Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go: Life & Death

Unlike the previous chapters of Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go, “Life and Death” includes a number of problems for the reader to solve.

Kageyama states that the fundamental rule for living or killing is to increase/reduce eye space. Look at trying to do this first. If it works, great. If not, is there a “central eye making point” that could be occupied? If these two things fail, fanciness may be involved, but Kageyama recommends starting here when approaching life and death problems.

After some problems, Kageyama looks at an opening where there is a two-space jump along the side that is beginning to be surrounded. He demonstratesa situation where one can gain a lot more by surrounding a group of stones and letting it live than by killing some stones but making the opponent strong elsewhere:

“If Black can surround White successfully and gain outward influence, that is enough. If at the same time, he can contrive to inject some uncertainty into the question of whether White is alive or dead or what, then he will be ecstatic.”

He then gives some examples of handicap games in which he demonstrates how black should use the handicap stones to ensure that he doesn’t get surrounded and forced to live small.

Kageyama also enjoins the reader not to continue to waste stones on a group that’s alive or to play to many stones in one’s own territory once a group is alive. Sente is important, he reminds us, so don’t give it up!

The section on the enclosed two-space jump is extremely useful. In my own games, when I see two-space jumps that are beginning to become surrounded, my heart starts racing. There’s surely some way to play with these, I think. I get quite excited and then usually make some silly moves that end up helping the opponent. Or, if it’s me becoming enclosed, I panic and flail about until I ensure that I’m dead.

Of course, Kageyama has words to say about over-excitement as well:

“Does the blood rush to Black’s head at being thwarted?  I have seen a traffic safety poster that says ‘Temper causes accidents.’  Driving a car and playing go are both human activities, so what applies to one applies to the other.”

I’m sure over-excitement and anger have both caused many road accidents. Kageyama, I shall work on becoming a better driver.

Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go: Territory and Spheres of Influence

And now, on to the next section of Kageyama’s Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go: Territory and Spheres of Influence.

One of the biggest points Kageyama makes in this chapter is that one should not count one’s chickens before they hatch; in the opening, players often think of an area where they have several stones as territory when it is still invadeable.  This can lead to inflexible play where players doggedly try to hold on to what they consider their territory and miss the opportunity to use their sphere of influence more effectively.  Letting the opponent live small whilst you build great thickness is very often better than hanging on to a little bit of territory. Instead of being distraught when an enemy stone is plunked down in your area of influence, Kageyama reminds the reader that this is a cause for celebration!

Kageyama also gives the reader a little pep talk about playing the opening that appeals rather than the opening that one feels one ‘should’ play.  If ginormous enemy frameworks seem frightening, plays can be made in the middle of the side to prevent them.  If terrtitory is preferred to spheres of influence, then tighter moves can be played.

That being said, Kageyama goes on to discuss when it is preferable to develop larger-scale spheres of influence and when it is preferable to play more territorially-biased moves.

When the board is completely open in the beginning, playing solid territory moves can be a bit slow.  One needs to spread out and build up influence that can be used later; else one might find oneself stuck with some very solid, but very small territories at the end of the game.

When approaching a strong enemy position, Kageyama suggests that playing more solid, territory-creating moves is often better than looser sphere-of-influence-building moves.  This is in keeping with the ‘don’t play too close to thickness’ proverb; playing loosely next to thickness invites an attack, so solid plays are preferable in these situations.

‘Don’t play too close to thickness’ applies to friendly stones as well as enemy stones.  Once one has built up a nice, thick wall, play farther away.  Seek out the opponent’s weak spots and attack.  Hopefully, this will invite fighting in the shadow of one’s big, thick wall.  As Kageyama says, “One cannot expect to turn thickness directly into territory.  The correct strategy is to have it stare down at the enemy, silent and threatening”.  The benefits come from the fighting that ensues elsewhere on the board; the opponent can’t expect a huge result in your sphere of influence, and if you can cause him or her to thrash about a bit, territory will build up elsewhere.  (This is one of those things that is easier said than done, in my experience…but I’ll keep trying, Kageyama!)

