the small knight
approach move in the
upper right corner. White
1 does not give black the
opportunity of playing a
pincer and this will surely
help avoiding ways of
playing for black which
might make good use of
Tengen.
Black 2 seems to be good
enough a response and
next white plays a very
nice keima at 3. If black 4
white 5 is an excellent way
of putting some pressure on black, who now has to start being serious
about settling his stones.
Keeping the initiative is very important for white because after
successfully having sealed in black, white gets the chance of playing 19
and 21. White almost has isolated the black Tengen stone and he
succeeded in making some dandy (I must cut back on the Marilyn
Monroe movies) territory along the way.
Black's upper territory is by no means secure yet and white has many
points he can choose from to enter (A-D). In the lower left corner, to be
honest, white has a defect left at E, too. When black gets the chance of
playing here first white will most likely have to let go of some points
(answering the black move on the second line, to the right of E).
Diagram 08
Questionable Pincer?

Black 1 is the closest

pincer possible, any closer
and the black move will
become an attachment
which is a different kind of
move. Black 17 tries to
force white into the corner
after which black can seal
white off and try to make
the most of his center
oriented strategy.

Game Diagram 12
Not Bad for White
Here white entered the
corner at 1, just as black
seemed to hope. At a
glance the result looks
better for black, his tengen
stone really seems to do
something there in the
middle of the board. Dia 9
may look ok for black but
it actually is not too bad
for white either. He
managed to take over the
corner in sente (while
holding the initiative) so
he can choose where to
play next, which usually
makes all the difference in
the world. Besides the
sente issue there is
another reason why white is doing ok here. Black's tengen stone is not
in a very good place. If black would be allowed to take the center stone
of the board and place it elsewhere he would be much helped by adding
a move at A or somewhere around B. Although both these moves are
better moves than tengen this does not necessarily mean that tengen is

useless. White will have to be very careful how he goes about invading
the upper part of the board later on.
White's continuation after black 6, by the way, could be at C, making
sure his bottom left stones will not get in trouble later on in the game
while at the same time inquiring what black is going to do with his stone
at the bottom. After having played out the situation at the lower part of
the board a bit white will take his time thinking out the best move for
invading black's moyo and play there.
Instead of entering at the 3-3 point jumping out with white D feels a
little better. I think, however that both moves, entering the corner or
jumping out are playable here and that neither move is clearly superior.
Although I guess that not a few players would rather jump out and
prevent black from getting a big looking framework instead of entering
the corner. Well, in many situations it is not so much that there is only
one move possible which is determined by pure logic, the game of go is
often about choosing the playing style you like and which fits your
character.
Diagram 09
If I really would start preaching I could say that in these fast, modern
times the emphasis seems to be on standing out, no matter if there's
something to stand out for or not. Standing out can be put in go terms as
playing bold moves, staking out huge moyo's, getting involved in any
fight, regardless of the fact if there's actually is something worth fighting
about. On the other hand, representing the wisdom of time, there is the
patient and quiet attitude which reflects on the playing style. Not
necessarily meaning playing low moves but sometimes low, sometimes a
little higher though never in a hurry is the idea. Getting involved in a fight
is sometimes a must but never something to seek out or go after. Each
generation has go pro's of both styles although it feels that in Japan the
"silent" playing style has the upper hand. Not one of my pro turned insei
buddies has a flashy style. As a matter of fact, Nakane 7p, Nakao 7p and
Hane Naoki 8p all have a very tight, very solid rather slow looking style.
All of them, however, have a convincing positive score in their tournament
games.
Going over a bunch of Go Seigen games I strongly got the impression that
the demi-god from China does not fit either category. All his games are so
fierce and incredible complex but his style always seems to say: "Oops,
there we go again, three groups having only one eye and another two
groups which might be alive if I could get a ko-fight going and set-up
some kind of a swap". In other words, he doesn't seem to be after trouble
but he *never* takes the easy way out once things are starting to get
hairy.
Well, excuse me for getting carried away a bit there, back to the game
Fashionable

The double approach move

of white, even though
black played a severe
pincer, was already
popular among Go Seigen
and Kitani Minoru well over
60 years ago. For some 40
years it was not seen too
much anymore but in the
90's they got it out of
stasis and until the day of
today it has been enjoying
extreme popularity. I very
much doubt these surges
of popularity have much to
do with the move in
question being a
breakthrough in go theory.
It seems that the moment
somebody realizes that there are still some uncharted corridors of a
given move this move will hit the spotlight for a couple of years until a
next move takes its place. The international go scene should be thankful
to the youngest generation go-stars in Korea who seem to be running
down any corridor like crazy, the darker the better, never mind the
pitfalls or barbed wire.
Game Diagram 13
Standard Pattern
This is a variation which has stood its ground
for some years, it seems that both sides can
live with the end result, although pro's have
been wrecking their brains to see whether it is
possible to get similar shape on the board
without the white 6 - black 7 exchange. White
would be very happy if he could omit this since
it is helping black to fix up his shape a lot.

Diagram 10
Bad for White

This is from a game between two Chinese

female pro's although one has changed her
nationality and the other is playing in Korea :-)
Entering at 8 is supposed to be inferior to dia 10
for white. Although white can take over the
corner black is doing well because his outside
position is incredibly thick. Black has sente too,
and is happy.

Diagram 10a
Go Seigen
Now, tell me honestly, don't you think that
black 5 is a calm, peaceful move? Go Seigen
played this in a number of games and every
time he played it got really complicated. The
point is that no matter how much white would
like to play at A since the black corner is alive
and not weak black will immediately push
through and cut. When this happens white
suddenly realizes that he is in trouble. White 4
might be fashionable but if you play it without
having thought about dia 10b you're in for a
nasty surprise. (Well you could, of course, count on the fact that your
opponent knows the joseki in dia 10 and is rather proud about it, if
that's the case you don't need to worry about a thing since he'll play the
joseki through to the last move, no matter what.)
Diagram 10b
2000-01-13, Fuchan-Cup, Semifinal

Black: Okada Yumiko 4p

White: Rui Naiwei 9p (+
resign)
Result: White by resign
This is a good example of
"living Joseki". The
exchange I talked about in
dia 10 would normally be
played instead of black 11,
black at A and white cuts
at B. After this exchange
entering at 11 is regarded
as better for white, but
without it black felt she
could enter at 3-3. Ms.
Okada most likely
attended a study group
where this way of playing
was analyzed.
Unfortunately not every pro makes up a new move per game, that kind
of creative power is but bestowed on few mortals, a mere few blessed
men among the ignorant. Carrying the torch of the dream and
originality, the future of go.
Diagram 10c
(Sorry, I'll cut that out next time, I suddenly had to think of Kawabata
Yasunari's style which in Japanese reads very much like the above, when
that man got started he just wouldn't stop.)
The Kosumi

Black chose a rare move in

response to the white
double approach move,
the diagonal move of 19.
Black 19 is usually a little
slack, it is solid but does
not put much pressure on
white. White enters at the
3-3 point, if he would not
do that now black will play
here with his next move,
regardless of where white
played. Blocking at 21 is
natural, it's the side which
is more attractive for black
to make a potential
territory. You might want
to try playing white 22
above black 21 (hane). It
seems a possible way of playing, even so, it probably will turn out to be
just a move order change, giving the same end result. Black 23 looks
funny but there is a lot to say for this move
Game Diagram 14
Do Not Forget White 2
Black 1 looks like a standard move. Now white
has a move worth memorizing, the innocent
looking trust of white 2. Black has some choice
what to do next but eventually he'll have to
defend at 3. White plays hane at 4, black blocks
and white defend. At first sight the black player
would be tempted to defend at A but here we've
reached a delicate matter having to do with
good and bad shape.
Diagram 11
People love talking about it but mostly that just adds to the confusion, I'll
try to make an example of briefness (adding only little confusion, the
more Coca-Cola Light you drink, the thinner you'll get :-)
Black does not want to play at A. If black would play at A the
stones
might as well not be on the board since they serve close to no purpose
anymore (they would provide the black stones with 2 extra liberties if they
would not be there!). Especially in the early stage of the game to find
yourself with stones, which are "wasted" without compensation is a
disaster, which spells "Bad Shape".

So black does not play at A but plays elsewhere or perhaps the shoulder
hit of B.
Next Move Problem
Black to play, Is black
going to be cut in pieces,
will a trade-off follow
where each party gets to
eat one stone of the
opponent?

Diagram 12
Find out the answer in the next episode of DAIGO.

Daigo, episode 3
A monthly column by Pieter Mioch featuring a thorough game commentary
tastefully seasoned with go-related stories and clues to the meaning of
life.
"If you never question anything, you won't get very far"
Introduction
To fight or not to fight, and, if to fight where to fight? Assessing the value
of a fight and predicting the outcome. Establishing the necessity to fight
which leads to determining the cause, or is this the other way around?
I feel that go is not a fighting game. Contrary to a lot of other, excellent,
games go is more of a building game. Finding a way to do something
constructive while avoiding everything-or-nothing clashes is a better
attitude than trying to capture each and every stone of your opponent.
Besides, the former is also a lot easier to accomplish.
It is funny, however, that in order to get a good game on the board, even
a peaceful one, the ability to fight, fighting skill, has to be of a very high
level. Just dividing the board along approximately straight lines, copying a
joseki from memory and refusing to get involved in any hairy situations is
not what go is about. Although a game like this can at times be nice the
contestants are not pushing themselves to find the best move, the best
continuation. Exploring one's limits and traveling into the realms of your
hidden capacity, playing the sharpest moves without really understanding
completely how you found them, that is the real face of this ancient game.
Going to the limits is what professional players are doing every day for a
living. Every move again never choosing the easy way out and only giving
in to playing a simple sequence of moves after having read out that the
other more complicated moves are inferior. The average amateur can only
hope to play like this a handful moves per game. This number might be
higher during top games where more time is allowed, but not that much I
suspect.
Of course, pro's are not robots either and often without realizing it they
play a sequence of moves which is not the best possible but looks
completely natural. For pro games goes, however, that the exact nature of
the mistake often takes a long time to understand, 30 minutes of backanalyzing or some such. Going with the flow is very important but it's not
a guide which should be followed blindly. Even realizing this and agreeing
with it one hundred percent does not provide full-prove protection against
playing moves that your opponent is glad to see.
Speaking of which, for some time now I seriously have the feeling that
sometimes when playing a game you can actually "feel" that your
opponent wants you to play a certain move. I will get back to you about

this when there's some prove available to show you, don't go holding your
breath now.
What was I talking about? Ah, yes, fighting. Well, I'm going to wrap this
up now and get on with it. As a rule of thumb here are a number of
situations I can think of in which fighting might very well be a good idea:
1. Start a fight when you are certain about the outcome and are
equally sure that the outcome actually favors you.
2. Fight back when your opponent is pushing too much and leaves
plenty of vulnerable and weak points in his stones at which you can
strike (this is an extension of the first rule)
3. Create complications and fight when you are behind, if you have to
lose, go out in flames.
4. Fight for fun and attempt to "bully" you opponent in such a way that
he does not feel comfortable with the game at all and make him feel
he's losing in spite of the fact that the opposite is the case.
When I was playing in Europe I very much felt that 4) is the most
common reason to start a fight and that 1) is rarely seen. It goes without
saying that in pro games situation 4) is as rare as an egg laying elephant.
Among the above-mentioned rules of thumb 3) is rather interesting. "Fight
when you are behind" it says, and this may sound obvious. The
remarkable thing, however, is that the lions' share of people playing go
*always* feel they are behind. Unless a given player is able to waste a
group of enemy stones early on in the game he will not be able to feel
he's doing well. Privately I never feel at ease when I don't have a lead of
at least 20 points. Some time ago I mentioned this to Nakao Jungo 7p: "I
really feel I could get better at go, if I only could get rid of the need to
have an enormous lead before feeling comfortable with the game." Jungo
gave a surprising reply: "Wow, did you really think you are the only one
who feels like that, each and every game I play is like that."
Talking about fighting this and fighting that I realize that I do not have a
crisp and clear definition of what fighting exactly comes to in the game of
go. A struggle for liberties, fighting for eyes, splitting attack, these are all
good enough terms and cover a part of "fighting" but what is the
comprehensive way to describe this phenomenon? I'll be sure to get back
to this in a future episode of Daigo. In the mean time, if you have any
suggestions don't hesitate to let me hear them. pmioch@ma.ccnw.ne.jp
The Game
Daigo 3 has turned out rather technical and goes over 33 diagrams. If
you're in a hurry I recommend jumping to the very last diagram given
which shows all game moves (25-46) handled in this episode in one
diagram and also a brief summary.
The diagrams below are printed in two colors, one for the actual game and
one for the explanatory diagrams and side-tracks, as follows:

Game

Diagrams

Peaceful But?
Black 1 is the "safety-first" approach.
Although it looks as if black is making
efficient shape this way of playing is wrong
for a number of reasons. Even after black 1
and 3 the marked white stone is not
completely dead. Later on in the game white
can start with a move at A and it seems
unlikely that black will be able to capture the
white stones unconditionally. Furthermore,
after the exchange black 3, white 4 it is clear
that the marked black stone cannot hope to
link up with the black stones at the top. Black
3 is effectively pushing white between two black positions. It is too
much to expect that black will be able to get a good result at both, the
top and the right side.
The only reason black could have to play as in dia 1 is that after white 4
he can play a peep at B. After the black peep white might have to worry
about making two eyes sooner or later. Unfortunately this way of
attacking for black is asking too much of the single marked black stone
at the right. If there would be an additional black stone (for example at
C) then black might be doing o.k.
Diagram 1
The Solid Connection
The tight connection at black 1 is much in the
same spirit as the previous diagram. Now,
however, black has to add another move to
fix up his shape and play at 5. Locally
speaking black has made excellent shape,
the white stone has not much room for action
anymore.

