L&D Fundamentals

The following problem was taken from the book Life and Death from the Elementary Go Series by Kiseido (page 59, problem 4). It has at least two solutions, but one is better than the other.

1st solution: Black lives with 3 points
2nd solution: Black lives with 4 points
It's pretty uncommon that once we find a solution to a problem, we keep on searching for better solutions. So this is to remind myself of that fact. Also, I realize that my search for a solution starts from the opposite direction, instead of first checking if closing the border works (which gives better follow up moves), I first try to make eyes from the "inside". This behavior is a pretty common pattern so that's why I wanted to point it out. And now that we're at it, why not remind ourselves the Fundamentals of Life and Death:

Life

1. Get more room (widen your eye space). 
2. Occupy a central eye making point (vital point). 

Death

1. Reduce the enemy's room (narrow his eye space). 
2. Occupy a central eye-making point.

Attack and Defense Tips

I've just finished reading the excellent book Attack and Defense by Ishida and Davies, which is part of the Elementary Go Series from Kiseido.

My purpose is not give you a book review (which you can find here.), but an excerpt from chapter 10, that is a pretty good summary of the whole book. If you haven't done so, do yourself a favor and read the book, for a detailed explanation of each mentioned item.

Chapter 1. Take account of the balances of territory and power. If you are behind in territory but ahead in power, play aggressively: invade, cut, attack, and fight. If you are ahead in territory but behind in power, play defensively: play safe.

Chapter 2. When attacking, instead of just trying to kill one enemy group, look for dual purpose moves, or moves that attack two groups at once.

Chapter 3. Attack with non-contact plays. Don't touch what you are attacking. Know the eye-stealing and angle tesujis and the capping, peeping and knight's attacks.

Chapter 4. For defense, use ordinary moves if possible before you are attacked. If you find yourself in trouble, use contact plays and shoulder moves to extricate yourself.

Chapter 5. Play forcing moves, then leave them; treat forcing stones as expendable. Look for ways to resist your opponent's forcing moves.

Chapter 6. Use inducing moves to raise the efficiency of your stones.

Chapter 7. In dealing with enemy frameworks, play lightly and flexibly, taking advantage of weaknesses. Consider relations with surrounding areas (junction points, weak groups, etc.).

Chapter 8. Even within the confines of a three-space extension there are many invasion josekis. Know the meaning of the first two moves, at least, so you can choose among them.

Chapter 9. Avoid adversely one-sided and very indirect kos. In an all-dominating ko, ignore any (non-local) ko threat.

Other quotes that I find insightful:

Fight, invade, and try to generate confusion - the strategy to follow when one is territorially behind is exactly the opposite of the strategy when one is ahead. p.12

At one extreme we have the player who is so jealous of his own territory that he protects it against the slightest incursion; who constantly forgoes attack in favor of defense; who loses through timidity. At the other extreme we have the player whose jealousy engulfs the whole board; who tries not to let his opponent have any territory at all; who usually ends up loosing large groups of overextended stones. These people are deluded. They understand the concept of 'territory', but they lack the faintest inkling of the meaning of 'balance'. p.12

Territory tends to fall naturally to the side that holds the balance of power. p.32

A struggle for power is basically a struggle for eye space. p.34

Kageyama - Take 2

This is the continuation of my previous post on Toshiro Kageyama's book 'Lessons in the fundamentals of Go'.

Golden rules:

• "Do not approach enemy thickness." page 98.
• "Don't use thickness to surround territory." page 98.
• "The enemy's key point is your own." page 169.

Quotes:

"Irresolution is a vice." 

page 19.

 "The most important thing to learn from professionals is not where they play but why they play there." 

page 99.

"Black 1 and 3 are wrong. Do they look natural to you? Then you will
have to reverse your thought processes 180 degrees if you ever want to
play correctly."

page 107.

"In this type of position White cannot afford to let Black approach at
'a'. If it is his turn he has to make the two-space extension to 1.
This is common sense. The player who would not extend to 1 does not exist.

page 109.

"Anyone who leads an abandoned and dissipated life because the end of
the world is near is going to experience his own personal destruction
first. Desperation and despair are to be feared most of all.
To kill or let live. I would like to see this disturbing question confined to the stones on the go board."

page 118.

If anyone is so insensitive as to ignore this difference and play 1
and 3, I am past the point of anger. All I can do is burst out
laughing."

page 145.

"I was filled with sadness at the inability of amateurs to focus their
power in the right direction. I began to realize why the brute-force
school of 'gangster go' prospers so. Those who cannot find the correct
move in not-so-difficult positions like this deserve to be roughed up
a bit. Amateur go seems to be a world where reason retreats in the face of unreason."

page 148.

Cross-fuseki

This tip may be regarded as a no-brainer. Anyway I still think it's worth mentioning. When playing white, to avoid a cross-fuseki you must play on the diagonal corner. Cross-fuseki games usually end up being territorial instead of moyo based, so a further corner enclosure is a good idea. (Thanks Ben!)

W 2 avoids a cross-fuseki, if B wants a corner he must play at A or B

Low for development

The following diagram is a common joseki when approaching the 3-4 point.

Maybe I missed the part in the books where black 6 is explained, or it's not explained because it's assumed to be obvious, but it wasn't obvious for me until a friend explained it to me.
I asked myself why black would play 6 instead of playing at A, and the answer is that black 6 trades territory for further development, and the potential for development is key in Go.






This is what happens when white plays at A:

Black can continue to develop along the 3rd line and white is left with bad shape.











On the other hand, if black played at A instead of 6, these are possible continuations:

On the left diagram, black's development along the right side is blocked, and on the right diagram, black is kept low while white gains influence towards the center.

Shimari

Whenever I played the shimari on the left, I felt like giving away too much, but when I played the one on the right, I felt uneasy for some unknown reason. Then I learned the main difference between them, and it's very simple.

On the left, black can tenuki white's approach (marked with square), whereas on the right, black must respond whites approach (marked with triangle) or else white will slip into A, and take some part of the corner.

Lines

Who has more territory in the following diagram? 

If you said white, pat yourself on your back, the answer is White: 136, Black: 121.

Obviously it's an impossible situation as white has more stones laid out than black, but it's purpose is to illustrate the following: White moves along the 3rd line, which is the limit that keeps the balance between influence and territory. Below the 3rd line favours influence territory, and above it favours territory influence. That's why the 4th line is called the line of victory and the 2nd line is the line of defeat.

See here for more details.