In the final part of the chapter, Kageyama details some middle game situations that involve using thick walls.  In one problem, he demonstrates a couple points that have been my downfall in some of my own games of late.

First, sometimes simply spitting the opponent’s stones isn’t very useful.  If you’re simply wedging stones between two groups that are going to live without taking any profit for yourself, the moves aren’t doing you any good and may be helping the opponent take profit instead.

Second, sometimes there’s no need to make a big fuss trying to cut an enemy off when he’s simply running away and taking no profit.  You don’t necessarily need to kill the opponent’s stones with your big, thick walls; sometimes, making them scrape for a living or run sheepishly to their friends is an excellent result.

Finally, sometimes that tried-and-true two-space extension along the third line isn’t the most appropriate move!  If you’re stones are sandwiched inbetween two big, thick, enemy walls, then other moves might be called for – like a one-space extension on the third line or a knight’s move to the fourth line.  (I have no idea when and how to play like this, but at least it’s something new on the radar!)

Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go: The Struggle to Get Ahead

This chapter in Kageyama’s Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go is divided into two sections, one discussing situations where lines of stones are in contact (or a close to each other) and the importance of making the types of moves that keep your stones ‘ahead’, and a discussion of entering an enemy’s framework before it is too late…and how to do so sensibly.

This chapter is dense with interesting discussions of common positions.  There are some analyses of joseki and fighting tactics that I feel would be worth rereading after starting a proper study of joseki, or after reading, say Attack and Defence.  As usual, I have very possibly made mistakes in my interpretations.  (Hmm. Maybe I need to come up with a standard disclaimer.)

The struggle to get ahead

• When rows of stones touch, the situation may be more urgent than it might seem.  The struggle to get ahead is often very important.
• These sorts of situations are where the ‘hane at the head of two stones’ proverb often comes into play.
• Of course, when you hane, be prepared for the cut.
• Don’t invade at the 3-3 point too soon – yes, you get a little profit, but it also gives the opponent huge centre influence.  Wait until giving the opponent such influence doesn’t matter so much.
• Don’t crawl any longer than is necessary – get ahead at the earliest possible moment.
• Pressing moves can sometimes help the opponent get ahead.  Perhaps when playing them, it might be useful to think about them from the point of view of the opponent attempting to get a step ahead?
• Perhaps one could say that a reason that pushing from behind is usually bad is that it helps the opponent’s stones get ahead?
• One-point jumps into the centre can be seen as a struggle to get ahead.  Just as one looks for opportunities to hane when lines of stones are in contact, look for opportunities to make knight’s moves when lines stones are one-point jumping into the centre.

Entering the enemy’s sphere of influence

• Do not jump right in the middle of the enemy’s sphere of influence.
• If someone jumps right in the middle of your sphere of influence, stay calm and don’t make lots of crazy attacking moves that end up wasting the potential of your position.
• Look, estimate the score, okay?  Just, start practicing this.
• You need to know if you’re ahead so that you can decided whether to play slow sensible moves or to take drastic action.
• When entering an enemy’s sphere of influence, don’t be too greedy!  You can’t expect lots of territory.
• In the enemy’s sphere of influence, be prepared to give up stones in order to gain leverage.

Note to self: revisit the section on the shoulder play framework reduction, the probe in Diagram 25 (this has bit me before!), the last eight diagrams, and the earlier discussion about this joseki sequence.

Cross-Cut Workshop

Okay, Kageyama. So what about that cross-cut, then? Where does one start?

I had a copy of Richard Hunter’s Cross-Cut Workshop on my bookshelf, so I thought that might be a good place. I bought this when I was quite a few stones weaker. I read it, but didn’t feel very confident applying the concepts at the time, so thought I’d return to it later. Well, now is later, I suppose, and I have a cross-cut problem to think about.