Diagram 2
White tries something

Let's see what happens if white plays at 1

and tries to make eyes. The combination of
black 2 and 4 works very well here and white
is nicely sealed in. White attempts to make
the most of it but to no avail. Black skillfully
avoids that the situation turns into a ko fight
and after two placements black kills white at
16.
(Although this situation may look like a seki
white eventually will have to fill in between 5
and 9, no seki, no eyes, white dies.)
Diagram 2a
White's not Quite Dead
After white 1 there are a number of
sidetracks but I'll only show the one where
black is insisting on killing white, whatever
the cost. The white move of 7 is very
interesting. Black captures a stone and white
plays atari at 9. Now black should only
consider filling in at 3 if he can capture the
white stones without any trouble. Here this is
not the case. White will continue with A,
black B, white C and the white stones will
become ko. For white creating a group at the
top which lives in ko is a big success, if white
is able to win the ko the black stones at the right do not look very
healthy.
In dia 2b black had the better cards at the topside of the board but
things started to get tricky after black 6. Although this line of playing is
not necessarily impossible black could avoid complications by playing
black 2 at 8 which'll let white make eyes.
Well, whatever the bad aji there's left at the upper part of the board, it
is all the more reason for black to try and come up with something else.
Before showing you what black did in the game, however, it is useful to
go back a little and have a closer look at the white shape.
Diagram 2b
a Joseki

This is more or less a repetition of Daigo 2. It

shows the origin of the white tesuji at 9.
Professionals often advice their pupils
(people who do not have pro aspirations
themselves) to keep things simple and play
the diagonal move of black 4. "Let go of
territory, move out to the middle and build
thickness" is what most teachers in Japan
keep telling amateurs. With good reason, of
course, moving out to the middle and
building thickness is one good way of using
handicap stones while staying away from

complicated situations.
Black 4 is not the sharpest possible move however, and I only use it
when a continuation at 8 is possible. Black 8 is cutable and black must
be careful to not play here when white has stones nearby. Black 8 at A
is possible too, but this combination, black 4 and A really lets go a
chunk of territory and normally you should not want to play like this in
an even game.
After black 8 white has the innocent looking move of 9 which initiates
the sequence to white 13. Instead of connecting at B black normally
plays at C or elsewhere.
Diagram 3
Not the Same
The left side
diagram is from
the game. Notice
that although dia 4
(the right side
diagram) is similar
to the reference
diagram they are
not quite the
same, black should
try to find out if
the presence of a
black stone at A makes white B a questionable move or not. Black's
dream is to connect all his stones and even hook up with .
Reference Diagram 3a & Diagram 4
Black doesn't Buy It

Black played a somewhat

vulgar move, the atari of
25. If you can help it you
generally try to play as
few atari as possible.
Playing an atari often
strengthens your
opponent more than it
does you. Instead of black
25 playing directly at 27 is
proper style. In this case
this is easy to understand
if you take two things for
granted:
1. White most likely
will always defend when
black will play the atari of
25 in the future. There's
no reason to settle the issue right now. It seems highly unlikely
that white can get a good result without the marked stone (if he
were to let it go when black plays the atari later on).
2. Black might in the future forget about the atari altogether and
play the previously mentioned peep at A. As long as it is not
absolutely clear which way of playing is called for black should
leave his options open.
Anyway, black chooses to settle the issue of the atari and seemingly is
trying to prevent white from breaking through to the middle. White will
counter attack fiercely because black blatantly refused to defend
against a nasty looking cut.
Game Diagram 16
Not good Fighting
White 11 fills in at 4
Exchanging white 1 for black 2 does not do
white much good. Cutting next at 3 is bad
timing and over-optimistic, black plays the
nice squeeze and after 12 the white stones
are to heavy to settle easily but too big to
sacrifice, an all too common but terrible
situation.

Diagram 5

Black in Trouble?
If white wants to do
something white 28 is the
only move. Of course, this
only means that if white is
dead-set on showing black
that he did not previously
play any strange or
questionable moves he
has no other choice than
to cut.
Instead of black 29
playing atari at A is
probably a bad idea. The
white stones will get a bit
stronger and black still has
to come back and add a
move or two if his
intentions are to stay
alive.
To correctly decide where to play next with white you only need to start
reading out possible variations, read, read, drink a little coffee and
continue to read some more. I guess that these kinds of positions bare
resemblance to chess, the better you can concentrate and the more
moves you can read ahead the better the move is you will finally come
up with.
Game Diagram 17
White Fills in a Liberty
When white starts at 1 it he shows a lot of
confidence and says that his surrounding
stones are strong enough to enable him to
set up a capturing race. If things were to
develop as in dia 6 white is doing not too bad
and although black can capture three white
stones white can live with that because he
too got a rock-solid shape. Strictly speaking
the result is not equal and favors black but
looking at this game it is playable
Diagram 6
Black loses the Capturing Race

Black 2 might be playable but black 4 next

makes things easy for white, after the white
7, black 8 exchange there's nothing black can
do to avoid being captured.

Diagram 7
Black's Alive Unconditionally?
Black 4 often helps black to make two eyes in
the corner, and black certainly seems to be
alive in this dia. If things would turn out like
this white will have a difficult game from
here. His outside stones need to get away
and make eyes fast. Black's surrounding
positions will become even thicker because of
the weakness of the white stones, black has
a good game.

Diagram 8
Bent Four in the Corner is Dead, But...
Unfortunately for black white has the
tenacious counter measure of white 1. After
7 the corner is ko but since black cannot
start it himself and white could wait until the
end of the game and eliminate each and
every possible ko-threat this shape is dead
according to the rules. Here, however, white
cannot wait until the end of the game
because his own surrounding positions are
not alive yet, white has to start the ko right
away, never mind the rules.
Diagram 8a
Bent Four Played Out I

After white 9 if black instead of 10 would

immediately play the atari at 12 white can
get ko when he plays at 10. Although this ko
is pretty desperate for white it is much better
than dying without any compensation.

Diagram 8b
Bent Four Played Out II
Here you can see a rare case of a bent-four
shape actually played out to the last move.
White comes back at 15 after which black
can throw in a stone at the 1-1 point and
force a ko on white. To do this in this
situation where the only matter of concern is
the amount of liberties the stones have is a
bad idea.

Diagram 8c
A Ko White Can't Win

and getting a chance to win.

After white 19 the corner

is ko but black can take
first at 20 and there is
simply no ko-threat which
comes close to the value
of the ko in the upper
right corner. About the
best white can do is to
play at 21 and 23 which at
least saves half his stones
while ruining one black
position. If this were my
own game while playing
the white stones I would
not yet resign and
continue playing for a
while. I would, however,
not have high hopes of
turning the game around

Diagram 8d
The above diagrams showed only one possible way of playing out the
situation. There are some interesting side-tracks, for example, instead of
white 13 white could connect to the left of 9. Instead of capturing with
black 16 black could throw in at 1-1 first and use 16 as a ko-threat. If
black uses 16 as a ko-threat white can play 17 as a ko-threat next, black
cannot answer this threat and has to solve the ko situation in the corner.
White's right side stones will make eyes and black will be alive too. The
top white stones are all but captured. The variations have one thing in
common, they all favor black.
The Last Word about White 1
After white 1 the sequence up to white 9 is
likely. Now, however, it's black's turn to
read, read and than read some more. If black
feels his stones are not up to it he has to
defend at B and make the corner alive. As we
saw in the previous dias white can get a ko if
black plays at A. The result after this is good
for black.
Even if the ko is not a prospect to look
forward to for white, black can go for his final
option and defend at C which also fills in a
white liberty. Because the reduced amount of
white liberties now he has no choice but to play at D and let black make
eyes at B. After black B white has to add another move to ensure his

own eyes at the right side and we're back again at a result similar to dia
8, which was better for black.
For everybody who just cannot get enough of all the technical details I'll
explain about black C some more.
Black C looks like a situation saving move, and it is, but it has the
drawback of leaving some bad aji at E. If black does not defend at A but
instead plays at C white has the cool clamp at E. This may look like a
silly move and in answer to it black might block at F without thinking
but now white G has become a sente move (black will need to come
back to defend against the cut of H). A white move at G helps a great
deal when making eyes but unfortunately for white in this particular
situation it does not help white. Either with or without a move at G he
has to add another move to make two eyes. Notice that if black were to
answer the clamp white E at H white can cross underneath at F and
make it more difficult for black to capture him. White even might
escape crawling along the second line, although this is hardly a way of
saving stones to look forward to.
Diagram 9
A Troublesome Move?

watch his step.

Game Diagram 18
How Many Eyes in the Corner?

The exchange white 30,

black 31 is not much of a
surprise. Of course white
makes his eye space
bigger and at the same
time makes sure he has
plenty of liberties in case
things get down to a race
for liberties.
White 32, however, feels a
bit strange. One's first
instinct in a situation like
this should be to fill in the
opponent's liberties. White
32 seems to be concerned
with making eyes at the
top later. It also does limit
the potential black eye
space and black has to

Black is going for eyes in

the corner, the move from
the previous diagram,
white 32, is now in a good
position to prevent black
from making life easily,
although the white stones
at the right side are
seriously worried about
making eyes since white
might lose a possible
capturing race.

Game Diagram 19
Black Collapses
Even though black seems to have the edge in
the fight because of his solid connection at 5
he is in trouble once white plays at 10. From
black 11 on it's a one way street but
unfortunately for black after white 20 white
has 3 liberties against black only 2.

Diagram 10
White is Taken in

Black can try the fancy tesuji of black 1-3-7

to make eyes. After black 7 white cannot
prevent black from making an eye at A. If
white plays at A black will play B and white is
neatly taken in.

Diagram 10a
White Doesn't take the Bait
White, however, wasn't born yesterday and
refuses to let him self get tricked. White does
not play any atari at all but just calmly
extends on the second row with 4. Black
cannot block him in time to win the semeai
and white again can capture the whole
corner.

Diagram 10b
Black is Not Alive

Black seemed to think that

if he didn't hurry to play
the 35-36 exchange white
might answer in a
different fashion if he
plays it later on. If the
white stones at the left are
completely alive, for
example, white might play
at A after the atari at 35 in
order to escape towards
the center. In view of the
previous analyses,
however, black 35 seems
to be a questionable move
since black cannot make
eyes unconditionally and
he will need every liberty
his corner stones can get.
Black 37 is correct, if he descends at B he will have less liberties.
Game Diagram 20
Too Eager
If white would be so kind as to play out the
situation in a straight fashion you can see
that black is able to win the fight with one
liberty. White has to come up with a little
more advanced plan.

Diagram 11
Black Wriggles Out

White has to create some extra liberties

playing like 1 and 3. As we saw earlier black
4 is the sharpest move in the struggle for
liberties, after this white just starts filling in
liberties and if black were to be only half
awake and would start filling in white
liberties at A (after white 7) than black will
loose the semeai by one move.
In other words, now it's black's turn to come
up with something ingenious to create a
liberty or two, or escape to the outside. If
white wants to kill he'll have to play at 11,
after this move, however, black can sacrifice two stone and connect
underneath. Black saved himself in a very humble fashion. With his
next move white makes the stones at the right alive and although black
is save white has create two healthy looking groups himself and this
variation can hardly be called a success.
Black should end with a favorable result since it was white who
approached a black corner stone in the first place and not the other way
around. Black has to read out some more and find a more attractive
way of playing things out.
Diagram 12
Outcome Still Unclear
By now white 38 and black
39 will not come as a
surprise for you, for both
players these are the
sharpest moves, any other
move will mean serious
damage.
White 40 is a safer move
compared to move at A in
that white now only needs
one move to ensure live.
White cannot be killed
once he adds a move at B.
Instead of 40 playing at A
means fireworks, the
game move is perhaps a
settlement of some kind.
Black's corner stones take
at least 6 moves before
they can be captured and perhaps that is why black extends at 41
instead of trying to make eyes. The white stones at the top have 4
liberties so as it is now white cannot immediately go for the corner.

Game Diagram 21
Semeai
White 1 looks as a fair enough move, the
question here is whether it works or not.
White 3 and 5 are played with the idea of
creating liberties instead of trying to escape.
Unfortunately for white he comes up one
liberty short.

Diagram 13
No Connection
White one smells of bad
weather, only if there
would be a white stone
within reachable distance
to the left of it can you
consider to play like this.
Even if white could escape
like this he has to get a lot
of compensation for all the
crawling he's doing.
Crawling doesn't
necessarily mean you're
doing something bad but because you do it on the first and second line
you are not exactly making a lot of territory. So no points for white but
black is getting thicker and thicker on the outside, black's happy.
And, you guessed it already, white escape plan starting with 1 was
doomed to fail because of the presence of black . I showed you what is
most likely to happen if white will not give up. It is very important to
notice that white did almost not create any extra liberties here. After
black 18 there's nothing white can do anymore. If white, for example,
would capture the two black stones black will come back at the 6 right
away.
Diagram 13a
White to Meet His Maker

White 1 in dia 13b is what white can think of

next. There is some room for variation here
but if white insists on killing black the result
in the dia is pretty much what is to be
expected. White again does not survive this
fight by one liberty.

Diagram 13b
White Strikes Back

trace of aji has completely evaporated?

Game Diagram 22
Black is Doing Better

The white stones at the

top have not much room
for action right now as
we've seen in the previous
dias. White now follows a
brilliant and at the same
time simple strategy:
"If you can't expect a
good result with certain
stones at a given moment
then play elsewhere."
In this over-technical
episode of Daigo this is a
much needed low-tech
easy to understand
advice, so why is it that
plenty players do just
*have* to play every
situation out until every

Of course white could

have cut at 1, there's
nothing black can
reasonably do to help the
marked stone. Which
brings me back to the
intro about fighting: Don't
fight if you don't have to.
All black's positions are
solid and when black plays
the super solid
reinforcement at 4 (or
even one space to the
right of 4) black has a
good game. Dia 14 shows
why white did cut at 44 in
the game diagram. In
game diagram 22 white is
trying to start fighting at a
bigger scale in such a fashion that black cannot simply let go of one
stone to get a good result as is shown in dia 14
After black 4 white would very much like to play two moves in a row A
and B. To rephrase that, white needs to play two moves in a row to
keep in the game.
Diagram 14
Next Move Problem
Well, the game has
advanced over twenty
moves, all played in one
corner, but it certainly has
not gotten any easier.
How the situation in the
upper right corner is going
to be settled is still in the
dark. For the moment it
looks as if black has no
choice but to go after the
four white stones at the
top because he cannot
make two eyes in the
corner. Where did black
play his next move?

Diagram 15
Find out the answer in the next episode of DAIGO.
Summary
Daigo 3, All In One Diagram (25-46)
Black 25 would be better
style if played at 27
directly. However, black is
not doing badly because of
25. White 28 is a natural
move, white needs to gain
liberties and eye-space.
White 32, if this move
would be play at 36 the
situation would probably
turn into a ko which black
can take first giving white
a bad result. Black 35,
there might be a reason
for the exchange black 35,
white 36 but whatever the
benefit does not outweigh
the loss of a liberty, black
35 directly at 37 is better.
When playing at 40 white opts for making eyes instead of forcing a
struggle for liberties on black which would most likely result if white
were to play 40 one space to the right of 28. After black 41 the stones
at the top cannot hope to win a direct fight against the black right
corner. For the moment white has not a good move at the top so he
plays elsewhere, leaving a lot of troublesome aji. White 42 is only
played if white intends to cut at 44 next. Playing 42 one space to the
left of 39 is a safe way of playing but also will mean that white accepts
a loss. Cutting at 44 shows good fighting spirit and tries to activate the
near dead white stones at the top again. Defending at 45 is necessary
for black, playing at the top and making sure that the white stones are
captured instead of 45 is not good enough for black.
Game Diagram 23

Daigo, episode 4
A monthly column by Pieter Mioch featuring a thorough game commentary
tastefully seasoned with go-related stories and clues to the meaning of
life.
"If you never question anything, you won't get very far"
Introduction
I'll take a break from myself this time; here's a low-key intro.
An entry from the diary I don't have of October 14, 2001. Although this
was a Sunday I had to work at the Nihon Ki-In, helping the 8-dan prof Ito
with the pre-insei class. The day coincided with the Central Japan youth
tournament at which I normally like to help out but couldn't this time.
'Got up 8:20, a bit late but too early I felt. After pastry and a banana with
a glass of water I left home 9:00.
When arriving at the Ki-in I immediately got pinned on a name tag with
the words "come help after you finish children class" from youth
tournament assistant Mr. Urano. Because there was still some time to
spare I sat myself behind a computer at the office section of the Ki-In,
away from the crowd.
The wives of Nakano 9p and Yamashiro 9p were there too and busy
discussing the cost of life in general and kindergarten fees in Japan in
particular. Hane Shigeko 1p joined them a little later. Shigeko-chan
married Hane Naoki 8p, and less than a year ago they had a daughter,
Ranka. She writes for the same newspaper I do and she complimented me
on the articles. I envy her very much because I often have trouble coming
up with a worthwhile but technical correct thing to write. Shigeko-chan
admitted that she too was sometimes at a loss covering technical details
from the pro-ama games and she always makes Naoki check her work
before posting. Hane Naoki is one of the strongest young Japanese born
players. A live-in world class go player can come in handy at times.
Before starting class I went upstairs to the 8th floor to say hello to several
mothers and kids I knew from my go-classes at the Ki-in and elementary
school. Next back to the 2nd floor for the Sunday's children go class. Only
two kids had shown up. Their level was way apart and the stronger one
was left waiting for an opponent who had called in he'd be late and I
started a game on 13x13 with an 8-year-old boy.
The head-sensei, 8p Ito, blamed the children's mothers (not present) for
not letting them play in the tournament upstairs and suggested to
participate instead of 2 hours children's class with 3 children. This was not
really a suggestion as the children's parents were not around and the boys
would not decide on their own accord.
It was clear that Ito hadn't expected that anybody would show up. He did
not feel like teaching too much and went upstairs to see who of the
children's class were playing in the tournament already. Ito didn't come

back soon and I was left with the 2 children, one playing, and one
watching. After 5 minutes a mother dropped by: "Is it still possible for my
boy to participate upstairs in the tournament?"
So, forgetting about class we went all upstairs and the two boys joined the
tournament although the first round had already started as it was about
10:15. They were both glad to play. Because I couldn't find the other
boys' mother I paid his 1000-yen entrance fee. Ito had said something
about the tournament being free for class' students but that turned out to
be wrong. Since I had decided to let one of the boys play without
consulting his parents first I couldn't ask for the entrance money but
fortunately the mother paid me back the moment she spotted me and
thanked me for taking care of her boy. I was grateful because simple
situations like this can easily turn complicated and at times get sticky.
The 8th floor of the Ki-In in Nagoya can not reasonably hold over 220 kids
with parents but somehow it did which didn't make it a comfortable place
to be.
I went back downstairs again because Ito was not moving from the 8th
floor although there still was a chance that somebody would show up for
class.
Checking at the front desk I was told that the belated boy who had called
earlier had gone directly to the tournament and skip go-class. It turned
out that the original call was about being late for the tournament, not for
the children's class, sigh.
All the same, it was a good thing I checked because one boy who got
close to a nervous breakdown had dropped out the tournament and
decided to come for class after all. I played two games with him and
invited the mother to play too. So, playing a game and at the same time
giving mom a beginner crash-course, the three of us had a nice time. The
normally very shy boy helping out his mother and at times making goodnatured fun of her.
Unfortunately Ito dropped by later to give some abuse (a way of
communicating he seems to feel comfortable with) to the kid as well as
the mother. "Connect those three stones, can't you see that they're about
to get captured!?" and stuff like that, remarks which kind of spoiled the
atmosphere.
Eight dan pro Ito is a wonderful teacher but he should be kept away from
anybody below 5-kyu. (If somebody from Nagoya reads this: I did not
write this Ito paragraph) He also could learn another thing or two from his
former teacher, Kitani Minoru. This teacher among teachers didn't say a
word about the games his pupils were playing but only looked on with a
faint smile on his face, probably feeling happy being among young talent.
Later, after class, I decided to use my lunch ticket instead of going
straight home which would have been smarter since my headache was
having the better of me.
All the same, lunch was nice because pro daddies had come to watch their
offspring sweating it out in the tournament. I sat at a table together with
Nishimoto 2p, Baba 9p and Yamashiro 9p directly on my right. Yamashiro
was in a mellow mood and we talked a bit about our children, school and

English education. I asked him rather bluntly about the challenger games
for the Honinbo title ('86-87 and '93). He said that although he had lost all
the three times he had enjoyed the occasion and the special tension of the
event. "It should not matter one bit and this special feeling, the tension
typical of two-day games could be present at any game, a 2-hour fast
game as well as titles games. But we're only human and we need the toptitle games and the atmosphere which always comes with it to get in that
"special" mood."
Yamashiro detail: he plays at IGS on a weekly basis, only fast games and
most of the time is 6d*.
After lunch I did one more guru-walk (kind of moonwalk moving forward)
over the 8th floor and had a closer look at the 6-year old daughter of
Yamashiro. She's not so strong yet, about 10-kyu, but plays every move
within 2 seconds and has unbelievably good go-manners, perhaps
promising a bright go-future. The 13-year old daughter of Baba sensei is
stronger but breaks down if she loses a game.
Making some excuses to the proper people I left the Ki-In to drive back
home. I used what was left of the Sunday to do some reading, as far as
my kids would let me, that is. All in all, a worthwhile day could have done
without the headache, though.
The Game
The diagrams below are printed in two colors, one for the actual game and
one for the explanatory diagrams and side-tracks, as follows:

Game
White 1 is better than "A"

Diagrams

Sorry, sorry and once

more, sorry. I forgot to
show you this important
diagram somewhere at the
end of Daigo 2 or at least
at the beginning of Daigo
3.
The game move of white A
(move 24) is not good. "A"
looks like a correct shape
move but because of the
presence of the marked
black stone it does not
work well. (Reasons for
this are given in Daigo 23). White should have
played A at 1 and now it is
black's turn to scratch his
head and come up with a
way of playing which will let all his stones come out nicely. Pool friend
Nakane 7p had this to say: "It's not gonna happen, black's marked
move is not proper here, if white moves out black has to accept a loss
of some kind. The white shimari in the bottom right corner is in an
excellent position."
Extra Diagram
Answering Last Episode's Next Move Problem:
A Common Move
Black 1 is the second best move. If black
plays at 1 the situation becomes a
straightforward race for liberties, a semeai.
White has only got three liberties left which
leaves him two moves short from capturing
the black corner stones. White can try to get
some extra liberties with a move at B but this
will not help him (black'll block and that's it).
After black 1 white has to come back to make
a living shape with 2, if black would play here
white would die.
Instead of black 1 he might have played at A
first after which white plays 2 and lives. Now black still has to add an
extra move to capture the four white stones. Black effectively lost sente
but got a stone at A. In the early stage of the game this kind of
endgame looking moves are almost never worth losing the initiative. A
black play at "A" would be a mistake.

By the way, after black 1 white should not play A because black does
not need to answer at B but instead kill the white stones with a play at
2.
Diagram 1
It is important to notice that if things were to go as in diagram 1 the
marked white stone was not a correct move. White still needs to play
another move in order to avoid being captured. Playing directly at 2 would
have been much better, exactly how much better you can see for your self
in the game diagram.
No Mercy
Black goes for the big fish,
after black 47 white
cannot make eyes
anymore. From here on
white has no choice but to
go for the surrounding
black stones and try to kill
some of them and
resurrect his stones at the
right or, if that proofs
impossible, capture a
sufficient amount of black
stones.