On re-reading the first three sections, I again get the feeling that everything makes perfect sense when the author is there holding my hand and explaining what each player is doing and discussing the goal of the cross-cut in relation to the whole board position. I still find the problems very hard. I still feel that it is going to take a lot of time and work to come to grips with even the very most basic of basic situations.

That being said, the author provides players in my situation a nice little framework for thinking about what to do when faced with cross-cuts. Much of his discussion centres around four proverbs about cross-cuts which Kiyonari Tetsuya used in a lecture on cross-cuts, and an additional point made by Ishikura Noboru.

He then goes through many basic cross-cut patterns and shows how these principles apply or don’t apply, as the case may be. I don’t feel it would be that useful for me to sit down and memorise all the various different patterns as I’m still struggling with fundamentals like which stone is weaker and what exactly is each player trying to accomplish. However, by reading through the variations, I feel like I’m building up a general idea of things to experiment with in my own games.

There is one aspect of the book about which I am uncertain.  In the solutions to several of the problems, a correct answer is given and several variations are explored.  In a couple places, the author says that a certain variation will lead to “complications” or “a complicated fight” and says things like “This cannot be recommended for a handicap game” or that such a fight “cannot be recommended for someone needing a nine-stone handicap”.  Does this mean that in-and-of-themselves these are good moves, or even perhaps better moves than the ‘correct’ solution?  Are they moves that could (or should?) be contemplated if playing an even game?  When I talk to stronger players, there seem to be multiple types of ‘complicated’.  One is the you-are-making-this-unnecessarily-difficult-please-just-keep-it-simple type; another is the yes-this-is-possible-but-you-have-to-know-what-you’re-doing-okay  type.  I’d like to know which family of complications we’re talking about.

In any case, here are some points that I’d like to take with me from this particular reading:

• When stones are isolated, the ‘Cross-cut? Extend!’ proverb often applies.
• When extending, usually one extends from the weaker stone and tries not to induce the opponent to make a good move.
• When stones are not isolated, don’t thoughtlessly extend – an atari might also be appropriate.
• Avoid playing atari when it just strengthens the opponent (by letting the opponent extend) and leaves you with lot of cutting points
• The ‘Capture if you can’ proverb often applies.
• As usual, everything depends on what is nearby and what is going on everywhere else on the board.
• Note to self: if trying to extend from a weaker stone, have a good think about which stone is actually the weakest!

So yes.  Kageyama, I don’t yet have your corner figured out, but I’m trying to gather some resources with which to attack the problem, okay?

Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go: The Stones Go Walking

This chapter of Kageyama’s Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go contains one of my favourite quotes in the entire book:

‘Are White 2 to 8 really so bad for Black?’ I can hear the question coming, so here is my answer.  ‘Bad?  Preposterous would be a better word.  Look at Black’s compressed position.  Look at White’s outer influence.  Fall in love with that thick white wall.  Realize how good White’s result is.  If you cannot understand this, lay the position out on the go board every morning as soon as you get up and chant the words, “White’s thickness is superior.”‘

Okay, so walls have been on my mind lately. I have this bad habit of playing too close to my walls, and sometimes I trick myself into trying to use them to wall off a bit of territory. In a recent KGS game, I built a nice, beautiful wall, but was disappointed because my opponent managed to make a measly little group live underneath it. I built another nice, beautiful wall, then used it to wall off a useless handful of points. Why do I do these things? Because I’m not not listening to you, Kageyama! I’m forgetting the fundamentals!

Much of this chapter relies heavily on the diagrams to try to get across a taste of the ‘stones go walking’ concept. Kagayama emphasises the importance of keeping stones ‘in step’, particularly when they are in close contact. He stresses that this does not mean blindly following the direction of your opponent’s play or relying on memorised sequences.

One situation he mentions is where white attaches to the black 4-4 stone and a crosscut ensues. As Kageyama predicts, this is something I fear as a weak player. Note to self: spend some time thinking about how to deal with this. Note to potential opponents: please engineer excuses to make me respond to this crosscut. You’ll win big and I’ll get some practice!