Game Diagram 24
The result in dia 1 is certainly not bad for black and perhaps he should've
been satisfied with it but if you feel that your opponent played a bad move
it is often worthwhile to keep your calm and try to figure out exactly how
bad a move it was.
Of course this takes a lot of reading and counting liberties but why should
you land a left jab if you can deliver an uppercut?
This is, unfortunately, a kind of twilight-zone talk; it could easily be
misinterpreted as greed. Greed is bad and often dangerous (Would it still
be bad if there would be no risk attached?). If black fails he was too
greedy and people will label him a no-good loser. If black can pull it off it's
the red carpet and a laurel wreath. Only a razor thin line seperates
exquisitely sharp moves from overplays.
Black Captures in 3 Moves

black 8 to the right of 1

If white wants to have a chance of attacking
the surrounding black stones it is important
to keep his stones together. Instead of white
1 filling in at 3 immediately gives white an
extra liberty but has the drawback of giving
black the chance of cutting at 7. Black is
grateful for this because once he plays at 7
two white stones are captured which means
that part of the surrounding black stones do
not have to worry anymore about white
attacking later on.
The sequence in dia 2 is a one way street and leads naturally to black
taking the vital point with move 8 after which white has only got three
liberties left. White has not got much scoop for action, so
Diagram 2
Ko Fight?
White can try to give his stones one solid eye
and set up a ko at the same time. He of
course does not do so in a half-baked
attempt to make life. White's only aim is to
attack one of the surrounding black groups
and if he would be able to encircle one which
does not have two eyes the situation will turn
into a ko fight. This without a doubt is much
better than just dying unconditionally.
Unfortunately black does not need to block at
A but has time to reinforce his outside
position with black 4. Now it does not seem
likely at all that white ever will get his ko-fight.
Diagram 3
Leaving some Aji
Black 1 in dia 4 also kills the white group. All
the same this result is some kind of a success
for white compared to this dias 2 and 3. It
will take black at least 5 moves to capture
the white stones. White also managed to get
a ko-shape in sente, black has to come back
at 5 and white can play outside first. Black 1
is a mistake and gives white more chance to
try something.

Diagram 4
When going for the kill be very keen about 1) finding the killing move
which leaves you opponent with the fewest liberties, and 2) avoiding the
situation turns into a ko-fight. Even a 3-step ko is better for you opponent
than no ko at all.
White Starts Something
After white 48 black needs
to go after the right side
white group. Instead of
49, cutting at A would
capture two white stones
but is dangerous. After
black A white will play at
49 and win the semeai.

Game Diagram 25
We now enter an interesting phase of the game, white has seemingly
taken a bad hit but at the same time this makes the game easier. Now
white simply has to do something and black has to be cautious, playing
tight moves without giving in to the silly but understandable temptation to
every move play "honte", regardless of whether it is actually necessary or
not.
In a lopsided game all the pressure falls on the leading player. It is often
difficult to find the right path between playing solid and playing overly
defensive which sometimes can lose so many points that your opponent is
back in the game before you'll notice it.
In my opinion many players purposefully seek to deliver a forceful
blow or even invite being kicked hard, right from the start. After
one of the parties has taken a loss and it is clear how matters
stand a lot of tension and pressure evaporates. At the same time it
simplifies strategy a lot and will give the players the feeling they
are not just stumbling around in the dark anymore.
The tension can build up again to extreme levels later, of course, but once
the balance on the board is thoroughly distorted it is just not the same.

This kind of automatically fail-safety tension relieve valve will often stand
directly in the way of progress to a higher level, 2-3 stones ahead.
To put this in terms the bench-pressing, wrestlemania watching majority
of go players can understand: The more pain you can take the better your
chances are of seeing your opponent self-destruct.
Am I telling you to never fiercely attack anymore? Am I suggesting that
you always should defend and try to keep the game close? Am I telling
you to wash your hair at least 3 times a week?
No, not at all. I guess that I'm saying that your state of mind when
getting in a difficult situation deserves analyzing check yourself. Are you
playing that overplay-looking move because you honestly think it will do
you good and because you read out that it actually works? Or do you play
that everything-or-nothing move just to get it over with and simplify
matters, any which way?
The most taxing games I ever played were with the top insei. Can you
imagine what it is to play against people who never blow a fuse?
Mistakes? Sure, anybody can make a mistake but throwing away a game
because of mental fatigue, inability to handle a loss or extreme difficult
situation, never.
The pressure start building from move one and does only increase as the
game progresses. The only way out of this self-inflicted hell is to play it
through and stand it to the very end.
Shape
White has two groups with
problems, the big one on
the right side is dead for
the time being and the
group at the top is still
weak. White 50 is a fancy
probe, it is also a shape
move, a move which aims
at making the opponent's
stones come out inefficient

Game Diagram 26
A bit Vulgar

In dia 5 after the exchange white 1, black 2

there is no fun left for white at the right side.
Black's stones at the right are very solid and
white can forget about attacking them. But
then again, if white 1 would make excellent
fighting moves possible involving the black
stones above 1 it would be hard to call white
1 a bad move, even though it looks a bit
vulgar.
So, vulgar moves do not need to be bad by
definition. If a vulgar move works, it works,
end of story. The problem with vulgar moves,
moves that do not look thought out, is that they tend to make things
easier to decide for your opponent. Unless the opponent will be
overcome by emotions like anger, fear or a sick feeling, it is often the
case that a vulgar move throws away opportunities.
Diagram 5
Brass Balled
The boldest thing for black to do would be to
play atari at 1 and connect at 3. Now the
white marked "shape-move" looks ridiculous,
instead of spoiling the black shape it only
helped solidify black.
However, white got an extra stone at 2 and
this looks a little dangerous. Unfortunately for
white he cannot capture the all-important
four black stones. After cutting at A black will
have to let go of the square marked stones
but that is not a big deal if you realize what
he got in return. White can strike at the vital
point of B but black can, barely, escape. Can you find the move and
read out the following sequence, which allows black to get away?
All said, black 1 might be dangerous but it is perhaps the sharpest move
(even though it's a bit vulgar looking :-)
Diagram 6
Not Good for White

black 6 fills in at 3
Black 2 is the only move which will enable
black to get away. White might get his hopes
up when he starts with throwing in at 3 and
next plays a lot of atari but in the end he will
run out of steam. After black 12 there is no
move for white which will even begin to make
up for the enormous loss he took.

Diagram 6a
Too Tight?
Black 51 looks like good
style, it is not an atari,
which always looks smart.
However, it also looks
pretty submissive and I
can't help but feel that
black started to read out
what would happen if he'd
play 51 at A but got tired
along the line and decided
that 51 was safest. The
white probe (50 last
diagram) was perhaps a
small success for white,
let's see what he can
accomplish by the game
move, the cut at 52.
Game Diagram 27
Good Timing?

Black 53 is the vital point

of the shape if there ever
was one. Whatever will
follow it seems extremely
unlikely that white will be
able to capture the central
four black stones. White
54 looks like good timing,
if he would play here later
black might be able to
move out instead of
answering at 55. All the
same, it's a pity that the
right white stones have so
few liberties left and that
the situation won't even
turn into a one-eye-ko
group.
Game Diagram 28
No Forcing Moves
Neither white move A nor B is sente. Even if
white would have both, A and B, white 1 still
does not work. White 1 is the only move
worth a try but if black watches himself and
quietly stretches at 2 there is no way on
earth white can get a good result.
Realizing this game move white 54 might
have been good timing but than again it
might have been "throwing in his own
windows" (this is Dutch for aji-keshi).
Diagram 7
Black Won't Let Go Any Stones

After white 56 black might

have chosen to sacrifice
two of his stones and let
some white stones escape.
When black plays at 57 he
declares that he's not even
considering letting white
out, black is going for the
jackpot.
Of course white could have
made his top group alive
instead of playing 54-58.
This, however, will not
bring him back in the
game and is therefor not
really interesting. White
tries with all his might to
unsettle the black
positions in order to
launch an all-out attack. At present white does not seem to be getting
anywhere but to be sure the black outside stones are not settled yet.
Game Diagram 29
Natural Flow
Black 59 is inducing white
60 forcing black to play
61, a move black wanted
to play anyhow. This
sequence has this kind of
"natural flow" idea about
it. Black 59 does seem to
leave an awful lot of room
for the white top group,
and to be sure white
should be able to make
eyes here, if he wants to.

Game Diagram 30
More Solid?

Black 1 looks much more solid compared to

game move 59. It does leave some aji,
however, which white might try to use as
shown. Unfortunately for white, the black
positions are so solid that even cutting like
this will not have much impact, black is not
worried at all. All the same, aji is aji.

Diagram 8
White Attack Runs Out Of Steam
Another drawback of black 1 is the aji left
after white 4, black 5. Black cannot stop
white from cutting at 6 and it looks as if
white has found a way to continue his
"unsettle" strategy. After black 11 white
unfortunately does not have a way to hurt
black, if black starts at A (against which
white has to defend if he wants something)
it only will take black three additional
moves to capture the white group.
Diagram 9
Is There A Tesuji?
What black most would like to do is play
the extremely profitable combination of 1
and 3. There's almost no bad potential left
at the top for white to exploit. At the same
time black has made *a lot* of points.
Black's top stones might be without worries
but the same can not be said for the six
black stones attached to black 5.
White to play, can he accomplish anything
here? (Answer at the end)
Diagram 10
White Sacrifices Big

White is preparing himself

for what could very well be
the last battle of the
game, if all the white guys
in the upper right quadrant
are POW the game is all
but over. One cannot help,
however, but feel that
white's chance to pull
some stunt are rapidly
diminishing. By the way,
after black 63 there is still
some aji left in the top
white stones, only not
enough to make two eyes.

Game Diagram 31
What Next?
The last game diagram of
Daigo 4. Black 67 is nice,
white could run away with
his single stone but in that
case there's no way to
stop black from moving
out to the center. White is
getting a little desperate
by now and plays 68.

Game Diagram 32
Is white 68 a troublesome move or can it be eaten alive? Can white get
alive and how? Find out in the next episode of Daigo!
Answer to the problem from dia 10: there is nothing white can do
but black should be careful.

Excelent Squeeze
(black 10 fills in at 3)
White 1 is the only move which can hope to
capture at least four black stones. This on
its own is would be enough to decide the
game in white's favor. If the sequence upto
white 13 will get on the board black can go
home.

Diagram 10a
Brilliant Dametsumari
Black 2 is a skilful counter measure, and
white does seem to be at a loss. It is rather
unbelievable, however, but black cannot
escape with all his stones intact! Whatever
atari sequence black comes up with to
wriggle out of the encirclement, white can
bring about a masterful dametsumari,
shortage of liberties-trap.

Diagram 10b
Black Escapes
Black 2 is the only tesuji enabling black to
get out. After black 2 white 3 is the proper
move, but when black fills in at 4 there's
nothing white can do anymore, his four
stones will get captured and white should
start thinking about resigning.
How much time does a pro need to answer
if white can capture black? Well, fair
enough, I can tell you with great
confidence that a pro will not use over 2
seconds:
Diagram 10c
White Has Nothing To Sell

I hope you took the trouble to go through

the above diagrams, there's really a lot of
basic fighting stuff in them! There was,
however, no need to do so. The probes
white played earlier on have reduced the
amount of liberties to three, that's not
enough. When white plays 1, black can
make plenty of mistakes if he doesn't find
black 2 from dia 10c. Black 2 in dia 10d,
however, is quite sufficient too to silence
troublemaker white.
Diagram 10

Daigo, episode 5
A monthly column by Pieter Mioch featuring a thorough game commentary
tastefully seasoned with go-related stories and clues to the meaning of
life.
"If you never question anything, you won't get very far"
Introduction
Sunday the 25th of November was a beautiful day with clear skies and a
nice temperature in Nagoya. Catalin Taranu had to play a game for the
Chubu Keizai newspaper pro-ama match for which games are played at
least once a month. The 28 year old Rumanian was chosen (not
completely at random) to defend the honor of the pros in Central Japan.
His opponent was a university of Nagoya graduate from China whose
name in Japanese reads Ri Inri, I doubt if this is read the same in China.
Allow me the liberty of adjusting the Japanese reading to "Li" which seems
a more likely spelling.
Mr. Li works for Denso Information Technology Corporation (Denso
Aitekku) and is a doctor of engineering, developing and working with a
virtual environment in order to design and make car parts for Toyota. If
you're interested and read Japanese you can find more about
CAD/CAM/CAE and PDM at http://www.i-tech.co.jp/ He recently beat the
strongest go player of the Toyota go-team, a Mr. Koike, which made him
the celebrity of the denso go-team.
At the beginning of the game the usual ritual of quibbling and dibbling
about how many handicap stones Mr. Li should (may) take against Catalin
was shorter than usual. If the players would both be Japanese this can
take some time and only after one of the participants managed to
convince the other of his worthlessness and absolute zero skill at go can
the game start. To be sure, Mr. Li did attempt to take 4 stones but after
Catalin's "Well, it's all the same to me, your choice" the issue was quickly
settled at 3 stones.
Japan may or may not be among the strongest go countries in the world
but one thing is sure, when looking at the Rumanian pro playing against a
Chinese amateur and with a Dutchman for the Japanese newspaper
coverage nobody can deny that they did a good job in spreading the game
of go during the last century. If it weren't for Saijo 8p Catalin would
probably not have found his way to Japan. If it weren't for the ChinaJapan Super matches Mr. Li would most likely not have picked up go.
During the pre-game interview Mr. Li mentioned that he got interested in
go because of the China-Japan Super matches and because of the first
Chinese top pro since Go Seigen who could hold his own and stood his
ground against the Japanese top contenders: Nie Weiping.

Usually at these pro-ama matches the pro has a hard time controlling the
damage to the amateurs positions. Although you will not ever find a letter
on paper about it, it seems good manners to keep the outcome of the
game between 1-6 points in either way. A month ago a pro beat the
amateur by 11 points and was visibly embarrassed by the big lead. The
game between Catalin and Mr. Li was not quite the same story, though.
In the post game comment Catalin confessed, "well this nobi loses so
many points for black, I felt that it didn't really matter how I would play
but that I just couldn't lose."
Never count the game before the stones are back in their bowl is but all
too true a proverb. Mr. Li came back with a vengeance and when Catalin
played one move just a bit too quickly black was leading by about 8
points.
Just at that moment a friend of Mr. Li, Ito Youji, 9p came to have a look
why it took so long. Normally these games are over inside an hour but
thanks to slow play by both contestants they were playing for close to two
hours. Catalin grunted at the sight of Ito, the difference on the board was
not enough to resign right out but since there were no places left where
white could hope to turn things around Catalin seemingly was forced to
play out a lost game in front of a senior pro.
You can imagine he didn't really feel like that and played 3 rash moves in
a row, black kept his cool and didn't fumble the ball but skillfully
connected all his stones after which resignation was the only option left
for Catalin.
Game 1
White
Catalin Taranu, 5p
Black
Li Inri, 6d
Handicap
3 stones
Event
Chubu Keizai newspaper pro-ama matches
Date
November 25, 2001
Place
Nagoya, Japan
Result
Black wins by resignation
Game record
White resigns

This is the game the

moment Catalin decide to
call it a day, black has a
comfortable lead and even
though it's white's turn
there's nothing to be done
about it.
At first sight it might look
as if white can cut off 6
black stones in the lower
left quadrant. As a matter
of fact white -can- capture
the stones and he very
much would like to do so.
Problem: why doesn't
white cut the black
stones? If you could find
the answer inside 10
seconds you're at least 1st
kyu, for every additional second it takes you your rank goes down by
one. If you can't find the answer this means that you're probably not a
dan-level player and also that you are too concentrated on the local
position.
Extra Diagram
The Game
The diagrams below are printed in two colors, one for the actual game and
one for the explanatory diagrams and side-tracks, as follows:

Game

Diagrams

Back to reality, I'm not Catalin and this Daigo game is not of the kind of
level you might expect from amateur high dan-level players. I'm not at all
satisfied with my own game, but then again, who is. If you once in a while
*are* rather glum with your own game this is often but a
misinterpretation of the facts, such is live. Is ignorance bliss? Well, that's
a hard one but to sidetrack the issue and dismiss the question, I'm pretty
sure ignorance will stand in the way of any significant progress.
Black Makes 42 Points in the Corner

Give or take a point the

black corner territory is
huge. All the same, if
white would be able to
build something of a wall
around the black corner
and in doing so create
some thickness he might
actually not be doing that
badly. White's outside
stones are, however, far
from secure and can not
be called thick or
influence.
Unless white comes up
with something very
dramatic he will not be
able to get back in the
game. White 70 is not a
very good start, although it does create some possibilities (double peep
diagonal right under stone 69). Instead of white 70 playing elsewhere is
probably better, black 69 was played at the inside of black's territory so
for the time being white did not lose points here. After white 70,
however, it seems highly unlikely that white will be able to settle his
stones in sente (while holding the initiative) and the future white group
around white 70 already seems too heavy to let go off.
Game Diagram 33
Whatever happens, especially when being behind by more than a small
margin, it is unwise to let go of the initiative when you don't get
compensation, preferably weak points in the enemy positions you can
strike at with intention to kill.
White Lives

course.
Diagram 1

Instead of game move black 69

blocking at 1 as in dia 1 is possible
too. It's true that white can prevent
black from getting a nice piece of
territory by making two eyes, but
this is gote, white will play the last
move and black can decided what
to do next. Usually gaining sente is
worth -very- much, exactly how
much depends on the position, of

Peeping Right Away

Another variation instead of game
move white 70. After black 69
playing the double peep of white 1
feels like the right spirit, i.e.
striking at your enemies vital point
without first solidifying each and
every one of your own stones
(usually this results in your
opponent's stones getting equally
solid).
After white 3 probably the best thing black can do is to play atari twice
at the place of stones 5 and 8. White can make a mini-group and gets
two eyes but this does not close the gap of black's lead.
Black 4 and 8 are possible but spell bad aji, black seems to be able to
get away with it but it is a bit unsafe and what's more, unnecessary.
After white 13 black can escape but this way of playing is not to be
recommended.
Diagram 2
The Double Peep
White got around to the
double peep but it is
almost certain that this
move would have been
better if played
immediately after black
69. There seems to be
only one way to answer
white 74, try to read out
things a bit before moving
on to diagram 3.

Game Diagram 34
Just to fill some space to give you the chance to work up a sweat before
scrolling down, here's a bit more about an idea I half mentioned in an
earlier episode of Daigo.
Except for unambiguous words as "atari, eyes, ko and a couple more,

paying great importance to terminology and putting advanced go concepts

in words works exactly as trying to get somewhere by first traveling half
the distance and then half of half the distance and so on: It looks as if
you're doing the right thing and that you are indeed getting somewhere
but eventually you'll realize that you are not getting quite at your
destination.
There is nobody on this planet who knows or can put in words (even the
go-wonder himself) how exactly Lee Changho managed to become what
he is today, one of the very few candidates for the title of world's
strongest player, in such a very short time. There are no lists of problems
and games a player needs to memorize before he will get somewhere. The
process of turning raw talent and eager energy into a successful go player
is a complete mystery, you can do this, you can do that but it is not
possible to put your finger on what exactly did it and made the difference.
One thing is sure, however, improving has little to do with trying to hunt
for the exact meaning of a go term.
Sorry to bother you with a sci-fi novel I enjoyed reading very much, it is
by Robert A Heinlein and called something like "Tunnel in the Sky". It's
about these cadets who have to spend some time on a planet and survive
there as the last part of their education before graduation. The instructor
warns each cadet to be alert and to especially watch out for the "Stober"
(writing this from memory, please correct me Heinlein fans). It turns out
that this Stober warning is standard for the test (although there are a
number of different planets used for the test) and that there is not
actually an animal called Stober. The warning is purposely without details
and is meant to make the cadets watch out for that being which is highest
in the food chain and deserves being afraid of.
Still with me? So all the cadets are pretty scared for this Stober thing
without knowing what it is or what it is supposed to look like. All the
participants in the test make up a mental image of the Stober and, small
wonder, they all come up with different pictures or try to apply it to the
wild life they meet. And, second small wonder, they all have it wrong.
I very much feel that a lot of go terms are treated precisely the same way
as Heinlein's "Stober" i.e. there is something what deserves a special term
and everybody knows and understand the general idea but there's nobody
among term-studying go players who has the perfect description.
Go terms are things you slap, at best, on a *real* mess of thoughts and
confused ideas going around and around but it's not the term which
defines the concept, the term is a big wooden crate full of, sometimes
usable, junk.
At worst people learn first a term, than the general idea and a broad
descriptions and than try to find situations in every day play where the
term might be applicable. This is opposite from "ideal" learning which
comprises playing, wondering a bit and one day coming up with a
framework of ideas just begging for a particular name.
The go prodigy will first have a whole string of often pretty complicated
and seemingly unrelated thoughts on matters which for him all are
connected to each other by one powerful and obvious idea, a feeling if you

like.
Improving for the average go player -you and me - too has everything to
do with seeing the obvious and making ideas interlock in a new, and
smart, fashion. Starting to name (groups of) ideas and concepts and
applying a term to it is an after thought, it even can help others becoming
aware of the necessity of thinking into a given direction, it also can help
abbreviate long explanations when analyzing among players of very high
level.
For us amateurs go-terms are something we can play with, show off a
little every now and then. At times extremely useful to help others along
but always lacking "that" most important ingredient for which you'll have
to go digging around inside your skull and not outside of it.
White Does not Survive
What about pushing
through at black 1? White
might get his hopes up
when getting the chance
to play the atari of white
2. Next white can connect
his stones crossing
underneath with white 6.
Unfortunately for white,
however, there's no way
he can save all his stones
after black 7.
Diagram 3
Variation
White 2 seems a more
interesting move
compared with the
previous dia, dia 3. After
white 4 black might panic
a bit but there's no reason
to do so, after black 5 the
white stones at the side
are dead as before and
capturing one outside
black stone did not do
white much good.
If white would struggle back and instead of cutting at 4 would play 'A'
black will immediately play at 5, stealing an eye while at the same time
preventing white from cutting at 4.
Diagram 4

Black Connects
Playing at 75 black is
telling white to go ahead,
cut of one stone and make
an eye or two. Black
doesn't mind, ***as long
as his stones remain
strong and he gets the
initiative.
It is worthwhile noticing
that now the triangle
marked black stone
creates an ugly shape.
Does this matter? Well,
yes and no.
There is no such a thing as
dead stones making
beautiful shape, so this
one black empty triangle
is more than compensated
for by the captured white stones. All the same, bad shape has got this
name for a reason, it is inefficient and potentially more dangerous.
When putting a shape on the board which is less than pure art check
whether or not you got any compensation and/or if there lies some
hidden (future) danger around the corner to wreck havoc among your
stones.
Game Diagram 35
About Shape, Again
"Bad shape, uh? Bad shape, what's wrong with it?! If it works it works!"
And more strong language much in the same spirit as what I used to
advocate while still in Europe.
And it's true, however, it is only *part* of the truth. Bad shape it due to
its nature a less efficient way of accomplishing a certain task, it often
causes a premature lack of liberties for one thing. It also will leave more
vulnerable points and weaknesses which somewhere in the future might
be exploited by your opponent. "If it works it works!" is also my motto but
poor shape will limit your future scoop of action. The more less-efficient
shapes you have on the board the harder you have to think and continue
to be aware of the vulnerability of your positions. The better a shape, the
less you need to worry about the future and the more freedom of choice
you can enjoy.
Not worrying about bad shape is only skin deep, after 20-30 moves your
shapes will come back to haunt you and suddenly you discover that there
is almost no room for action left and that you need to reinforce right away
in order to keep your stones together, in order to survive.

Nightmare
One option black does
positively *not* have
because of the shape of
his stone-chains is to play
atari and stretch with
black 1 and 3 in the dia.
Although there is no
ladder for white to aim at
(the marked black stone is
in the way, thank god),
white can combine a geta
with exploiting the
shortage of liberties of
another (pivotal) black
position. Up to white 12 is
a one way street but now
black finds out that he
needs to defend against
'A' as well as 'B' next. This
is black's worst nightmare come true, the presumably captured white
stones suddenly come back to life again and white takes the lead.
Diagram 5
Simple
White more or less used
all the aji at the top and it
gave him a group with two
eyes right inside black's
stronghold. Putting it like
this it might sound as if
white should be happy
here but by now you
understand that he isn't,
shouldn't.
Well, that's exaggerating
matters a bit, especially
when realizing that it is
not clear yet if black can
play elsewhere next or if
he needs to add another
move. What do you think?
Game Diagram 36

No Ko
Suppose that black has
played tenuki and that
white has the opportunity
to start with the hane of
white 1 as shown in the
dia. Blocking with black 2
feels a bit scary and not a
few players probably will
let their emotions get in
the way in deciding on
what to do next. This is
often a bad idea and can

easily cost you a game.

When having a closer look it becomes clear that a rather simple (but
ingenious) squeeze is enough to silence white at the top. White cannot
connect because of a lack of liberties and he's effectively captured. If
there's some aji left in the black stones it is more likely the cut at 'A'
which will become a (future) target. If, under now difficult to imagine
circumstances white would get a stone at 'A' this would change the
whole story dramatically. For one thing, the squeeze of dia 6 would no
longer work properly.
Diagram 6
Too Solid?
Black 81 is strictly
speaking not necessary,
and if it weren't for the
fact that black 81 also
threatens to kill some
white stones (details,
details) than black 81
would be much better at
'A'. Black, however,
seemed to be convinced
that white would answer
to black 81 and that next
a move around 'A' would
still be a good idea.