(Hmm. Diagrams with number added by hand in gimp are a bit of a faff. There must be an easier way to do this!)

Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go: Cutting and Connecting

Oh, Kagayama! Fear not – I haven’t forgotten you! I’ve just been digesting slowly, and writing even more slowly, okay? Surely, you approve of such an approach?

Cutting and connecting. When my game fall apart, it’s almost always because I didn’t cut or because I didn’t connect.

I suppose one of the most difficult problems for me is knowing when what looks like a cut is actually a cut (and not just a kind donation of a stone or ten to my hungry opponent), and when what looks like a connection is actually a connection. Of course, there’s also the related problem of recognising moves that cut or connect two groups that I don’t believe can be cut or connected.

However, right now we’re focusing on the fundamentals. So. Here are my (potentially flawed) back-of-the-envelope notes from Chapter 2 in Toshiro Kageyama’s Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go.

• Play ‘correct’ moves whenever possible.  Only resort to less ‘correct’ moves when the situation is dire and drastic action is needed to gain control of the game.
• “Cut where you can cut.”
• Connect to avoid being cut whenever possible.
• Never peep when you can cut.  (Peeping instead of cutting often serves to strengthen the opponent and weaken you.)
• “Even a moron connects against a peep” (unless another move is horribly urgent, like a ko in the early game).
• Ko fights early in the game are often large.  Kageyama’s advice for dealing with such a ko: “while your opponent is thinking over his ko threat, connect the ko and invite him to make two moves in a row wherever he likes, thus guarding yourself from temptation.”
• Cutting and connecting are concepts that apply just as much to whole-board thinking as close combat situations.
• Instead of thinking ‘I am defending territory’, think ‘I am connecting my stones’.
• Do not destroy your opportunities to connect your stones.  This is sometimes more important than things that look tempting, like walling off a little bit of territory or killing an opponent’s stone.
• Beware of having many isolated groups of stones.  If you have five or more independent groups, you’re often losing.

Diagrams 1, 2, 3 and 4 are critical.  Diagram 25 is one of those pictures worth a thousand words.

4-4 Point Joseki: A Brief Introduction

Well, I have avoided the study of joseki for quite some time. In general, I intend to continue this trend, at least until I am a bit stronger. I keep hearing from stronger players that it is better to understand the reasons behind moves than to blindly follow some prescribed formula.

That being said, there were two things that drew me to William S. Cobb’s 4-4 Point Joseki: A Brief Introduction: (1) I was playing a lot of handicap games, and the same situations kept cropping up, and (2) it was a convenient size for carrying about whilst traveling.

This book is useful outline of several common approaches to the 4-4 point, and some of the common responses found in the beginning of the game. There are only 16 A6-sized pages of discussion and 26 pages of problems with commented solutions, so it is more of a catalog of common situations than a move-by-move detailed analysis.

Most patterns felt quite familiar from endless hours of playing GnuGo blitz games when I can’t sleep, but it was interesting to have a glimpse of insight into what responses are deemed to be a good result for both sides in various situations.

Coming from the point of view of someone who has not studied joseki at all, it did whet my curiosity about why certain moves were made.  There were several statements like “If White wants a moyo style game…” or “Black may want to control the right side.  In that case…” which made me wish there were more diagrams.  (The author recommends several books for further reading.)

The problems were useful in continuing the discussions started in the earlier chapters.  I found some of them quite difficult.  (I’ve got a lot to learn about whole board thinking!)

As far as a take-home message for this reading, perhaps I’ll just focus on a statement in the preface which informs the rest of the book (skipping out some of the discussion in between):

Two basic principles figure in almost all situations:

• Get out into the centre.
• Make a base.

Go in Wrocław

I was visiting my sister in Wrocław, so thought I’d see if I could find some Go players.

Wrocław has two active Go clubs and some wonderful players, some of whom have been playing since the 1970s!