Game Diagram 37

White has Bigger Fish to Fry

danger of passing away.

White plays justifiably

elsewhere. Which is to say
that white is losing the
game and he is not going
to change that by
answering to black 81 and
make his top stones alive.
White has to do
something. Although
nobody can say white
didn't try the result to
white 80 or thereabouts is
not good enough, by a
long shot. When that
happens and you are
behind in the game you're
playing, just play tenuki
regardless of how many
stones exactly are in

Game Diagram 38
Forcing Moves
Black 1 in the dia is very,
very big. All the same the
game move of black 83 is
proper I think. It is not
that black really must
capture one white stone
but all the same, being
forced to actually take the
captured white stones of
the board is not to black's
liking.
White can get a little
stronger which means just
a little more chance of
staging an upset
somewhere. To be honest,
if black keeps his cool and
plays things out correctly
his bottom stones ought to
be able to create eyes and getting alive, white 12 and 14 are just too
thin and black has too much space to maneuver left. For example black

A-C are all moves black may consider in order to settle his stones.
That said, however, in average every day games white suddenly has a
very good chance of turning things around and black should try to avoid
that white even might start feeling that way, i.e. hopeful and regaining
confidence.
Diagram 7
In every game you have to just sit back one or two times to let the dust
settle and to see how things actually are going. This also is a good
opportunity to try and find answers for all the moves you know your
opponent is going to hit you with.
Evaluating the whole board position, however, does not necessarily mean
that you're supposed to count the score in some detail. Getting the rough
picture is enough. Especially when there are many situations left on the
board which are not decided yet one way or another it is a good strategy
to try to determine about how much you territory you can permit your
opponent to make.
It may be not all that interesting or much fun, but to actually let your
opponent make quite some territory is a perfect way to lull him a bit and
to prevent him from starting wild and unpredictable fighting. I remember
that when I first came to Japan and played with amateur 5-6 dans at local
go clubs I very much felt frustrated because my opponents were not
prepared to get involved in big time fighting. And, what's worse, when
trying to provoke a fight and in doing so attempting to create an
atmosphere I felt comfortable with, I lost (even faster).
Evaluating the Whole Board
Black has made a lot of
points in the upper right
corner, well over 40
points. This means that
black can let white make
all the space marked into
territory and still be in the
lead. (because black
gained some points
elsewhere while white was
busy securing the lower
part of the board)
Further more, the
situation at the left part of
the board looks favorable
for black too. For black
when thinking like this you
come to realize that the
game might be close to
over if black manages to make a living group at the bottom. Or, it is

also possible to just let white do his worst and while checking that white
bottom's territory will not exceed 50 points play a tight game.
Diagram 8
Next Move Problem

going to do now?

Black played the slightly

odd-looking tight move of
85. It is as if black is
feeling the pressure of
being in the lead and let it
influence his play. White
86 is a natural move, no
need to read a lot, no
need to think very hard. If
white wants something it
starts with a play at 86,
no matter what it exactly
is what white wants :).
Although black has a
comfortable lead he
cannot afford to let the
whole lower right quadrant
turn into a huge white
territory, so what is black

Game Diagram 39
Will white find a way to destroy black after all? Is black so confident that
he doesn't realize white is aiming at a quarter of the board?
Find out in the next episode of Daigo!

Daigo, episode 6
A monthly column by Pieter Mioch featuring a thorough game
commentary tastefully seasoned with go-related stories and
clues to the meaning of life.
"If you never question anything, you won't get very far"
Introduction
You might have read through part 1 and 2 of the interview I did
with Catalin Taranu 5p. Part 3 is almost finished and it has
turned out bigger than the first two articles combined. It's
completely about Japan and contains a lot of information about
Catalin you won't be able to find anywhere else so, by all
means, go and have a look.
Recently it has become clear that you don't need to be born in
South East Asia in order to make it to pro level. There was
James Kerwin and others who kind of raised that suspicion
already some time ago but now Michael Redmond has made it
all the way to 9 dan (hope he'll win a title someday) and the
latest pros Hans Pietsch and Catalin Taranu are also doing fine
there's no doubt in my mind, given a little talent and a lot of
stamina anybody can become pro.
Some years ago I would help out as an interpreter (=gofer) at
the world amateur championship and the nicest part of that job
was that you get to sit knee to knee to a strong pro who would
show the participants, both from Europe, useful stuff about
their games afterwards. It was during such an occasion that the
9 dan doing the commentary would mutter to himself: "wow,
how many joseki does this guy know?" while shaking his head
in disbelieve. The pro was visibly impressed by the vast
knowledge of obscure corner patterns one of the players was
displaying (showing of) and most likely he was not the first pro
to be amazed by technical memory of foreign amateur
champions. In Japan, to be sure, the average amateur is not
that knowledgeable when talking about joseki.
Unfortunately this technical skill alone is not enough to make
somebody a pro (although quite a few have tried this approach,
and failed). What is most needed now - also judging from the
Catalin interview - seems to be a change in attitude and
improving the mentality of the player. As to what the exact
nature of these changes would be and how to work such a
miracle you can find a few hints Catalin made in the interview, I
hope somebody will find them (useful).
Please, don't get me wrong I don't say that you have to learn
how to play the sitar and wear bright orange clothing, however

a nice color it may be. You also needn't worry about doing Zen
meditation and Ying and Yang philosophy. Although I'm positive
some people will be helped by this. One thing is sure, most
pro's I met here did not seem to be particularly interested in
the aforementioned. I did, however, meet a pro who confessed
he was a Jehovah's witness.
The Game
The diagrams below are printed in two colors, one for the actual
game and one for the explanatory diagrams and side-tracks, as
follows:

Game

Diagrams

Common Approach
A perfectly
common way of
answering the
white kosumi
would be black
1. It is
important to be
aware that once
you play a move like 1 you make it more difficult to sacrifice
and treat the situation lightly. It is equally important though
to understand that black 1 is not directly played with the idea
of securing eyes at the side yet as it is played mainly to get a
solid formation which black can use to jump from and
somewhere along the line, while attempting to get away,
make life.
If, for example, white descends with 2 black will not block at
the right of 2 but he'll jump out at 3 and although it is not
clear exactly how many eyes the black stones have it seems
unlikely they'll die.
Instead of the keima black 3 he also can think of playing an
attachment at A or an attachment at B. As you'll know for
sure, the weaker your stones the more attachments you
(want to) play because you are not worried about
strengthening your opponent anymore, you're much too busy
securing life.
Diagram 1
Skillful Probe?

The probe of
black 1 is a
very interesting
move in this
situation. If it
works is open
for discussion
but it will
undoubtedly succeed in giving white a headache trying to
find the best way to deal with it.
First of all, black 1 is a light move and it is not really black's
intention to start some big time fighting. After white 2 black
plays another light move, the hane of black 3. Probably the
best thing for white to do is to capture one black stone with
4 and 6. White got stronger where he already was pretty
strong and black is happy since he got a bit stronger, too.
Contrary to the original white position, however, the black
stones were rather weak. Next black has a few moves to
consider. A, B, C and D all have there merits, in my own
game I'd have a hard time deciding on which one to play.
Moves like C and D do not attempt to move out as much as
they are creating local eye shape. Before black chooses
either one he'd better be pretty sure that he's indeed able to
make eyes were white to prevent him from escaping in any
direction.
Diagram 1a
Variation
If white feels
the former dia
is too meek a
way of dealing
with the black
stones he can
play at 2 and
try to stir things
up a bit. Black 3 is the only move here (well, black might
want to keep it in reserve and leave it unplayed, but it locally
would be the most natural move) and from white 4 it feels
like a one way street. Next black A and B are excellent
points, white did not really succeed in putting black on the
spot, although he made a couple extra points in the corner.
Diagram 1b
Attaching

dilemma:

In the game
black choose to
play a probe at
87 right away.
This is a good
move. Playing
an attachment
when your
stones are still
weak and do
not have much
room for eyes is
a powerful
strategy.
Ideally you
would pose
your opponent
with the
following

1. Do I play the most solid move, which protects my

territory but has little or none attacking value? or,
2. Do I play the most aggressive looking counter which
aims at capturing the whole enemy group although
failing to kill the stones would mean a considerable loss
in territory?
Game Diagram 40
By the way, if you try this "play attachments with weak stones"
approach, be sure to check if your opponent does not have a
move which does both, A) defend his territory and B) keeps on
a severe attack. If your move can be countered in such a way
your attachment was ill selected.
Defending
After black
played the
marked stone
white might for
example
answer at 1 or
A. Both these
white moves
are not necessarily bad but because of this simple exchange
of moves a lot of pressure disappears and black is happy, his

stones are not even weak looking anymore.

Diagram 2
Attacking
Now this is a
move to my
heart, ignoring
the opponent
probes and just
carry on with
an eye stealing
strategy. All the
same, it is
questionable if
white 88 is
correct or not.
If in the end the
black stones
make eyes
move 88
probably will
have cost white
some points.
What to do next when playing black is very hard to decide
on. It is not that I wouldn't know what black should play. It's
just that he has quite a few moves he can choose from which
all require extensive reading ahead (Darn, I don't know what
black should do:-)
Game Diagram 41
Making Eyes at the Side
One possible
approach which
looks natural is
shown here.
Black enlarges
his eye space
with 1 and 3
before blocking
at 5. White 6 is necessary to keep the pressure on but when
black first plays two forcing moves at 7 and 9 and then
comes back at 11 the black stones look not about to die.
Having said this, black is not alive yet either. White can
strike at A after which it is no longer possible to make eyes
at the side for black. Let's see what happens in the next dia

Diagram 3
Black is Not Impressed
After white
strikes at 1
black is
tempted to
answer at 3 or
5. These
moves,
however, invite
white to cut at the place of black 2 next and black will have
to add another move in order to prevent his three stones at
the right from being captured. If doing so would at the same
time ensure eyes or make a living group there wouldn't be
anything wrong with it. But, you saw it already, adding
another move does not result in more then one eye for black
and next it is white's turn again. The above sequence could
very well be dangerous for black.
So, for this reason there is nothing for black to do but to
patiently connect at 2 in order to hold the initiative. After
black 6 things might not look so good for him but because
the outside white liberties are filled in now black 8 has
become sente and after this black 10 makes an excellent
move. Next black has either the play at A or B to further
make eye space or threaten to do something. Black is not
worried about white playing at C and stealing an eye. A move
like this is still much to early and white only should think
about it if black is completely surrounded and has nowhere
left to make eyes.
Diagram 3a
Black Dodges

Black chose to
play at 89,
maybe in an
attempt to
leapfrog out of
the white
sphere of
influence. I
suspect this
move was much
played because
of the huge
lead black has.
It does not look
like the most
normal move
and it seems a
bit sweet
because black
is running away from a chance to do some damage to the
white corner before worrying about eyes.
Game Diagram 42
On the other hand, black might just be a very calculating
person who has figured out that he can sacrifice a couple of
stones in order to make a safe escape with the rest and still be
ahead in the game. This way of thinking puts things in a whole
different kind of light, black 89 may not be the best move or
not even very sharp but it could turn out to be the move which
is the safest way of keeping black in the lead.
To twist this a little, if black were to lose this game he might
want to blame black 89 although the same move could easily
be interpreted as the winning move in case of the game ending
favorable for black.
Best Move Problem

This is what the

board looks
after 89 moves.
Although it
looks far from
easy, if possible
at all, white has
no choice but to
keep going
after the black
group.
Sometimes
during teaching
games people
may ask: "What
is the best
move here?"
Well, I think
that question
next to impossible to answer. The best move for what? Going
out in style? Staging a miracle upset? The optimal
*reasonable* move? The thickest move leaving the least bad
aji?
In other words, "the best move" is too undefined a term, at
least for me, to do something with. Here the strategy for
white is too find that move which, if successful, will bring him
back in the game. Needles to add, white should try to avoid
coming up with a move which is just too aggressive and far
out. To rephrase: white should make an overplay which is
not easy to punish.
A move at/ around A, B or C comes to mind but you will not
hear me say that that line of playing is "the best" , whatever
that means.
Diagram 4
A Reasonable Move

White 90 is not
an overplay, it
is a normal
move attacking
the black
stones while
strengthening
the corner. In
one aspect or
another it might
even be "the
best move".
The scale of the
attack,
however, is
rather small
and even if
white manages
to capture some
stones the question remains whether this'll be enough to
close the gap.
Black 91 is maybe not a very inspired move (black keeps
refusing to play towards the white corner as in answer to
white 90 a move to the right of 92 looks possible too) but it
is also a kind of a waiting to see what white is going to
do move. White's atari at 92 is, again, a normal move it is
also a bit low, though.
Game Diagram 43
White's Shape
This is the
shape of the
territory white
made at the
bottom before
move 90. The
corner itself and
the three white
stones at the right look all right but the marked stones are
far from being in optimal position.
Granted that white very well might expand his territory, the
low position of the white stones is a valuable indication for
black, signaling that he has no business playing there but at
the same time telling him that letting white get some points
at the bottom is nothing to worry about yet since the white
stones are a bit awkward.

The only way for white to put his low stones to good use in
attacking the black stones is to hope that black will insist on
playing at/ near the lower side of the board. In other words,
the white stones are not ideal for making territory and,
provided black won't lend him a hand, are not very effective
in attacking
Diagram 5
White's Shape II
Now white has
add two more
moves and the
shape of his
territory has
changed a little.
It has become
even clearer
now that the marked white stones are superfluous, they are
not really necessary for making white territory. Yes, yes, I
know, white is making some points with them because there
are some black stones in the neighborhood but the amount
of points made is no way near enough for justifying two
whole moves there (at the second line).
Diagram 5a
What I'm saying is, black played inside the white sphere of
influence and he managed to make white defend with every
move. Sometimes this is just the way things are but most of
the time the moment your opponent gets it in his head to go
and play nearby your strong positions attacking is the most
positive thing to do (mind you, I didn't say "the best thing" ;)
White's Shape III
The exchange
of black 1,
white 2 etcetera
is not a
complete
disaster for
white but it
looks like a
submissive way of playing and missing a chance to attack.
Such a chance is exactly what white is hoping for and by
frustrating white's whishes black is doing fine.
Diagram 6

Black Let White Do His Thing

By now I hope
that black 93
does not come
as a surprise to
you anymore. If
it does, go over
the above text
once more and
let it soak
through for a
day or two.
Black correctly
felt he had no
business trying
to do something
at the bottom
and the knight's
move of 93 is
just perfect.
(no, I don't know if it's "the best move", go away).
White is really trying very hard to get his teeth into
something, preferably a heavy eyeless black group, but the
harder white is trying to get a hold of something the less he
seems to be succeeding.
Game Diagram 44
I'm not trying to imitate Noriyuki (Pat) Morita here and forgive
me if I sound like him but the best way for dealing with an
attack is without a doubt to not be there in the first place! If
you were to just pick up one single thing from the Daigo
articles then please let it be this Karate Kid wisdom: avoid
being a target in the opponent's sphere of influence, if you
have to play there keep it light, play attachments, forcing
moves and be ready to sacrifice your tail or even everything as
it might come to that.
Ko Or No Ko?
The stronger a
player gets the
more he'll learn
to appreciate
the
phenomenon of
the ko fight.
Coming to like

ko is inevitable if you want to get anywhere with this game.

Overdoing things is, however, a very real danger. If black
would play at 1, a move which does look full of fighting spirit
and guts, black just shows how thick his skull actually is.
First of all, white is losing this game, any fight a ko fight or
whatever is to his advantage, nothing to lose, a win-win
situation. Second, the ko is a perfect means for white to
finally get something in his claws and try to kill it. White does
not need to take to ko right away, connecting it will not do
black much good. The dia shows that the black stones really
get heavy (no clear eye shape, too many stones connected
to let go of) because of the ko shape.
I have to admit that it still does not seem very likely that
black will die, the surrounding white stones are not that
strong, but all the same, white's spirits are up again and who
knows what might happen.
Diagram 7
the Solid Connection
You weren't
thinking about
connecting at 1,
were you? Well,
actually, you
even might get
away with it, BUT - this way
of playing is
something you
should try to avoid. Black cannot hope to make two eyes
locally and he'll have to move out and run.
Diagram 7a
Flexible

White captures
at 94 and this
gives him a
very solid
shape, normally
he'd be happy
with it. In this
game, however,
it might feel to
white as if he
has to put up
with some
moldy crusts
instead of the
Tuna sandwich.
To make things
even worse, all
the extra points
white might
gain at the bottom black gets back by attacking the weak
white stones at the right side! White did not gain much,
there still is no weak black group he can attack and he also
does not have any realistic prospects on making a huge piece
of territory somewhere, white is not happy.
Game Diagram 45
A Swap
Suppose white
would play at 1
and feel he has
accomplished
quite
something.
Black will help
him right away
to get a more
realistic view of
matters and
play at 2 (or A,
although this is
just a little
thin). If you
now compare
the points white
made with his
move at 1 and

the points black made by playing at 2 you see for yourself

that there's almost no difference. Black is doing fine.
Diagram 8
Black's Strategy Works: Proof
To make clear
once and for all
that black didn't
do bad three
stones are
added for both
sides,
solidifying the
positions in a
simple way.
Now the extra
points both
players scored
are easy to
calculate. By
surrounding
three black
stones white
made about 1516 points extra. Black captured three white stones and made
16+ points (the plus is for the huge endgame move black got
at A)
In every game played anywhere in the world players will get
the chance of letting go a few stones just to get back about
the same value or even more elsewhere. It's in the human
nature, however, to hold on as long as you possibly can to
something you invested in even if it'll mean your undoing (of
course, I'm talking about the stock market now)
Diagram 8a
White's Tenuki

White played
tenuki because
the right side is
not so
interesting
anymore, there
are still some
points to score
there but that's
almost
endgame and
never enough
for white to
turn the tables
and take the
lead.
Black 97 and 99
are almost
certainly not
the best moves possible, i.e. they're not very sharp and let
white get his way without even attempting to put up a fight.
Instead of black 97 playing at 100 looks more normal, it
secures two eyes in the corner and aims at the same time at
big endgame moves into white's territory.
For black 99 it's the same story, this move looks much better
at the place of 100. Black probably didn't choose this line of
playing because although white cannot hope to make eyes in
the corner there is some aji. In other words, black is digging
himself in, securing life regardless of how many points he
loses, black seems to feel that white does not have a chance
to do something and get back in the game.
Game Diagram 46
Simple

The follow up is
the same story
as in the
previous
diagram, black
uses a well
known joseki to
make eyes in
the corner and
white got some
stones on the
outside.

Game Diagram 47
This seems a good place to stop and let you wonder a little
about what on earth white can do to make the game his. Next
episode of Daigo will bring the climax and lots of stones will die.
It will all be over with one of the players resigning in 30 moves.
Was it white who realized that he might as well sign off and go
home? Did black forget to take care of his stones properly?
And, who were the players anyhow?
Be sure to come back next month for the final battle!

Daigo, episode 7 (last)

A column by Pieter Mioch featuring a thorough game commentary
tastefully seasoned with go-related stories and clues to the meaning of
life.
"If you never question anything, you won't get very far"
Announcement
I seem to suffer from a kind of internet fatigue lately and I do not know
yet if and when I'll post something again. Thank you for everything and
who knows, until next time.
PM
Introduction
Well, here it is, the final episode of the Daigo articles. Sorry to be late,
again, but having way too much free time it is very hard to get started
and do something, I'm sure you'll understand. Sorry also for continuously
apologizing about everything, if there's one thing I learned from living in
this country it is to be ready to apologize at any given moment, even if
everything actually is your own fault.
While I'm at it, and before I forget, sorry for the quality of this episode, a
lot of it is recycled material which is mainly used to bulk it up a little thus
creating the impression that this is really a very special, new and
improved (not to mention last) episode.
I'd like to repeat a previous experiment and answer some of your
questions in a 100% honest fashion. Since there are so many questions,
unfortunately, and since I really enjoy reading "A Son of the Circus" I'll
keep it short and limit the questions to four easy ones and a fifth question
which was selected by popular vote.
Q1: What is the best way of studying go?
A: I did write about that already somewhere before, go and find it.
Q2: How many times do you need to make the same blunder before one
will get it and stop doing it?
A: Aha, that I can tell you, approximately 20 times, judging from my own
games and looking at my students. Children who master a new move
(concept) in 2-3 times are definitely talented.
Q3: What should I do when my opponent is just irritating the sh-t out of
me and I gladly would drag him from behind the board to teach him some
manners?
A: By all means do! Remember to take him outside first before getting
down to business, however. I also strongly recommend checking out your
rude opponent's athletic ability and his weight before getting excited, if he

outweighs you by 80 lbs. and works out at a Muay Thai Gym, best
concentrate on the game which, in any case, never can hurt :-)
Q4: Okay, so now I know a bit what go is all about, I read through Gentle
Joseki twice and memorized each and every word from Daigo but I still am
the rock-bottom of my local go club, what did I do wrong?
A: That sounds (honestly) as if you are too serious about the whole game.
Perhaps you pay too much importance to advice in general and books in
particular. All the advice in the world combined with all the written
information is still only good for, say, 20% of things you need to know to
play a good game. So, just remember what superstar Michael Jordan did
in the last (?) game of the NBA finals against the Jazz some time ago, dive
for that ball get down on all fours and get it *no matter what*.
(which sounds wonderful and is by the way meant to tell you that you
should be/get involved with the game yourself and not depend too much
on: "on top of two always play hane" and other well meant stuff like it.
This in turn means, by the way, that proverbs and book wisdom is best
learned the other way around: first you realize through hard work and
experience (and, god forbid, talent) that playing hane at the top of two
stones actually is a kind of nice and only after that revelation will you
study the proverb :-)
Q5: Pieter do you think that religion, any kind of religion, is essentially at
the basis of each and every dispute people on this world are having with
each other and/or do you also think that matters of race, sex and sexual
orientation have a lot to do with it? And where precisely do you think plain
old greed and envy rank on the ladder of possible culprits for the current
situation in the world?
A: *splutter, uh, gargle* Where the **** did that come from? How can I
possibly answer that, or even hint at an answer and not be crucified, shot
or castrated inside 10 minutes!
Allow me to repeat a rather corny, but none the less well-meant and
perhaps appropriate part of a Gentle Joseki article:
1. Make it your goal to every year explain the rules of the game
of go to at least 1 person.
2. Try to care, be it about moves on a go board or daily life.
And that is as far I'm prepared to go.
By the way, the recycling and bulking up I mentioned is not from old go
articles on Jan's site it's mostly stuff originally written for the go news
group rec.games.go. Whether it is worthwhile and deserves to be
immortalized here is certainly questionable but I liked it and by now
confessing that that has always been the main criterium by which I judge
any of my writing comes easy.
The first re-post was in answer to how much and if children benefit from
playing go, the question was, and I quote:
"which game delivers the highest benefit thus, the highest cost-benefit
payoff?"

Apart from the edited out first half this is an exact copy of the original.

Kids Benefit
Date: 2001-04-05 22:00:31 PST
I think there are a number of games which'll help children in one way or another. I
certainly think that go is one of them. Looking at my go class of 40+ children between
6-10 years old I can tell that children who play go about once, twice a week for one
hour or less (and like it) tend to be able to focus on a problem (be it on the go board or
in class) for a longer span of time compared to children who do not play go.
Go helps children develop an academical approach to problem solving, it stimulates to
think out a situation before letting emotion take over (which they usually do anyway,
be it an average young healthy child)
In Japan, by the way, a similar debate, which is the better game to teach a child, has
been going on for centuries between the games of Shogi (Japanese chess) and Go.
The outcome is unclear although Shogi seemingly has the upper hand for the time
being. It is very interesting to note that properly speaking Go in Japan is not referred to
as "game". Go is often mentioned in combination with "Do" (Tao/road) , meaning the
road the enlightenment or the road of becoming a better human being. That makes go a
tool to help children, no matter of what age (7 or 70), growing up, to learn to see the
difference between things which matter and which do not.
Winning was not the ultimate purpose in a game of Go, it was probably thanks to the
newspapers and other big sponsors who took over control of the go world at the
beginning of the 20th century that winning has become the top priority. To not be able,
however, to shed this commercial jacket will hamper an amateurs' progress as well as
the professionals'.
I just had to phone 4 people here (including 2 pros) to get a straight answer as to what
call go if not "game". The above mentioned "road" was the best answer and the same
person continued explaining that go holds the middle between "bigaku" (study of the
arts) and "budo" (martial arts) which brings me to the word "Kido" as the proper way
of referring to go: the way of go. This is also very close to what Wu Quin-yuan (=Go
Seigen, red.)told me (which I'll sit on for the time being for a future article :-)
Go is a wonderful tool to help polish the human mind, it's up to the person,the mind
itself, however, to make good use of it, tools can be corrupted and easily used for
dubious purposes. As tools go, however, Go/Weiqi/Baduk is of a rare high-quality and
without doubt one of the sturdiest I ever encountered.
Throughout the "Gentle Joseki" and "Daigo" article series I kept touching
on (good/bad) shape and "suji" as they say in Japan. Ten something years
ago when I just had arrived in Nagoya I was interviewed for by a local TV
station and the last question asked was: "What do you like about
go?" Everything was in English but when answering I thought to be helpful
and I said: "Well, I particularly like the aspect of "Suji" very much". The
interpreter, not a go player, was at a complete loss what to make of
this."Pieter, suji just means "shape" in English, what do you mean
exactly?"
Since I never actually had thought about an easy explanation of suji or for
that matter, I never had tried to put it in words before, I chickened out

and said: "Ask, them(pointing at a strong insei and the section chief at the
Nagoya branch of the nihon ki-in) they can tell you what I mean in
Japanese". Boy, was I surprised to find out that the insei as well as the
section chief couldn't help me out! The piece below is what I should have
told the TV people but, as usual, I only seem to be able to find a fitting
answer to questions ten years after date :(