The vice-president of Sente was extremely helpful in connecting me with some Go players in Wrocław, even though he wasn’t around. The website for Sente is here:

http://sente.pwr.wroc.pl

Another club, Gokurabu, meets at the University of Wrocław’s Institute of Theoretical Physics. This site has information about this club, and a section on the history of Go in Wrocław:

http://wroclaw.go.art.pl

Unfortunately, neither club was meeting during my stay; it is the summer holidays, and many of the Go players were attending a summer Go Camp out of town. However, I met up with some players individually for several games and cups of coffee. (Amusingly, I’ve ended up playing more face-to-face Go on holiday in Poland than over the past couple months at home!)

One nice location was an old water tower that had been converted into a cafe. Another location was the ‘chess club’, a nice little cafe/ice cream parlor where they didn’t mind us taking over tables with gobans.

Many thank-yous to Sente and to the Go players of Wrocław for the warm welcome and many games of Go!

Weiqi Zhongji Jieti Xunlian – Book 1

In 2006, I bought some collections of Go problems from Zhen Zhu on e-bay.  He was very helpful in suggesting books that would be appropriate for my level, and provided extremely helpful translations of some of the main Chinese characters needed to understand the problems.

Weiqi Zhongji Jieti Xunlian (Go Intermediate Problem Solving Training) was one of them. I brought Book 1 along with me on holiday.

I find the level of these problems just about perfect for my current level, and for the situation. They require enough thought to make them interesting, but aren’t so complex that I need to lug a goban with me through the streets of Wroclaw. I’m making enough mistakes that I feel I’m learning something, but not so many that I feel that I’m in over my head.

I think it can sometimes be hard to find collections of problems pitched at the right level. This one feels like a very nice fit for my ~8 kyu. Of course, I’m taking it a bit more leisurely since I can’t read the commentary in the solutions. It’s a nice book for a little on-the-go practice.

Playing the Endgame: A Brief Introduction

I’m traveling at the moment, so I thought I’d give a few of the short, stash-’em-in-your-bag books a try.

Playing the Endgame: A Brief Introduction by William S. Cobb is a thin, pocket-sized book that can easily be stashed – the perfect size for airline flights in this day and age of counting luggage weight by the gram.

It is what it says on the tin – a very brief introduction.  In four mini-chapters, Cobb outlines the very basics and then provides a fifth chapter of endgame problems from 200 Endgame Problems (Shirae Haruhiko) which reinforce the first four chapters.

It is not in the scope of the book to go into great depth about endgame moves; I approached it as a reminder of the things I should think about in the endgame when looking for moves along the edge of the board.

Cobb starts with the very basics (choosing double sente movesover reverse sente moves over double gote moves) and illustrates several familiar endgame situations and tesujis.

One of the biggest memory jogs for me was his call to kyu players to leave endgame moves until the actual endgame, and not automatically respond in an endgame sort of way to an endgame sort of move when there are bigger points on the board.

I found the mini-chapter on calculating the value of endgame moves a good excuse to sit down and think through the differences between white and black moving first in several all-too-familar situations which I know I’m likely not to have the time to think through when a tournament clock is running.

I did find the discussion on the point value of various moves slightly confusing; this is a topic I don’t feel I understand well, and from the text, it sounds like there might be some debate within the Go community about how to approach this.  This is something I feel I need to sort out.  This booklet gives some general advice, openly stating that the topic is dealt with in ‘a simplified fashion’.  The point allocations in the problems discussed within the chapter made sense, but I feel I’d like to know more about the way to compare such moves before I can comment on the discussions about quantifying the value of a move and comparing different endgame moves.

My general impression was that this is a great memory jog for topics I’d covered before – very concise and readable in little bursts between roundabouts.  I found the first four chapters very accessible as an 8 kyu.  I wonder if it might not be a little too concise if the topics aren’t familiar, but that might just be my impression based on the knowledge that I’ve got some thinking-through to do about more advanced topics.

I’ve yet to tackle the problem section – perhaps that will happen on the trip home!