Some More About Shape (Suji)

Date: 2002-02-16 03:20:17 PST
The meaning of suji applied to a move in the game of go describes the ability of given
move to make itself useful with regard to neighboring stones in move 2 of a sequence
which might follow or move 20 (or, to be precise, move 200).
In many situations there is more than one suji move which might mystify the issue a bit
but actually does not; the purpose of suji move A can be different from suji move B
which is located just one space to the right/left.
Connecting against a peep is a perfect suji move (it is very useful :-)
Although it isn't very original and the suji story (almost) stops the moment the thick
connection is played. More often it is the case that a suji move does (or can do) more
than a single thing at a time.
Tesuji are those beasts that are in no way refutable; if played out correctly they will
always fulfil their intended purpose (btw, a tesuji might capture some enemy stones but
still not rescue the dying group i.e. the group was dead anyway and the tesuji (e.g. a
snapback) did what it was meant to do: capture enemy stones).
So, for a move just because it is suji or good shape does not automatically mean that it
always will (or can) do what it was played for: Suji, a versatile move often helping the
local situation and/or forcing the opponent to play less versatile move(s).
The Game
The diagrams below are printed in two colors, one for the actual game and
one for the explanatory diagrams and side-tracks, as follows:

Game
Endgame Move?

Diagrams

White played a low tsuke

at 106 which is often (but
surely not always) a good
move to pick up 2-3 extra
points in the endgame.
Let's have a look at what
happens when black
doesn't buy it and just
goes after 106 with
intention to capture.

Game Diagram 48
White Pushes Down (and connects his stones)
Black 1 is not a bad move
in general and it is even
playable in this game.
There is however, a price
black will have to pay for
capturing one white stone
and ruining white's
territory at the side. White
can skillfully let go of a
stone in order to tie his
stones together. Here this
will probably mean that
the black stones close to
the center get isolated and
have to manage making
life on their own.
Note that white might
want to think which move
to play in answer to black
7, the solid connection at A seems natural but a white move at B is
more aggressive towards the isolated black stones. If, after white B,
black captures the ko at A white plays the perfect extension at C, this
would be very much to white's liking.
Diagram 1

Fight on Your Own Turf

There were plenty of
moves black could have
played in answer to white
6 since, however, simply
ignoring white 6 does not
imply an unbearable loss
of kinds black played
tenuki.
When looking at the
amount of dead and
captured white stones
there does not seem to be
much what black can do
wrong here so it is not
really all that interesting
to go on in detail about
exactly how good or bad
black's play is.
Having said this, black of
course can blunder and throw away the game. For now his attitude of
trying to keep things simple and clear while not worrying about white
territory is very effective.
Black 11 is a key-point. Black managed by playing lightly to break away
from playing in a strictly white sphere of influence and he skillfully
involves the rest of the board with the situation in the lower right
quadrant. After black 11 (and 7) white suddenly has come under attack
himself, again.
In the mean time, black's main goal should, of course, be to finish this
game and refrain from any rash attacks. Attacking and threatening to
kill some enemy stones, are, however, not exactly the same thing and
here it is precisely the threat of killing which comes in handy as a way
for black to make sure his stones around the board will settle and get
strong once and for all.
Game Diagram 49
Many times the ideal circumstances of killing your opponents' stones is the
"oops" situation. Not intending to actually round the enemy stones up but
not letting them of the hook too easily either they can suddenly die,
although killing was by no means the foremost reason for the attack in the
first place, hence the "oops".
Many a player, novices and high-dan alike, is but all too aware of the
"reverse oops effect" this often can be observed in situations were one of
the players is dead-set on killing his opponents' stones no matter what. If
the hunt is on in this fashion the hunters' stones can weaken and get
isolated without the elephant gun-toting maniac realizing this. Next when
the originally weak group, the prey, skillfully ensures life by killing one or

more attacking groups, the hunter goes "oops" and usually blushes a
little.
(for best effect the killing move which turns the tables should be ideally
played just when your opponent is about to swallow a mouth full of coffee
or other fluid, spectacular fountain like show guaranteed)
Starting Something ?
White 12 is the kind of
move which could start
something going. It does
protect two white stones
from being captured and it
creates some cutting
potential. Keep in mind,
however, that we're still
talking about remote
possibilities, whether
white 12 was a splendid
move or not will most
likely not effect the game
much. That is, if black
won't start to selfdestruct.

Game Diagram 50
Black's Perfect Shape

White can try to cut with 1

and see what happens.
Black 4 is a very important
move, if black get it in his
head to play an atari
somewhere (bad idea)
than white could probably
do some damage. Notice
that black 4 is especially
nice because it makes a
good-looking formation
with the help of the
marked black stones. It
almost seems impossible
for white to get away,
perhaps a move like A is
the best white can do but
somehow it doesn't look
very convincing.
Diagram 2
The Last Offensive
White tries to solidify his
stones a bit when
attaching at 14. White 16
is also very much with
that idea in mind but after
black 17 one does not
really get the feeling that
white accomplished much
here. White 18 is more
interesting, there still are
some not 100% settled
stones in the
neighborhood and
although the likeness of
capturing them is at best
remote white shows that
he is not ready to call it a
day, not just yet.
Game Diagram 51
Now there seem to be a number of possible answers for black, what would
you do? (the game move is about as vulgar a move as can get, which
does not necessarily mean it is a bad move. Can you find that move which
looks not at all elegant but not too bad either?)

Intermission
Go Seigen -the- go player of the 20th century is still living in Japan and
well protected by his manager from rude questions and or the media in
general. Thanks to an introduction and a lot of luck I could meet the gosaint once but was totally overwhelmed by Go's energy and strong mental
presence. For this reason, I very much wanted (and want!) to meet him
again.

What To Ask Go Seigen

Date: 2000-12-11 02:23:58 PST
I'm thinking of trying to do a follow up interview with Go Seigen.
While preparing for the first interview I discovered that 90% (or more) of the questions
I was thinking of asking were meaningless or trivial in a way. As a matter of fact as of
today I still haven't found -the- question, worthy of asking the most famous go player
in the world.
If you have any suggestions please tell me.
Some Reactions Were:
Well, that is a good question :) what about if you asked him, what a good
question might be to ask him I mean, if you don't know what to talk to
him about then together talk about what might be talked about :) works
with women :) :) might work with blokes :)
Why not just ask him to review some games from the European Fujitsu
finals, especially the openings. Perhaps he can give his opinion on
European go. The subject of go is where a professional will have
something interesting to say, something only a professional can say.
"Do you know where I can get a burger and some fries around here?"
I'd like to know his views on rule reform, especially free handicap
placement and accurate komi. If all top pros played with 7.5 komi for the
next 100 years, would the last ten years of results still favor White? By
more than they would favor Black if it was 6.5?
Also, in his estimation, what is the average number of different playable
moves top pros could come up with at each stage of the game, assuming
they were encouraged to be creative? I.e., on average, how many distinct
good moves are there for Black 1, White 2, Black 3... White 100... Black
201, etc.? At what point in the game does he typically feel that he has
only one or two distinct playable moves to choose from at every move?
How frequently does he feel such a constraint of choices in the opening
and middle game?
I would be interested to know how he rates great historical go players,
both relative to each other and relative to modern players. In particular
does he think one was the greatest of all (apart from him).
It would be interesting to hear his views on women playing go, eg. why
there have been (and still are) relatively few women at the highest levels
in the go playing world; does he think this is improving; prospects for

future Honinbo + other top titles. (Rui Naiwei studied under Go Seigen
during her stay in Japan...)
Unfortunately the follow-up interview is still not realized and possibly
never will take place. Could it be because the perfect question has not
been found yet?
When I have something more to tell you about the Go-Genius I promise to
get back to you. Just out of sheer malice and a craving to tease you: I'm
still sitting on the literal text of the first interview, I've only used this
sparsely because there was a lot I didn't understand completely and I
needed some time to sort things out.
Besides Go-sensei, his wife took part in the conversation too and although
maybe not on the same go-level as the master himself, she certainly does
match Go's energy and sharp mind.
I've no idea when or/and if I ever will get around to setting all this on
paper, if not, try to obtain the video tapes made during the interview. I
promise to make a treasure-map with an "X" on it showing the place were
I buried them just before leaving for Walhalla.
Back to the game...
Peep of the Century
Well, if this isn't the peep
of the century than I don't
know what is! It might be
a reasonable move but for
now it feels fishy. Black
seems to be over eager to
make white believe that if
white connects solidly
against the peculiar peep
he is in for a lot of trouble.
This could be true, of
course, but this situation
definitely deserves some
closer attention

Game Diagram 52
White 3 Tesuji

through and see for yourself.

After white connects at 1

the question is how
dangerous exactly is the
extension of black 2 ?
White has to watch his
step as there are many
wrong moves and pitfalls
(did anybody say "Indiana
Jones"?) Once white has
played at the heart of the
shape with 3 things will
work out just fine. If
black, for example, would
answer white 3 at A next
white B, black C and white
D there is nothing black
can do to keep white from
breaking free or capturing
some black stones, play it

Diagram 3
Struggle
Undoubtedly white had
read out the sequence
shown in dia 3 but it
seems white is tired of the
game and looking for a
good opportunity to
resign. Well, he could be
faking this state of mind
and try to lure black in a
sneaky trap somewhere,
couldn't he?
White 20 is questionable,
that is to say, the solid
connection is best but this
does not help white one
iota to get back in the
game so for that matter
are the game move and
the solid connection of

equal value: they both lose.

Black 21-23 are natural and should be played without hesitation.
Regardless of how many big fish you caught already, there is always
room for one more??..

White 24 does not look hopeful.

Game Diagram 53
Good Enough
If black would want a sure
win then dia 4 shown one
possible way of achieving
that. You could argue that
black's play is a bit slack
but undoubtedly it gives
black a solid lead and an
virtually guaranteed
victory.
White 4 is necessary to kill
the bad aji and black 5 is
hu-ge, a splendid move to
reinforce his stones while
at the same time keeping
white captured at the
largest possible scale.
Next white 6 would be the
biggest move, making
eyes at the side.
Now it is black's turn and with 25 white stones captured he can just
shift to neutral and cast until the end of the game.
Diagram 4
The End is Near

Black, again, goes for the

Jackpot, a real big fish.
The focus of the game is
now no longer on whether
white can capture some
black stones or not. At
present the only question
which is on both players
mind is: "Can the white
center group survive?"

Game Diagram 54
Best What White Can Hope For
Let's make one thing clear
first, white is dead already
(although a few stones
might be able to escape).
If black won't make any
strange moves there's no
way on earth white can
make two eyes.
Dia 5 gives an example
where black did make a
questionable move or two.
In an actual game black
would of course take the
ko once first but in order
to stay on track let's
assume white can and did
win the ko and black has
to defend at 8. The whole
sequence feels natural but
black 12 is a bad mistake, capturing two white stones will make white
13 sente and once white gets to play 15 black only can play the ko in
order to try and kill white. This is a success for white (if black 12 just
defend against the atari by connecting his stones instead of capturing
white 13 will not be a sente move and white dies unconditionally)

Diagram 5
The Final Curtain
Maybe black was lazy or
perhaps he just doesn't
read too well, whichever it
might be instead of
capturing white whole
black cut at 31. Strictly
speaking this is not the
best move, but once again
isn't any move which
brings you closer to
victory a perfect move?
And helping black a lot it
certainly does, move 31
that is. The center white
stones are captured
unconditionally and that is
quite enough.
Game Diagram 55
You still want to know who the players were? Well, if you came this far I
guess you do:
Black: Pieter Mioch (you didn't actually think I'd post a game of mine I
lost, uh?)
White: Filip Vanderstappen, Dutch 5-dan, European rating over 2500.